Zach said: >My hang up is - "so what?" >I can buy a small laptop almost the same size and same power. I can make >the enclosure smaller, but I have to give up some big features. What are we >going to use these for? What application is going to be absolutely >necessary that you need it on you at all times? Email? That can be done by >cell phone or PDA. Who are we building this for and what are their needs? >Now, I can answer all of those questions if we had wireless broadband in >most of our geographic location, but that seems to be on the back burner. I >can answer all of these questions as well if the voice recognition software >was MUCH better and 70% affective, but that seems to be in a galaxy far, far >away. >Are we building in anticipation of what tomorrow brings? Are we building >for knowledge or seeking financial wealth? >I guess I have lost sight of why I started doing this and now I build >because there is always a better mouse trap to be built. My problem lies in >the possibility that there are no mice to trap. >I'm terribley sorry for my rant, but I'm hoping some may offer answers to >some of these questions. Later, Charles J Knight said: >In a very few years, the equivalent of your current wearable will >fit in a wristwatch case, and run continuously on a button cell >battery, for days or even weeks -- heck, Casio's already got a >color digital camera in one, this year! The limiting factor will not >be the machine or even the power source, but the human interface, >in a VERY short time. My personal view after building my initial wearable was very similar to yours, Zach. I too was hit with the "So What?" question. But I then realized that nearly everyone on this list is concentrating on a problem that is, essetially, solved (the hardware), instead of working on the stuff that actually provides these systems with unique, new utility (the software). The only truely "new" application that I have heard of for a basic wearable (meaning a cpu, an input device, an output device, some ram and some storage) is Brad Rhodes' Rememberance Agent. Everything else has either required a specialized piece of hardware (network card, webcam, gps, what-have-you), or been a recreation of a desktop tool for use with the basic wearable's input and output devices. Unless we come up with new tools that are MORE useful in a wearable environment than they are with a laptop or desktop or handheld, there will never be a reason to use a wearable. Wearables will simply continue to be modified laptops. What becomes possible with an always-available cpu? What becomes possible when the user has constant status information? Add wireless networking and the answers become even more involved. --friar -- Subscription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org Please, *PLEASE* don't subscribe through a forward/expander/false domain
From Wear-Hard Mailing list Archive (WH)
Maintained by R. Paul McCarty
Archive created with babymail