If people would actually format their documents w/ markup, then yes, that would be a workable assumption.... but they don't. People ``fingerpaint'' documents w/ font and style and size changes, sticking text in movable frames to work around their inability to control how Word will place text and for most things more complex than a basic memo you're left w/ an unintelligible wreck if the.doc is opened in anything other than the same version of Word w/ the same fonts and the same printer driver loaded.
Sad, 100s of comments no mention of a recent game which exemplifies the capabilities which are unique to the Wii console:
Red Steel 2
Incredibly fun to play, It's unfortunate that Ubisoft chose to foreclose on features and replayability in order to keep to their schedule --- if it just had an option for additional downloadable content (think in terms of the ``episodes'' of Strong Bad other Wiiware games) or multi-player, or on-line leaderboard scores for an arena mode or something to keep one playing after beating the game it would be an incredible value and sales success (not that it's doing badly, but it should have done much better than Red Steel 1).
No, I get the idea of immediacy and tactile interface invested in the multi-touch screen / interface --- my problem w/ it is that it's kind of like giving up arrow keys on the keybard --- it forecloses on options of usage. Also it was probably considered necessary to distance the iPad from the Newton MessagePad, so including InkWell and a stylus was not considered an option.
Hopefully this will get reversed eventually, if not, my next machine will be an Axiotron Modbook.
The Apple ][ and III had arrow keys, the Lisa and the original 128K Mac didn't --- the developers were all using Apple ][s or IIIs or Lisas, (see www.folklore.org) and magazine articles of the time specifically noted the intentionality of leaving out the arrow / cursor keys. (Though they were available on an optional numeric keypad which wasn't available until September 1984.)
The original 128K Mac keyboard did _not_ have arrow keys and they were an intentional omission because Apple wanted people to use the mouse, not keyboard for anything other than typing.
The author (Bruce Tognazzini) was w/ Apple for over a decade.
- FutureWave SmartSketch (the program now known as Flash was originally a vector drawing program written for Go Corporation's PenPoint) or some other vector drawing program suited for use w/ just a stylus
- Infty Reader or some other sort of handwriting recognition software which encompasses not just multiple languages but also mathematical equations (naturally this too needs a stylus)
- a free-form database / spreadsheet which can be queried in a graphical fashion and have formulas calculated from it, where they formulas are natural expressions --- something like Lotus Improv plus sBook5
But above all, the option of a stylus --- we're no longer Pythagoras reduced to drawing figures in the sand w/ our fingers --- people are the tool using animal, let's provide the most natural possible tool for drawing, writing and calculating.
I've been labeling Mafia Wars and a number of other things as offensive and I'm still getting such notifications --- is there some other setting I should be using?
There was a photo of a person touch-typing on the iPad's on-screen keyboard which I found quite striking and very reminiscent of using a Radio Shack Model 100.
If the keyboard is reasonably reliable, they won't be frustrated.
- upgraded iPhone OS
- ARM or custom CPU
- purchase content through iTunes
- ebooks will be extensions of Apple's ``LP'' format so will be multi-media w/ HTML, CSS, and nice cover graphics / icons in the interface
Possibilities:
- handwriting recognition
- stylus
Not going to happen:
- Intel chip
- run Mac OS X apps
William (who will be getting an Axiotron Modbook instead)
NeXT used to charge $4,995 / developer seat for such tools --- now one can get them for free (even w/ a Mac, one can get a free on-line membership in the Developer's Connection and download the latest version)
Depends on what you like. I like sword-play and archery, so the Wii caters better to my desires better than other consoles --- I'm also tolerable of what the OP would consider ``poor'' graphics, so take that into consideration. Notable games among the ~30 which we've bought so far:
Wii Sports Resort is quite engaging --- if one is interested in one of the specific mini-games/sports (my son likes sword-fighting, my daughter likes Rhythm Kung-Fu, my wife likes the various water games and I enjoy archery and showdown duel)
Link's Crossbow Training is a wonderful shooter w/ three different modes (on-rails target shooting, spin in a circle defense and ``ranger'' which is a full-blown first person shooter experience) --- I enjoyed it so much that I've been making wooden Wii Zapper pistols (w/ Nunchuk pass-through) and giving them to co-workers along w/ used copies of the game. Hard to pass up at least trying it since the used game is $2 --- and one probably wants a Zapper for most other light-gun games.
