I'm used to a more informed persective from the Times. The reporter (Harmon) was writing from a newbie-ish "everyone reads email using a web browser or Outlook in Windows" sort of perspective. "Right-click on the message body" and instructions about the resulting "view source" menu option is even suggested with no mention of software or OS, at best confusing poor Macintosh users. Weird. No mention of the real story, how new risks are created by ill-considered fancy features. No mention of how many in the know deal with this (I've never had Mutt run Javascript yet...)
I've seen omissions / lacks of understanding of this scale and greater in the past few months in Times articles. Why is the newspaper of record getting worse in its technology reporting?
There's _plenty_ of everyday uses, in and out of academia, where this sort of large-format write-on graphics tablet beats a keyboard.
Here's a few:
1. Physics class. Physics grad students do pretty well for themselves in owning cool toys, but not many take a laptop to class. Paper and pencil wins every time, after a few xi's, eta's, operators, subscripts, nested brackets, and all the rest, not to mention graphs, even latex-like approaches are left way behind. Tablet advantages over paper: can sync students pen strokes to professor's voice audio track (built in mic). Can also have time-synced pen strokes to mark up pre-prepared pdf handouts or even to IR/RF broadasts from the classroom's digitally equipped whiteboard.
2. Art / architecture class. Similar to above, but extra advantages come in marking up pictures (either pre-prepared pdf's from prof. or from the ol' built-in camera).
3. Document creation. Main text input is voice. Pen chooses correct words in ambiguous cases, shoves around content.
4. Document revision / markup. Same general idea as proofreader marks, with electronic advantages.
Just need one e-publicity-hungry university to make this sort of device mandatory for incoming students, and we're off...
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I've seen omissions / lacks of understanding of this scale and greater in the past few months in Times articles. Why is the newspaper of record getting worse in its technology reporting?
There's _plenty_ of everyday uses, in and out of academia, where this sort of large-format write-on graphics tablet beats a keyboard.
Here's a few:
1. Physics class.
Physics grad students do pretty well for themselves in owning cool toys, but not many take a laptop to class. Paper and pencil wins every time, after a few xi's, eta's, operators, subscripts, nested brackets, and all the rest, not to mention graphs, even latex-like approaches are left way behind.
Tablet advantages over paper: can sync students pen strokes to professor's voice audio track (built in mic). Can also have time-synced pen strokes to mark up pre-prepared pdf handouts or even to IR/RF broadasts from the classroom's digitally equipped whiteboard.
2. Art / architecture class.
Similar to above, but extra advantages come in marking up pictures (either pre-prepared pdf's from prof. or from the ol' built-in camera).
3. Document creation.
Main text input is voice. Pen chooses correct words in ambiguous cases, shoves around content.
4. Document revision / markup.
Same general idea as proofreader marks, with electronic advantages.
Just need one e-publicity-hungry university to make this sort of device mandatory for incoming students, and we're off...