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From: SMS on 28 May 2010 21:15 On 27/05/10 10:05 PM, RichA wrote: > And yet they look so pristine in the commercials... > Like on Star Trek, all the touch-screen computer and ship control.. > They probably went through more Windex than anti-matter. > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704717004575268602440574716.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird I think it's strange that styluses seem to be taboo. They worked well on the Palm and Windows Mobile PDAs, and on the tables running the Microsoft Tablet OS. They allowed you to draw, sign things, and kept the screen clean.
From: David J. Littleboy on 28 May 2010 21:36 "SMS" <scharf.steven(a)geemail.com> wrote: > On 27/05/10 10:05 PM, RichA wrote: >> And yet they look so pristine in the commercials... >> Like on Star Trek, all the touch-screen computer and ship control.. >> They probably went through more Windex than anti-matter. >> >> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704717004575268602440574716.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird > > I think it's strange that styluses seem to be taboo. They worked well on > the Palm and Windows Mobile PDAs, and on the tables running the Microsoft > Tablet OS. They allowed you to draw, sign things, and kept the screen > clean. My take is that groping for a stylus is enough of a pain (and the tiny screens so ugly) that those things were usable only by the perversely motivated: the "I'm more high-tech than you" crowd hell-bent on proving they've got the right idea. But watching my friends use their iPods/iPhones/whatever, it's clear that they represent an multiple order of magnitude improvement in usability over anything previous. Flipping amazing. (And this is from a dyed-in-the-wool Mac hater who bought a Kindle before the iPad came out just to spite Apple (the Kindle UI is horrible; getting to a reference number to click it is almost impossible; it's a major disaster, but I love the thing since I can buy gobs of books and not have to throw any away).) So get over it and wash your hands more often: touch screens are worlds better than anything else. Maybe safe-solvent soaked screen-wipes will become a big business<g>. -- David J. Littleboy Tokyo, Japan
From: SMS on 28 May 2010 22:19 On 28/05/10 6:36 PM, David J. Littleboy wrote: > My take is that groping for a stylus is enough of a pain (and the tiny > screens so ugly) that those things were usable only by the perversely > motivated: the "I'm more high-tech than you" crowd hell-bent on proving > they've got the right idea. But watching my friends use their > iPods/iPhones/whatever, it's clear that they represent an multiple order of > magnitude improvement in usability over anything previous. Flipping amazing. > (And this is from a dyed-in-the-wool Mac hater who bought a Kindle before > the iPad came out just to spite Apple (the Kindle UI is horrible; getting to > a reference number to click it is almost impossible; it's a major disaster, > but I love the thing since I can buy gobs of books and not have to throw any > away).) This may be true for phones, though it wasn't true for PDAs. And for larger screen devices like tablets, the styluses were great for writing, and the handwriting recognition on XP for table was excellent. You could also draw on the tablet, and with dual screen support (hooked to a projector) it was an excellent presentation device.
From: Twibil on 28 May 2010 22:21 On May 28, 11:59 am, Fred McKenzie <fm...(a)aol.com> wrote: > > > > Seek help. > > OK: <http://www.subjectives.co.uk/img/lassie.jpg> Fred, if RichA thinks he's a lassie he'll need a surgeon's help more than he needs a psychologist. };-P
From: David J. Littleboy on 28 May 2010 22:46
"SMS" <scharf.steven(a)geemail.com> wrote in message news:4c0079bd$0$1592$742ec2ed(a)news.sonic.net... > On 28/05/10 6:36 PM, David J. Littleboy wrote: > >> My take is that groping for a stylus is enough of a pain (and the tiny >> screens so ugly) that those things were usable only by the perversely >> motivated: the "I'm more high-tech than you" crowd hell-bent on proving >> they've got the right idea. But watching my friends use their >> iPods/iPhones/whatever, it's clear that they represent an multiple order >> of >> magnitude improvement in usability over anything previous. Flipping >> amazing. >> (And this is from a dyed-in-the-wool Mac hater who bought a Kindle before >> the iPad came out just to spite Apple (the Kindle UI is horrible; getting >> to >> a reference number to click it is almost impossible; it's a major >> disaster, >> but I love the thing since I can buy gobs of books and not have to throw >> any >> away).) > > This may be true for phones, though it wasn't true for PDAs. All the PDAs I ever saw were just too small and fiddly to be worth bothering with if one had anything worthwhile to do with one's time. I never saw them getting beyond being failed attempts at proof-of-concept. Again, my _impression_ is that the Apple finger-interface simply works and is worlds faster that futzing with a stylus. Things like two-finger gestures mean that these gizmos can be seriously usable, as opposed to futzable with motivation. > And for larger screen devices like tablets, the styluses were great for > writing, and the handwriting recognition on XP for table was excellent. > You could also draw on the tablet, and with dual screen support (hooked to > a projector) it was an excellent presentation device. For drawing, the precision of a stylus point would be nice. But for handwriting (on a tablet sized thing), I'd think a finger would be faster simply because one can just do it without pulling out the stylus. And for doing Glen-Beck-chalkboard-things during a presentation, a finger will be faster. Anyway, I've been watching stylus interfaces for 40 years (my father was site engineer for DEC LINK and PDP-7 lab computers that used light-pen input to CRTs around 1970), and my take is that Apple is the first to make this sci-fi idea actually usable and real. That's cool. -- David J. Littleboy Tokyo, Japan |