[NTLK] The iPad is great, but...

Carlos Pessoa carlos.pessoa at gmail.com
Tue Apr 6 13:51:25 EDT 2010


I never mentioned that Pogo Stylus is as good as the Newton pen. I
agree with you, it is not. However, the best input device is the one
that works for you. Inputing info with my finger does not bother me.
Even the pogo does not bother me. If you feel that a Pogo Stylus or
your finger will not do the trick, don't buy the iPad. Just accept the
fact that there are some things that work better for some people, even
though they may not work for you.

I found this iPhone app that is the closest to what the Newton is able
to do, but it still misses a lot of features. It, however, presents a
clever way to handle handwrite input with your finger. It's pretty
much like ink text input on the Newton.

http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/notetaker/



On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 1:10 PM, Ross Deihm <adventuresindining at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm sorry, but Pogo Stylus and finger input is nowhere as tactile as a TTF
> Screen and a pen stylus. It bothers me that such things are often pointed to
> as a solution. I have a touch screen Android Phone and it makes sense that
> this small device could maximize screen space and input area using a touch
> screen, not requiring a user to pull out a stylus. This fingertip method
> does not translate to larger screens. Touch screens of this type limit the
> input method totally to onscreen keyboards (costing display space) and for
> people to adapt to input. This forced input is rather annoying to me.
>
> I know the Newton was made at a time when alternative input methods were
> more explored and accepted by older business people who may have still been
> on the hunt and peck method of keyboard use, but it's not something that
> should be ignored, or viewed as "old school." I for one like to sit down and
> write sometimes, it's very natural and a fun way of getting information into
> digital form. It also allows for drawing and sketching with out downloading
> or paying for extra software.
>
> I said it when I saw it: No Pen = No Sale for me.
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:58 PM, Carlos Pessoa <carlos.pessoa at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Actually I don't mind Apple not including this Notes app with the
>> iPad. They can offer whatever they want bundled with the device to
>> meet the demand for the niche they envision using the device. However,
>> it astonishes me that not a single developer, even the ones that are
>> coding note taking apps, copied or improved the Newton "Notes". If you
>> don't feel like inputing data with your finger, you can always buy a
>> pogo stylus to get the job done. Good HWR might be more difficult to
>> implement, but all the other features seems to be pretty doable.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Lord Groundhog <lordgroundhog at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > ~~~ On 2010/04/06 15:38, Carlos Pessoa at carlos.pessoa at gmail.com wrote
>> ~~~
>> >
>> >> ...                                                            How
>> >> come no one could develop something similar to the iPhone OS
>> >> platform?? ...
>> >
>> > Maybe because King Steven the Big Jobs neglected to see the point of
>> > including HWR and a stylus?  As much as I like the Notes app on my
>> Newtons,
>> > I would hate -- yes, that's the word, **hate** -- to be using it with my
>> > fingertip.  In fact, I just tried writing a sentence on my Newt with my
>> > finger.  It's a really unsatisfying, "wrong" feeling, like eating an ice
>> > cream soda, with mint chip ice cream covered in fudge sauce and whipped
>> > cream and sliced almonds, with your fingers.  The sheer pleasure of the
>> > stylus sliding over the screen with that ever-so-slight friction is a
>> > tactile pleasure I would miss.
>> >
>> >> Is it that difficult?
>> >
>> > It is if there's no HWR, and only a choice of an optional real keyboard
>> or
>> > an on-screen keyboard.  No, actually, it's not so much "difficult" as
>> > "unaesthetic" and pointless.
>> >
>> > To be a little serious here, I really think that the primary issue at
>> least
>> > for iPad 1.0, is aesthetics + the projected market niche.  By market
>> niche I
>> > mean what Apple sees us doing with it; Jobs' "default" concept of what
>> the
>> > iPad brings to users.  By aesthetics I mean how Apple sees us doing those
>> > things.  And to me, the way to define what those things will mean most of
>> > the time is summed up by an image.   It's an image of people relaxing at
>> a
>> > sidewalk table at a café, or sitting in their living room or in bed or at
>> > the breakfast table, or perhaps even lounging by a pool (carefully!!) at
>> > home or on holiday, paging through the news or watching some web media or
>> > tapping out a brief e-mail or two, and maybe the odd tweet (yes I know;
>> most
>> > tweets are odd).
>> >
>> > So in my imagination, what are the primary actions by the iPad user,
>> > according to this aesthetic interpretation of what I believe is the
>> initial
>> > projected market niche?  Looking, turning pages, selecting, the
>> occasional
>> > formation of a few words or sentences by tapping on the on-screen
>> keyboard,
>> > and most of all, relaxing and consuming e-stuff.  Now why on earth would
>> you
>> > include even the regular Notes app with that?  That would be like
>> installing
>> > a wall of free weights, a squat rack and a Smith machine in a flotation
>> > tank.
>> >
>> > For me that's just not a tool I can use.  If it weren't so expensive I
>> could
>> > see getting one as a recreational/passive consumer device --  if I needed
>> > one of those.  Now my Newton -- well, it's done over 5 hours of hard
>> graft
>> > so far today, and I don't even use it for e-mails yet.
>> >
>> > OTOH, I suspect (or should I say "hope"?) the iPad will grow up to be a
>> real
>> > work-tool someday.  I can see it now.  Of course in my ideal world, it'd
>> > have to become that bit smaller so it would be more portable, and it
>> would
>> > have a stylus and HWR, and fully integrated and interacting killer apps.
>>  Oh
>> > wait, I'm describing a Newton....  ;-)
>> >
>> >
>> > Just my 2 tiny, copper-coloured coins of negligible value in the
>> (inflated)
>> > currency of your choice.
>> >
>> >
>> > Shalom.
>> > Christian
>> >
>> > ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
>> >
>> > ³Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a Newton.²
>> >            -- what Arthur C. Clarke meant
>> >
>> > http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzpdPJ7Zr4
>> > (With thanks to Chod Lang)
>> > http://tinyurl.com/29y2dl
>> > http://www.diyplanner.com/node/3942
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
>> > Fight Spam.  Join EuroCAUCE: http://www.euro.cauce.org/
>> > Get MUGged and love it: http://www.oxmug.org/
>> > Join today: http://www.newtontalk.net/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>
>
>
> --
> Ross Deihm
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