Attack the content and not the intent? Much obliged.
In my defense, I stated it was an assumption. Fine, it doesn't have to be running X; it could be running a custom environment. However, if so, I sincerely hope it is open source or, at least, will have a published API if it is closed source.
I also give enough to agree that X does have all sorts of "cruft", as you put it, that most users would not require. Also granted that most X apps would likely suck with pen input.
The point that I was
attempting
to make is that, barring proprietary software with an unpublished API, if you don't like the GUI provided on the PDA, change it!
However, this seems a moot point as someone already suggested the twisted idea of running a Palm emulator for the GUI.
Of course, the xcopilot is, just that, an X app.;-)
If this little whizbang is indeed running Linux (and, I assume, X as it seems to have a GUI) then there shouldn't be anything stopping us, the community, from getting in there and enhancing/replacing whatever we don't like.
Don't like their GUI? Great! Write an X app to replace it.
Makes me wonder what they're using on top of X for window management...
I hear you. I've been using Palm Pilots, or just Pilots now, since 4/96. I have one coworker that all but insists that I administer him Pilot for her. Granted I don't mind, seeing as how she's pretty cute, but, for crying out loud, she's a techie! How hard is a Pilot to adminstrate, really!?;-)
(I would have titled this "It's the applications, stupid" but I didn't want to get moderated down to a troll).
Handspring, now being paralleled by Palm, seems to understand already that color is not king. It's the applications. Palm III's and V's (especially) are fairly difficult to extend, in a physical sense, without disrupting their sleek form factor. Handspring's Springboards (which even Jeff Hawkins admits was inspired by the Game Boy's cartridge slot) and, now, Palm's future use of Sony's Memory Stick are the next step. The ability to modify the capabilities of your handheld/PDA - specifically, to add in plug in communications capability is just the first step.
The answer is Oxygen or something like the "Globals" that appear on the television program Earth: Final Conflict. Look at all of the two-in-one PDA/cellphones on the market already: Nokia, Ericson, Motorola (well, sort of, anyway), etc. Sure, color is nice, but communication is king. Just my (sort of) humble opinion
Wince devices may catch up in price (they have been coming down), battery life, and form factor, but they are not very likely to catch up in terms of performance. Either Wince, as an OS, has to become more efficient in terms of CPU usage or they will have to continually throw faster CPUs at it - which all but negates the likelyhood of longer battery life.
There are two major forms of treatment currently available: LASIK and PRK - LASIK being the most common form. If you dig deeply enough, you will likely find enough discomforting information so as to convince you away from the surgery.
In my case, I work at a company where the insurance policy covers LASIK surgery. Nearly a full third of the staff has had the procedure. All of them have been "successful" but the one thing that goes unnoticed by most people in their research is what exactly defines a successful operation.
According to the multiple sites that I had researched, surgeons consider it a successful operation if you're vision is 20/40 or better. However, according to many testimonials, some doctors don't check pupil size before surgery. If the laser diameter is smaller than your dialated pupil, be prepared for visual artifacts and likely much worsened night vision.
For more information, I highly recommend examining the following URL. What you will read may scare you.
http://www.surgicaleyes.org
The one thing to keep in mind, that I had heard while I was digging for more information, is that 1 in 50 surgeries have an undesirable outcome. The surgeries may have been deemed successful but the side effects have not been satisfactory to the recipients.
Given those odds, I was not going to wager organs that are currently unreplaceable.
It suddenly occurred to me that this article reads an awful lot like the Jeff Goldblum IMac commercials: "Now you can be part of the party, sending e-mails [bla bla bla]", etc. Since when did sitting in front of a box full of transistors while absorbing cathode rays become a "party"?
(Why do I think that many people may answer with: "Since Quake came out, you nimrod!")
Get used to it. Whether or not we geeks become the social elite, we're already among the wealthiest people in this country. The average American salary is ~$35k last I heard. How many coders do you know who make that little? Being a misfit myself, I know there's that little part of me crying out to be accepted (although it does sound genuinely pathetic to admit) and I always fear that said acceptance may come from a woman who is more impressed with my wallet than me (yes, I randomly bring relationships into this as, being a geek, I experience them entirely too infrequently).
