John McKown wrote: > Your note reminds me of a recent Dilbert in which he asked someone > "Are all your problems self-inflicted?" :-) haha! Yes, they are! However, I'd much prefer a comparison to Avery Brooks in that IBM eBusiness commercial: "It's the year 2000. But where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars! I don't see any flying cars! Why? Why? Why?" The PalmPilot showed the possibility for a better, faster, easier way to do things. Things haven't progressed since then. In the commercial, the internet and the web replaced the need for people to fly everywhere. In the real world, UIs still aren't truly usable, and computers aren't truly reliable. There's no alternative; we're just not there yet. > I think a lot could be accomplished with pocketable keyboards while > we're waiting for multi-modal nirvana. If I could clip the back of a > small smart phone to the top of (a manufactured version of) the > lashed-up prototype keyboard I'm using now, I'd be as happy as a > clam. Would you, really? I would be surprised if that were the case. Because there *are* pocketable, Bluetooth keyboards. Frogpad makes one that works with many smart phones. Nokia makes a folding one, Sony makes their Chatboard, there are also generic folding keyboards, all with cradles and clips for phones. What's stopping you from using one and being happy? I'd wager that the slow, clunky, awkward UI is the reason you don't use it much now. Another device to carry in your pocket solely for input isn't going to improve that, it's going to make that worse. Normal people barely have a two-gadget limit: phone and iPod. It's awkward to whip out a keypad to enter a new appointment or type a note compared to writing it on a piece of paper. I think the only general incentive to carry a dedicated input device around would be universal applicability: that keyboard would have to be good for every device out there, including ATMs. I could be wrong. You could absolutely be all over your smartphone UI and just wish you had a keyboard for faster data entry. It could be the bee's knees for you. But I don't think so. I don't think smartphone UIs work well enough for anyone technical enough to know what a good UI works like, and I think that's you, if you're on this list. I think the lack of shared online<->desktop<->PDA calendar sync is annoying to many people, from husbands and wives to secretaries and bosses. I think people with complex schedules still use personal assistants instead of PDAs for a reason. The interface just isn't there yet. It's the year 2006. But where are the better UIs? I was promised a better UI. I don't see any better UIs. Why? Why? Why? Thanks, Vitorio Miliano _______________________________________________ Wear-Hard mailing listhttp://www.haven.org/mailman/listinfo/wear-hard
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