I won't call you crazy (last time I checked, I win on that count, at
least by the metric of number/potency of meds to keep me sane), but I
WILL call you way too conservative and focussed on the short-term.
> Let's break this down 1 by 1;
>
> Pen based.
>
> Have you tried to write a letter longhand lately? It's a pain.
Anything
> more than signing my name and I'm out of there.
Sure, I'm the same way. I won't start writing email with a pen. But...
1. Believe it or not, there are lots of folks who don't type 100+
wpm.
2. Even fewer know how to type Chinese at 100+ wpm. (And China is a
big market.)
3. A pen is more convenient for taking down short notes mixed with
pictures and arrows, e.g. drawing little maps when someone gives you
directions over the phone. Drawing with a mouse just sucks.
> Also, let's not even
> mention recognition problems. Ever use a computer after a few drinks,
or
> when you were really really tired? Ms can throw in quad P-PRO II
mmxFXZx
> Squared and I don't think they are going to overcome the problems.
Think long term. Think 10-15 years. Think Moore's law.
I've seen steady progress in handwriting recognition over the years,
enough progress to indicate to me that it's largely just a problem of
MIPS...
> Little Voice dictation boxes.
>
> ??? huh ??? Ever record yourself? Ever hear what you sound like?
Pauses,
> time out to get your thoughts together etc. I mean look, we have
really
> really nice Cray's (or SGI's) with university people sitting around
with
> nothing better to do than get this stuff working and I still haven't
seen a
> good real world demo of this technology.
But again, there's been steady progress. And don't forget that today's
Cray is tomorrow's junker PC-XT.
> So you ask "Oh great CobraBoy sage of FoRK what do you see?"
>
> Well what I would like to see it more connectivity.
Yeah, but of *course* we'll have this. Everyone already *knows* that
we'll have this.
> Have you even seen Now
> Up to Date? (www.nowsoft.com) This is what I want. I want everything
that I
> own connected. I want to have a browser as the frontend to all I do.
If I
> have to program my VCR for Millenum I just want to drag a little
record
> icon over to my VCR interface timeline and be done with it. Then if
the
> tape isn't in it I want it to tell me.
But wouldn't it make more sense to just say, "tape Millenium for me?"
(BTW I see from the paragraph above and your sig below that you have
excellent taste not only in music and movies, but in TV as well.)
> I want my car to notify me either on my Pilot or Newton or desktop
machine
> that my oil needs changing. Then I want it to look at my schedule, see
> choice of openings contact Jiffy Lube, confirm those and give me a
choice
> of when to do it. Then I will be reminded of that.
Nah, I want my car to drive its own damn self to the shop when it needs
to. I don't have time to deal with its stupid problems. (Which is why
I'm been driving on a mini-spare for the last two weeks...)
> If I'm going to Downtown LA at 9:00 I want my desktop machine to
understand
> that and monitor traffic and tell me before I leave if there are any
major
> problems.
Doesn't needing to drive to downtown LA at 9:00 count as a major problem
in itself? :-)
> I DON'T want a computer to talk to me, and I don't want to talk to a
> computer. Likewise I don't wish to emotionally bond with my computer.
The
> little smiling Mac face is about as much as I'm comfortable with.
I hate to say this, but you sure sound like an 80's DOS-head when you
say things like that... "I don't want to have to push a mouse around and
deal with stupid menus and garbage cans, dammit. I already *know* how to
use a computer. If I want to see what files I have, I just want to type
"dir", I don't want to have to pop up the right window, then click down
to the folder I want, then try to figure out what all the little file
icons are supposed to mean, and scroll around because the icons take too
much space..."
Besides, who's asking that you emotionally bond with your computer?
That's quite a step from just talking to it.
> Tim
>
> "For the record you're no loser"
>
> "Yeah, but I'm no Eddie Van Blunhdt either..."
>
> <> tbyars@earthlink.net <>
- Joe
Joseph S. Barrera III (joebar@microsoft.com)
http://research.microsoft.com/~joebar
Phone, Redmond: (206) 936-3837; San Francisco: (415) 778-8227
Pager (100 char max): 1338993@roam.pagemart.net or (800) 864-8444
-----Original Message-----
From: CobraBoy [SMTP:tbyars@earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 1997 9:57 AM
To: FoRK@pest.w3.org
Subject: RE: Gates on CSPAN
Someone named Joe Barrera at 9:41 AM -0700 on 5/1/97,
wrote the following :
* So what's your guess of the future? Keyboards and mice
and monitors
* forever?
*
* - Joe
Well in a word yeah. Of course I also believe that a car
will always have
four wheels just like that old horse and buggy grandpa
used to use. Call me
crazy.
Let's break this down 1 by 1;
Pen based.
Have you tried to write a letter longhand lately? It's a
pain. Anything
more than signing my name and I'm out of there. Also,
let's not even
mention recognition problems. Ever use a computer after
a few drinks, or
when you were really really tired? Ms can throw in quad
P-PRO II mmxFXZx
Squared and I don't think they are going to overcome the
problems.
Little Voice dictation boxes.
??? huh ??? Ever record yourself? Ever hear what you
sound like? Pauses,
time out to get your thoughts together etc. I mean look,
we have really
really nice Cray's (or SGI's) with university people
sitting around with
nothing better to do than get this stuff working and I
still haven't seen a
good real world demo of this technology.
So you ask "Oh great CobraBoy sage of FoRK what do you
see?"
Well what I would like to see it more connectivity. Have
you even seen Now
Up to Date? (www.nowsoft.com) This is what I want. I
want everything that I
own connected. I want to have a browser as the frontend
to all I do. If I
have to program my VCR for Millenum I just want to drag
a little record
icon over to my VCR interface timeline and be done with
it. Then if the
tape isn't in it I want it to tell me.
I want my car to notify me either on my Pilot or Newton
or desktop machine
that my oil needs changing. Then I want it to look at my
schedule, see
choice of openings contact Jiffy Lube, confirm those and
give me a choice
of when to do it. Then I will be reminded of that.
If I'm going to Downtown LA at 9:00 I want my desktop
machine to understand
that and monitor traffic and tell me before I leave if
there are any major
problems. I want to use my same VCR programming
interface to program a TV
show if I decide to go out and can't get home to program
my own VCR.
I DON'T want a computer to talk to me, and I don't want
to talk to a
computer. Likewise I don't wish to emotionally bond with
my computer. The
little smiling Mac face is about as much as I'm
comfortable with.
Tim
-
"For the record you're no loser"
"Yeah, but I'm no Eddie Van Blunhdt either..."
<> tbyars@earthlink.net <>