Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 23:48:25 -0500 From: Mike Meyer <mwm-dated-1021956505.7b694a@mired.org> To: Robert Clark <res03db2@gte.net> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The road ahead? Message-ID: <15587.14873.431323.125122@guru.mired.org> In-Reply-To: <20020515211922.J1282@darkstar.gte.net> References: <20020516004909.A9808@daemon.tisys.org> <15586.61471.456290.764885@guru.mired.org> <20020515211922.J1282@darkstar.gte.net>
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In <20020515211922.J1282@darkstar.gte.net>, Robert Clark <res03db2@gte.net> typed: > On Wed, May 15, 2002 at 06:32:47PM -0500, Mike Meyer wrote: > > In <20020516004909.A9808@daemon.tisys.org>, Nils Holland <nils@daemon.tisys.org> typed: > > > Of course, one could say that new technological inventations are made at a > > > faster pace than ever before - but I guess this is only half of the truth: > > > For the ordinary Joe, DOS turning into Windows 3.1, Windows 3.1 turning > > > into Windows 95, and so on, was a real revolution. What seems to be > > > invented these days seems to be only toys, no more revolutions! Does the > > > new Fisher Price look in Windows XP make computers easier to use or people > > > more productive, just like the switch from DOS to graphical Windows did for > > > ordinary users? I guess not. And then - what else is "new" these days? Some > > > folks would see the ability to talk to your computer as the next big > > > revolution (which is partly already possible), but I fear that I have to > > > say that talking would actually slow folks down, compared to having them > > > enter commands or use the mouse within a GUI. So, another toy, but nothing > > > new! > > You just committed a logical fallacy. You correctly point out that > > GUIs made computers easier to use or people more productive, then dis > > talking to the computer because it's *slower* than a GUI. Speed isn't > > everything, and I'll argue tha GUIs make people *slower*, at least at > > some tasks. See <URL: > > http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/papers/windowing.html > for a comparison > > of a typical GUI window manager with a keyboard-driven one. GUIs > > provide other advantages such that most people aren't willing to drop > > them in favor of something faster. > Different tools for different jobs. You can pound nails with a pipe wrench, > but it isn't elegant. Yes, but tea in china is cheap. > > The real question about an AUI(tm) - Audio User Interface, pronounced > > owi - is whether or not it will make people more productive or > > computers easier to use, and do so to an extent that it being slower > > is irrelevant. > (IMO) Pen based PDAs are just so much crap. If people will throw all > that money at such inelegant crap, there has to be a market for a well > thought out speech based device. If for no other reason than it would > sell well with the illiterate. All computers are crap. Pen-based is no worse than trying to type on a keyboard that will fit in a shirt pocket. Getting a computer in your pocket is almost as useful than having one on your desk. Compared to the cost of desktop machines, PDAs are an excellent value for the dollar. > Everything about audio is cheap. > Crank out a copy of Palm, and call it Speak, and the market is wide open. Can you convince an investor of that? I'm not interested, because I'm not convinced that voice will either be easier to use or make people more productve. > When I'm in a meeting, and my cellphone rings, why doesn't a voice answer > the call and say, "Mr Clark is in a meeting, but he is will take your > call in a few seconds.", as I'm leaving to take the call in the hallway > where my voice won't disturb people? Why can't I buy an answering machine with caller-id that will route calls without an ID to answering machine without bothering to ring the phone? > In a market where everyone is falling over each other to bring out WAP, > why don't good features ever show up? Because the populace at large will settle for Honda's and Windows. <mike -- Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/consulting.html Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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