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Brainstorming New Uses for a Mobile Processor
Lycestra asks: "When carriages became cars, cars still looked like carriages. This caused people to see them as much the same as carriages, which cars are not. Getting back to processors, now that we have one designed for long term portability, we need to get away from the dinosaur that is the personal computer. PDAs are different than PCs, but only because they are underpowered. If you look at the Newton2k, you've seen what an overpowered PDA can become. So, my question is, what /can/ we do, now that we can have a powerful micro-portable? I know this must go beyond just better battery life and wearables." What do you think Mobile Computing will be in the future? How will this differ from how we compute now?
First why don't we remove a misconception among some people: the desktop is not going to go away anytime soon, because whatever performance you can pack into a palm or wrist-sized device, you will always be able to pack more into a (larger) desktop device, and people always want more.
:-)
FUTURE MOBILE COMPUTING
First Phase (obvious) - miniturization/increased performance of existing devices: PCs in your palm, PDAs on your wrist
Second Phase (easily deducible) - new devices which were not previously possible because of performance/size trade-offs: eg voice recognition on your wrist; 3D graphics modelling on your PDA
Third Phase (getting misty) - new devices/functions which we have barely imagined (a whole stack of these)
Fourth Phase (even fuzzier) - new devices/functions which nobody has even contemplated - can't think of any at the moment
These phases will obviously not all come from the Crusoe processor. Wait till nanotechnology starts having an impact and then start to talk about mobile computing... (Fifth Phase? Sixth Phase?)
Enjoy the ride!
Michael Richards
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Presumably, Transmeta are saying that "this CPU is not for the desktop" more for marketing reasons that anything technical.
Taking on Intel with your first product could be considered commercial suicide. Taking on ARM, a small UK company, makes much more sense.
Even though this processor was designed for mobile use, couldn't you take this wonderfull vliw 1 watt low heat disipation processor core and just....up the juice on it? I mean an athlon uses what 30 watts (or something ridiculous like that), what clock speed do you think it would run at if you took it down to 1 watt. Is this 700 mhz processor possibly overclockable? (I don't know much about processor design...I'm purely a software geek)
ok, I can get the idea that everything is getting smaller, we'll have cpu's made of a few atoms and 100 terabyte hd's size of a penny, yada, yada, yada, but:
what about big monitors? I was just thinking of replacing my old 15" with a 19". Also, while we are at it, what about keyboards and mice? Sorry people, but the pen thingy in Palm Pilots is not exactly a very conveniet input device.
___
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
umm... Underpowered? My Newton 2100 has a 163 mhz StrongArm in it. It's still, after two years of hard, daily use, performing better than any of my other computers. It still outperforms every handheld I've seen. It's handwriting recog is accurate (except for the way I right "a", it always thinks it's "u"), and doesn't require learning Grafitti or anything.
The Newton was just designed right. It isn't a desktop OS crammed into a handheld. It has the power of a desktop box, fits in the hand, runs for 24 hours on a charge, and handles any telecom or writing I need on the road, along with all of it's other features.
Thanx for killing it, Mr. Jobs.
8(
I see the surge in PDAs and "net appliances" as the beginning of a breakout from the PC. On the other hand, there is always going to be a need for desktop computers, with nice big displays and room for expansion. I wouldn't want to edit a video or try making 3D using my Newt, or a Xybernaut. These new devices are extending the range of computing/telecomm uses, not killing off older variants.
The Net was supposed to kill television, PCs were supposed to kill Big Iron, and TV was supposed to kill both radio and print. It's all about filling niche markets, and finding new uses for old things. Sure, in ten years, maybe most 'leet geeks will do their telecomm from handheld/wearables, but they will still have a keyboard and monitor someplace for those long coding sessions. Twiddlers and speech recog just won't cut it for a lot of uses.
J05h (feeling long winded)
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
Tens of thousands (if not millions) of transistors on the CPU are dedicated to memory page address translation, and useless "backwards compatible" instructions that can run 8088 code!
The 8088 is a dinosaur. As the PC has evolved there have been certain legacy hangers on that were left in for that ~5% of people out there who still need to work with 15 year old programs and nothing new is good enough.
High speed wireless will do much more for PDAs than it will for obsolete desktops.
Did you even READ my post? High speed wireless internet access will help make the PDA a great partner to the PC and when we can get FAST PDAs then they can replace the PC.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
IMO, when PDAs get identical performance to PCs we'll have terminals to carry with us that we can plug into full size monitors and keyboards (& etc...) once we reach a destination, be it work or home. and while we're stuck in gridlock we can retrieve messages and respond to them as well.
There's always the possibility of the mythical VR HeadGear wich can make the monitor obsolete.
The way that I see it the PDA is held back by these factors.
SLOWNESS!
Storage capacity.
Display quality.
Once these things are on par with PCs then the PDA will have a chance to really shine. Who knows how long that'll be though.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
How would it work in space? I think I read something once about satelites and spacecraft needing special hardware to survive in space. Could this apply there?
Ever heard of Jini? You sound like our friend Scott. Personally I wouldn't want my programs on some globally distributed network thats completely unsecure. Why should I have to buy dozens of digital toys just to have a powerful computer in my house? In such a world where every device is part of the system an operating system as we know it would be a major kludge so creating a "powerful open source operating system" would just serve to slow down my cell phone.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
The "dark" side of the moon isn't dark at all, we just don't see it from here. Any besides why criminal tools and weapons advance there?
