Scroll and Quill...
Over at ArsTechnica there's an article on Philips' new flexible displays... does anyone else remember the future designs that Apple put out about '88 or so, including Scroll and Quill?
Scroll was a 2" diameter tube, about 8" long, that had a flexible screen that rolled out like a windowshade, then locked into place at about 8x11". Quill was a pen that allowed pen recognition, it stored in the center of the tube at one end. I remember that they theorized that wireless networking would allow instant access to a large file server, that this would be just an access device. At the time it seemed like sheer fantasy.
Imagine a tablet that fits in your pocket, but big enough to work on. Nice.
Edit: removed blatant 'Kickaha was a ninny' tag
Scroll was a 2" diameter tube, about 8" long, that had a flexible screen that rolled out like a windowshade, then locked into place at about 8x11". Quill was a pen that allowed pen recognition, it stored in the center of the tube at one end. I remember that they theorized that wireless networking would allow instant access to a large file server, that this would be just an access device. At the time it seemed like sheer fantasy.
Imagine a tablet that fits in your pocket, but big enough to work on. Nice.
Edit: removed blatant 'Kickaha was a ninny' tag
Comments
*whistles tunelessly and walks away*
Originally posted by Amorph
Ninny.
I hate when people are enjoying a joke that I just don't get.
What happened to voice recognition, immersive 3-d headsets, stick your hand in and massage the bits...
Originally posted by KANE
I hate when people are enjoying a joke that I just don't get.
Originally posted by Amorph
Ninny.
Meanie. I'm gonna take my ball and go home... oh, wait, I am home. Nevermind.
Originally posted by Clive
The sad thing here is how little input methods have changed in 20 years, still mouse, keyboard and mostly CRT (some LCD).
What happened to voice recognition, immersive 3-d headsets, stick your hand in and massage the bits...
Voice recognition is here, a slow input method that does not work intuitively because you have to tell the computer what your commands are as well as dictate the content. How many people think in dictation..." Computer on; launch Word; new document; paragraph 1, sentence 1 'This is very lame...'"
Video headsets, here as well. Aparently they give people headaches with prolonged viewing.
The mouse continues to exist as the main cursor control for the same reason the pencil does, it works better than any other method for the majoriaty of people, its easy and intuitive.
People need faster ways of doing things and this is what we will see more of in this decade from GUIs.
Gizmos are just that and will never innovate.
Originally posted by Rhumgod
I think more intuitive GUI advances will push further rather than technology for technology's sake. Let's face it, the tablet computer is a bust. So many technologies seem to go the way of the dodo because manufacturers and marketers just seem to think they can push new technology. Not any more.
People need faster ways of doing things and this is what we will see more of in this decade from GUIs.
Gizmos are just that and will never innovate.
One word:
Newton.
The technology still hasn't been touched by any other tablet or pen-based UI out there, bar none.
MacOS X is converging towards something that is very Newton-esque in many ways, or can be merged with the same philosophies... it's quite exciting to see. That more than anything else convinces me that *some* day we'll see MacOS X running on pen-based hardware.
Originally posted by Kickaha
One word:
Newton.
The technology still hasn't been touched by any other tablet or pen-based UI out there, bar none.
MacOS X is converging towards something that is very Newton-esque in many ways, or can be merged with the same philosophies... it's quite exciting to see. That more than anything else convinces me that *some* day we'll see MacOS X running on pen-based hardware.
I think you are correct, I think the best times for hand-helds are still ahead. I mean, with GPS and such pathetically integrated car systems being so widespread...things more innovative than those could obviously be implimented. Apple could do a number on the fledgling industry if it once again mated elegance, ease of use, and a real use for such things...I still believe the industry is just waiting to be saved.
n : a stupid foolish person [syn: nincompoop]
***This PSA brought to you by the letter "G" and the number "5"***
Originally posted by Clive
The sad thing here is how little input methods have changed in 20 years, still mouse, keyboard and mostly CRT (some LCD).
