peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (01/17/89)
In article <27304@bu-cs.BU.EDU>, kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) writes: > This sounds like my idea of a portable computer- the Sony > WalkMan Computer. > Uh, oh. I just thought of something. You remember the > pre-calculator nerd with the slide rule hanging on his belt? ... > I reach down for the chord keyboard hanging on my belt (a little > too low) and start groping it as I type out my reply. To anyone else > on the sidewalk it's "instant geek". Think that's bad... imagine you're using a Dataglove for input, having it figure out what you're doing from a spectral keyboard projected in front of you. You're walking down the street, contorting your fingers into typing positions as they rest on nothing, moving the cursor by pointing, etc... they'll think you're on drugs. Or else that you're listening to Michael Jackson. :-> -- Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation. Work: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. `-_-' Home: bigtex!texbell!sugar!peter, peter@sugar.uu.net. 'U` Opinions may not represent the policies of FICC or the Xenix Support group.
kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) (01/18/89)
In article <336@belltec.UUCP> jom@belltec.UUCP (Jerry Merlaine) writes: >I want a walk-around terminal: Chord keyboard (10 keys for one hand, >you type many combinations) under my right hand mounted on my belt at >my side; and a heads-up display that flashes on my glasses from the side. >This way I can walk around and run my terminal at the same time. >The terminal talks infrared or radio to something in the my building. >It has a voice synthesizer plugged into my ear, which helps me wander >around in files. I move to a file on my glasses and have it read >out to me while I'm walking around. > This sounds like my idea of a portable computer- the Sony WalkMan Computer. I would want some simple voice input in addition to the chord keyboard. The CPU unit would be about the size of a portable cassette unit- hang it on one side of the belt and the chord keyboard on the other. A cellular phone connection would make it truly portable. The heads-up display would be very useful for navigating around, especially if the unit had a satellite navigation system so it knew where it was. (These are all ideas from the Tablet, the U of Illinois Apple contest winner for the PC of the year 2000.) I like it. Uh, oh. I just thought of something. You remember the pre-calculator nerd with the slide rule hanging on his belt? I can see myself with one of these units hanging on my belt with the phones and display hanging on my glasses- I get an interesting piece of e-mail as I'm walking down the sidewalk that I just *have* to reply to- I reach down for the chord keyboard hanging on my belt (a little too low) and start groping it as I type out my reply. To anyone else on the sidewalk it's "instant geek". Going to have to think of some way to use this thing without looking like a complete nerd. :-)
hadj@sbcs.sunysb.edu (Mike Hadjimichael) (01/18/89)
In article <27304@bu-cs.BU.EDU>, kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) writes:
< This sounds like my idea of a portable computer- the Sony
< WalkMan Computer. I would want some simple voice input in addition to
...
< Uh, oh. I just thought of something. You remember the
< pre-calculator nerd with the slide rule hanging on his belt? I can
< see myself with one of these units hanging on my belt with the phones
< and display hanging on my glasses- I get an interesting piece of
< e-mail as I'm walking down the sidewalk that I just *have* to reply
< to- I reach down for the chord keyboard hanging on my belt (a little
< too low) and start groping it as I type out my reply. To anyone else
< on the sidewalk it's "instant geek".
<
< Going to have to think of some way to use this thing without
< looking like a complete nerd. :-)
Don't wrap masking tape around the bridge of your glasses!
(or electrical tape, these days...)
-m.
