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It's funny. Laugh.

Forget the Palm - Give Me The Finger 140

Posted by Roblimo from the one-digit-is-enough dept.
Handheld computers are cute. Someday I'm sure I'll find one that will wean me away from my treasured pen and pad for fast notetaking, and at least partially from my laptop computer. But I don't think a Palm or even a Linux PDA like a Yopy or Agenda will do it. I'm waiting until someone gives me The Finger.

I've played with a number of the current handheld toys. None of them do me much good. I can't use them to do online research in any meaningful way; their tiny screens just don't cut it, especially with my aging, bifocaled eyes. I keep my important contact information in an alphabetized text file that I print out periodically and shove in my pocket on a couple of stapled-together pieces of paper that can be folded, bent, spindled, and even mutilated without doing them any great harm.

You can always print out a new (updated) homemade paper contact list or calendar in a couple of seconds -- at virtually no cost -- if you spill coffee on it, but if you get caffeinated liquid into a handheld computer or forget that it's in your rear pants pocket and "bend" it when you sit down, you are screwed.

I am reasonably satisfied with pen and paper for notetaking. I have been using them happily for over 40 years. I type rapidly enough that moving the words I am going to actually use in an article from my notepad to my computer is not a big deal, and I prefer to type on a decent-sized keyboard with "deep action" keys, due to my upbringing back in manual typewriter days, and doubt that I could ever adjust to the thin fold-up keyboards some of the more ardent handheld fanatics use. (I spent a long time finding a laptop that was not only 100% Linux-compatible, but also had a keyboard with a "feel" I liked well enough to type on it for hours on end, and I think it will be many years before anyone makes a foldup keyboard that will give me pain-free typing.)

I currently carry three main pieces of electronic gear with me when I travel: a notebook computer (with wireless modem, telephone modem, and NIC); a cellular telephone with a "national" activation plan (long distance included); and a full-featured Olympus microcassette recorder.

I often use the recorder as a handy note-taking device, not only for interviews but to dictate notes to myself while I'm driving or engaged in other hand-occupying activities. My new recorder is reliable enough (and I am careful enough about making sure that my batteries are fresh and that I don't run past the end of a tape) that I no longer take backup notes when I am using it as an interview recording tool. (The latest pro-grade microcassette recorders are so much better than the ones available only a few years ago that I am amazed not only by their reliability but also by their ability to record conversations intelligibly in noisy rooms.)

The one thing I would dearly love, that isn't quite "there" yet, is true voice-to-text automatic transcription. Olympus has a digital recorder that purports to do this if you use the Windows version of IBM's ViaVoice, but when I tried one the results were (shall we say kindly) somewhat disappointing -- and the thing only had a 30 minute recording capacity.

So what features in a handheld computer would really make me want one?

First, it should replace my cellular phone. That way, instead of being an additional piece of gear to carry, it would merely replace an existing item.

Second, it should have audio recording capability, and I don't mean a toylike 30 minutes, but two hours or more. If this means a snap-in audio tape or memory module of some sort, so be it. Voice-to-text dictation would be even better. This would be the handheld "killer app" for me -- and for many others, I'm sure.

Third, it should have a way I can see the equivalent of a laptop-sized screen, which probably means some sort of LCD "eyepiece" device similar to a modern camcorder viewfinder, but with higher resolution.

Fourth, easy hookup to the rest of the world. A wireless Internet connection would be best. Even if it only ran at current dialup modem speeds it would be 95% of what I would ever need, and 100% of what I need when I'm away from my office.

Fifth, the thing should be tiny. With no onboard viewscreen or keyboard, I want the main unit to be no larger than a large man's finger.

The funny thing is, I don't think it's going to take long for a device this small, with the level of technical sophistication I've outlined above, to be available in the sub-$500 price range. With some of the "stripped" Linuxes out there, and Open Source developers starting to think more about handhelds and other tiny computing devices combined with the continuing shrinkage of electronic circuitry in general, I expect to see something close to what I want in no more than two or three years.

So I'm in no hurry to get a PDA. I really don't need a current-generation Palm, not even the Claudia Schiffer model with all of its (hopefully unintentional) masturbatory overtones. I'd rather wait until one of the computing device manufacturers decides to give me The Finger, thank you.
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Forget the Palm - Give Me The Finger More

Forget the Palm - Give Me The Finger

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  • right on... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I really don't need a current-generation Palm, not even the Claudia Schiffer model with all of its (hopefully unintentional) masturbatory overtones.
    Personally, thinking of Claudia Schiffer, I I find my palm quite useful. And I really don't mean my PDA, either.

  • Re:warning: bad jokes ahead (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Great. Now when the cops come to seize your computers, you'll get a mandatory cavity search for the Finger.

  • Re:Techno-weenies won't be happy until... (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:41AM (#248504)
    Imagine a world where everyone has an antenna implanted directly into your head for wireless net access.
    Dude, that would be too many antennas in my head. I'd rather if everyone had an antenna implanted directly into their heads.
  • If you're using separate I/O devices, it's a different issue. In particular, device size doesn't matter much; it can be 1" square if you never have to hold it. The real issue is the size of the I/O devices, which you have to actually deal with directly, rather than just carrying. If you have a earphone in your ear and a mic on your collar, the device is longer than a finger (just not continuous in between). Personally, I think a mic on the wrist would be best, since then you cover your mouth when you're talking on the phone.

    If you're going to have this always ready, you need a non-voice interface, or you'll be calling everyone whose name you mention in conversation or every phone number you try to tell someone. In any case, people tend to know a lot of phone numbers by feel, and failing to provide that interface will make people really unhappy.
  • Considering how loudly people seem to speak when trying to be hear over a small phone, I think it's not really a good idea. Ideally, of course, it would have a little mic that you'd pull out to your mouth when you want to use it.

    A chording keyboard is a great idea, and will let you type things in addition to dialup phone numbers, but you're not going to get the functionality without at least the 12 buttons, because people tend to remember how to dial numbers using the standard grid. You could have 4 buttons on it, and make people dial in binary, but nobody would use it.

  • A finger would be too small (Score:4)

    by iabervon ( 1971 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @07:32AM (#248507) Homepage Journal
    If this is going to replace a cell phone, it had better be long enough to reach from your mouth to your ear. If it's not big enough to have at least a 3x4 grid of spots you press reliably, you're not going to have much fun dialing it (let alone putting in other information). Current cell phone size is essentially constrained by the interface requirements.

    A lot of wishlist items aren't going to come true simply because if they did, the device would then be useless.
  • Ten years ago someone said "Hey, i want an electronic device I can write into and it will interpret my hand writing and keep notes."

    And two years later the Apple Newton was released.

    "Hey, I want to be able to take my PS/2 with me between home and work."

    The first succesful portable computer, the Osborne 1, was released 22 years ago. The PS/2 wasn't released until 1987, a mere 14 years ago.

    Quote from the original story:
    I expect to see something close to what I want in no more than two or three years.

    That doesn't sound too far-fetched too me.
    --
    Niklas Nordebo | niklas at nordebo.com

  • It would be ideal if we could get our portable computer to be more like our desktop machines... modular. I'd like it if I could purchase a screen with a standard input slot, a different unit for the CPU and perhaps a snap-on keyboard so I can choose between "deep click" or "touch typing", small or large keys, extended keyboard or not.

    The advantage is that I don't have to throw the screen away to get a new CPU, and when the new optical glasses show up I don't need to get a new CPU to use them.

    If you want a tape recorder, just snap it into the unit and away you go. Same with a digital camera or a phone or whatever.

    The trick is getting these units to fit nicely together (so it doesn't become clunky) and a standard hardware protocal to make it work.

    neo
  • Not if you have a tin foil beanie [zapatopi.net].
    --
  • use the machanical motion of walking to drive power collectors- like the self-winding watch.

    Hmmm... IBM's Linux Watch would be a nice package but you'd need wireless connections to the headpiece- another complication. A belt-buckle Linux system (bringing a whole new meaning to "IP") would probably not be too bad, but collecting power may be an issue (though I'm sure that someone will say "well, display certain pictures and we can pull power from biological responses!). Needless to say, fidgetters will have an advantage over the more laid-back in keeping the batteries charged.

    Perhaps a whole set of interfaces needs to be considered. A pen, for instance, could collect information about what is being written on, say, a regular piece of paper and capture it for later conversion. A set of data-gloves could read sign language (and some more specialized gestures) and act as another data entry device.

    The portable device isn't so much a computer as it is a data access (and low volume storage) device. The concept of the "computer" starts fading, as technology moves away from the "Personal Computer" origins.

    I have a Newton 130 which I like (despite the clunky cabling- there's no "hotsync" cradle!) and it's ability to actually read my writing (and I am using the habits ingrained for paper writing, so I'm not losing any good habits to learn graffiti) is helpful. I have to add that, when handwriting recognition is a feature, size matters. :-)

  • AIDs... (Score:2)

    by soup ( 6299 )


    There were (IIRC) 4 books that David Drake was involved in but had various SF authors collaborating in a specific "Universe".


    The various folks in the military food-chain all had an "AID" (Artificially Intelligent Devices) that would clip on the belt.
    Each had a "SCRAM" button that'd kill the puppy.
    And, if you didn't kill 'em, they'd develop rather entertaining personalities.
    (Sarcasm seemed to be the most common trait seen in the stories.)


    Now I wish I remember the name of the series. Two of the titles were "The War Machine" and "An Honorable Defense".


    The use of an AI personality to act as your agent in recording/accessing information has been considered at other times but I kinda like the attitudes some of these machines could take on to keep our wetware reasonably honest.

  • You could hook it up to nerves that control muscles you don't really need. I mean, do you really have to flare your nostrils?
  • Actually, I think it would be really helpful for dating. It seems like the biggest hurdle is not finding someone that you like who likes you back--the problems is the difficulty in letting the other person know that you're interested.
  • I love that picture! He looks like a guru meditating before "The Machine."
  • Alternatively, there are innumerable MiniDisc recorders that should do the trick. Several have extended-record features, specifically for dictation.

    --
  • The problem with paper for me is that while it is easy to write that note on that piece of paper, the pieces of paper add up. This becomes especially bad once you fill up your first notebook: either you leave all that information at home, where you can't get at it, or you carry a ton of notes and paper around with you.

    With the Palm Pilot, I have a notebook that works acceptably well for jotting things down, and never fills up (you would have a hard time filling up one of the old 500K Palms with just notes and phone numbers, and the new Palms have sixteen times as much memory). I alsways have the lists of books I was wanting to read, music I was wanting to listen to, DVDs I wanted to rent. I have a map of New York City. I have several calculators and a date and address book that doesn't need to be replaced at the end of the year. I can shuttle files around between work and home using FileBox. I even have goofy things like a solar compass and the "Tricorder" app. And, all this stuff gets backed up, so if I lose the PalmPilot, or a dog eats it or something, I still have all the data.

    And, the amount of space this takes up is getting smaller.

    Jon Acheson
  • Kind of funny--I've got almost the exact same things. A Rio 600 MP3 player, a WAP-equipped cellphone, a Visor, and a Gerber multitool. Well...actually, I don't have the MP3 player right now, I had to send it back to the factory. (Don't ever buy a Rio 600, folks. It has no resistance to static electricity. At all. This is the second one I've had to RMA, and if I hadn't gotten it by saving up Mountain Dew bottlecaps, I'd ask for my money back.) Thankfully, it's just one device, and not all of them. Which sort of proves your point.

