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From: rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: the interface for the rest of us?
Summary: groan
Message-ID: <1991May3.204023.6661@ico.isc.com>
Date: 3 May 91 20:40:23 GMT
References: <9105021606.AA26962@lti2.lti.uucp>
Organization: Interactive Systems Corporation, Boulder, CO
Lines: 26

reg@lti2.UUCP (Rick Genter x18) writes:
> I recently read an article in the March '91 issue of MacUser that
> reviews PenPoint, GO Corporation's pen-based operating system.  The
> user interface is (or can be) entirely pen-driven.  PenPoint supports
> an optional keyboard, but its use is discouraged.
> 
> Is this really "the interface for the rest of us"?...

I suspect the novelty of a "writing" interface will wear thin pretty
quickly for anyone who has to enter a lot of information.

This past weekend, I had to hand-write a lot of material for the first time
in years.  (I've normally got my hands on a keyboard for 8-10 hours a day.)
Sheesh, my hand is *still* sore, and it's Friday!  I've only now realized
how much more work (and how much slower) it is to hand-write than to type.

There are some obvious applications (mentioned in other followups) for a
pen interface, but I think it's a lot more of an interface for specialized
situations than the "wave of the future" some folks seem to think.

Perhaps a pen interface will help bootstrap the keyboard-phobic?  That is,
they could start with a pen and move to a keyboard once they're more com-
fortable.
-- 
Dick Dunn     rcd@ico.isc.com -or- ico!rcd       Boulder, CO   (303)449-2870
   ...If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind.