Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!ames!ucbcad!ic.Berkeley.EDU!edjames
From: edjames@ic.Berkeley.EDU (Ed James)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Flat Displays and Portable Computers
Message-ID: <1249@ucbcad.berkeley.edu>
Date: Fri, 23-Jan-87 21:20:29 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbcad.1249
Posted: Fri Jan 23 21:20:29 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Jan-87 08:45:51 EST
References: <1191@ucbcad.berkeley.edu> <191@its63b.ed.ac.uk> <38@cerebus.UUCP> <1052@ius2.cs.cmu.edu> <275@netxcom.UUCP>
Sender: news@ucbcad.berkeley.edu
Reply-To: edjames@ic.Berkeley.EDU (Ed James)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley, CAD Group
Lines: 40

In article <275@netxcom.UUCP> ewiles@netxcom.UUCP (Edwin Wiles) writes:
>...
>No, don't add a keyboard on the end!  It was designed with the idea in mind
>that it would be about the size of a notebook.  If you add an auxiliary
>keyboard you defeat the design intent.

No, I think the design is to make a portable computer.  I could not use
it if it didn't have a reasonable keyboard.  What we need is a very
flat keyboard.

>If you need a keyboard, then use the touch sensitive screen to create one.

Ooo ick!  No user feedback!  I hate membrane keyboards, and this would be 
about equivalent.

>I seem to remember that with the resolution given in the original design, and
>with the room available on the surface of the screen, you could have a full
>80x24 character screen, and still have enough room for a keypad.  The key

Hey, I'm working on a sun workstation right now running X windows.
I have 6 80x24 text windows (some overlapping) and 2 80x66 text windows for
active use (I'm typing in one now).  I figure we can get a display
about 11x8.5 (a sideways piece of paper) with an LC display with 
~80 pixels per inch (about a sun's).  You could get 4 (2 across, 2 down)
windows using a 6x13 font (which is readable).  

[ The CPU, batteries, ROM_stuff and keyboard could fold up against
  screen when being carried.  Keeping the folded package to around an
  inch or so thick is the trick. ]

I'm not gonna waste screen space on a keyboard.  More info on the display!

>This would allow everyone to customize the keypad into a form that they want,
>instead of being stuck with whatever the manufacturer wanted to give them.

A valid problem, but I find I can use just about any keyboard, dispite
some individual idiosyncrasies.  Besides, you could always have software 
that remaps the keys (like X).

							--ed