    My Batman factor isn't far behind yours, nope... :)
    --

  • Well, if it includes the functionality of a cellphone, he'd just be able to phone it when he misplaced it--assuming he left the ringer on, anyway.
    --
  • I'd make a joke, but nothing I could say could compete with that...

    See Figure 1 [faisal.com].
  • As Homer Simpson would say:

    "Uh oh, did I say that out loud or just think it?"

    Guess it doesn't really matter anymore.

    --
  • Read Diamond Age. Those antennaes come at a cost...
    --
  • It's already happening under the watchfull gaze of our alien overlords!
  • http://www.chronbooks.com/cgi-bin/Adult/view.cgi?i sbn=0811831434

    It's sleek, stylish and has great handwriting recognition! It also comes with a handy wooden stylus with a graphic center for inputting data!

  • Re:Techno-weenies won't be happy until... (Score:5)

    by KFury ( 19522 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:40AM (#248525) Homepage
    And you thought handwriting recognition was bad. Just wait until your 'thoughtputer' starts misreading your thought patterns, or worse yet, picks up on the thoughts you don't want anyone, even your PDA, to know about.

    How long would it be before someone wrote a 'keystroke recorder' for the neural interface, and emailed transcripts of your every thought to someone else. Bye-bye last vestage of privacy...

    Kevin Fox
    --
  • Unless human miniaturization happens and mouth-to-ear distance shrinks considerably, I don't think any cellular phone the size of a finger is going to be useful. Unless, of course, it folds and unfolds in a complicated, plasticky-breakable way. And you have to put the dialing buttons on that "finger device", right? And probably some LCD screen to show you what you punched in? And a battery to make it last through the day, at least? This all has to fit on/in one finger, and you expect it to become available in a couple of years? I don't think so.

    Kaa
  • Well, you actually can already buy a little box with an eyepiece that you hold to your eye when you want to see the display. There are computers that you could fit in a slightly larger box.

    Of course, if this were finger-sized then you could hold and view a handful of computers at the same time...

  • www.anoto.com
  • > why do you need a display?

    Because otherwise games are really boring if they have no visual feedback.

    Thats the ultimate in a game: inserting game characters into your every-day life. You could play doom downtown (since you're gun is only in the game, you'd look like an absolute idiot hiding behind things and shooting at nothing)

  • Techno-weenies won't be happy until... (Score:5)

    by hardaker ( 32597 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:09AM (#248531) Homepage
    ... we have a wireless direct neural intererface with a heads up display and thought recognition.

    The interesting thing is that most complaints about devices or opperating systems are about the interface and the way in which you interact with it, not about its actual functionality.

    Imagine a world where everyone has an antenna implanted directly into your head for wireless net access.
  • Seems plain to me that we will just keep adding functionality to our phones until they can replace many other electronic items.

    Witness phones that can function as mp3 players, PDAs or even Cameras. Add to that the 3G 'always on' internet connection and... well you get the idea.

    Personally some of these things I'm not interested in, but an integrated PDA/Phone/Webpad type device is apealing for me. I guess the tough part will be for the manufacturers to decide what combo of devices will make the 'killer PDA' for the most people.

    My ideal? A slimline Pilot type device (with cellular transiever) that will fit in a pocket but with higher-res/colour screen for better websurfing, and a wireless (bluetooth?) earpiece with voice command capabilities.

  • I find not bad at all.

    I have the folding keybord for my Visor, I find that Visor+Keyboard is worth far more than Visor+Cost of keyboard. I'm not bad at graffiti, and on the bus or subway, clearly the needs-flat-surface keyboard is not help. Fine. But when I want to compose an email or any other task where chickenscratch -- dang, that's "graffiti" -- will cause me many minutes of slow grief as I hurtle toward death at x-many miles an hour, the keyboard rocks.

    The keyfeel is surprizingly good, and I say that as someone who loathes laptop and other keyboards inferior to those which click and if swung could brain elephants. IBM / northgates rule. However, it would tend to remove the size/weight advantage of a Visor / similar if I were to carry my 7-lb IBM keyboard and monstrous ps/2 cable around.

    Added to which, there is an advantage to the little keyboard over a typical laptop keyboard in that they are so flat. Laptop keyboards, sitting as they do over a bunch of silly electronics, like hard drive, processor, etc, don't really have much more room to move than the foldup type. And since the folding ones are flat, I find them somewhat less wrist stressful in typical use (random table, library carel, airline tray) where your arms are angled higher than you'd like.

    Anyhow,

    timothy
  • ...and thats the ability to attract those of the opposite sex. Now, if the 'finger' sized device was also to vibrate then it'd be a step closer to that goal ;)

    It already has the vibration unit in the wireless connection vibrating alert, i'm sure it'd be easy to adapt it. ;)
  • Now that's funny!

    Makes me wonder how many people have gotten themselves into fights by cursing at someone on the other end of one of those cellphone earpiece thingies. You know: "No,fuck you!" "What did you say to me?" "I wasn't talking to you! I was just talking on my"(Whap!).

    Boss of nothin. Big deal.
    Son, go get daddy's hard plastic eyes.

  • That's what I'm waiting for! Virtual menus via a ring - hell, I'd settle for a finger glove - would be nice, too.

    But in the meantime, my Visor beats paper. For one thing, I can read what I've written in. For another, I've got a backup. That's enough justification for me to view it as more than a toy right now.

    Boss of nothin. Big deal.
    Son, go get daddy's hard plastic eyes.

  • There was a certain device just about 10 years ago which I fell in love with which had a comparable functionality to a palm, and was sturdy enough to be Army issue.

    I am, of course, talking about a Gameboy original.