--
{ hadj@sbcs.sunysb.edu {philabs, allegra}!sbcs!hadj }
{ departmentofcomputersciencesunystonybrookstonybrooknyoneonesevenninefour }dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker) (01/19/89)
In article <27304@bu-cs.BU.EDU>, kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) writes: > A cellular phone connection would make it truly portable. The > heads-up display would be very useful for navigating around, > especially if the unit had a satellite navigation system so it knew > where it was. (These are all ideas from the Tablet, the U of Illinois > Apple contest winner for the PC of the year 2000.) I like it. I _never_ want a car phone, I need some privacy! What about sidewalk bumps and trash? You have to have some kinda mini- radar to not bump into strangers... I like to see where I'm going with my own two myopic eyes! I don't like digitized video, even as good as it's going to get. Maybe night-vision would work, infrared to see heat radiate off people. The eyes are a wonderful filter, protect us from going blind looking at the sun's corona in a solar eclipse. > Uh, oh. I just thought of something. You remember the > pre-calculator nerd with the slide rule hanging on his belt? I can > see myself with one of these units hanging on my belt with the phones > and display hanging on my glasses- I get an interesting piece of > e-mail as I'm walking down the sidewalk that I just *have* to reply > to- I reach down for the chord keyboard hanging on my belt (a little > too low) and start groping it as I type out my reply. To anyone else > on the sidewalk it's "instant geek". No, in the near future it will be digitized speech, not pure writing... Maybe if we all learn sign language with gloves it will work, but the world will be a dim place without speaking. > Going to have to think of some way to use this thing without > looking like a complete nerd. :-) Nerds are emotionally-arrested postadolescents, thinking with their high IQ and not feeling subtlety with their hearts.
chou@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Pai H Chou) (01/19/89)
The Walkman Computer was discussed in our "Pippin" proposal, a finalist entry in Apple's contest. But it was only part of a bigger picture. Our proposal includes a desktop version with a module that can recharge the walkman (and for data transfer), electronic papers which are simple computers themselves but can hook up to either the walkman or the desktop computer, and a scanner-printer. I think a portable computer will not be able to completely replace a desktop computer, much like the way component stereos co-exist with walkman. Personal computers will follow the distributed-system trend, because all the devices are becoming smarter. If a general-purpose computer can solve a specialized problem, then a dedicated device can probably do it better. (take music keyboard, for example. Try typing music on your letter keypad!) (or using the mouse, for that matter) Many problems will also be moved to dedicated devices except for the jobs that personal computers are really good at, like number crunching, text/graphics editing, database, programming, and new applications to be dreamed up. Certain ideas may sound good but may not really be that practical. I think not everybody will want (or can afford) a cellular phone, even in the year 2000. A general-purpose computer may be almost as expressive as a Turing Machine, but the fact that it is expressive does not mean people will want to use it to solve all of their problems. -- Pai Chou
bzs@pinocchio.encore.com (Barry Shein) (01/20/89)
Personally I've never seen the attraction of portable computers, I
don't often get the urge to write a program on a bus or plane, I'd
just as soon read a magazine (although I could read the magazine on
the computer at least the magazine costs <$5 if I drop it, lose it
etc, one less thing to worry about.)
In a way it *is* a lot like a portable phone, which would I rather do,
drag a phone around or assume there's one available wherever I go (how
hard *is* it to pull over on the road and find a pay phone? I realize
some folks are in too much of a rush or spend their time in the
boonies but that always costs.)
I think a more useful development would be the ubiquity of computer
stations and, perhaps, national file systems. I go over to the nice
machine in my hotel room, run a credit-card thru the slot and bang,
I'm logged in just as if I was at my usual computer. I can see it now:
WATERBEDS! ADULT MOVIES! UNIX! $39.95/NIGHT!
VACANCIES
More like the ubiquity of telephones (a lot like...and that's no
accident.)
I realize the security problems inherent. One obvious solution is that
I have files I can see "at home" and others which I make available
when on the road thus limiting outside access (and I can encrypt even
those files.) At any rate, I don't think that conversation is all that
useful ("He who steals my purse steals trash!"), solutions for most
people are possible.
Are people really serious that they want a computer they can use while
jogging? Sounds silly to me.