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
Theres something I'm interested in, but haven't had a chance to use for real (I've used the demo java applets). Quickwrite. Its very good for limited space input devices. I'd estimate the min space for it would be around 1"x1". (but that might be a bit difficult to use). Its not really good for long winded input. One handed, and can be used by left or right handed. Pretty fast too. It relies on the movement of a "pen" from the center, to a side/corner(s), and back to the center. eg center->left->center is 'T' (I think). and center->up&left->center is 'H' (I think). Basically, check out the site. If i ever get myself a PDA (personal digital assistant), I'll use that interface.
---
I use to have a funny sig, but slash cut it off, and I forgot what the punchline was.
Engineers can solve lots of problems back in the lab as a post mortem that aren't feasible in the real world, yet. Often this is due to a lack of processing power that can fit the problem as a solution. Recently we have started to see this reversing itself in products like ABS and traction control, digital video and sound, cell phones, and many others. With low power/high performance this area opens even more. Here are some of the things I expect to see.
:-0 .
-Consumer noise cancellation (Head phones that act like they are stereo speakers across the room, or liek you are in a sensory deprivation tank).
-Consumer sensor suites. How many times would an image enhancement have helped you driving or walking. FLIR is just the sensor and first step, digital enhancement really makes it useful.
-Improved wireless performance. We are getting to the point where some fancy signal decode/encode can be fielded that will make all types of wireless applications more reliable.
These are the broad brush topics. When we delve into specific industries the amount will vary. As an engineer it is an exciting and interesting time. I just don't know if the Chinese curse applies
I think you need to check false assumptions here. Remember it's trying to get rid of waste heat.
Take a look at whe Steve Mann has been doing with video, etc with his wearables. Context sensitive as in the real world input being used to tell the wearable what to display. One use is when he gets to the market, the computer recognizes the market, and displays a list of items to be bought. Another use is in face recognition. This is one that I would love. I'm horrible with peoples faces. I can remember the face and the name, but I just can't seam to link the two together till I seen the pers a large number of times.
yes and you'll note i prefaced the whole thing with a big IMHO,.. :)
:)
:) i'm only concerned about me, and geeks like me,.... ;)
:)
:) you'd
:) I can see a combination of speech recognition and a better, non-QWERTY keyboard system gaining popularity in the near future.
:)
:)
:)
Musta missed that.
i don't, i don't think about it at all.. no more than i do turning a page in a book.
Only when you're doing the most trivial things that are already stored in your cortex's "instruction cache", like browsing and clicking around.
and who said i cared about 'most people',.. Joe Q. Public can bite me
Wow. I just hope you're not the next head of Apple's HCI Engineering Department...
in all seriousness, though, i think you're wrong. keyboards are much more efficient. find me someone who can write graffiti at 100 wpm
break the li'l palm.
Still, direct neural interfaces are far superior. (Do I hear "mind control"?)
while CRTs are large and cumbersome, once flat-screens become cheaper, using a desktop won't be quite as annoying (or brain-cancer inducing
Yes, but all the other disadvantages remain...
just because you hate desktops don't assume everyone else does
Yeah, but knowing that everyone else hates desktop gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. I guess I'm not a real individualist after all, then. Buggers
To the editors: your English is as bad as your Perl. Please go back to grade school.
Some thoughts into how low power high performance processing may come into play(along with flexible LCD displays, laser based displays, etc)
Cars with wireless connectivity. Laser or LCD based HUDs projecting onto windows, rearviews, etc. Range finders telling you how far each car is, velocity, etc. 2d map always projected on some corner of your windshield telling you street signs ahead or behind, traffic conditions, road conditions, weather conditions. Cars relaying this info back and for to each other as they start to slow down or pile up.
PDAs with a monocle laser/lcd projection display. Sorta like the 'old' failed gameboy/3d experiment Nintendo tried? They used mirrors and red LEDs, I think. Display is a monocle, if voice is to be used, perhaps a subvocal microphone at the base of the jaw or something, and the 'pen' input would be your watch, more or less, if it uses grafitti. A larger surface, about the size of the Palm today, would 'snap' into this network for enhanced color displays and input options. Oh, mustn't forget all of this is wirelessly connected =)
The Palm device would probably house the high speed wireless connectivity, of course. What would this be used for? I'm not that much of a visionary, it just sounds cool =)
But it could prolly replace cell phones, pagers, beepers, PDAs, and stuff. Ugh, to many things to carry today anyway! Don't forget that the wristwatch device would have a 400mb HD and a processor fast enough to decode mp3s, if one were so inclined. Power is something else to be considered, though. Hm...
Cell phones with voice recognition! Ugh, why, if the phone is supposed to be a audible tool in the first place, is it littered with buttons and menus and stuff that could be concievable voice activated? Anyone see the WAP phones with screen/PDA interfaces? It seems more natural to speak into it in the first place, since that's it's primary purpose!
Milk cartons would have acidity and toxin sensors and the display cases would continually scan for containers with bad milk. This would literally require disposable sensors and computing!
Heh, Rubbermaid containers with similar technology to tell if your food is going bad!
Tires that actually self monitor (via sonar, radar, whatever) their condition, air pressure, wear, etc.
Anyone with anything else?
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
My personal feeling is that PDA-type devices are going to wind up moving out of the generic, mainstream "I'll carry this to business" and adapt to other market niches where big computing power in tiny packages would pave the way for great advances. Current PDAs/mobile computers tend to be generic, multipurpose devices; in the future, the same power of the PDAs will be applied towards more specialized needs where the power of the PDAs can be harnessed more effectively.