    Thrown, stepped on, driven over, hit - all these things have been done to it and it's still in tip-top shape (besides some relatively minor - all considering - cosmetic defects on the casing). And to top it off, the things ran really freaking long on just 4 batteries. We're talking months of frequent play. Definately something that Mom and Dad liked - the beast didn't have to have batteries replaced every week, as never gb's do.

    They had the design right for the first gameboys, as far as 'safety' is concerned. Very hard, durable plastic formed in a shape and pattern which made it more difficult to crush. Sure, it was bulky and slightly heavy, but I'd gladly carry around a PDA that large if it had a little more functionality of a palm - and I can see that happening, to. A gb classic is /plenty/ small. Put it in a camera-type case on your hip. Get a 'bullet belt' style sling and put it over your shoulder, having it centered in the middle your chest (for a more cosmetic look).

    Such a handheld would be my undoing, not to mention really effing useful (provided it were durable). Having to not worry about it falling and breaking, or being paticularly fragile *cough* palm *cough* is just no fun. the Palm Pro, and several others, are like that. Only one I've seen that isn't is the PalmV.

    -------
    CAIMLAS

  • Of course, if this were finger-sized then you could hold and view a handful of computers at the same time...

    Imagine...a Beowulf cluster in your hand.

  • A counter arguement to the paper and pen.. (Score:4)

    by xtal ( 49134 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:48AM (#248539)

    I used to have a little leather bound notebook back-in-tha-day, for storing all sorts of little infos I had stumbled across. Then, one day, my little notebook met mr. mud puddle. Stupid of me, yes, and a PDA would suffer the same fate..

    But it's a lot frickin' easier to backup a palm than it is to photocopy paper notes!

    That's the main reason I use & love my PDA. And there's the jack-of-all-trades, master of none problem, too - and when the magic all-in-one device (inevitably) breaks, you're left without everything. I've got a mp3 player, a palm, a cell phone, and a leatherman, and I wouldn't want any of them crossbreeding. (yet). Might want the mp3 player to do voice record though. My batman factor is kinda high though :).

    As for the notebook.. I'll sing in the streets when someone (perferably the manufacturer [hp.com]) releases the specs to the HP 720 so I can have a machine to read usenet and code on. Gotta run a real OS though :). There's a market for subnotes out there that is being axe murderered by WinCE ineptness.

  • I think his point is that if it were that much more usefule than hs current recorder/notepad combination that he would take the risk of using it. Current handhelds aren't useful enough for him, so why risk carrying one around?
  • I understand there are plenty of people already giving Katz the finger. Or did I miss something?

  • real life FPSs (Score:3)

    by The Queen ( 56621 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @07:55AM (#248542) Homepage
    What you'd really need to watch out for, though, is getting arrested for shouting "I'm gonna frag your ass, you sorry fsck!" while running through the outdoor atrium of your local mall. Would you shoot your imaginary gun at the cops as they chased you down, and further, could they add that to the list of charges? ;-)

    "Smear'd with gumms of glutenous heat, I touch..." - Comus, John Milton
  • So in that scenario:

    sex == networking
    orgy == beowulf cluster

    --------
    "Counting in octal is just like counting in decimal--if you don't use your thumbs."
  • Don't forget that the first modals will probably be monocrome. Let's hope they don't use one of the colors that happens to be a color cone in our eyes. Anybody reber Nintendos 3D environment the was red? People brought them back because their eyes were hurting.
  • I agree for writing longer things typing is way faster then writing by hand. But despite the fact I type anything of decent length, my desk is covered in post-it notes and other pieces of paper with little notes on them.

    I've tried making a text file of notes but find it too much of a pain to open up and write into. And the bigger thing for me is that it is easier to ignore. A post-it note on my monitor reminds me of something a lot better then a textfile I can minimize.

    I think it comes down to ease of use. When people find that handhelds are easier to use then a pen and paper, for all their uses, they will catch on much more. Most people I know still find handhelds nothing more then an expensive toy.

  • MIT's Oxygen Project [mit.edu] describes a handheld device [mit.edu] that has a lot in common with the one described in this article:

    Person-centered devices provide universal personal appliances that are inexpensive and can be carried and used anywhere. They are equipped with perceptual transducers such as a microphone, speaker, video camera, and display. In response to speech commands, they can reconfigure themselves through software into many useful appliances such as a two-way radios, cell phones, geographical positioning systems, and personal digital assistants, thereby replacing the many dedicated devices we usually carry with us, reducing overall weight, and conserving power.

    One important difference is that the design of this devise uses a standard small display instead of the proposed eyepiece. IIRC, the original design for MIT's handheld did yous an viewport-type display, but they must have ditched that idea for some reason. However, we can expect thgat small displays will reach much higher resolutions (wile remaining low power) in the near future, so this may be ok.

    Also, the Oxygen project proposes that "environmental" cumputers complement these handhelds by providing wall displays for public use (think the Start Trek Enterprise hallways) and allowing handhelds to offload computing power to the larger, in-wall computers.

  • great line :-) (Score:5)

    by bmabray ( 84486 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:16AM (#248547) Homepage Journal
    I often use the recorder as a handy note-taking device, not only for interviews but to dictate notes to myself while I'm driving or engaged in other hand-occupying activities.
    And the title of the article is "Forget the Palm - Give Me The Finger."

    I'd make a joke, but nothing I could say could compete with that...

    (BTW, the lameness filter just told me I had to wait 2 minutes before submitting another comment -- even though I haven't submitted any comments yet. There couldn't possibly be a bug in Slash, could there?)
    human://billy.j.mabray/

  • It seems like a device with a cell phone built in should be able to just call back to your desktop computer and transmit the audio for recording and deciphering. It would then have (with compression) a virtually unlimited recording capability, and could be further used for grabbing voice clips or doing speech to text.
  • But my question is how much was the Psion Series 3 in 1991? I owned a Casio organizer or two.....one costing almost as much as my present palm. New Palm's start at $129 right now, or a used III or IIIe is easily available for about 50-70 dollars US on ebay. Heck, an m100 used costs about $100.

