The question was would it be useful for anything besides a tablet. This is a challenge to all the tablet skeptics. Why is Apple putting this into the operating system if they are not planning on releasing a tablet?
My guess is that Apple's been doing some work to better support Palm-based devices, and that's what Inkwell is going to work with (in addition to tablets). It's either that or Apple is coming out with their own OS X-based handheld.
Why would Apple add InkWell API's to their OS in order to "support" Palm units? They are only useful on hardware that runs OSX, and no Apple hardware provides "off-the-rack" pen input.
Does it herald a development of iPod into something... Newton-like? That would mean a recompilation of OSX so it could run on iPod's processor - not very likely. To wit also, Jobs' often-quoted rejection of a new Apple PDA.
The only possible explanation must therefore be a tablet based on iBook technology; the ease with which it could be done has been described frequently in various discussion groups. The OSX would probably be a Lite version, easing the hardware demands.
Presenting InkWell at this time also seems to suggest that the iPad (or whatever) will be presented soon - perhaps this Summer, probably early Autumn after the release of Jaguar.
Personally, I don't see InkWell being a major development, but it will create quite a buzz and put paid to many partisan demands. As an input source, I would have preferred an updated voice-command/dictation API; that would have been a revolutionary technology when paired off with iPod....
PS - Hopefully it's a vastly updated InkWell API we will be seeing. It's old and, in spite of the mythical qualities ascribed to it, not bleeding edge anymore....
classic lasted nearly 20 years, there will still be a very large installed base of classic users for the next 3-4 years.
X needs to last at least 10-15, minimum 9but with improvements, natch.) What is feasible 10 years from now is a different category from what is feasible/useful right now.
A tablet isn't any sort of improvement over a laptop unless you're in an environment where sitting down to use a laptop isn't practical. But inkwell could be good for a lot of things. Accessibility for disabled users, e-signatures for e-commerce, gesture recognition and new UI navigation schemes for the huge community of graphics tablet users. PDA is the obvious answer, but not the only one, nor is it neccessarily the immediate one.
Now a small subnote where the screen folds right around to become a tablet? That would be something cool and useful. xWide format, like the Sony picturebooks, but istead of conventional opening, the displat flips around (like bending over the spine of a book) to make a tablet surface fo the times when you can't sit down to type.
[quote] The OSX would probably be a Lite version, easing the hardware demands. <hr></blockquote>
If they could do this, why haven't they? G3s are quite sluggish with OSX, so if they could ease the system requirements, why wouldn't they? Trying to get people to buy newer macs? I guess they didn't see that lawsuit coming ...
Im sure hardcore AIers or other rumor mongering people will remember a rumor from a few years ago that stated that PowerBook prototypes had been seen with software that would allow you to use the trackpad as an input source.
On the MacOS X Jaguar page it says that Inkwell requires a trackpad of somekind...
BTW I just tried putting various pens on the trackpad, wide and thin... none make the curso move. How the hell does it 'know' when a finger is on it? I even tried with a thick eraser... doesnt work. Weird.
Anyway, a small area for jotting things or controlling would be neat
<strong>BTW I just tried putting various pens on the trackpad, wide and thin... none make the curso move. How the hell does it 'know' when a finger is on it? I even tried with a thick eraser... doesnt work. Weird.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Same way as touch screens I think you would find. Not positive on them but I believe it probably relies on heat.
[quote]Other announcements include a handwriting recognition service called Inkwell, available to applications right now, which perhaps paves the way for tablet-based Macs in the future. <hr></blockquote>
Interesting. According to theRegister it's available now.
From an old Apple techdoc (Titled: "Pen Based Systems Tech Doc") on Newton technology:
[quote]
Why Pen-based Systems?
Man?s written records date back as far as 2360 B.C. Using a stylus made of wood, pictograms were etched into clay. So compared to keyboard-based input, the stylus or pen has been used much longer than the keyboard to record information. And even though personal computers have become pervasive in home, school, and work, the pen is a much more ?natural method? of inputting information.
