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'Cut and Paste' Is Out, 'Pick and Drop' Is In

Posted by michael on from the grab-twist-and-pull dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "How do you exchange a file with a colleague or a photograph with a family member? Chances are that you cut the desired element and paste it into your e-mail program to send it. Now, imagine yourself in a meeting, picking a file on your PDA with a digital pen and using the same pen to drop it on your friend's laptop screen. This is exactly what Jun Rekimoto and his team at Sony Interaction Laboratory have developed with their 'pick and drop' technique. BBC News looks at this project in Digital pen takes on mouse. Because it's based on cheap and existing components, such a system might be released in the near future, though Sony hasn't announced any plans to do it. You'll find more details and pictures in this overview."

4 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. That's great and all, but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm not going to give up on the usefulness of my Cue Cat just yet.

  2. I've been using pick and drop forever... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've just confined its use to nasal maintenance. Sometimes an added roll step is required between the pick and drop steps. It sounds like these guys have just taken this concept and run with it.

  3. I can see it now... by TWX · · Score: 5, Funny

    This thing'll be used to drop porn on the board room's projector during a meeting, a'la Fight Club, or will be used to write nasty things about the presenter, who would probably be facing the audience rather than the screen...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  4. What would be really cool... by MoxCamel · · Score: 4, Funny
    Instead of using a device to exchange files, wouldn't it be cool if we could somehow connect computers together in such a way that you could transfer files without having to use this funky "pen" interface? Imagine hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of these machines, exchanging information using some kind of graphical interface, where you could use some kind of input device like a joystick to "grab" a file, and "drop" it across to another computer, seamlessly. You might say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...

    That would be cool!