    My point was basically that it didn't have the functionality of my Palm...a device that wasen't really created, in it's size, 10 years ago. I can't speak for the Psion though, I've heard generally good things.

    I had something that looked like the Psion 3 back then, it was made by Citizen, I have it somewhere...But personally I prefer pen-input for most things, and my attachable keyboard when I'm feeling verbose.

    Oh, I really don't know, is the Psion bigger than a Palm, it looks it, but I could be mistaken.
  • Palms, and dare I say, PocketPC's are still the best choice out there for many people. Even though my Palm Keyboard has about 4 mm key travel, it still makes it a hell of a lot more useful.

    /me clutches and pets Palm IIIxe, whispers, "It's ok, you'll always be my favourite...."

    Furthermore, PDA's are quite durable.....I mean to say that 10 years ago, such technology as to make a palm would be many times larger, but also very delicate likely. Hell I have a Toshiba laptop....with 286 :-D....that has a read/write head that locks to the center every month or two....if I actually use it. My Palm on the other hand, glass screen and all, has been dropped plenty of times, been hit in my pocket, has survived a few impromptu wrestling sessions, and still looks like new.

    Ok, maybe I'll just wait for a neural net, plus carrying around a severed human finger won't exactly make you popular
  • Man, the BMF (Batman Factor) would be off that charts for that setup. Just don't forget the shark repellent.
  • I don't think we lose pens just because they are small but more because they are cheap to the point of being disposable. If my pen cost $500 I'd pay a lot more attention to where I put it (or who I lent it to).
  • ...doesn't this whole article sound a whiney, bad version of an Andy Rooney rant? I mean, this guy who wants his computer to be like a typewriter, but doesn't like to use it for writing, is going to use an eyepiece-LCD, speech driven device? Uh-huh.

  • the RaveMP's do voice recording, i actually got some bootlegs at concerts with mine, not the best quality mind you, but definitely listenable

  • Another Candidate for Happydale Home (Score:4)

    by bill.sheehan ( 93856 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @07:59AM (#248555) Homepage
    I remember the first time I heard someone speaking loudly on a bus. I heard no reply, but he answered as if there were. Moving slowly so as not to alarm him, I turned and found he was talking on a mobile phone.

    Cell phones are now ubiquitous. Many people now have headsets and no longer assume the standard pose of holding one hand to the jaw which identifies the cell phoner from the raving nutter.

    Soon, it will be impossible to tell the sane from the mentally MIA. We'll be seeing things that no one else can see, talking into the empty air, and scribbling notes on our finger. This is progress?

    Psychotherapy is great! Just look at what it's done for Woody Allen!

  • PDA in a pen (Score:4)

    by SWroclawski ( 95770 ) <serge@wrocLIONlawski.org minus cat> on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:42AM (#248556) Homepage
    British Telecom already made such a device in 1998.

    http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1998/40/ns-5698.html [zdnet.co.uk]

    It's not exactly what you talked about, but close enough.

    - Serge Wroclawski
  • I want the main unit to be no larger than a large man's finger

    How large? I mean, if we're talking about Andre the Giant's finger, we're already there.
  • I've thought about this often, but the problem is hardware upgrades. Which could be a bitch.

    Not to mention recalls, like the Dell laptop batteries. Ouch!

  • warning: bad jokes ahead (Score:5)

    by The_Messenger ( 110966 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:07AM (#248559) Homepage Journal
    The Finger is truly a wonderous advancement in digital communication. :-)

    --

  • Hee hee. Peer2peer pressure:
    "Ever used Neurapster? Go on, all the kids our age are using it. And it's totally legal now..."
  • *giggle**snort* "prostethic"? That's patethic!
  • Sure, if there's only enough capacity to do one thing well, then do it that way. But the trend is for consolidation of devices with similar functions into one device which can do them all - the PC is the most obvious example, and PDAs and mobile phones are going the same way. The physical limits for these are in no way set by the components inside, it's all set by the size of keyboard and screen you need. Ditch these, and I'd be surprised if you couldn't get it all into something significantly smaller. Flexible circuit boards are a wonderful invention, and should make it easy to put all the circuitry in something the size of your typical fluorescent marker pen. Even today, with today's tech, you could do that with a mobile phone circuit (trust me, I've seen the circuits and it'd be quite possible).

    Having said that, you've got the problem of getting a battery supply in there. But batteries are usually sealed, tough and non-bendable, so one of those in a holster on your belt isn't a big deal. Seal the battery pack and pen to IP68, two jack plugs in the pen (one to the battery, one to the headset), and bingo.

    Admittedly then you're stuck with the processing power of a mobile phone. You want more power, you need more silicon, but Moore's Law should help with that. And there's always the possibility of networking these so that one can do all the phone and interface stuff and the other can be free to do the processing, for example. It'd be quite feasible to have a belt with a bandolier-type arrangement, with lots of little cases around it, each of them doing a part of the processing. Take the size of each down to a lipstick case or so, and it'd hardly even get in your way.

    Grab.

  • Re:Techno-weenies won't be happy until... (Score:3)

    by Grab ( 126025 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @09:18AM (#248563) Homepage
    Someone quoted Neil Stephenson (got the wrong book, but anyway). I'll quote as well - "Diamond Age" suggests that nanotech is good enough to do direct neural interfaces, but most ppl don't use them bcos of hackers. From memory: "Bud knew a guy who had an ad for roach motels flashing 24 hours a day in his peripheral vision until the guy whacked himself." Later on in the same book, it shows a torture session using nanotech to interface directly to the nerves to cause pain.

