From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Wed Mar 17 2004 - 16:20:52 PST
That's the problem...
You don't think that there is anything wrong with a
keyboard...and neither does most of the drones in this
world...
There's no fresh thinking...
I don't know of anything better than a keyboard
either...but that's not the point!
When the Newton came out, there was nothing like it.
AT&T had just come out with the EO, and that used a
pen for data input. It was revolutionary, but poorly
implemented.
But it took someone on the Newton team to say, "let's
throw out convention...get rid of what is expected and
do something different..."
That's the key..."do something different"
There's been nothing different since the ill-fated
Magic Cap OS...
I'm not saying that pen input is the panacea
either...like I said above, I don't know what is. I'm
not a "blue sky" thinker...
But I DO believe that there is something out there
better than 104 push buttons that need to pressed in a
certain order to create an understandable
communication. It just annoys me when new technology
is touted and it turns out to be an "also-ran" device
that appeals to the lowest common denominator.
I want to see some fresh thinking...something that
will make me say...(in the best Keaneau Reeves voice)
"whoa..."
That's what the Newton did...when I first used a
Newton (Marco in my case) I used it and said,
"whoa...this just...WORKS..." it just "did"...
The flurry of handhelds that followed the Newton were
attempts to take that spotlight and nothing came close
except for the Magic Cap...I also liked the Simon
too...but since then...nothing...nothing at all has
made me say "whoa"...and honestly, it's a little
disappointing.
Spend some time reading the TransHuman News Group and
see what these free thinkers are coming up with...this
is futurist thought...The distinction between the
human and the machine should be invisable. The Machine
should be intuitive and "just work" without making the
human bend to it's will...
and I'm certainly not one of those "one-eyed Apple
zealots". Anyone on this list will attest to that!
In fact, I absolutly will have nothing to do with the
blasted machines...it's just that the Newton fullfills
a niche in my routine that makes me forget that it's
even there...it just....works...
...whoa...
Ed
web/gadget guru
http://newton.tek-ed.com (download Newton packages)
--- Morgan Nichol <newton_at_the-monkey.net> wrote:
> What a load of rubbish. Society is doomed because
> that thing has a
> keyboard? I beg your pardon, Ed?
<snip>
> I don't believe a keyboard is anything like archaic.
> Nothing is faster
> for getting text out of your head and into a your
> choice of device.
<snip>
> (I don't believe anyone in their right mind would
> suggest pen computing
> as superior to keyboarding for data entry - except
> maybe for a very
> brief note, or a quick sketch - so I'll just drop in
> this snark and go
> no further on that point.)
>
> This place is bad enough with all the one-eyed Apple
> zealots, without
> getting all worked up by a little gadget.
>
> Regards,
> Morgan
=====
"China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese."
- Charles De Gaulle, former French President
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