What happened to voice recognition, immersive 3-d headsets, stick your hand in and massage the bits...
What happened is that people discovered typing is indeed a very good input method. It's like playing the piano. Once you get a sense of where the keys lie, the more you do it, the better/faster you get. And unlike the piano, where someone has to force you to learn most times, typing is so pervasive tht you just pick it up as you go. I no typing training and yet I cruis along between 60-80 WPM, and if I keep typing the volume of work I have to deal with lately, I'll be up past 100 soon. When I'm working seriously, my brain isn't generating 60-80 WPM of well laid out sentences, so there isn't even much need to type faster than that.
Dictation is intrusive because you speak and think with different voices. It's OK, but it's far from natural -- I'm NOT talking about discrete vs natural dictation here -- I'm talking about what goes on in your head when you really want to write something. Typing, and handwriting, are good and quiet: you have time to hear yourself think -- you can't underestimate th value of that.
Dictation requires a different mindset that can be very disruptive. You have to think about what you're about to say, and then say it. We know some superlative writers have "written" through emanuensis -- Paradise Lost springs to mind -- but you think you're up to it? It's different, it's actually MORE work for anything but a memo/email.
Frankly, I don't see dictation ever really catching on with writers. The pen will do a better digital translation once technology makes a convenient form factor practical and a good imitation of the idiom affordable. That day is getting closer. Scroll and Quill would be a great solution to the space problem if technology would permit it.
3-D immersion?
As what, a navigation system. Apple expirmented with this back in the 80/90's. I forgot the name of the project. It confused the hell out of people. Think about it. What's easier: leafing through a file or wandering through a building? Doom OS ?
The answer is probably a little in between. You see that in the way people lay out their office environments. Little stacks of papers and books, a geography of topical nodes, but they still sit at a desk and leaf though; most of the time the suffling from cabinet to cabinet and pile to pile is more of time waster.
Environments will stay 'mostly' 2D, because writing/reading even with all the spacial overtones of hypertext, still happen on a flat plane. The same is true of video and the visual arts as far as content is concerned. As regards organization, even database and spreadsheet applications are basically 2D idioms, like hypertext, you might say they are layered 2D idioms, but they aren't really 3D.
That's what happened, we figured some stuff out and 50 years from now, you'll still be typing or writing (in digital ink) and making some brief voice dictation now and again, all into a mostly 2D interface.
Originally posted by @homenow
Voice recognition is here, a slow input method that does not work intuitively...
That's basically my point, the stuff is out there, but it isn't much better than it was 20 years ago.
Fifteen years ago, or so, I was thinking, while using Illustrator, wouldn't it be neat to just reach in "there" and pull the beziers around with my hands.
Fifteen years later and nothing happened.
Originally posted by Matsu
3-D immersion?
As what, a navigation system...
No, as workspace. Like I wrote above about handling beziers.
Originally posted by Clive
Fifteen years ago, or so, I was thinking, while using Illustrator, wouldn't it be neat to just reach in "there" and pull the beziers around with my hands.
I know exactly what you mean! When I was a kid, I used to absolutely love Lego. I tried downloading one of those Lego CAD apps to see what they were like, and it was such an incredible pain! I mean it was great that I had all the pieces I could ever dream of having... but when I had the pieces in my hands, I could put them together in a snap. Using a mouse, it took forever to find the piece, insert it into the model, rotate it along the proper axes (using a dialog, no less!), and line it up with the rest of them. It was terrible!
I'm sure that if I stuck with it, I'd get somewhat faster, but the whole thing is just too much of a pain to even bother.
If, OTOH, I could just use virtual hands to work with my unlimited collection of lego pieces as if I were really there, I'd probably be spending hours on it.
3D virtual environments may having limited usefulness in general OS interactions, and most apps, but in certain situations, they'd be a godsend!
Originally posted by Matsu
I no typing training and yet I cruis along
sosueme.