For some scripts such as Chinese and Japanese, keyboard input is not an efficient mechanism. There are thousands of characters in their written languages. Thus, front end processors have been developed to map the limited number of keys in a keyboard to their alphabet. In this situation, a pen-based system is also desirable.
Although, this technology can tap a wider user base, the major reason for the computer industry?s interest in this enabling technology is its application to mobile devices. Mobile computing is anticipated to be the next major market.
Pen-based solutions provides three major benefits for the mobile computer:
Smaller size - Keyboards have been miniaturized to the ergonomic limit of the human hands. Particularly for people with large hands, these keyboards are unacceptable. For comfortable typing, a keyboard should be around 10 to 11 inches wide. With a pen-based system, the writing tablet can be made much smaller, but still be easily used.
Lighter construction - Keyboards consist of many plastic buttons and mechanical switches. With a pen-based system, the added weight comes from the addition of a layer added to the display, a stylus, and some electronics. Both are relatively light additions.
One hand operation - Keyboards require two hands and a flat surface to be useful. With its smaller size and lighter weight, a pen-based system could be held with one hand, as the other is used to write. And the user can use it while standing up, lying down, or hanging upside down.
The major difference with pen-based systems is its casual element. Where a keyboard is ideal for large amounts of text input, the pen is useful for jotting down ideas, both textual and graphical. In certain situations, for example during a meeting, a keyboard tends to be obtrusive, large and noisy. On the other hand, a pen-based device can be small and not much different from a paper tablet.
...snip...
Gestures are also a key component of a pen-based system. Gestures are pen strokes which represent actions for the system. So instead of having to type or select a command from a menu, a simple hand movement can start an activity. For example, scrubbing the pen over a written object will cause it to be erased.
<hr></blockquote>
Sounds like the obvious application for Inkwell would be some kind of mobile device (Tablet, PDA etc.)...let's see what is in store for MWNY...
If anybody is interested I can mail them a copy of the entire techdoc... :cool:
Comments
Does it herald a development of iPod into something... Newton-like? That would mean a recompilation of OSX so it could run on iPod's processor - not very likely. To wit also, Jobs' often-quoted rejection of a new Apple PDA.
The only possible explanation must therefore be a tablet based on iBook technology; the ease with which it could be done has been described frequently in various discussion groups. The OSX would probably be a Lite version, easing the hardware demands.
Presenting InkWell at this time also seems to suggest that the iPad (or whatever) will be presented soon - perhaps this Summer, probably early Autumn after the release of Jaguar.
Personally, I don't see InkWell being a major development, but it will create quite a buzz and put paid to many partisan demands. As an input source, I would have preferred an updated voice-command/dictation API; that would have been a revolutionary technology when paired off with iPod....
[ 05-06-2002: Message edited by: engpjp ]</p>
classic lasted nearly 20 years, there will still be a very large installed base of classic users for the next 3-4 years.
X needs to last at least 10-15, minimum 9but with improvements, natch.) What is feasible 10 years from now is a different category from what is feasible/useful right now.
A tablet isn't any sort of improvement over a laptop unless you're in an environment where sitting down to use a laptop isn't practical. But inkwell could be good for a lot of things. Accessibility for disabled users, e-signatures for e-commerce, gesture recognition and new UI navigation schemes for the huge community of graphics tablet users. PDA is the obvious answer, but not the only one, nor is it neccessarily the immediate one.
Now a small subnote where the screen folds right around to become a tablet? That would be something cool and useful. xWide format, like the Sony picturebooks, but istead of conventional opening, the displat flips around (like bending over the spine of a book) to make a tablet surface fo the times when you can't sit down to type.
If they could do this, why haven't they? G3s are quite sluggish with OSX, so if they could ease the system requirements, why wouldn't they? Trying to get people to buy newer macs? I guess they didn't see that lawsuit coming ...
LONG LIVE ROSETTA!