    Controlling you isn't likely to be an issue - the nervous system is a hub network requiring the brain to process inputs and issue commands based on those inputs. But someone could spoof the inputs, so someone who can crack your direct neural connection could hijack your visual field or cause you as much pain as they liked. Not good...

    Grab.
  • If this is going to replace a cell phone, it had better be long enough to reach from your mouth to your ear.

    Why? I haven't seen a cellphone that big for years. My old bricklike one is ear-to-cheek. My current one is ear to end of ear, with a flip out microphone. The Nokia 8210 which I looked at when I got this one is the same length but without the flip down mike.

    If it's not big enough to have at least a 3x4 grid of spots you press reliably, you're not going to have much fun dialing it

    Chord keyboard. (again, my cellphone is half way there, combining the keypad with a slider on the side to type letters)

  • I often use the recorder as a handy note-taking device, not only for interviews but to dictate notes to myself while I'm driving or engaged in other hand-occupying activities.

    This technology was implemented over 30 years ago:
    "And now for something completely different, a man with a tape recorder up his nose."
    (Monty Python's Flying Circus, episode 9: "The ant, an Introduction", recorded 7 December 1969.)
  • I think I found my requirements to be somewhat similar to his; atleast in that I wanted something very versatile, powerful, connected -- and yet still having an input method that was efficient for me ( nice keyboard with normal travel, size, spacing -- etc ). So basically you go thinking 'laptop', except that it is large, but more importantly much much more power hungry and not running an operating system optimized for portable use as say a PalmOS machine.

    So, after lots of looking around, I eventually found the NEC Mobile Pro 780 Windows CE H/PC. Its a large-sized WinCE machine, but it is still much smaller and lighter than a laptop. It has a lot of expandability, a great screen, excellent battery life , a *wonderful* keyboard and a robust operating system.

    This machine has a been a godsend for me, and it has ended up being a perfect fit for me.

    I know some people will be turned off by it's tight affiliation with MS, but I urge you to examine it. WinCE really does have lots of nice features and I think lots of nay-sayers haven't used one or often done their research ( or are just doing it on a bias against MS )

    Thats just me -- but I think lots of people need something with a keyboard, but still want the other avantages that come with portabled-engineered machines.
  • Isn't that just instant messenging???? :)

  • Most of the features he wanted are already available, or could be easily implemented with a handspring visor and it's module slot. There is already a cell phone module. A module could be easily created to record and playback voice using something like smartmedia, a speaker, and the built-in microphone. Really, the only thing would be a better designed fold-up keyboard, but if you want all this functionality in a small package, you'll have to sacrafice something. If it didn't have the screen already attached, it could probably be made almost as small as he wanted, but why deal with a cyborg eyepiece?
  • Did nobody See M:I-1? You just get those semi-transparent glasses that have all the electronics built into them... and even include a camera... i don't really want a man's thumb stuck to my head, if it's all the same to you.
  • I guess TMBG was onto something in the early 90's

    With a direct neural interface into the frontal and occipital lobes .. everybody will want prostethic foreheads on their real heads ..

  • Read Diamond Age. Those antennaes come at a cost...

    Actually, you've got the right author, the wrong story, I think. You're thinking about Snow Crash, an earlier work of his.

    But getting back on topic, the 'gargoyles' described in that novel would be incredible. We're quite a few jumps away from researching through the Library of Congress while zipping up to Alaska on a motorcycle, but even some of the stuff that Hiro did offline is but a step or two away. This technology sounds like one of those steps.
  • Hmmm...Slightly OT, but if you could fit a processor *in* each key on my keyboard, then I would have a 101 processor B* cluster right under my fingers...
  • They are much closer than you could imagine. Perhaps you have heard of the product Anoto? It is a Bluetooth Pen and a special paper that allows seamless communication between hard copy and digital devices like cell phones, computers and PDAs. Meet a girl at a party, write down her number and a reminder to call her in 3 days. Get home when your pen gets near your computer, it automatically sinks with you PIM, puts in a reminder, and creates a new contact for her. Neat stuff. Read more about it here: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,1282,40190, 00.html or http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2001/11/ns-21787.html

  • With a wireless direct neural interface wouldn't a heads-up display be redundant? :^)

  • "environmental" cumputers complement these handhelds by providing wall displays for public use

    Considering the context of extra fingers, palm replacements, and Claudia Schiffer, that's a rather Freudian typo!

  • Harris [harris.com] used to make what ammounted to a ruggedized Newton called the Access Device 2000 [harris.com]. It was changed to WinCE [cetj.com] when Apple quit licensing the Newton OS [exn.ca].

    The AD2000 [imageworkcom.com] was water- and sand-proof and had a two-week battery life (better than Apple's beasties). Imagine a Newton 2000 that could be dropped onto concrete with no ill effects, and that's what the AD2000 was. The AD2000 was aimed at the telcom field-service people, wasn't offered to the general public and was *expensive*.

    I briefly thought about getting one (hey, check my User Page for the reason why), but their cost and bulk made them unattractive, even if it did say "Harris" on it.

    Looking through the external Harris pages I can't find much on it; perhaps it's been dropped. I don't work in that area, so I never dealt with it.

  • I have tried a lot of the PDA out there and none of them actually made my day easier - until I got an Nokia 9110 Phone (GSM) .. This is just the best PDA there is. 1. I got it with me cause its my phone 2. Its connected to the internet www+email+etc... 3. It has a gerat calender with lots of sync options and even groupcalender functions (For multply 9110's) 4. I can do faxes 5. I can do sms's 6. I can do program for it (Funky Borland C + stuff - The 9210 will have better programming tools (EPOC)) 7. It has a lot of memory (flash card socket) The only thing that might be better is the 9210 - If Nokia will release it ! I'm waiting.
  • Voice/speech as an interface won't be a contenda. Just look at today's helpdesk phone systems as an example:

    "Say 1 for calendar, 2 for notes, 3 for games"

    "Three"

    "I'm thinking of a number"

    "Two"

    "Incorrect" - - "I was thinking of THREE POINT ONE FOUR ONE FIVE NINE TWO SIX - " "You Have An Appointment"

    "When?"

