fozzard@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Richard Fozzard) (03/23/90)
I just read about Sony's recent announcement in EETimes of the Palmtop computer w/fuzzy logic to do character recognition using a "light pen". It also claims to have a variety of "personal info mgt" software built in (word processor, graphics, scheduler, calculator, etc) and sells for $1400. Is this the Ultimate Laptop some of us here have been lusting for? For now, it only handles Kanji characters, but if it can recognize 3500 Kanji ideographs, it seems a simple matter to get it to manage the <100 ASCII chars most of us use. Anyone know anything more about this device? rich ======================================================================== Richard Fozzard "Serendipity empowers" Univ of Colorado/CIRES/NOAA R/E/FS 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303 fozzard@boulder.colorado.edu (303)497-6011 or 444-3168
garye@microsoft.UUCP (Gary ERICSON) (04/10/90)
>Not to mention the even larger marketplace of poor typists throughout >the world! I agree that a handwriting interface could be very important for oriental languages with huge character sets, and that it could also help those who can't type or who are computerphobics largely because of the keyboard interface, but I think everyone keeps missing a much more important point. I've read and heard many people saying that it would be handy to have computing power in a carry-around size. But in the same breath, palmtops are decried because they are too small. Why? Because it's too difficult to type on a keyboard so tiny. And then when a new palmtop comes out with a non-keyboard interface, it's only discussed from the point of generically comparing a keyboard and handwriting interface. And then, of course, the handwriting interface is pushed off in some specialized corner because, of course, typing is much more efficient than writing by hand. It seems to me, though, that the revolution here comes from the fact that a handwriting interface is *much better* in a handheld size like this than a tiny keyboard would be. I think that when people begin realizing this, these devices are going to explode in popularity. Not because it's good for non-typists or strictly pictorial languages, but because it finally opens the door to computers you can carry in your pocket. >>Definitely an interesting development. >Definitely an understatement. Most definitely. Gary Ericson - Microsoft - Work Group Apps
davidc@vlsisj.VLSI.COM (David Chapman) (04/11/90)
In article <54020@microsoft.UUCP> garye@microsoft.UUCP (Gary ERICSON) writes: >... And then, of course, the >handwriting interface is pushed off in some specialized corner because, of >course, typing is much more efficient than writing by hand. I don't know about you, but I get serious writer's cramp after only about a page or so of writing. Maybe it's just because I'm left-handed, but a keyboard is so much more efficient for me (3-4x) that a stylus interface just isn't going to work. Having that *plus* a keyboard would be nice. >... I think that when people begin realizing this, >these devices are going to explode in popularity. Not because it's good >for non-typists or strictly pictorial languages, but because it finally >opens the door to computers you can carry in your pocket. Again, since I'm left-handed there is a pretty large minumum size for any kind of a notepad, electronic or otherwise. I need a place to put my hand while I write at the left margin. Palm-sized won't work unless I have a place to put it down. And then I probably wouldn't need a palm- sized computer. Of course, the converse of small is more powerful. If they can fit that much power into a palm-sized computer, then the laptops will be proportionally more powerful. And I can't argue with that. Hmmm, maybe I should learn Hebrew or Arabic and write right-to-left... -- David Chapman {known world}!decwrl!vlsisj!fndry!davidc vlsisj!fndry!davidc@decwrl.dec.com
brendan@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au (Brendan Mahony) (04/11/90)
garye@microsoft.UUCP (Gary ERICSON) writes: >>Not to mention the even larger marketplace of poor typists throughout >>the world! >are decried because they are too small. Why? Because it's too difficult >to type on a keyboard so tiny. And then when a new palmtop comes out with >a non-keyboard interface, it's only discussed from the point of generically >comparing a keyboard and handwriting interface. And then, of course, the >handwriting interface is pushed off in some specialized corner because, of >course, typing is much more efficient than writing by hand. If typing is so much more efficient why were there so few typists prior to the "computer revolution". People use computers because being able to "edit" what you write is more efficient than not being able to. People use keyboards because that the only way to get to a computer. Most of them never get much beyond pecking with two fingers. Sure it's possible to type at 200 words a minute, but can you think at 200 words a minute. For me and most I think a keyboard only gets in the way. It fill up my desk and cramps my fingers. This handwriting interface is going to put keyboards back in the typing pool where they belong. Brendan -- Brendan Mahony | Department of Computer Science | University of Queensland | Australia |