I gotta say though... this doesn't seem particularly unvaporish either... their prospects for development seem downright bleak and their site hasn't changed a bit since the last time I visited (2002). Also, the fingerworks model doesn't incorporate a screen and touch in one.
I guess what I'd really like to point out/ask is; how many of these types of interfaces have people actually encountered? The solution (vapor or no) seems to be a step in a positive direction that the computer industry should take cues from.
It is the backbone of... well... almost anything in terms of getting outside of your own box and was probably one of the first open-source development projects still around today. Yes, before MSFT even existed. Don't freak but I am going to refer a book, in paper *ducks from flying tomatoes* ,
Janet Abbate, Inventing the Internet, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 1999, [ chapter 1. "White Heat and Cold War: The Origins and Meaning of Packet Switching", pp. 7-41]
and this I found while looking for an e-version of the above.
I mean TCP/IP started out as a bunch of academics (paid by the DoD) putting something incredible together AND completely outside of the bounds of modern software commerce and security issues. But had the DoD not trusted these people enough to let them do their work AND share information we would not be having this nerdfest.
*cue the anthem and flag or banner waving of your choice*
In fact this all happened before most of the public and private sectors thought this stuff was really that valuable. Of course, modern commercial entities have contributed greatly to the evolution of both the internet and the applications that support it but isn't it at least probable that the future of software development (and commerce) will be some amalgam of strong commercial leadership and excellent grassroots efforts?
The N.Y. Times article that I read said the installation of the system cost $50,000 (according to the designer's approximation). So much for not too expensive.
The article is here.
Slashdot Mirror
I gotta say though... this doesn't seem particularly unvaporish either... their prospects for development seem downright bleak and their site hasn't changed a bit since the last time I visited (2002). Also, the fingerworks model doesn't incorporate a screen and touch in one. I guess what I'd really like to point out/ask is; how many of these types of interfaces have people actually encountered? The solution (vapor or no) seems to be a step in a positive direction that the computer industry should take cues from.
It is the backbone of ... well ... almost anything in terms of getting outside of your own box and was probably one of the first open-source development projects still around today. Yes, before MSFT even existed. Don't freak but I am going to refer a book, in paper *ducks from flying tomatoes* ,
Janet Abbate, Inventing the Internet, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 1999, [ chapter 1. "White Heat and Cold War: The Origins and Meaning of Packet Switching", pp. 7-41]
and this I found while looking for an e-version of the above.
I mean TCP/IP started out as a bunch of academics (paid by the DoD) putting something incredible together AND completely outside of the bounds of modern software commerce and security issues. But had the DoD not trusted these people enough to let them do their work AND share information we would not be having this nerdfest.
*cue the anthem and flag or banner waving of your choice*
In fact this all happened before most of the public and private sectors thought this stuff was really that valuable. Of course, modern commercial entities have contributed greatly to the evolution of both the internet and the applications that support it but isn't it at least probable that the future of software development (and commerce) will be some amalgam of strong commercial leadership and excellent grassroots efforts?
frederik_j_splurdge
The N.Y. Times article that I read said the installation of the system cost $50,000 (according to the designer's approximation). So much for not too expensive. The article is here.