For instance, most scuba divers use computers nowadays for a number of in-water activites. The more advanced computers not only monitor air consumption and predict dive limits, but some also include electronic compasses and GPS.
In the future, with powerful computers, we could not only have such capabilities, but we could provide real-time water composition analysis, record current speed and direction, uplink to floating environmental buoys to keep track of topside weather conditions, have a constant directional pointer back to the point where we entered the water (or the dive boat we dove off of), provide for underwater "networking" to keep track of the location/equipment/health condition of fellow divers, and so on - all things impossible with current technology.
With complex PDAs, environmental scientists could carry specialized PDAs that can take and analyze, for instance, air samples at a hazardous healthy site and remotely access a database to look up the chemical signatures. They might be able to provide very complex, multistory blueprints for building inspectors to easily carry with them. They may allow mechanics of all types of machines to carry very advanced, complex schematics around with them in an easy-to-transport device (for instance, an auto mechanic may be able to carry around the repair blueprints and instructions for dozens of different models of cars).
While phone calls and web browsing may be the current envisioned uses, there are many, many areas of sports and recreation that would benefit greatly from having increased computation power in smaller and smaller packages. Having these devices be specialized means that the raw power can be more focused towards the things the person needs to do, without worrying about things like word processing or Solitaire.
Anyways, my future thoughts.
If I had a great idea for a new take on ANY hardware, I wouldn't talk about it. Software is well suited to Bazaar-style development, but I would prefer to develop hardware in private. I'd develop the thing in secret, then publish the interface specs. (a la Creative Labs, Matrox, 3DFX, etc).
I may be wrong, but I think with the barriers to entry being so high in the hardware development world, keeping your designs and ideas secret seems to be the only way to have a chance to do anything revolutionary.
I'm still against hardware patents, but I wouldn't go blabbing my ideas on Slashdot, either.
I think the basic issue is misstated. PDAs are different from desktop PCs not because they have less powerful CPUs. They are different because of size: they have small screens and they must have non-keyboard non-mouse user interface. This makes all the difference in the world from the user's point of view.
Let's say that we can now put a 800Mhz processor (with a proper MMU and all the supporting chipset) into a Palm. Would it mean that it's a good idea to run Linux on a Palm? No -- a keyboardless computer with a what? 4x3 inch? screen cannot usefully run a desktop-oriented interface (be it CLI or a windownng environment). Remember, our state-of-the-art user interface (WIMP: windows, icons, menus, pointer) was developed in the 70s at PARC. There has been no major advances since that time.
The only thing where processing power might make a difference is in speech recognition. Speech interface to PDAs is a promising area and you do want to have a powerful processor for it. But this detail nonwithstanding, I would argue that for the PDAs to realize their potential we need a user interface breakthrough much more than we need a processor breakthrough (and Crusoe isn't it anyway).
Kaa
Kaa
Kaa's Law: In any sufficiently large group of people most are idiots.
(1) Run in hotter environments
...
Wrong. Let's say a CPU is hotter than the air around it by 20 degrees: a Pentium needs a fan to do it, but a Crusoe can do it without a fan. So? If the air is 100 degree F, your processor will be 120 degrees -- in one case with a fan, in the other case without. I don't see higher tolerance of heat anywhere here.
2) Run from within a totally air tight sealed metal box
(3) Run in isolated environments...
None of these is a desktop. These are industrial applications. The requirements for them are weird and varied, but have little to do with desktops. It may well be that Crusoe will do well in some industrial applications, but that doesn't mean anything about it being a "desktop CPU".
Kaa
Kaa
Kaa's Law: In any sufficiently large group of people most are idiots.
Well, it depends. I think it was US West Wireless that I saw giving one free text news service. Obviously the amount of data per user will be tiny, and they're hoping you'll pay to subscribe to more. And competition can do interesting things...
High speed wireless doesn't matter. I'm not going to be downloading Quake demos or using streaming video on a typical PDA. I don't need high speed. Low latency is much more important ... but still not a big deal.
PDAs won't replace PCs, but they will complement them.
While I can't play Quake on a PDA, I can carry around my player profile and configuration on one.
While I can't view PDF documents on a PDA, I can beam it (IR, Bluetooth, whatever) to a local printer.
While I can't watch movies on one, I can use my PDA to command my TV to access some MPG URL, and carry that URL around on it.
Think different.
MB
I M H O...
sitting down in front of a nice 17-19" screen,
and typing on a responsive keyboard, using a
nice, accurate mouse to click on little pictures
is just an aesthetic and ergonomically pleasing
experience, and i don't think it will ever just
go away. (well, at least not for a long while.)
however,.. the use of the PDA (when it is designed
correctly) is there, and it's nice to be able to
pull out a palm and play rogue or take notes
during a meeting. it would be good to be able
to send e-mail or check up on slashdot, but right
now -- as we all know -- portable 'net access
is not too keen. it's both expensive and fairly
unwieldy (i haven't seen a cordless modem that
is chic.)
so, yes, in a few years when wireless net access
(or some other form of mobile net access, like
say, ethernet plugs abound like public phones) is
a reality, then we'll have that.
right now there is a lot PDAs can do that people
don't make full use of, and not everyone uses
them (i still haven't bought one, though everyone
i know has one just about..) colour screens
are coming this year, from all reports... so
that will be good.
i really don't see anything "revolutionary"
happening any time soon. if i could see something
i'd be off getting it developed and making space
in my garage for my millions of dollars
...dave
Think different? I'd be happy if most people would just think...
