kevin@msa3b.UUCP (Kevin P. Kleinfelter) (10/13/89)
We are interested in VERY SMALL terminals (or PCs running terminal emulation). We want to put these machines on very crowded desks. We only need a small screen (40 columns, 12 lines), although we do not object to larger screens. Serial communication at 2400 baud would be enough. If they are small and light enough, we'd mount them from a swing-arm (like a desk lamp). Reliability is important. If others are interested, I'll summarize in comp.terminals. -- Kevin Kleinfelter @ Management Science America, Inc (404) 239-2347 gatech!nanovx!msa3b!kevin
gilbert@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Gilbert Cockton) (10/17/89)
In article <1151@msa3b.UUCP> kevin@msa3b.UUCP (Kevin P. Kleinfelter) writes: >We are interested in VERY SMALL terminals (or PCs running terminal >emulation). We want to put these machines on very crowded desks. >We only need a small screen (40 columns, 12 lines), although we do >not object to larger screens. > >If they are small and light enough, we'd mount them from a swing-arm >(like a desk lamp). From an ergonomic (human factors) viewpoint, this looks like risking giving people an unpleasant workstation (in the original meaning - i.e. not just the terminal, but the desk etc. as well). Only if you can mount one on a swing arm could things be acceptable, but remember that things don't have to be that small to be mounted on such mechanisms - a good office furniture catalogue will have kit capable of taking a sensible sized monitor. Such set ups are common in WP environments. Remember that small displays in the wrong place will make operators unhappy, and this could put them off the whole application, and thus you. If you want more business, it may be worth getting expert advice. I'm sure there's a workstation designer near you who could advise you more - try the Human Factors society. Sorry about short tone - I haven't got time to soften this up. -- Gilbert Cockton, Department of Computing Science, The University, Glasgow gilbert@uk.ac.glasgow.cs <europe>!ukc!glasgow!gilbert