-Barry Shein, ||Encore||kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) (01/20/89)
In article <8901191651.AA10945@pinocchio.UUCP> bzs@pinocchio.encore.com (Barry Shein) writes: > >Personally I've never seen the attraction of portable computers, I >don't often get the urge to write a program on a bus or plane... I wouldn't expect anyone to use a Walkman computer for programming. How about using it to read your electronic Personal Newspaper? Usenet news? E-Mail? Electronic books? Think of uses for computers for people who aren't programmers (at least, not in today's sense of the word programmer). >In a way it *is* a lot like a portable phone, which would I rather do, >drag a phone around or assume there's one available wherever I go (how >hard *is* it to pull over on the road and find a pay phone? I realize >some folks are in too much of a rush or spend their time in the >boonies but that always costs.) > >I think a more useful development would be the ubiquity of computer >stations and, perhaps, national file systems. ... If we had ubiquitous national networks of homogeneous computers, then your phone analogy above would be appropriate. I don't see that happening anytime soon and when it does, I think you will still have to transport your personal environment with you. That could be on an optical storage card or in a Walkman computer. >Are people really serious that they want a computer they can use while >jogging? Sounds silly to me. > I don't think I can read and jog, but I can read and ride the bus and I can take my Walkman computer with me like I now carry appointment books, manila folders, and notebooks. Don't take the "Walkman" appellation too literally. What I think of is "portable" and "personal" when I imagine a personal computer like the Walkman. Of course, the Walkman is only one of many computers I will use regularly. Kent England, Boston University
doug@isishq.FIDONET.ORG (Doug Thompson) (01/22/89)
Portable walkman computers with video displays in eye-glasses . . . tiny keyboards you can use with one hands . . . voice synthesizers . . Such a device would be a very different machine than the machine I'm using to write this . . . *This* is an electronic typewriter for all intents and purposes. I sit at a desk, I peck away at a keyboard and watch my words materialize before me. The actual experience of writing is not a whole lot different than the experience of writing at a typewriter. Of course this machine mails the message to all of you with no special effort. That makes this machine a lot different. But if I were not sitting at the desk doing something to make words appear on screen (paper) the instrument would be different. Heck, I can't carry on a conversation with my wife while writing. This may be Gerald Forditis, not being able to walk down the street and chew gum at the same time. :-) Point is, that full concentration is required for a communication, even if it is a *spoken* communication. When you are having a serious conversation with someone, you aren't doing much of anything else. Either your mind is on the conversation, and you are paying a lot of attention to what you're saying and what you're hearing or you aren't having a serious conversation. I often walk to the store, buy a newspaper, and am inclined to start reading it while walking home. Dangerous! I can do it, but one is liable to bumb into other people, or autos. Riding the train, one can already use one's portable "briefcase" computer. Would the walkman make a lot of difference? Can eyeglasses with visual display devices really do a whole lot better than a good laptop screen? Possibly . . . but it would still occupy one's entire attention, and except for the possibility of taking a smaller machine where a bigger one could not go (the difference between a 35mm camera and a 4 x 5 camera) it doesn't profoundly change the device, methinks. Either you are reading documents and creating documents, or you are doing something else. For people who are mobile, the mobile computer has its advantages. I'm not very mobile and it's very rare that I want to take a computer with me. There are computers at home and computers and work. Whenever I want to sit down and read or write (or sometimes even work) there is always a computer nearby. Whether a large desktop PC or a laptop would make no difference to me. And I won't be reading e-mail while walking down the street no matter what technology is made available. I won't do it at the dinner table, and I wouldn't do it driving in city traffic. A Dvorak keyboard increases typing speed by a factor of two, I think. Anyone who uses a computer a lot quickly gets a pretty good typing speed. Mine's about 70 wpm on a recent test. Dvorak would make that 140. That is getting to the low range of normal speech (or normal speech if you live in the sooooowwwwuuuuuth. As computer communication and use becomes more significant to more people, more people will have vastly improved typing