He's talking GSM bandwidth here!!! Not LAN bandwidth.
Thimo
--
Avoid the Gates of Hell. Use Linux!
You're missing something: the biggest driver for Beowulf-class systems is the infamous price-to-performance ratio, not pure FLOPS. How are you gonna get better price-to-performance? with commodity hardware (i.e. low price) that has been designed for maximum performance.
A Crusoe may fulfill the former criterion (their prices sure seem low enough) but it fails on the latter. A Pentium III- (or even a Celeron-) class CPU, however fulfills both. Now, if Transemta decides to use their technology for a CPU designed for pure speed, I could see how a Beowulf of those things may prove competitive, as long as it doesn't rely on non-commodity hardware (particulary motherboards and NICs).
engineers never lie; we just approximate the truth.
We have always used advancements in science to enhance the limits of our biology. Glasses for improving eyesight, clothes for improving weather resistance, shoes, cars to travel, etc.
././.../.)
I think that mobile devices will process tasks that are not possible merely by ourselves (duh). The clumsy interface of writing on your PDA will be replaced by voice recognition (and you thought that people talking on their cell phones is bad, just wait a couple of years and everyone will be interacting to a computer. "HAL, what is the closest THAI-MEXICAN restaurant? .
Mobile computing devices will have wireless broadband, so you can run a server with the speed of a T1 right from your belt. I'm sure the people who have these types of PDAs will be exposed to continuous radiation, possibly causing cancer (?)
It might even create to races of humans. Cyborgs who have access to information, communication (not the Robocop battle gear cyborg) and those without.
You'll be able to Book Travel Plans (can now, even), Read the news (slashdot), Pay your Bills, Play games, talk to friends, have sex (assuming that the device can change your brain waves, who knows), etc.
The screens on PDAs are way to small, I expect that future PDAs will have an interface that has a microphone, an earbud, and an optical monitor that is an inch from your eye, but gives you the detail of a 15 inch monitor. Maybe some sort of gloves that you can "twitch" or air type that would be faster than voice recognition will be availible.
The PDAs will be cheap, but corporations will control the access to the network. They will make you sign yearly contracts and offer terrible service.
But I guess if you think about it, why would you want a PDA if you can do everything that you need to do from your home terminal?
To look like RoboCop.
my 2 cents.
-Snoobs
I don't haul hay or fly through canyons. I'm just a grad physics student, and I really want a PDA that will let my enter definite and indefinte integrals with a stylus. Someone combine Mathematica with a Newton and make me happy, please.
The Newton 2000 was the successor to the 130. Instead of the ARM chip it used a Strong-ARM, it had a backlit display, 2 PCMCIA slots, and a bunch of other goodies. Then Steve Jobs returned to Apple...
Apple was going to launch Newton, Inc. as a subsidary - to let it prosper or fail on its own without too much interferance from the mothership. Jobs killed this (IIRC) the day before it happened (and about the same time he was killing the MacClones).
The Newton survived for a while more (including an upgraded 2000, the 2100), but the handwriting was on the wall and Apple finally killed the Newton.
I have a 2000 (never upgraded it to a 2100), and need to find a place to get it fixed (doesn't recognize screen touches anymore). It was a very cool and useful PDA in its day.
The obvious idea is wearable computers. Cell modem and CPU in a small backpack, plus a HMD, pointer device, and voice recognition. Poof, you're a gargoyle.
... universal translators ... scrambled cellular internet telephony ... starcraft on a road trip ...
Virtual tour guides
Not only would this be great for clustering, but also for any situation where a large number of machines need to be in one physical location.
I think of Co-Location Hosting services. In my experience, looking for web hosting providers, physical dimensions of rack space are one of the key elements when figuring costs for co-location services (along with bandwidth, on-site maintenance fees, etc.).
In most Network Operations Centers I see on the web, there are rooms of rack mounted (regular size) servers, with the occasional slim Cobalt Raq system.
Wouldn't this be a great niche for Transmeta to capture? If they can pile, say 600 slim servers into the space usually required by 100 regular-sized rack mounted boxen, this could save many people money. From the consumers paying less for CO-LO service, to the CO-LO provider saving money on NOC floor space, less fire-suppression units etc, or packing more machines into the same ammount of space. This would require less power on their end, and maybe even re-shape our current hosting business model. Virtual hosting could meet its demise if co-lo service could be brought down a peg.
I'm sure there are many OTHER benefits to using low-power, low-heat, headless units in NOCs that I'm not cluing in to right now. What do the rest of you think?
Cringly mentions it in his latest column. The winning PDA will be one which gives away programming tools for third party applications. Good tools and good documentation for doing that will be a key.
If I had a PDA tightly integrated with my PC (running Linux, of course), that I could write new applications for easily, blah blah blah. Okay, all of my conditions are met today by one or more players in the market. I don't think it will come down to one killer app. There will be different applications for different markets.
The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
Even if I could have a laptop the size of a paperback, I probably wouldn't carry it unless it had voice recognition and really good integration with my desktop (I'm really picky about keyboards. The only ones I like right now are the the ones dell ships.)
