flynn23 wrote:
] okay, I predicted that BlueTooth would die a horrible death.
] But this would make me more wrong than right.

I disagree in any case. Bluetooth, like XML, works because it standardizes things people do anyway. Wireless keyboards and mice. PDA/cellphone integration with computers. "Beaming" digital business cards. Laptops talking to desktop printers without a print server.

These aren't very exciting applications and none of them are "enabled" by bluetooth, but bluetooth makes them interoperable, which will make them finally more ubiquitous and not simply a feature of a particular vendor's equipment.

Decius wrote:
] flynn23 wrote:
] ] okay, I predicted that BlueTooth would die a horrible death.
]
] ] But this would make me more wrong than right.
]
] I disagree in any case. Bluetooth, like XML, works because it
] standardizes things people do anyway. Wireless keyboards and
] mice. PDA/cellphone integration with computers. "Beaming"
] digital business cards. Laptops talking to desktop printers
] without a print server.
]
] These aren't very exciting applications and none of them are
] "enabled" by bluetooth, but bluetooth makes them
] interoperable, which will make them finally more ubiquitous
] and not simply a feature of a particular vendor's equipment.

Re-read my statement. I'm saying I was wrong. Mostly. I don't think Bluetooth will live as _the_ standard for doing these things. It's too slow. But my original guess was that higher protocols would marginalize Bluetooth's impact (read: IP).

Decius wrote:
] ] Understand that 802.15.3 is a high data rate Personal
] ] Area Network with a range of about 10 meters. This isn't
] ] a WiFi competitor. Think of it as a kind of Super
] ] Bluetooth, capable of sending video over short distances
] ] without interference and with true quality of service,
] ] which 802.11 can't provide. Conventional wisdom says a
] ] deal will shortly be worked out in the IEEE, Multiband
] ] OFDM will become the standard and we'll see products
] ] appear in late 2004 or early 2005.
]
] An interesting discussion of new networking protocols, related
] to tablet PCs. I think tablets will be great as long as you
] can flip them around into a laptop mode. I saw something like
] that at phreaknic. Little $500 machine. Perfect for couch
] surfing...

why would you want a laptop form factor if you could have a tablet? The laptop is a 20 year old ergonomic factor in the history of humanity (100 if you count the typewriter as a precursor). The tablet is about as old as humans. Which do you think has got more evolutionary karma?

you can argue about the efficiency merits of a keyboard, but free form writing is still the standard of communicating and will be for quite some time. Particularly in certain professions, like legal, medical, or the arts. It's amazing to me that we haven't had this type of form factor earlier! Had it not been for the big VC blow out in the early 90s with Go and Pen and General Magic, we might've had a quantum leap in computing 10 fucking years ago!

I like the idea of a computing device that's lightweight, easy and familiar to interact with, works in absolutely any situation or environment (school, car, space, etc), and doesn't require the entire universe to re-align itself to its form factor and impracticality (poor weight distribution, doesn't travel well on a bus, abysmal usage ergonomics, etc)

flynn23 wrote:
] why would you want a laptop form factor if you could have a
] tablet? The laptop is a 20 year old ergonomic factor in the
] history of humanity (100 if you count the typewriter as a
] precursor). The tablet is about as old as humans. Which do you
] think has got more evolutionary karma?

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 want something with both form factors. Something that transforms. There are times when I am doing something limited, like reading, and I want a mostly output device, and I wouldn't mind writing in a url or two if it means the keyboard goes away, and then there are times when I'm writing software or long emails and I want the keyboard there.

But if I can't have it both ways, I'm going to choose a laptop over a tablet any day. So what if the environment has to adapt; if people have to get used to looking at my screen in meetings. We can redesign the environment to work around that more effectively. Buy meeting tables with built in depressions for laptops so you can use your machine without hiding your face... We did it for the automobile.

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.

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). 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.

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.

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 migh... [ Read More (0.4k in body) ]