Ultra-portable terminals

[John Esak]

Thanks for the link, Bob,

I see the naysayers already starting to talk about why this is a "bad"
thing.... Instead, let me point out something "good" about such units. Had
they been around just 4 years ago when Dr. Dovelle was working on his
Artificial Vision project... there would (not might) be thousands of people
who were completely blind... seeing now. His system was incredible. It
placed a tiny probe directly into the video cortex through a little contact
behind the ear. (an outpatient surgery) The wire went down to a small
"laptop" computer hung on one's belt. The computer processed information
from another wire which came down from a pair of glasses that had tiny
cameras on them. Yes, this system actually worked to give people "vision". A
small matrix... only 32x256 I believe... but it workd!!! And it worked only
in black and white... but it worked!!!  The problem was getting a BIG enough
computer and set of applications into something a normal human being could
carry around. Imagine how far this genius could have progressed if this tiny
Sony device was around... or even the OQO which was a shade too late also.
Dr. Dovelle (at the Dovelle Institute in Portugal) had also helped thousands
of people with his inventions of computer based control for moving muscles
in the legs of spinal injury patients... and some for hearing loss... You
can think I'm making this stuff up, but I'm not. Unfortunately, this giant
died last year. I do not believe his programs and institute survived, but I
could be wrong. I corresponded with him a little just before he died and
just before the opportunity for a fourth cornea came around... when I say
giant... I mean GIANT... Einstein, Newton... etc. One thinks about what
Mozart or Beethoven could have done with a Kurzweil... what could this man
have done with this tiny Sony device? Instead of thinking up reasons why it
is a "bad" or "not-so-useful" development... I much prefer to think of the
"good" or "unbelievably useful" things one could do with it.

To say that just because you want a camera to be a camera, and a cell phone
to be a cell phone... and by the way the camera in the damn thing *sucks*
compared to a "real" camera... and when it breaks everything breaks... is
all (possibly) pertinent... BUT... the technical advances which made this
tiny device possible will incrementally and exponentially enhance it as
quickly and even faster than it was developed... and it will have a 20
megapixel capture, and a high grade lens, and text-sensitive font
enlargement... and ... and ... and... sooner than you think.  In the
meantime, just the silly thing as it is today... with all its "faults"....
gives those of us who are praying for such things HOPE. And in case, you
aren't aware of it... and maybe I'm the only one on the planet who knows
this... but HOPE is what at the core of everything... keeps us alive.

John Esak


> -----Original Message-----
> From: filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.com
> [mailto:filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.com]On
> Behalf Of Bob Rasmussen
> Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 12:53 AM
> To: filePro Mailing List
> Subject: Ultra-portable terminals
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I trust you're not all sweltering excessively.
>
> I thought I'd share some experiences with a new handheld device, for your
> general edification. Take a look at Sony's new UX device, at
>
> http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/Notebooks/UXMicroPC/Research/UXM
> icroPCOverview
>
> This is a tiny gadget that runs Windows XP Pro, on a 4.5" diagonal screen.
> The resolution is 1024x600, which means the pixels are really tiny. You
> can read other descriptions online about the unit in general.
>
> We've had requests from time to time for a version of Anzio on Windows CE,
> Windows Mobile, or Palm, but the development hassles were always
> significant. Also, I had questions about whether the screen would be
> readable. So I was interested when I saw the Sony.
>
> I bought one yesterday, and set about getting acquainted, and especially
> testing Anzio on it. Anzio actually runs fine on it, if your eyes (or
> bifocals) are good enough. There's plenty of pixels - we used to run on
> 640x480! But as I said, they're small. But very crisp.
>
> The popup screen reveals a keyboard, which is tedious but at least it's
> there!
>
> There is support for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Cingular cell-modem. I was
> using it with Wi-Fi, and it could make for a good in-warehouse unit. With
> a USB barcode reader, you could take inventory. With cellmodem, a remote
> sales rep could be online frequently. Or you could connect to the Linux
> servers and run "vi".
>
> I thought of a few things I could do to Anzio to make it work better, but
> all in all it did just fine.
>
> I plan to have my unit with me at SCO Forum, so you can try it there. By
> the way, Anzio will be available on the house PCs, in case you need to SSH
> home.
>
> More off-topic, you could use this unit as a camera, a video-conferencing
> station, a music player, a music recorder, a photo viewer, and a video
> viewer. And to play Solitaire.
>
> Let me know what you think.
>
> Regards,
> ....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.
>
> personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
>  company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com
>           voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
>             fax: (US) 503-624-0760
>             web: http://www.anzio.com
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