Slashdot Mirror
In my defense, I stated it was an assumption. Fine, it doesn't have to be running X; it could be running a custom environment. However, if so, I sincerely hope it is open source or, at least, will have a published API if it is closed source.
I also give enough to agree that X does have all sorts of "cruft", as you put it, that most users would not require. Also granted that most X apps would likely suck with pen input.
The point that I was
- attempting
to make is that, barring proprietary software with an unpublished API, if you don't like the GUI provided on the PDA, change it!However, this seems a moot point as someone already suggested the twisted idea of running a Palm emulator for the GUI.
Of course, the xcopilot is, just that, an X app.
If this little whizbang is indeed running Linux (and, I assume, X as it seems to have a GUI) then there shouldn't be anything stopping us, the community, from getting in there and enhancing/replacing whatever we don't like.
Don't like their GUI? Great! Write an X app to replace it.
Makes me wonder what they're using on top of X for window management...
Handspring, now being paralleled by Palm, seems to understand already that color is not king. It's the applications. Palm III's and V's (especially) are fairly difficult to extend, in a physical sense, without disrupting their sleek form factor. Handspring's Springboards (which even Jeff Hawkins admits was inspired by the Game Boy's cartridge slot) and, now, Palm's future use of Sony's Memory Stick are the next step. The ability to modify the capabilities of your handheld/PDA - specifically, to add in plug in communications capability is just the first step.
The answer is Oxygen or something like the "Globals" that appear on the television program Earth: Final Conflict. Look at all of the two-in-one PDA/cellphones on the market already: Nokia, Ericson, Motorola (well, sort of, anyway), etc. Sure, color is nice, but communication is king. Just my (sort of) humble opinion
Wince devices may catch up in price (they have
been coming down), battery life, and form factor,
but they are not very likely to catch up in terms
of performance. Either Wince, as an OS, has to
become more efficient in terms of CPU usage or
they will have to continually throw faster CPUs
at it - which all but negates the likelyhood of
longer battery life.
There are two major forms of treatment currently available: LASIK and PRK - LASIK being the most common form. If you dig deeply enough, you will likely find enough discomforting information so as to convince you away from the surgery.
In my case, I work at a company where the insurance policy covers LASIK surgery. Nearly a full third of the staff has had the procedure. All of them have been "successful" but the one thing that goes unnoticed by most people in their research is what exactly defines a successful operation.
According to the multiple sites that I had researched, surgeons consider it a successful operation if you're vision is 20/40 or better. However, according to many testimonials, some doctors don't check pupil size before surgery. If the laser diameter is smaller than your dialated pupil, be prepared for visual artifacts and likely much worsened night vision.
For more information, I highly recommend examining the following URL. What you will read may scare you.
http://www.surgicaleyes.org
The one thing to keep in mind, that I had heard while I was digging for more information, is that 1 in 50 surgeries have an undesirable outcome. The surgeries may have been deemed successful but the side effects have not been satisfactory to the recipients.
Given those odds, I was not going to wager organs that are currently unreplaceable.
Just my $0.02 and recently collected data.
sleight
It suddenly occurred to me that this article reads an awful lot like the Jeff Goldblum IMac commercials: "Now you can be part of the party, sending e-mails [bla bla bla]", etc. Since when did sitting in front of a box full of transistors while absorbing cathode rays become a "party"?
(Why do I think that many people may answer with: "Since Quake came out, you nimrod!")
Here, here, old chap! ;=)
Amen, brother!
Get used to it. Whether or not we geeks become the social elite, we're already among the wealthiest people in this country. The average American salary is ~$35k last I heard. How many coders do you know who make that little? Being a misfit myself, I know there's that little part of me crying out to be accepted (although it does sound genuinely pathetic to admit) and I always fear that said acceptance may come from a woman who is more impressed with my wallet than me (yes, I randomly bring relationships into this as, being a geek, I experience them entirely too infrequently).