speeds. Kids in school might be using keyboards before they are using pencils before too long. This would suggest that the keyboard is an adequate interface. It can be enhanced and somewhat improved, but not really by orders of magnitude. Generally I can type just about as fast as I can think or speak. When the printing press was invented, a lot more people started to learn to read and write. So the computer will increase the number of folk who can type. I don't really think there will be huge gains in verbal data input. =Doug -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fido 1:221/162 -- 1:221/0 280 Phillip St., UUCP: !watmath!isishq!doug Unit B-4-11 DAS: [DEZCDT]doug Waterloo, Ontario Bitnet: fido@water Canada N2L 3X1 Internet: doug@isishq.math.fidonet.org (519) 746-5022 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
duncan@geppetto.ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan) (01/24/89)
In article <1283.23DA039E@isishq.FIDONET.ORG> doug@isishq.FIDONET.ORG (Doug Thompson) writes: > >Point is, that full concentration is required for a communication, >even if it is a *spoken* communication. When you are having a serious >conversation with someone, you aren't doing much of anything else. >Either your mind is on the conversation, and you are paying a lot of >attention to what you're saying and what you're hearing or you aren't >having a serious conversation. [...] >And I won't be reading e-mail while walking down the street no matter >what technology is made available. I won't do it at the dinner table, >and I wouldn't do it driving in city traffic. I think this is an important point. One of the issues with person-to-person communication is that the words are only part of the message AND the informa- tion they convey may only be part of the information with which we are con- cerned. An interesting sociological phenomenon of electronic mail is that it seems immediate and 'personal,' but it can be quite impersonal with the focus always on the words and ideas and not often on the person -- ad hominem attacks are, in my view, attacks at anonymous people in one sense which is why I believe flaming is so acceptable: there's a sense of gamesmanship to it! >Generally I can type just about as fast as I can think or speak. Yes, but I can scan a page of text on paper or on a screen faster than I can listen to a person say the same things! The issue of voice input/output is often discussed but I have NEVER seen a serious discussion of the impact on comprehension of the material conveyed in this way. Is everyone assuming it will be used for low-bandwidth informational needs -- speaking from a cognitive rather than electronic perspective? Speaking only for myself, of course, I am... Scott P. Duncan (duncan@ctt.bellcore.com OR ...!bellcore!ctt!duncan) (Bellcore, 444 Hoes Lane RRC 1H-210, Piscataway, NJ 08854) (201-699-3910 (w) 201-463-3683 (h))
dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker) (01/25/89)
In article <1283.23DA039E@isishq.FIDONET.ORG>, doug@isishq.FIDONET.ORG (Doug Thompson) writes: > And I won't be reading e-mail while walking down the street no matter > what technology is made available. I won't do it at the dinner table, > and I wouldn't do it driving in city traffic. It's _not_ polite, like reading at the table (I read when I'm alone, but only that). > speed. Mine's about 70 wpm on a recent test. Dvorak would make that > 140. That is getting to the low range of normal speech (or normal > speech if you live in the sooooowwwwuuuuuth. About the South, people talk so unintelligently up North, they talk so fast that they aren't understandable, it sounds like the Tower of Babel. Who sez that Southern people speak reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaalllllllll slllllloooooowwww? Who dat? Who dat? Davis H. Tucker IV
gordon@banyan.UUCP (Gordon Lee@Eng@Banyan) (01/28/89)
>In article <8901191651.AA10945@pinocchio.UUCP> bzs@pinocchio.encore.com (Barry Shein) writes: > >Personally I've never seen the attraction of portable computers, I >don't often get the urge to write a program on a bus or plane, Portables aren't sold to porgrammers, most of them are sold to travelling salesmen and other mobile service oriented workers who use them strictly to run turnkey applications. Last year I had a housemate who had his own business selling car maintenance protection plans to new and used car dealers who would pass them on to the sucker, oops, customer who bought the car. He was constantly travelling from dealership to dealership all over New England and New York. I only saw him one or two nights a week. He would examine cars and keep detailed records of what his plans were covering and charge the dealer accordingly. He knew very little about computers but knew enough to want to get all these paper records into a portable. Very sensible, because then he could print off tidy reports of inventory etc for the dealer, get signed receipts, etc, etc. And best