I'm funny about keyboards myself. I used them. I don't like having to switch back and forth between a keyboard and a mouse. I want an interface that uses one or the other. The time I spend switching is time I spend losing touch with what I was doing. I can spend hours coding via Emacs and never once think about which keys I'm hitting. Put me on the wrong keyboard and that flow disappears until I get used to the new one.
The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
The whole thing with a killer app is that it isn't something that has been done before. Visicalc wasn't a good spreadsheet. Visicalc was a visual calculator that people invented the term spreadsheet to describe. I think we've had them for long enough to know that PIMs are not the killer app that will drive portable computing. It's unlikely anyone will know what the killer app is until they happen to see it on a friends PDA and run out to buy a PDA the next day.
I personally would not carry a PDA right now even if one was given to me. I don't like carrying junk around. I have a Nixxo Platinum pager because I don't like a big motorolla on my belt. I carry a Sharp non-programmable scientific calculator because it takes less space in my backpack than my HP, even though my HP would be more useful for the math class I'm taking.
Even if I could have a laptop the size of a paperback, I probably wouldn't carry it unless it had voice recognition and really good integration with my desktop (I'm really picky about keyboards. The only ones I like right now are the the ones dell ships.)
--Kevin
You know you can do almost all of that (and voice recognition) with some of the Windows CE devices out there now.
But Windows CE is evil(tm).
The problem exists with existing cell phones anyway. Just add an earphone to your combadge if you like.
And why is this listed as funny. I am sorry, but lets face the facts here, I would say the HUGE majority of computer users play games and look at porn, amungst other "non" productive things. This is a completely valid point and it WILL be the porn and game industries that take it to the next level. Seriously.
1. PC's have been out of vogue for 20 years now. Ever since their invention people have been predicting their demise. With that out of the way, I can get on to other more important things. 2. The "brain interface" on slashdot a few months ago. Pretty similar to "jacking in" with the Matrix. Hmm. 3. Head-mounted displays- small LCD panels that project in front of you. Maybe we'll all LIKE wearing glasses if there's a computer built into the frames. Also gives somewhere for an ultra-mini camera to do face recognition, etc. 4. "Virtual Keyboard", yeah, not as good as the real thing, but the glasses could project a keyboard onto a wall, your lap, or midair. Type away. Voice-activated commands aren't going to be any more popular than cell phones.
Hi Nick!
Actually, this isn't a big bandwidth issue. The biggest bandwidth concern is maintaining a connection for just-in-case help--being able to reach out and touch via a cellular call. All the user should have to do is press the Help button, and the phone rings at the pre-defined phone number. The call recipient should be able to identify where the user is (GPS sent in the data setup for the call, perhaps, or maintained in a web-based database from continuous feeds) and be able to talk back. He or she could talk to the end user, or raise the volume and talk to people nearby ("can somebody tell me if Bobby is okay? I can't hear him...can anybody answer me?")
That requires a device that is a power controller, a GPS receiver, a cell phone, and a CDPD data device (cellular digital packet data). But it doesn't really require that much bandwidth.
It is finally nice to see some real ground breaking advancements come into the market.
The new Crusoe CPU will hopefully open up a whole new world of oppurtunities. Imagine, taking just about any OS out there and porting it to this new processor. Not only is it small, with low power consumption, but it can be upgraded at almost any time. Just think, fast , wearable computers that will have a decent batter life and won't singe the hair on your body.
Wireless communications are becoming more readily availble at lower costs every day. Speed in this area keeps increasing, is becoming more secure, and will hopefully be available almost everywhere in the near future.
We have optical storage media being created in the works that is not only fast, has a large capacity, and it will all fit on a credit card sized device.
We are entering into a "Golden Age"
Behold the wonders...
My ideal 'PDA' would be something about the size of a paper notebook, that has a touch sensitive flat screen (that you could possibly write on... hey, playing the "visionary" here !). The machine would be able to do just about anything a PC could. (Net access, productivity tools, a "real" word processor, etc.) Something with wireless net access that you could use to surf the web, write a paper, read an "online" book or periodical, all with something the size of a magazine.
Hmmm.. probably not really a 'PDA' but more like having the functionality of a notebook/laptop PC...
Think Star Trek 'PADD'...
The Crusoe cannot compete with desktop CPUs and is not meant to. Transmeta's best chip runs at 500 MHz which puts it significantly slower than current desktop CPUs. Furthermore Crusoe runs all its x86 decoding in software which further reduces the amount of actual work the Crusoe can get done.
This is why Transmeta made up their own benchmarks (red flag) rather than using the conventional ones. I imagine that if they used the actual SPEC benchmarks that they'd look pretty bad in comparison to a Pentium running at the same speed.
Now their technology is extremely cool, and decoding x86 in software is a great way to conserve power and reduce die size. But it is not a catch-all solution for computing. If speed is what matters (desktop CPUs) then you aren't going to want a Crusoe. If you want low power and reduced cost from smaller batteries then the Crusoe is perfect. But you will get a performace loss.
As for fan noise. It could probably be alleviated by getting a liquid cooling system of some kind. I think kryotech (www.kryotech.com) uses a refrigeration system to cool their 1GHz Athlons. They probably aren't as loud if you weren't overclocking. Personally I enjoy the constant hum of my computer. Very relaxing.
-Uh-oh. I just took a shot at Transmeta. Here come the flames.
I work as an industrial programmer and I am currently working on a centrifuge system that is powered by PC instead of a PLC.
