From: Jim Witte (jswitte_at_bloomington.in.us)
Date: Wed Oct 06 2004 - 10:23:45 PDT
> No REAL need for Bluetooth on a PDA.
What about headphones, or microphones. Or sync with your phone
wirelessly, or a hundred other things yet to be invented. True, there
is no REAL need for BT on a PDA *now*, but there are a few
semi-compelling reasons (see above), and their might be more in the
future - scan your library or bank smart card by just waving it next to
the PDA and waiting for the light to turn green (though this might work
better on a RFID-type technology that inducts current from the
surrounding electromagnetic field).
I think printing from a PDA is a great asset (although whether this
will go to BT or WiFi in the future is debatable - I hope both). "You
have your desktop for that".. So, you would never want to print from
your PDA?
Situation: you take your PDA to your University Psych class (tabletPC
running NOS, emate-like shell device that hasn't been made yet, etc).
You have your assignments, notes, everything in NewtWorks. You
suddenly remember you forgot your assignment. No problem - you go the
cluster, print via BT, and go.
This actually happened to me quite recently. But I had my iBook with
me.. And didn't print over BT, but WiFi. But the concept is the same.
Of course, if WiFi wins the day for printing, this argument goes out
the window.
But I still think the argument of BT headphones is a good one.
> FM radio signal into the Newton. It would require some kind of digital
> tuner
> software to do something with the signal, but why not? Can you imagine,
> listening to your favorite radio stations on the Newton? I don't think
> it's that
> farfetched.
Don't know if WiFi cards can tune to that part of the spectrum..
Anyway, even if they can, who knows if people know how to (a lot of the
frequency-tuning control protocols for WiFi cards are secret since WiFi
cards can also theoretically be tuned to pick up secret military
frequencies, I've heard..)
I'm not sure a software tuner on the Newton would work, or even if
the PCMCIA bus could handle the necessary bandwidth. Stick a DSP chip
in there, though..
Jim
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