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors --- this is an on-rails RPG w/ no character creation (typical, mute Japanese anime protagonist) which was the first attempt at sword-fighting on the Wii which for not having Motion Plus available worked out well enough for me to finish the game and to play out all but the final bonus boss battle (seems to take more than 45 minutes w/ no health meter for the boss....) and to temper up a full collection of swords and armor.
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga is a good Japanese role-playing game w/ endless customizability and basic on-line WiFi co-op play --- the controls work quite well, though the only support for motion controls is a shake to activate the burst attack. Still playing this --- maxxed out my character but need to finish buffing my equipment and collecting all of the armor sets
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is a well done strategy combat game, but is basically a GameCube game and makes no use of the motion controls
\begin{pedantic} There were two Neverwinter Nights games --- the recent one which you're familiar w/ (and correct about) --- and the old one, the on-line AD&D multi-player Role-playing game on AOL which used the old ``Gold Box'' engine and back in the days of $4--8/hr. on-line fees was a huge moneymaker for AOL.
Unfortunately, there was never a level editor for AOL's NWN, though there was _Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures_, a re-packaging of the level design tools used by the developers of the Gold Box games which allowed one to create modules for others to play. \end{pedantic}
No mention of Go Corporation and PenPoint (Jerry Kaplan's _StartUp_ should be required reading for everyone who writes anything about pen computing). The NCR-3125 came out in 1991, running one's choice of Windows for Pen Computing or PenPoint.
Fujitsu in particular has been doing pen computers running various versions of Windows for a long while, w/ models of the Fujitsu Stylistic ranging from the 500 (1993 or so) to the contemporary ST6012.
William (whose NCR-3125 was donated to the Smithsonian by the guy he sold it to)
that I've found thus far in her Merchanter / Alliance-Union books ---esp. Heavy Time / Hellburner --- though I'd be very interested in suggestions on other authors to read who've put forth a similar effort to have realistic physics and effects thereof.
Yep. Wasn't that long ago one of my uncle's decided to give in to my aunt's request that he arrange for their house to have electricity, so he paid the electric company to run copper from the valley all the way up to the top of the mountain on which he lived --- and immediately after that, all the land along that lonely mountain road was bought up by people who promptly hooked into the wire which he had paid for --- didn't get a kickback from the electric company or anything (it wasn't even a co-operative unfortunately), just lots of neighbors which he didn't really want.
Actually a fair number of ebook readers are standardized on.epub files --- Sony in particular was early to support this, and one can use.epub files from any store which supports Adobe Digital Editions DRM (if one wants DRM). Other readers include the Netronix, Hanlin, Bookeen and Jetbook.
One can even use ADE to read.epub files on a Tablet PC or laptop.
The current system doesn't require that a home have power --- a VOIP installation needs power there at the home ---granted a backup battery is a standard part of the installation (at least for Verizon's) but I don't believe that having a home's 911 service require a good and charged battery there in the home is appropriate for public safety.
Slashdot Mirror
HP has a _very_ long history of creating tablets --- datingway back to, e.g., the HP OmniGo 100 which ran GEOS and had Graffiti:
http://www.thocp.net/hardware/hp_omnigo100.htm
And they purchased Compaq whose TC1000 hybrid Slate design has yet to be equalled:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11429_na/11429_na.HTML
Someone has to take over tablet leadership now that Fujitsu has dropped slates....
William
If people would actually format their documents w/ markup, then yes, that would be a workable assumption.... but they don't. People ``fingerpaint'' documents w/ font and style and size changes, sticking text in movable frames to work around their inability to control how Word will place text and for most things more complex than a basic memo you're left w/ an unintelligible wreck if the .doc is opened in anything other than the same version of Word w/ the same fonts and the same printer driver loaded.
