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Re: Vision was: Eye-Link hack

From: Steve Barr <>
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2003 19:04:14 -0500

Tony Havelka wrote:
> Unless something radical happens with the design and performance of "the
> wearable" I think it will be pushed out of existence.  Hear me out on
> this:

> The classic wearable is on track to be pushed out of existence as it has
> not changed in 5 years.

I don't understand why you say this.  This year we have seen:
Centrino/Pentium M: Makes possible fast, 8+ hour wearables under 5lbs
MicroOptical SV-6: Small, Business-quality display with 6+ hour life
New small keyboards: FrogPad, IR keyboards for PDAs

There are also some business factors which help wearables:
Voice over IP: wearable can also be phone
Continued proliferation of wireless
Migration of internal company apps to web-based GUIs

> Tablets, I believe, have pushed wearable
> off the corporate and government radar screen because they are new and
> have the backing of the very large computer manufacturers.

So far they are not selling very well.  MS forgot the classic
tactic of starting prices low, and raising them once people
'have' to have it.

> Oh, and you don't have to wear it.

I see wearing it as an advantage when compared to a tablet, esp.
in the bizarre no offices, no cubes business of the future.
Say a wearable in a corporate setting reduces down to a (company
logo'd) sash with one-two wires coming from it: HMD and
maybe keyboard/mouse (the phone headset is a wireless earpiece).
Even without VoIP, the phone can be in a pocket on the sash.
If not on the keyboard, the mouse can be part of the CPU case,
like on some of the xybernaut models.

I figure if you need to show someone your screen, there is
NetMeeting or similar software.  Or book a conference room
and plug into the projector.

Batteries could be in charging stations, like those used for
department radios.  Or more likely there will be some security
enforced way to turn in an empty battery and get a fresh one.

Benefits:
You don't forget your tablet
Nobody sits on your tablet
Nobody grabs the wrong tablet and runs off to give a presentation
No pile of tablets on the table inside the bathroom
No juggling keyboard, tablet, printout, lunch
No angling tablet for adequate viewing and writing angle
Typing much faster than handwriting recognition
Don't have to hide the screen when unauthorized person comes by
Don't have to carry rag to wipe tablet screen

> Unfortunately, the average person wearing a
> Wearable PC for the first time feels more like this
> [....] or this [....] than this 
> (http://images.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/_photos/poma-wearable-use.jpg). 
 > This has got to change.

Well, you design and sell them.  Why not give it one more
try before becoming TabletGear?  In a corporate environment
it's going to be too noisy to use voice, so you don't
need headphones/mic.  A FrogPad or other keyboard is more
likely to win out than one which ties up both arms but
only has one hand typing.

> PDAs are getting more powerful and cross platform compilers are getting
> better making code maintenance cheaper.

PDAs are disappearing into phones for most users.

> Laptops are getting more powerful and cheaper. 

Laptops are wonderful when you have a desk.  They
are not so grand when trying to type for hours
with them balanced on your knees.  Or when you
have to 'team' with person X, then run down and
'team' with person Y, etc.

> All putting pressure on the overall "value" of using a wearable.

The value of a wearable is that you wear it.

Steve
-- 
http://www.stevebarr.com
"Your lips should remain unmoved."
All 100% my own opinions.

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