Re: [NTLK] Safari Pad - Apple's Tablet Computer

Hello Ryan, hello Jon,

I also thought about the best way of "input" for
a very long time. And could never be a good
friend with my newton, as I have to admit.

In fact my impression is as well that every
keyboard will be much faster than a stylus.
Although I'm very fast on paper too. The
advantage of the Newton HWR is of course that you
have your writing "in the box" afterwards and it
is digitized then.

But the keyboard itself is no good solution forever.
On the other hand you can make "inputs" quite
faster with ten fingers and many combinations
(ALT, CONTR, Š) than with just a stylus. It is a
form of nearly "parallel input".

And we don't need a hardware-keyboard: Did you
see the "virtual keyboard" some years ago, which
is beamed onto any flat surface? It was developed
for difficult surroundings (medicine, chemistry,
etc.) A camera or IR-sensor follows the position
of the fingers.

QUESTION:
Why not develop a real virtual keyboard?
It might only be neccessary to notice any
light/minimal impulse of the fingers (maybe
similar to the actual typing of today would be
simple in the beginning) and you could type just
by moving your hands and fingers in a
minimalistic way??? even in your pocket.

Gestures or the usage of the iPods touchscreen
are yet to strongly connected to a piece of
hardware.
I could instead imagine a special light glove
with sensors. ("Hey darling, where are my
typing-gloves?")
Later perhaps only small wireless dots on the fingertips?

This is just fantasy. But I think our hands are
still very good input-media, - better than HWR
and speech recognition. And more "intimate" than
the last one.

What do you think about that?

Regards
Stefan

>Every time I have to take the stylus out of my Treo's silo, I find it
>irksome, and wish I could just use my finger, but, sadly, the
>interface wasn't made for finger touch, and I need the stylus
>sometimes. The Treos were wonderful phones, but there are lots of
>compromises in them. The Newton was a wonderful device, but the stylus
>_is_ an issue with it, too. Yes, you can do a lot with that finger
>nail, but writing is out. On-screen keyboards are also a major
>compromise, so I guess it's a wash. Except for one fact, with a
>genuine querty keyboard, I can type far faster than I can write, and I
>can write as fast or faster on my Newton than I can on paper, so it's
>not like the Newton's HWR slowed me down (and yes, I did test this
>myself, timing everything). At issue is what compromises are people
>more willing to live with? A stylus or on-screen keyboard. At the
>moment, people are voting for on-screen keyboards (or Treo pads) ;-)
>Will stylii* come back? I am not going to predict either way. ;-)
>
>*Disclaimer: I use that word lightheartedly, not pretending it's the
>correct spelling. ;-)
>
>--
> -Jon Glass
>Krakow, Poland
><jonglass@usa.net>

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Received on Tue Apr 21 16:27:39 2009