Sad, 100s of comments no mention of a recent game which exemplifies the capabilities which are unique to the Wii console:
Red Steel 2
Incredibly fun to play, It's unfortunate that Ubisoft chose to foreclose on features and replayability in order to keep to their schedule --- if it just had an option for additional downloadable content (think in terms of the ``episodes'' of Strong Bad other Wiiware games) or multi-player, or on-line leaderboard scores for an arena mode or something to keep one playing after beating the game it would be an incredible value and sales success (not that it's doing badly, but it should have done much better than Red Steel 1).
No, I get the idea of immediacy and tactile interface invested in the multi-touch screen / interface --- my problem w/ it is that it's kind of like giving up arrow keys on the keybard --- it forecloses on options of usage. Also it was probably considered necessary to distance the iPad from the Newton MessagePad, so including InkWell and a stylus was not considered an option.
Hopefully this will get reversed eventually, if not, my next machine will be an Axiotron Modbook.
William
The Apple ][ and III had arrow keys, the Lisa and the original 128K Mac didn't --- the developers were all using Apple ][s or IIIs or Lisas, (see www.folklore.org) and magazine articles of the time specifically noted the intentionality of leaving out the arrow / cursor keys. (Though they were available on an optional numeric keypad which wasn't available until September 1984.)
William
Excellent point. I'd not realised that was already available. Way cool!
William
Nope, it's true.
The original 128K Mac keyboard did _not_ have arrow keys and they were an intentional omission because Apple wanted people to use the mouse, not keyboard for anything other than typing.
The author (Bruce Tognazzini) was w/ Apple for over a decade.
William
For content creation:
- an ePub authoring program (given Pages.app v1's execrable html export I'd like to see someone other than Apple create this)
- AppleScript Studio --- let's take HyperCard to the next level and let's use computers as more than glorified memory typewriters
- both of the above could be merged into a tool to create iTunes LP format files for eBooks w/ interactivity
- ArtRage / Autodesk Sketchbook / Corel Painter (and a stylus)
- FutureWave SmartSketch (the program now known as Flash was originally a vector drawing program written for Go Corporation's PenPoint) or some other vector drawing program suited for use w/ just a stylus
- Infty Reader or some other sort of handwriting recognition software which encompasses not just multiple languages but also mathematical equations (naturally this too needs a stylus)
- a free-form database / spreadsheet which can be queried in a graphical fashion and have formulas calculated from it, where they formulas are natural expressions --- something like Lotus Improv plus sBook5
But above all, the option of a stylus --- we're no longer Pythagoras reduced to drawing figures in the sand w/ our fingers --- people are the tool using animal, let's provide the most natural possible tool for drawing, writing and calculating.
William
::applause::
Funniest thing I've read in _forever_.
William
that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy....
---John Adams
and I'm looking forward to the Netflix streaming disk for the Wii:
http://www.netflix.com/NRDInfo/Wii
William
?!?
I've been labeling Mafia Wars and a number of other things as offensive and I'm still getting such notifications --- is there some other setting I should be using?
William
I believe you want access to systems running xGrid:
http://www.macresearch.org/openmacgrid
William
Depends on how well the on-screen keyboard works.
There was a photo of a person touch-typing on the iPad's on-screen keyboard which I found quite striking and very reminiscent of using a Radio Shack Model 100.
If the keyboard is reasonably reliable, they won't be frustrated.
William
Givens:
- upgraded iPhone OS
- ARM or custom CPU
- purchase content through iTunes
- ebooks will be extensions of Apple's ``LP'' format so will be multi-media w/ HTML, CSS, and nice cover graphics / icons in the interface
Possibilities:
- handwriting recognition
- stylus
Not going to happen:
- Intel chip
- run Mac OS X apps
William
(who will be getting an Axiotron Modbook instead)
Try an Interface / Project Builder replacement instead:
http://www.gnustep.org/
InterfaceBuilder.app clone:
http://www.gnustep.org/experience/Gorm.html
ProjectBuilder.app clone:
http://www.gnustep.org/experience/ProjectCenter.html
NeXT used to charge $4,995 / developer seat for such tools --- now one can get them for free (even w/ a Mac, one can get a free on-line membership in the Developer's Connection and download the latest version)
William
Have you tried the Wii-Ware game Overturn yet?
