Meta-Dynabook? (was: Re: processors and FP (was: OQO))

Gary Fisher gafisher at sprynet.com
Thu May 16 12:15:51 UTC 2002


I'm a Dynabook proponent, but perhaps it's time to start emphasizing the
"Dyna" and stepping back a bit from the "book" paradigm.  Does the Dynabook
depend on a primarily "public" display system, such as the ubiquitous
LCD-type panel, or could it function through a more personal type of
display, perhaps one of the "virtual display" technologies (1) we've seen
flickering here and there over the past twenty years or so?

Do the multimedia aspects of the Dynabook (and Squeak) inherently *require*
a graphic display at all times?  For instance, instead of a little animation
reminding me of my next appointment with audio neatly synchronized to the
caricature's facial movements, wouldn't the audio alone suffice for many
purposes?  (That's not to say the display should be *left* out, just that it
may not always have to be *brought* out.)  Of course, if audio can be used
as a (choice for) primary output, it ought also to be available for input.
(2)

Having introduced the subject of input, is there any compelling reason the
Dynabook must be constrained to a conventional QWERTY keyboard?  Obviously,
the keyboard has already been dispensed with in many PDA applications (3)
and "virtual keyboards" are common, but if our hope is to conceive a
Dynabook which combines the maximum flexibility and power with the least
wasted space, perhaps the work of Engelbart (4) and in particular his
"chording keyboard" -- which could easily be built into the *sides* of a PDA
case or a small handheld pendant -- ought again to be considered.

All of these could be done acceptably if not perfectly today, with existing
technology, built on Squeak.

(1) http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrd/project.html
(2)
http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/comp.speech/Section6/Recognition/speech.command
er.html
(3) http://www.newttools.com/documents/Handwriting_Recognition/slides.pdf
(4)
http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/EngelbartPapers/B5_F18_ConceptFrameworkP
t1.html

Gary Fisher

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Crowther" <peter.crowther at networkinference.com>
To: <squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 4:56 AM
Subject: RE: processors and FP (was: OQO)


> > From: Aaron J Reichow [mailto:reic0024 at d.umn.edu]
> > Do most people just want tiny iPAQ-sized (but
> > thinner and lighter) devices to do their scheduling?
>
> A number of people wonder why I carry anything as *large* as an iPAQ
around
> with me, when they want something truly 'pocket-sized'.  As always, it's a
> compromise.  If I had seamless communication (and infinite money :-), I'd
go
> for a smaller-than-Palm system for pure scheduling and contacts (might
even
> be on a phone), plus a monster laptop with the largest screen I could find
> (the new 15" screens are *starting* to be in the right ballpark), plus...
> oh, there's that gap in the middle again.  I'd love to say that I'd have
> something paperback-sized, but it's a pain in the neck to carry.  I have a
> backpack for my laptop (which also carries the rest of my support stuff).
> The PDA fits in my pocket (just, in the case of an iPAQ :-).  But what do
I
> do with this thing that gets lost in a backpack but is too large for a
> pocket?  How do I carry it in my car, given that I sometimes drive in
areas
> where people may smash windows and grab obvious valuables?  Where do I put
> this device when I'm walking to a train?  And so on.
>
> - Peter
>




More information about the Squeak-dev mailing list