Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucla-cs!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!convex!texsun!csccat!ncmicro!ltf From: ltf@ncmicro.lonestar.org (Lance Franklin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: What the heck IS "Interactive TV"? (long) Message-ID: <333@ncmicro.lonestar.org> Date: 17 Apr 91 16:17:35 GMT References: <511c11w164w@ozonebbs.UUCP> <1991Apr15.140416.15388@ncsu.edu> Distribution: usa Organization: NC Microproducts, Inc. Richardson, Tx Lines: 45 In article cimshop!davidm@uunet.UU.NET (David S. Masterson) writes: }Wouldn't CDTV be even more attractive to the education market if it could }learn from its environment and adjust itself to the quirks of its user over }time? (As a for instance, as a history quiz system that keeps track of how }the particular user does over time.) This, though, requires some amount of }floppy/hard disk space for memory. I know CDTV allows such things to be }hooked in, but are software developers going to make use of them to provide a }more personalized environment for the customer? This is simple. Imagine a classroom package with multiple CDTV's paired with a 3.5" disk drive and a master console, an A3000 with a CD drive. Imagine them all networked with a simple RS232 network. Now, a student sits at the system at the beginning of class and "logs on" to the CDTV. The master system downloads his current status to the system and begins his lesson. At the end of the class, the teacher tells his master system to "log off" all the students and read their current status. Now, say the student has a question during the class. The teacher (who has an identical CD in his master system) could have the master system query the students CDTV as to it's current positioning and replay the sequence leading to the students question. In addition, the master system could instruct any students CDTV to continuously update the master system, allowing the teacher to monitor the student's progress in real-time (kind of like the music labs where the teacher can monitor the students electric piano via a switching system). The teacher might even be able to pop up a window on the student's system while the program was in progress to give a suggestion if he notices the student was having problems. Now, what should be really interesting is when they start giving tests via the CDTV. I imagine they'll still have to put the answers on paper, since it would be difficult to hide the screens from other students, but having the capability to pose each question using the multi-media capabilities of CDTV has real possibilities. Lance -- Lance T. Franklin +----------------------------------------------+ (ltf@ncmicro.lonestar.org) | "You want I should bop you with this here | NC Microproducts, Inc. | Lollipop?!?" The Fat Fury | Richardson, Texas +----------------------------------------------+