    "Not Understood, please repeat"

    "When is the Appointment?"

    "You have an upcoming appointment. Say 'detail' for information"

    "Det-AH CHOO!"

    "Appointment deleted"

    "Wait! Un..."

    "Not Understood. please repeat"

    "Un..."

    "Not Understood. Pleast repeat"

    "Un-ACHOO!!"

    "General Protection Failure in module Aud012.dll, crack knuckle to reboot."

  • The author's piece is quite naive in the places that concern the thing's physical shape. A viewfinder just won't do it. Just don't expect any video output, if you want it to be as small as a finger.

    The current conceptions for video display are very primitive. Currently we employ only two types of video devices: CRT and LCD. We can make neither small enough. However, it occured to me that we simply do not need video. Good voice-to-text and text-to-voice will do for the recorder and cell-phone function. If video output is necessary, a possible solution could be a way to connect to a digital book (another thing everyone's gonna have in 10 years). A small pad, and clear to go for Tetris.

    As an endnote, does the "finger" idea have anything to do with the fact that digitus is the noun for "finger" in Latin?

  • wearable computing or gameboy maginifiers (Score:5)

    by firewort ( 180062 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:14AM (#248584)
    Robin, I'm with you on wanting a small device-

    But you've asked for a lot of features in one device- I prefer devices that do one thing well versus devices that do many things, but are master of none.

    I think I'd much prefer such a device to display on the inside of a pair of eyeglasses, or a wearable head teleprompter, to the camera eyepiece you've mentioned.

    If it has to be something non-wearable, let it be a clip on magnifier like those used on gameboys- I cant stand looking through a viewfinder for great lengths of time. It's great on my 35mm SLR, it's fine on my nikon 990, where I also use the LCD. It's lousy to look through the viewfinder on my Canon zr10 for great lengths at a time.

    I recognize that you're talking about only having to look at the thing from time to time, but goshsakes, don't make it a viewfinder if you expect to look at it when you record while driving!

    Wrecked limosines are no fun.

    A host is a host from coast to coast, but no one uses a host that's close

  • Size (Score:5)

    by Alien54 ( 180860 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:19AM (#248585) Journal
    Fifth, the thing should be tiny. With no onboard viewscreen or keyboard, I want the main unit to be no larger than a large man's finger.

    Irony of ironies.

    that would make it about the size of a common pen or pencil.

    Just don't try to sharpen it.

    ;-)

    Check out the Vinny the Vampire [eplugz.com] comic strip

  • You don't think that would be annoying? As an attachment or something, I guess that would be ok. But I whip out my Palm for seconds at a time to take a note of something or whatever. The eyepiece, if it was the only display for the device, would be quite annoying. Not to mention bulky.

  • Voice Recorder (Score:4)

    by boing boing ( 182014 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:20AM (#248587) Journal

    For your short term needs in voice recording, I would recommend dumping the tapes and going with something like the Olympus DS1000 [olympusamerica.com]. I have a DS150, but wish I would have gotten the DS1000 (it was not quite out when I needed it). It accepts SmartMedia (which I have cause of the digital camera), so essentially the amount of voice you can store is unlimited. USB interface to put on your laptop. I archive the old recordings on CDs. The format is very well compressed so you can fit a lot on, etc.

    Anyway, it works for me.

  • For those of us with very bad handwriting, sometimes because of a real disability, anything computer enhanced can be a blessing. I myself am waiting for the Anota to take off at http://www.anota.com [anota.com], which will let you write on real paper, but at the same time store the text so that when you get near your computer it will automatically download in the background. The pen understands a small set of commands, so in a way it also has a commandline. Supposedly it is also meant to work with Ericsson phones when they get bluetooth capability. The only catch is that you have to buy their paper, but I go through a couple of pads a year since I'm not a prolific writer. This could change that.
  • So waaaaait.... you want a recorder/computer, but you're complaining that "Palms and Pocket Computers" fizz out when you pour coffee on them? Duh, whatta ya think your "finger"'s gonna do then? ;).

    Make The Finger waterproof . . . Then you can use your The Finger to stir some cream into your coffee! Ah, technology at work.

    . . .

  • Re:great line :-) (Score:4)

    by Segfault 11 ( 201269 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:56AM (#248595) Homepage
    RMS also uses the recorder [stallman.org], but to play notes -- notes and incantations to soothe the GNU kernel when it panics, while magical butterflies and fairies work hard on hacking Emacs version 87.32.46.123-pre12.
  • I completely agree. We are going to reach a point where the technology to make things so small that they become inconvenient to use, looking at some of the ridicously small cell phones I could agrue that we are their already. Once a device or process is invented that removes the physical limitations on interacting with devices could we see something like this "finger" become viable. We will reach a point where we are limited by the speed at which our thought can interact with those devices, and not the devices theselves.

    Shadowrun anyone? How far are we from literally inserting a diveiceinto our skulls that allow is to interact the internet, or an internet-like environment.

    "Course the last thing I need is get my head 0wn3d by some l337 hax0r.

  • Palm use is a lot like working with an ERP app. Either it works around you, or you work around it.

    It's a lifestyle thing, I guess. I sit in front of my station all day with access to my schedule and contact databases. When I do travel, I find that the $4 cup of coffee at the local Net Cafe is cheaper than wireless net access would be.

