Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Flat Displays and Portable Computers Message-ID: <7522@utzoo.UUCP> Date: Wed, 14-Jan-87 16:45:00 EST Article-I.D.: utzoo.7522 Posted: Wed Jan 14 16:45:00 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 14-Jan-87 16:45:00 EST References: <1191@ucbcad.berkeley.edu>, <191@its63b.ed.ac.uk> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology Lines: 24 > Make it with a touch sensitive screen, Throw away the > keyboard and the pointer (mouse), and use a stick for making > notes on the screen. Not if you're going to be entering substantial amounts of text. Typing is much faster than handwriting because it uses simpler motions and gets the fingers going in parallel to some degree. It's also a lot easier on the muscles for prolonged work -- remember that you can't rest your fingers on a touch-sensitive screen! (This is also a problem for prolonged use of stick-like pointers even in the absence of text entry.) Don't forget a gallon drum of Windex for cleaning the touch-sensitive screen, by the way. They pick up fingerprints fast. > A handwriting analyser would be nice, to clean up my writing > and reduce storage needs, but a bit beyond current software. Actually feasible, I believe, given that it can watch the character being drawn. The sequence and direction of the strokes adds a lot of useful information. Recognizing "pre-printed" handwriting is hard, but I recall it being manageable with the extra information. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry