From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Aug 29 2003 - 22:26:05 PDT
Have you taken a look at that keyboard though? I can't
imagine typing ANYTHING on that "chicklet" push-button
keyboard! I tried on my HP200LX (which replaced my
HP100LX which replaced my HP95) and it did nothing but
give finger cramps! I abandoned it as soon as I had
pen input (AT&T EO) I have abandoned all teeny
keyboard PDAs. I'm not a touch-typist, but I know
where the keys are supposed to be and I also have a
Brother p-touch labeler with a similar keyboard as
this Sony thing...and needles to say, I don't enjoy
using that p-touch much...It's kind of a necessity, I
always wish I could connect this thing to a PC...
The fact that Sony even put the keyboard there shows
that Sony, like all the rest, just doesn't "get it!"
Keyboards are an archaic ubiquitous technology and
their use is perpetuated by the belief that nothing
can replace it. Hog-wash! I remember reading an
article that quoted (was it Spindler? I can't remember
anymore) as saying that the future newton would have a
more intelligent adaptive engine to better anticipate
the user's action by analyzing the users common tasks
and performing certain repititious tasks
automatically. He also said that the future newton
will have voice recognition input and the capability
to "read" writing through a builtin camera. He showed
a demo that had a Newton pointing to some oriental
graffitti on a mock city wall and the Newton read the
graffitti and translated it in English on the Newton's
screen.
Now I hate to say it, what with my known dislike of
Apple in general, but that was, what I call,
"blue-sky" thinking. (Thinking so far out of the realm
of conventional wisdom and accepted norms that your
head is litteraly in the clouds.)
I'm sick of this "mouse-stick-pad-keyboard" imput
requirements.
When will there be input based off of received EKG and
alpha waves? How about direct synaptic response and
recognition?
With the Newton no longer in the PDA arena,
manufacturers of these future devices are going
backwards! They're adding all these "gizmos" and
features without adding any real value!
And why is that? Because the profit margin on a
"gizmo" is greater than actually hiring GUI and
usability experts to design a machine and integrated
interface that can really perform as a personal
device. I believe that the interface and the machine
should be indistinguisable from one another. And as
inobtrusive to the user experience as possible. I long
for the day when machines perform functions that are
so seemless mankind couldn't possibly imagine life
without the function that they provide.
The human machine is a wonderous device, and the brain
inside this human machine is nothing short of amazing
in it's capabilities. Yet as humans operating these
human machines, we waste the capabilities of this
machine by forcing them to perform rudimentary tasks
and the human brain is bogged down with rote
memorization and storage! Imagine...that's like using
a Lamborgini to tow a boat! it's just wrong!
oops, sorry about that rampage, but this is a facet of
technology that I grew up dreaming about. Ever since I
read an Isaac Azimov story about people using a
"stylus pad" to enter notes into (written in the '50s)
I envisioned a time when the individual relearning
what was taught to everyone else would just be
knowledge planted there to be built upon with NEW
learning...
The Newton comes close.
Ed
web/gadget guru
come and see my Newt on the web (well, mostly) at:
http://65.84.243.167
--- Mark Bock <markbvt_at_adelphia.net> wrote:
<snip>
> I also like the fact that it can be used as an MP3
> player and seems
> to have a pretty decent web browser. I even like the
> mini-laptop form
> factor, although I wonder how what it's like to use
> that miniscule
> keyboard.
>
> I'd seriously consider buying one, except for one
> huge drawback: the
> price. One reason the Newton is so attractive is
> because the bang for
> the buck that it currently offers is outstanding --
> you can pick up
> an upgraded 2000 for under $100, and with minor
> effort it can be
> upgraded to do most of what the UX50 does. And
> personally I really
> like the Newton OS, much more so than the Palm OS.
> And having a
> reasonably-sized detachable keyboard is nice. Decent
> battery life is
> nice too.
>
> Of course, if someone decided to give me a UX50 as a
> gift, I'd
> certainly use it. But I'd probably keep using my
> Newton too.
>
> --mark
>
> --
> . . . . .
> mark bock
> KB1EXL
> markbvt_at_adelphia.net
>
> "A youth who can't hit a cathedral at thirty yards
> with a Gatling gun in
> three-quarters of an hour, can take up an old empty
> musket and bag his
> grandmother every time, at a hundred."
> --Mark Twain
>
> PGP Public Key: available at
> http://www.armchaircommando.org/key.html
> PGP Fingerprint: 1A59 BBB7 DF23 9FEC 5897 5C7B 7703
> 78FB CC33 6ABC
>
> --
> This is the NewtonTalk list -
> http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
> List FAQ/Etiquette/Terms:
> http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html
> Official Newton FAQ:
> http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
>
=====
"When any government, or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, 'This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know', the end result is tyranny and oppression , no matter how holy the motives"
-Robert Heinlein, Revolt in 2100
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-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries List FAQ/Etiquette/Terms: http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
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