Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!elroy!jato!jade!morris
From: morris@jade.jpl.nasa.gov (Mike Morris)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Advice about light pens
Message-ID: <1339@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Date: 13 Jun 89 05:04:16 GMT
References: <1989May18.213756.22453@utpsych.toronto.edu> <727@xroads.UUCP>
Sender: news@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov
Reply-To: morris@jade.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Mike Morris)
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In article <727@xroads.UUCP> ronnie@xroads.UUCP (Ronnie Phillips) writes:
>In article <>chris@utpsych.toronto.edu (Christine Hitchcock) writes:
... edited to reduce bandwidth...
>>I'm interested in buying a light pen for an IBM AT with a VGA monitor.  Is there
>>anyone who can give me some advice on what to look for? I'd like non-computer 
>
>Years ago, I bought a Gibson light pen for my Apple computer.  I 
>thought all the demonstrations I'd seen at computer shows made the
>light pen look really neat and easy to use.  The software that came
>with it was dynamite.
>BUT....
>What no one tells you is how tired you get from holding your hand
>in such an uncomfortable position at your monitor.  No resting
>place for your hand and if  you want to do anything detailed it
>gets very tedious.  Of course, I suppose it all depends on your
>intended use - as a pointer it would be great... but as a drawing
>tool its terrible.  It is accurate, but you get too tired with it.
>
>The mouse seems to be the best device for drawing that I've found.
>
>If you use a light pen for drawing, you'll end up hating it, no matter
>what brand you decide on.  In fact, you don't even see many light
>pens on the market anymore - probably this is the reason.
>
I can second everything he says - a good friend of mine is totally blind,
and BBSs with an "Optacon" tactile reader on her clone screen.  Or used to.
Her shoulder joints are almost junk from swinging the optacon across the
screen for hours at a time.  And the speech synthesis systems that are
consumer affordable (especially blind consumer affordable) can't handle
graphics. 
 Pet peeve: Nobody publishes software with a configurable
option for plain text.  Close your eyes.  Picture the opening screen(s)
of your favorite software packages.  Imagine that a speech synthesizer
was "reading" the stuff, byte-by-byte, and what it would do with ansi
codes, or high-bit graphics.  And what would it take for software writers
to come up with two options: no graphics, and system calls for all console
I/O.  Most of the software drivers that drives specialized option boards
that attempt to assist the handicapped use computers link into the DOS
calls.  Direct I/O is fast, but totally prevents the handicapped from 
using that package.  The handicapped would love to see those two options
in an install program.  End Pet Peeve mode.

I came up with an idea that might save my friend's shoulder muscles and
joints - she'll know in a few weeks.
We're chopping a hole in her desk top and sinking a second monitor into it,
as flush as we can get it.  This way she'l be able to use the optacon like a
mouse.  She'll lose a couple of desk drawers on the right side of the computer
desk, but if it works, she'll be able to use the computer again.  She
has been missed on the local BBSs by a lot of people.

(I can hear it now: "second monitor?".  yes, her husband is sighted and
uses the system also.  You can paralell similar monitors - in this case
two monochrome units.  All it takes is a Y cable.)

Sorry about the length of the message, but it pushed one of my buttons.

US Snail:  Mike Morris                    UUCP: Morris@Jade.JPL.NASA.gov 
           P.O. Box 1130                  Also: WA6ILQ
           Arcadia, Ca. 91006-1130
#Include disclaimer.standard     | The opinions above probably do not even