noteworthy wrote:
] The primary data input device is based on the mechanical
] typewriter -- still!

I don't expect this to change. I think people underestimate the typewriter.

] Given this staid hardware landscape, it comes as no surprise
] that user interfaces are stagnant and 3D visual metaphors
] have not caught on.

You can buy data gloves. At Fry's. They work regardless of the kind of PC that you have, using standard interfaces like USB. 3D has had trouble taking off even in the gaming world, where it is easy to make things that are compelling. I don't know why. The fact is that #d interfaces work best when they are immersive, and prolonged use of immersive interfaces causes health problems that are intractible.

] Ultimately, file system design is constrained by the
] block-structured nature of the hard disk drive.

But the hard disk drive is a component.

Whether we are talking about new screens, new input devices, new hard drives, new processors, or whatever, all of these things are components. Making a PC is essentially the task of integrating components. New components that are interesting build a market on their own long before they become integrated into off the shelf PCs. The difference between PCs and cars is that PCs provide standardized interfaces between components, and its trivial to replace on component with another. Its much easier to replace the case on your ATX system then it is to replace the body on your Model T. The result is that there is innovation in components and innovation in software that makes use of those components, but there is little innovation in the actual integration task.

RE: How to Build a Better PC, by David Gelernter