of all, his client dealers would be impressed with his high-tech professionalism as he walked into their office and powered up the portable. He wanted me to serve as his technical consultant but I didn't have the time so refered him to someone else. I was quite suprised at how much money he considered this paltry dbase project was worth to him. It opened my eyes to what has been the real driving force behind the PC/MS-DOS market. The business market (the masses) does not mind spending what to me seem like exorbitant prices for very simple (yet adequate) levels of technology. Price a product for its perceived value, not its intrinsic value! -- ========================================================================== Gordon Lee banyan!gordon@bu-it.bu.edu or gordon@bu-it.bu.edu Banyan Systems, Inc. Westboro, MA
dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker) (01/30/89)
In article <380@banyan.UUCP>, gordon@banyan.UUCP (Gordon Lee@Eng@Banyan) writes: > >In article <8901191651.AA10945@pinocchio.UUCP> bzs@pinocchio.encore.com (Barry Shein) writes: > >Personally I've never seen the attraction of portable computers, I > >don't often get the urge to write a program on a bus or plane, When I was a cockroach programmer, I took my time and yes, I did every- thing that a structured designer does to _not_ make mistakes in Compil- ed Basic. I tested my systems and wrote a three-hundred page manual for my users. I jot my ideas on paper and then dwell on them. The hardware I was dealing with was Radio Shack, and then after that the first IBM PC before Compaq. I dislike extremely Dbase II and VisiCalc and all its versions. I travelled all through the South, Texas, New Mexico, and even Wyoming working for a major construction company. > Portables aren't sold to programmers, most of them are sold to travelling > salesmen and other mobile service oriented workers who use them strictly > to run turnkey applications. I agree w/ your estimation, only exception is field engineers with major telecommunications equipment, who can do wonders with a portable PC w/ a hard disk. > It opened my eyes to what has been the real driving force behind the PC/MS-DOS > market. The business market (the masses) does not mind spending what to me > seem like exorbitant prices for very simple (yet adequate) levels of > technology. Price a product for its perceived value, not its intrinsic value! Ah, there's the rub. To paraphrase Frank Zappa, 'most Americans wouldn't know a good software package if it bit them in the ass.' I agree w/ your estimate of what software prices should be, the only thing is, the masses steal software like a bandit! They can buy $5.95 programs that will copy disks beyond number... Davis Tucker @ Bell Labs Denver
jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) (01/31/89)
In article <380@banyan.UUCP>, Gordon Lee@Eng@Banyan writes: > Price a product for its perceived value, not its intrinsic value! Does this mean it's OK to start an extended discussion on the comparative morality of various pricing mechanisms? {|8^)] Jeff Daiell INDEPENDENCE FOR TEXAS! -- "It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness." --- Old Proverb "Actually, it's better to do both -- just as practical and a lot more fun." --- Semi-Young Jeff
dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker) (02/04/89)
In article <2941@ficc.uu.net>, jeffd@ficc.uu.net (jeff daiell) writes: > > INDEPENDENCE FOR TEXAS! Mr. Daiell, you're going against Sam Houston's express wishes. Of course, Sam opposed joining the Confederacy. I'm a Son of the Am- erican Revolution, Son of the Texas Revolution, and also a Son of the Confederacy. I'm a fourth-generation Houstonian, my great-grand- father is the first of the line of Davis H. Tuckers. I'm the fourth and I will be the last. With the bust going strong in '89, and with a so-called Texan (actually, Bush is a Yankee carpetbagger) in the Presidency, who has gotten a lot of Texans in the Cabinet. What do you think about the Waxahachie SuperCollider? Texas has never had it so good since Sam Rayburn was the Speaker of the House.
childers@avsd.UUCP (Richard Childers) (02/08/89)
In article <10184@drutx.ATT.COM> dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker) writes: >I'm a Son of the American Revolution, Son of the Texas Revolution, >and also a Son of the Confederacy. I'm a fourth-generation Houstonian, >my great-grandfather is the first of the line of Davis H. Tuckers. According to my mom, my dad ( Dallas Childers ) is a third or fourth cousin of Sam Houston, himself. According to some geneology she did with the cooperation of his parents, while they were alive ... Ah guess what they say is true, 'bout bad blood showin' true ... (-: -- richard -- * "Do not look at my outward shape, but take what is in my hand." * * -- Jalaludin Rumi, 1107-1173 * * ..{amdahl|decwrl|octopus|pyramid|ucbvax}!avsd.UUCP!childers@tycho * * AMPEX Corporation - Audio-Visual Systems Division, R & D *