    I discovered recently that I've been forcing myself to use my Palm, wasting time with grafiti just to take temporary notes.

    But I'm pretty sure that if I were just a little bit cooler or more important, the Palm thing would work for me. I just know it.

    On a related note: PalmIII for sale. Cheap. [ridiculopathy.com]

  • It's been done...Look! (Score:3)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:39AM (#248602) Homepage Journal
    Topper Six Finger [google.com]

    Yeah, showing my age, but hell, when you had toys this cool as a kid, even PDA's have to wait in line.

    --

  • Wha? (Score:4)

    by BigumD ( 219816 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:08AM (#248603) Homepage
    So waaaaait.... you want a recorder/computer, but you're complaining that "Palms and Pocket Computers" fizz out when you pour coffee on them?

    Duh, whatta ya think your "finger"'s gonna do then? ;).

    BTW, the funniest thing about this article was that it was put in the humor category to begin with...

  • What I long for is an unobtrusive, sunglass-imbedded, voice-activiated computer. It should have voice, video and snapshot capability. No keyboard. Full command line.

    "Attention. Term. Grep 'Margo' numbers dot text. Thanks, Max."
    "No problem, Jay."
    "Oh, and Attention. Term. Xmms. Load Jello Biafra dot asterik. Play. Thanks again, Max."

    My .02,

  • Re:Always moving forward... (Score:3)

    by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @08:39AM (#248608)
    Buying it for the sake of telling manufacturers that we want better. Nah. It doesn't work like that. If all of the Slashdotters took your advice, we'd all be using Palms as they are forever. The only way for a company to know that we don't like their product is NOT to buy it. Look at American cars. Many Americans buy American cars because they're American. As a result, the quality of American cars still sucks.

  • You know, I have to agree--there are times when computers aren't right. I am hoping for a new palmtop to replace an older one, but, for most notetaking, journalling, and general merriment, I am a proponent of a pad and a fountain pen. OK, I collect them (even have pieces that are over a hundred years old), but the warm feel of ink is something that cannot be duplicated by a thin stylus and grafiti.

  • sounds great but (Score:3)

    by ConsumedByTV ( 243497 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:10AM (#248615) Homepage
    I doubt its going to happen any time soon.

    The question I have is: What about all the people that havent been using a pen for 40 years?

    I know I havent been doing alot of hand writing as of late. I type as fast as I think. I cant even begin to write in a readable format when I try and write that fast. Its ineffectiant...


    Are you on the Sfglj [sfgoth.com] (SF-Goth EMail Junkies List) ?
  • ...without a second thought. Sounds great.

    One obvious thing you missed, though, was a retinal scanning display [slashdot.org] - now that would make the package complete.

    Oh, yeah, and the free (speech) development tools and OS, etc., etc.

    OK,
    - B
    --

  • Just dont lose one. (Score:4)

    by LordArathres ( 244483 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:32AM (#248617) Homepage
    Have you ever lost a pen? or a pencil? I think we do have the technology to make something so small and useable as you describe. I would hate to have one because I would be afraid to lose something so small. Plus at $100's of dollars a piece it would get expensive. I cant lose my laptop so easily unless I forget it but that is another story. I'm talking about it falling out of your pocket etc. You talk about it being small and functional which is fine, maybe you could throw a GPS thing put in there to keep track of it.

    Arathres


    I love my iBook. I use it to run Linux!

  • How 'Bout This... (Score:3)

    by CrazyLegs ( 257161 ) <crazylegstoo@gmail.com> on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:45AM (#248620) Homepage
    Anyone here ever used a Crosspad? I've played around with one and found pretty darn useful. For the uninitiated...

    - interface = pen + paper
    - pen has radio xmitter, pad (under paper) has receiver
    - write, draw, whatever and pad stores everything (up to 50 pages I think)
    - plug it into your PC and upload everything verbatim
    - handwriting recognition s/w translates your writing into text

    Like I say, I've only played around with one, but was impressed with the functionality (including the handwriting recognition). Very cool yet very 'legacy'!

  • Re:Techno-weenies won't be happy until... (Score:4)

    by tb3 ( 313150 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:49AM (#248628) Homepage
    Then you're brain-browsing the web someday, and some script-kiddie hacks your cerebral cortex, and POW! you're working at McDonalds.
    Or worse, M$ gets their hands out it, and your short-memory becomes a 'subscription-only' feature.
    -----------------
  • Sure, there are a lot of things we'd like. Ten years ago someone said "Hey, i want an electronic device I can write into and it will interpret my hand writing and keep notes." Likewise, 20 years ago someone said "Hey, I want to be able to take my PS/2 with me between home and work."

    Technology is always moving forward. However, keep in mind... we need to buy the current technology in order to provide manufacturers with the income to develope new, smaller, and better ways to make these things. If we don't buy a Palm today, then Palm Inc. won't be able to afford research into anything smaller (or better).

    Complaining about what we don't have now won't get you anywhere and this concept isn't exactly visionary (heck, Palms now are smaller than tricorders on Star Trek... although they do perform less functions, but anyway...). What everyone needs to understand is that newer and greater things are coming before you know it and in order to get these things, you need to buy the current technology.



    -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
    w00t w00t raise da r00f!

  • while I'm driving or engaged in other hand-occupying activities

    You can view pr0n on PDAs?! Maybe I need to get one!

  • The real source of Slashdots income? (Score:3)

    by Nurgster ( 320198 ) on Thursday May 03, 2001 @06:19AM (#248635) Homepage
    I often use the recorder as a handy note-taking device, not only for interviews but to dictate notes to myself while I'm driving or engaged in other hand-occupying activities.

    I knew it!

    Slashdot is really a cover for a pre-recorded phonesex company. Think about it.... VA(saline) Linux own it....

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