The biggest difficulty with the project is that we are designing the machine for the oilfield and everything has to be explosion proof (gov't standard that defines safety in regard to explosed electrical systems etc). Part of that is that this whole thing has to be able to be hosed down occassionally environments.
If our computer was built with at fanless CPU that could exist in a completely sealed case, my life would be a lot easier.
I think as things like this develop, we will be able to have more and more devices controlled by computers. This gives the potential for much better control and monitoring of entire factories of computer controlled machines.
This space available to anyone who can think of something more creative than this to put here.
Requirements:
- Input modes: (all should be optional)
- Keyboard or keyboard substitues (also mouse): Best used with a very short range transmitting device. This allows the user to pick the keyboard of his choice, from wearables to happy hacking.
- voice: standard microphone jack
- cellular data: standard and necessary.
- other: RJ-whatever jacks for phone and lan
- other: USB or similar port.
-
- audio: standard headphone jacks.
- video: a video jack usable for various displays from heads up graphics to monitors to projection. Note: programming would have to be true WWW style where no assumptions should be made about what the data will be displayed on. (yeah, I know...)
- other: USB or better substitute.
Issues: The desire to use radio frequencies for everything is understandable but as a proud daddy I can tell you the dangers of baby monitors. I don't need my computer hearing you type "Format" and wiping out my own drive.Actually, the core of the machine and the OS should be built under the assumption that we don't know what it does, how it stores or uses items, and how it gathers or distributes information. This bodes well for the open source community, however code will need to be a lot more object oriented than it is now. (That article by the guy at unreal applies here in spades. [no. I'm don't have time to hunt down the url. If anyone remembers, please respond.])
A bonus. If we can make the assumption in coding that we cannot make assumptions, then we end up writing simplistic code without spending a lot of time on interfaces, but instead on data manipulation. If we then allow the interface people to design the nice interfaces for specific I/O products then we end up with a device that can be used on a decent level by people with disabilities. Certain software (Quake XXIV) may assume that you have a certain type of interface (much like many games today require a 3d card), but generic software becomes a lot more generic.
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No Zen is good zen
Never knock on Death's door:
More race stuff in one place,
than any one place on the net.
I have 24.95 per month flat rate CDPD from bell Atlantic. (Here's the trick. Get the email only account -- they don't filter packets.)
Anomalous: inconsistent with or deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Anomalous: deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Canard: a false or unfounded repor
Who gives this person the authority to declare that the PC is a dinosaur?
The PC has just entered it's golden age.
HIGH SPEED wireless internet access is what will prevent PDAs from becoming the device of choice.
When we can get PDA that are as powerful as that day's PCs and the ability to access our data no matter where we are, THEN the PC will be a dinosaur.
The PC as we know it isn't going anywhere any time soon.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Electronic toys are cool until you start to see them proliferate. Take pagers for example. They used to be owned by drug dealers and doctors, not 10 year olds get them from their parents. Every time I hear someone's pager go off I want to take it off their pocket and stomp it to pieces. Nothing personal of course, I'm just tired of everyone's day being interupted by someone else's pager. If it's on vibrate I don't give a crap since it bothers no one else. If everyone has a PDA or cell phone or what have you no one will ever relax again. All these new wireless technologies are what I like to call DistractoWare. You have to give a large portion of your attention to these sorts of devices and by doing so distracting yourself from doing anything else. I can drive and listen to the radio or a CD but can I drive and watch TV or read my email? I doubt you'd like to be near me on the road if I was trying. People are surrounded at work and at home with electronics and now want to have them everywhere. What do all the PDAs and cell phones really do for people? It's leading to a society ruled by the transistor rather than by the people living in the society.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
So why not voice recognition on cell phones, since that's already the main interface pardigm for the device? Why is it WAP phones and all the newfangled cell phones have/use LCD displays and buttons, when it seems to make sense to just *talk* to the phone?
Of course, don't get rid of the buttons(legacy support and all), but it makes as much sense for a phone to be spoken to as to use a keypad to enter numbers or names, text, dates, etc.
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
Thats one thing I was thinking of for what would be a GOOD mobile interface for PDA's that you use all the time.. Why use voice recognition? Its slow, its noisy, and its disturbing to others nearby.. Its also unnecessary for a lot of uses..
:)
Think of it, an eyeball-tracker.. Look at an icon for a couple of seconds and it activates.. Look focus off of the top or bottom of the screen and it scrolls. Look at a link for a second and it activates.. Instant internet tablet that doesn't even need a SCREEN as such.
Or combine it with a hand-keyboard or twiddler. (To act like a 'shift' key.)
Or for a palm-pilot PDA, except for data entry, really what else does a palm pilot need?
This fixes one of the big problems with voice recognition, in that its slow, while you can speak fast, correcting a mistake is very unwieldy and slow.. Overall, voice *is* pretty high-latency, at least compared to a keyboard, mouse, or eyeball-tracking.
User Interface, just because everyone said that it would be the ultimate interface, (remember the newton and handwriting recognition), doesn't mean that it will be, or that it won't take 10 years to get it good enough to useful (Graffitti on a Palm). Personally, I think that the interface of the future will be very unexpected...
Just because its possible doesn't mean that it can be practically implemented.. Just because its implementable doesn't mean it'll be reliable. Just because its reliable or implemented doesn't mean it will be useful.
Don't forget the eyepiece monitor. A virtual 17" screen that looks something like the Borg-Bill icon would be pretty awesome.
Thanks for your comment.