On the MacOS X Jaguar page it says that Inkwell requires a trackpad of somekind...
BTW I just tried putting various pens on the trackpad, wide and thin... none make the curso move. How the hell does it 'know' when a finger is on it? I even tried with a thick eraser... doesnt work. Weird.
Anyway, a small area for jotting things or controlling would be neat
<strong>BTW I just tried putting various pens on the trackpad, wide and thin... none make the curso move. How the hell does it 'know' when a finger is on it? I even tried with a thick eraser... doesnt work. Weird.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Same way as touch screens I think you would find. Not positive on them but I believe it probably relies on heat.
[quote]Other announcements include a handwriting recognition service called Inkwell, available to applications right now, which perhaps paves the way for tablet-based Macs in the future. <hr></blockquote>
Interesting. According to theRegister it's available now.
That, my friend, would rock. Opera gestures built into the OS... niiiiice.
[quote]
Why Pen-based Systems?
Man?s written records date back as far as 2360 B.C. Using a stylus made of wood, pictograms were etched into clay. So compared to keyboard-based input, the stylus or pen has been used much longer than the keyboard to record information. And even though personal computers have become pervasive in home, school, and work, the pen is a much more ?natural method? of inputting information.
For some scripts such as Chinese and Japanese, keyboard input is not an efficient mechanism. There are thousands of characters in their written languages. Thus, front end processors have been developed to map the limited number of keys in a keyboard to their alphabet. In this situation, a pen-based system is also desirable.
Although, this technology can tap a wider user base, the major reason for the computer industry?s interest in this enabling technology is its application to mobile devices. Mobile computing is anticipated to be the next major market.
Pen-based solutions provides three major benefits for the mobile computer:
- Smaller size - Keyboards have been miniaturized to the ergonomic limit of the human hands. Particularly for people with large hands, these keyboards are unacceptable. For comfortable typing, a keyboard should be around 10 to 11 inches wide. With a pen-based system, the writing tablet can be made much smaller, but still be easily used.
- Lighter construction - Keyboards consist of many plastic buttons and mechanical switches. With a pen-based system, the added weight comes from the addition of a layer added to the display, a stylus, and some electronics. Both are relatively light additions.
- One hand operation - Keyboards require two hands and a flat surface to be useful. With its smaller size and lighter weight, a pen-based system could be held with one hand, as the other is used to write. And the user can use it while standing up, lying down, or hanging upside down.
The major difference with pen-based systems is its casual element. Where a keyboard is ideal for large amounts of text input, the pen is useful for jotting down ideas, both textual and graphical. In certain situations, for example during a meeting, a keyboard tends to be obtrusive, large and noisy. On the other hand, a pen-based device can be small and not much different from a paper tablet....snip...
Gestures are also a key component of a pen-based system. Gestures are pen strokes which represent actions for the system. So instead of having to type or select a command from a menu, a simple hand movement can start an activity. For example, scrubbing the pen over a written object will cause it to be erased.
<hr></blockquote>
Sounds like the obvious application for Inkwell would be some kind of mobile device (Tablet, PDA etc.)...let's see what is in store for MWNY...
If anybody is interested I can mail them a copy of the entire techdoc... :cool:
Back then she posted some stuff all about something refering to a stone, which was a codename to the Newton.
She said it would be available as a service to all apps.
2 years later, she was right, it was indeed Inkwell.
<strong>I remember a certain insider, I think her name was Belle, that posted in these forums back in 2000.
Back then she posted some stuff all about something refering to a stone, which was a codename to the Newton.
She said it would be available as a service to all apps.
2 years later, she was right, it was indeed Inkwell.</strong><hr></blockquote>
No, InkWell was called InkWell two years ago -
Rhosetta Stone is/was something else.
Edit: Oops! I see that Rhosetta Stone was InkWell's codename, but I remember that we speculated that R.S. was about translation.
[ 05-08-2002: Message edited by: JLL ]</p>