One of its control options is to use the Wii Balance Board to move your robot around --- very cool.
William
Depends on what you like. I like sword-play and archery, so the Wii caters better to my desires better than other consoles --- I'm also tolerable of what the OP would consider ``poor'' graphics, so take that into consideration. Notable games among the ~30 which we've bought so far:
Wii Sports Resort is quite engaging --- if one is interested in one of the specific mini-games/sports (my son likes sword-fighting, my daughter likes Rhythm Kung-Fu, my wife likes the various water games and I enjoy archery and showdown duel)
Link's Crossbow Training is a wonderful shooter w/ three different modes (on-rails target shooting, spin in a circle defense and ``ranger'' which is a full-blown first person shooter experience) --- I enjoyed it so much that I've been making wooden Wii Zapper pistols (w/ Nunchuk pass-through) and giving them to co-workers along w/ used copies of the game. Hard to pass up at least trying it since the used game is $2 --- and one probably wants a Zapper for most other light-gun games.
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors --- this is an on-rails RPG w/ no character creation (typical, mute Japanese anime protagonist) which was the first attempt at sword-fighting on the Wii which for not having Motion Plus available worked out well enough for me to finish the game and to play out all but the final bonus boss battle (seems to take more than 45 minutes w/ no health meter for the boss....) and to temper up a full collection of swords and armor.
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga is a good Japanese role-playing game w/ endless customizability and basic on-line WiFi co-op play --- the controls work quite well, though the only support for motion controls is a shake to activate the burst attack. Still playing this --- maxxed out my character but need to finish buffing my equipment and collecting all of the armor sets
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn is a well done strategy combat game, but is basically a GameCube game and makes no use of the motion controls
William
A woman marries a man thinking he'll change... he doesn't.
A man marries a woman thinking she won't change... she does.
I doubt this will ever change.
Actually...
\begin{pedantic}
There were two Neverwinter Nights games --- the recent one which you're familiar w/ (and correct about) --- and the old one, the on-line AD&D multi-player Role-playing game on AOL which used the old ``Gold Box'' engine and back in the days of $4--8/hr. on-line fees was a huge moneymaker for AOL.
Unfortunately, there was never a level editor for AOL's NWN, though there was _Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures_, a re-packaging of the level design tools used by the developers of the Gold Box games which allowed one to create modules for others to play.
\end{pedantic}
William
No mention of Go Corporation and PenPoint (Jerry Kaplan's _StartUp_ should be required reading for everyone who writes anything about pen computing). The NCR-3125 came out in 1991, running one's choice of Windows for Pen Computing or PenPoint.
Fujitsu in particular has been doing pen computers running various versions of Windows for a long while, w/ models of the Fujitsu Stylistic ranging from the 500 (1993 or so) to the contemporary ST6012.
William
(whose NCR-3125 was donated to the Smithsonian by the guy he sold it to)
that I've found thus far in her Merchanter / Alliance-Union books ---esp. Heavy Time / Hellburner --- though I'd be very interested in suggestions on other authors to read who've put forth a similar effort to have realistic physics and effects thereof.
William
Yep. Wasn't that long ago one of my uncle's decided to give in to my aunt's request that he arrange for their house to have electricity, so he paid the electric company to run copper from the valley all the way up to the top of the mountain on which he lived --- and immediately after that, all the land along that lonely mountain road was bought up by people who promptly hooked into the wire which he had paid for --- didn't get a kickback from the electric company or anything (it wasn't even a co-operative unfortunately), just lots of neighbors which he didn't really want.
William
Actually a fair number of ebook readers are standardized on .epub files --- Sony in particular was early to support this, and one can use .epub files from any store which supports Adobe Digital Editions DRM (if one wants DRM). Other readers include the Netronix, Hanlin, Bookeen and Jetbook.
One can even use ADE to read .epub files on a Tablet PC or laptop.
William
The current system doesn't require that a home have power --- a VOIP installation needs power there at the home ---granted a backup battery is a standard part of the installation (at least for Verizon's) but I don't believe that having a home's 911 service require a good and charged battery there in the home is appropriate for public safety.
William