Actually, I see the problem as a software issue: to communicate we have to create an adaptive vocabulary that lets the user, and his or her guardians, determine a relatively limited list of commonly used words or phrases. You and I communicate via keystrokes typed on a keyboard--because you and I have learned a language based on characters that combine to form phonemes, which combine to form words, which combine to form sentences. The breadth and depth of English-language expression requires the ability to assemble speech with detailed precision--we don't need that kind of precision if we're using a total vocabulary of 400 words. ("I want to go home" can be thought of as a single word in this context.)
Communication for the mute isn't the same as it is for you and me. Kids with very limited language skills learn to use "cheap talkers"--devices with a few pre-recorded sounds related to buttons. The buttons have symbols (from a symbol set named PCS, from Johnson-Mayer Company). The user presses a symbol and the talker repeats the sound. The problem with these devices are manifold: they're very limited (they might have 32 or 40 words); they're focused on single-word vocabularies (typically for very language-deficient kids); and they have no means of data collection--you can't tell what words the user actually selects. The key to this kind of adaptive speech is data collection--recording what the user has said, identifying words and word forms that the user has used, and playing back a day's conversations so that Mom and Dad can work on new words or phrases for tomorrow.
There are many brilliant people working in bioengineering, trying to create a link between a person's nervous system and bionic/robotic devices. That is promising, and (I'm told) is deeply rewarding work for the people who do it. The kids I'm thinking of have little or no control over their own muscles (that's part of what cerebral palsy is) so connecting to their muscles won't achieve anything. What I'm concerned to do is to give these people a voice--so that they can communicate with the world outside of their bodies.
(Truth in messaging: I'm a programmer, so I see a software-based solution to every conceivable problem. A hardware guy might view the matter differently.)
The user interface is the key. So long as you tie computing to a keyboard, it will feel a lot like a PC. Handwriting recognition is a step forward, sure, but it's still not ideal. I can type 60 words a minute, but I can't write that fast, so my input is hampered. Speach isn't the answer either. I can't quite picture the whole world running around talking to their computers. Too disruptive and public. Do you want the people around you to know what you're making your assistant remember? I think the leap we want to make is to that of a Personal computer assitant, the term PDA is too scope limiting. The term Data is just not descriptive enough.
What interesting UI ideas are there out there? Heads up display is also neat but not ideal. There have been very few changes in history that have added new things to our outward appearance. Clothes have changed, yes, but they've been around for AGES. The things that are new we stick in a pocket or on a wrist. New things have been fairly unobtrusive. Do you think that will change?
I treat my Palm as a second brain, something to remember the things I can't, do things that I couldn't do on the run before, something that is a less obtrusive alternative to the lower tech solutions. I suspect I'm not alone in that. Help me find a better assistant!
Cheers!
-Termi
Today is all we really have. We should all live it well: it is our stepping stone to all of our tomorrows.
I'm worried that newer PDA's and such are going to start using voice recognition (don't some phones already do this?). Cell phones in restaurants are bad enough. Imagine being on a plane full of people whispering into black boxes . . . yeecch. I know that there is something called the "Twiddler" that is basically a one handed keyboard. Anything else on the horizon that might work?
Hello, I must be going. I'm here to say I cannot stay, I must be going.
Today's modern Hi-Tech addict owns at least 4 devices ;-):
In the future these these devices will communicate/collaborate with each other wirelessly using Bluetooth ("pocket clients" see later in my post) or 802.11 wireless networking ("pocket server") It cold look like the following:
In short words, your PDA will deserve the name "personal digital assistant" even more than it does today.
1. email and internet surfing.
2. built-in GPS and mapping.
3. icq/gaim chat.
4. latest hot stock reports.
5. streaming audio/video.
6. built-in webcam.
7. integrated cell phone/answering machine/pager w/ caller ID.
8. built-in CD/DVD player. (mini-Japanese techno. size- all under 3/4" (1.9cm)
9. expansion/pcmcia slots.
10. 8-hour battery.
...some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant...
"PC" is an abbreviation for "Personal Computer." I don't believe the PC is obsolete, and it probably won't be for quite some time. Just like the first cars were known as "horseless carriages," we'll continue to use the term PC for what a new term will be needed.
I see in the future, not a society where information is retrieved at libraries, in the corner of someone's home, or at a workstation in an office complex. The PDA will become an extension of a PC, more so than ever before. Technologies such as Bluetooth and CDMA will allow PDAs to directly connect to the Internet with bandwidth which seems "overpowered" to us now. Processors such as the Crusoe and StrongARM series will give our "overpowered" PDAs a "real" engine to run "real" programs.
The Internet plays hell with our new definition of "Personal Computer." The boxs sitting on your desktop now will move to under your tables or hidden away in the basement. A silent blinking box with a wire to the Internet via your personal lan and net domain. Your PDA will connect to these systems and run the services YOU want. Mail, web hosting, data storage, and more data processing than your "overpowered" PDA will ever support. This can happen because the PCs will always have more space for more stuff than a PDA will.
I used to think protocols such as the ones used in X-Windows would be given a new life when this happens. Your PDA would become a simple X client to your P.C. at home. If you didn't have a PDA, there would be public access terminals that you could give your username and domain to log into and VIOLA, you'd have "full" access. However, I've reconsidered and see a world where the PDA is a condensed information processor with sensoria. You can do little tasks (surfing web, editing documents, and equiv) on your PDA, but when you need that SETI@Home client running, it'll be on your PC.
