inignoct wrote:
] Decius wrote:
] ] Clearly the keyboard, as it is the most evolved form. Go
] ] failed because people want to type. How long has it been
] since
] ] you tried to write something extensive, like an essay, with
] a
] ] pen? It is not a pleasant experience, let me assure you.
] ] Writing with a pen HURTS. My fingers are usually throbbing
] ] after an hour or so. I can go for days on a keyboard, and I
] ] write faster on it too. Pressing a button is always going to
]
] ] take less time then drawing a letter regardless of your
] ] proficiency level.
]
] I feel like a convertible is a deisrable form factor, if only
] because i'm so used to typing (see compaq for the best tablet
] currently available). I think the pain issue of writing would
] go away if we did it more often. my hands hurt from writing a
] lot because i haven't written more than a page in a long time,
] but in high school and in college when i didn't use a computer
] all the time, i handwrote *tons* and my hands were no less
] tired than now (or, i should say, hand... theres an implicit
] efficiency gain in utilizing both hands). I used to take up
] to 40 or 50 pages of notes over a few hours of class time...
] and then do the majority of my homework with pencil and
] paper... no huge issue then, though i couldn't do it now.

a point I was going to raise to Decius. Thanks!

] i have two arguments in favor of handwriting systems, the
] first of which involves pace directly... i believe people
] think harder about what they're going to write when they do so
] by hand, precisely *because* there's a higher cost to it.
] this is a good thing, especially in areas where the content
] tends to be traditional (sentences, etc, not code or
] commands).

agreed.

] the other argument is more practical, and stems
] from my number one complaint about tablets, which is that
] they're too damn thick. It's simply not the same to lay a 1.5
] inch piece of plastic on the table and write on it as it is to
] lay a .1 inch sheaf of paper down and write -- it's
] uncomfortable. thus, the thinner the tablet is, the better,
] which is, of course, in direct opposition to all the other
] features of the device (computing power, battery life, and the
] existence of a keyboard). Redesigning our ergonomics is
] possible, but too long term.

this is not a hard problem to solve. In fact, it won't be but 3 years or so before we've reached that form factor, provided another stupid meltdown of common sense doesn't happen. My original point was more a slam on the fact that it's taken too long to develop in this direction. Had we kept up with the development that was started in 1993, we'd already have legal pad thickness devices. Who knows what other technology might have also been accelerated to support this form factor (fuel cells?)

As for the keyboard issue, yes, I agree that for some tasks it's the preferred method for input. But I would not count those as the majority of uses for a computing device. When you consider that after 25+ years of investing in the paperless society, we've yet to achieve that goal. Why? It's not that paper is preferable to any other media. It's because no other form factor has supplanted its ease of use. Had we continued to try and bridge that gap with computing, I think we would've achieved a higher return on the paperless society investment. It's certainly reasonable to consider a Bluetooth or UWB keyboard as a standard option for any tablet device. You can use it when you need to, but it's not standard or even required. Cuz really, what's a keyboard? $20? $50 if it's really really cool?

] The best solution is a to create a system that is effectively
] a modern laptop that *separates* at the hinge (and in which
] the computing is bundled with the display). It's conceptually
] no different than the keyboards that come with modern pda's.
] they don't even have to be bundled together... just an extra
] purchase option.

I disagree. I think that a keyboard or mouse is an accessory akin to a case or extra battery. If you want it, great. But the device should be conceived and executed to be independantly functional of those things. They are plusses, but not requirements.

But then again, if we take this to the extreme, I would advocate that speech is really what we're looking for. My ideal device would be a tablet form factor that I can talk to. In cases where I don't really want to hand write things, I can talk to it. Speech is by far the most efficient means of input (until we get that whole wetware interface working). If you've ever seen the Apple Knowledge Navigator concept video, then you know exactly what **COULD'VE BEEN**!!!

Which brings me ultimately to my real point: why are we still dinking around with windows and desktop GUIs? I mean, it's 2000 and fucking three! We should have fully funtioning AI subsystems by now! And don't tell me that these things are not ready for prime time. There's was a very damn good speech recog system available nearly 10 years ago in the PBX world called Wildfire. Sure, it's not HAL 9000, but it was incredibly functional. 10 years people! Remember what you're rig looked like 10 years ago? Oh yeah... you were jockin the 386 with 8MB of RAM and a 14.4 modem. This is pathetic. The OS monopoly has slowed innovation in practical computing to basically nothing. Even Apple has jettisoned it's R&D in these areas due to survival needs. There should be something close to Moore's law for software and OS. There's no reason why that innovation should be materially slower than the hardware curve.

::sigh::

RE: UWB might be coming sooner than you think