Maybe I've stolen quite a bit from authors like Greg Bear or Neal Stephenson. However, I believe we will have a completely different definition of the "Personal Computer" when we have a new architecture.
Great, so we can have a really small doohickey to do stuff quickly. The problem I see in the future of portable computing is interface. Get this little doohickey to understand me when I'm talking (or thinking) to it, then you've got a product. Until then, much smaller than a palm pilot, and you've got problems.
(1) Run in hotter environments such as outdoors or in desert climates, while still providing plenty of processing power.
(2) Run from within a totally air tight sealed metal box (CPU heatsinked to case) box. This lets machines operate in dirty, dusty, smokey environments, that would gunk up fans in no time.
(3) Run in isolated environments where high reliability is needed and maitenance personnel simply cannot check hardware often. e.g., radio repeater controller atop a mountain peak accessible only by helicopter. A cool CPU makes possible a machine with no moving parts to break down and lead to other failures.
Get the TM chips into desktop CPU's now!
1. Face recognition mode. I look at someone - mentally hit the "who the fuck are you" button - and I get a head-up-display of name, context, wife/children's names etc. Could also be used to make "advice" on food choices etc.
2. Deja vu mode. Hit another button and a data base of previous frames and situations is searched to tell me if this has actually happened before.
3. "I told you so"/"But you said..." mode. Quick search and replay of what was *really* said way back then.
4. Diplomacy mode. When you can't be bothered or you're too tired to consider what the right thing to say is, then a rolling AI-generated script appears before your eyes. Keep to the script and you stay out of trouble. Having the PDA activate my mouth and vocal chords automatically could also be cool but maybe a step too far.
5. Drive me home mode. PDA takes control of my limbs to let me sleep/read/watch TV on the way.
OK, rediculous impracticality limit reached. Time to go.
Regards, Ralph.
I have a dream. A dream I have had since 1992, when I first met a boy named Bobby. Bobby has cerebral palsy, and is extremely affected--he can move his left arm at the shoulder, but his elbow wrist and fingers are essentially rigid. Bobby has an electric wheelchair, which he can control with his left arm. Bobby cannot speak.
There is a cruelty to cerebral palsy--oftentimes there is a perfectly normal child trapped inside that horribly disfigured body. And, sooner or later, that child realizes that he is permanently, utterly, royally screwed. It will never get better--he will always be the Hunchback. (What is child abuse? Send a severely-affected CP kid to a school named "Notre Dame.")
Bobby's parents heard of me because of an educational game I created for kids with limited language skills. They asked if I could help Bobby. Long story--but the resulting program helped Bobby go from a "spoken" vocabulary of 0 to 400 words over the weekend. But--the program was written in Visual Basic, which required a PC. I had a dream....
What I've dreamt of for eight years is an Assistive Device. Plugged into an electric chair it provides the kind of smart battery intelligence that we take for granted with notebooks--but that is completely missing from wheelchairs. Gain #1--longer battery life for chairs. In the end user's chair we have the ability to extend the simple user interface for non-verbal users--they can "mouse" to the words or phrases they need ("excuse me", "is this the A4 bus?", "please let me off at the Whitehall Mall"). Using a recorded mix of Mom's voice and Dad's, the user "speaks" with a voice that is recognizably part of his family. Gain #2. With that UberPDA the end user can communicate with a buddy--"Help! I'm stuck on a sidewalk covered in snow!". With GPS and wireless our end user is never lost, and never alone. Gain #3. For the end user who is not permanently confined to a chair we can make the uberPDA wearable--using a simple handheld device he can identify the words or phrases he needs to say--and the device "speaks" them through speakers. If he is blind we can offer GPS-based guidance--and perhaps IR-based (or sonar?) collision-avoidance.
I have a dream. With big MIPS, big bandwidth, and very, very low power consumption we can give sight to the blind, and a voice to the mute. We can take the shattered and the crippled and let them experience that most precious of dreams: independence. Autonomy. Freedom.
In 1992 I wrote an article that stated that from that day forward I was a has-been: I had written the best software of my life, and from BobbyWrite onward all would be downhill. Perhaps--maybe--I was wrong. Perhaps, with the incredible advances of technology, we can take that nascent germ of an idea and make it really useful.
One can only dream of the possibilities....
While most folks think of the portable computer as an easy interface to a networked world, and a link back to all the disparate machines you need to use (home PC, work PC, ISP, soon house and car), I think it could become the logical place for storing your personal info and serving up the apps you want the rest of the world to see.
That way, the various desks you encounter will be nothing more than generic ports for high-speed access, high-featured interfaces, and peripheral usage.
What I'd like to see would be for this model to make it possible for my personal server to be THE secure, authoritative source of data about me (not the marketeer's databases) and to be the primary way that the world's computers (my employer, stores, government, banks, etc.) interact with me. If it also made digital cash possible, that wouldn't hurt, either.
Mind you, storage and bandwidth of portables needs to advance greatly to make this real, but you asked for a vision...
"You can't get something for nothing." - my grandfather, on the stock market and Reaganomics.
With processors like the Crusoe, and other late make mobile processors, the power cunsumption would be dramaticly reduced, the heat output will be less, and if you have a good powersaving scheme in each processor, the power needs would dynamicly vary depending on the number of seperate threads needed at a given time.
True, this isn't a mobile system, but it is a definant possible side-effect of these new processors.
Or am I missing something?
Little Brother, watching the watchers