Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!ukma!gatech!ncar!tank!nucsrl!gore
From: gore@eecs.nwu.edu (Jacob Gore)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: replacing the desktop metaphor
Message-ID: <12670011@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: 22 Dec 88 21:12:20 GMT
References: <4362@pitt.UUCP>
Organization: Northwestern U, Evanston IL, USA
Lines: 24

/ comp.sys.next / gckaplan@soup.ssl.berkeley.edu (George Kaplan) / Dec 22 '88 /
>A wireless keyboard has already been implemented on [...]
>the IBM PCjr.  Its keyboard used infrared to communicate
>with the cpu box.  It worked pretty well through a wide range of
>angles, although as I recall you had to have a clear line of sight 
>between the keyboard and the cpu.

And that line-of-site restriction was a big limitation.  A friend of mine
used one when they were still "hot" (he worked for IBM).  His box & monitor
were on a shelf on his desk, and he had to tilt the keyboard up in order to
have it pointed at the box...

>The PCjr was a flop, but most likely for reasons other than the fact
>that the keyboard was wireless.

The wireless keyboard was a totally useless feature.  If you have to be
close to the monitor to read it, close to the box to work the floppy drives
(there was no hard disk, if I recall correctly), and... I don't remember if
the monitor and CPU were in the same box, but they were certainly attached
to each other.  So, you can't take the wireless keyboard far from the rest
of the machine, and you have to point it at the machine too.  Silly.

Jacob Gore				Gore@EECS.NWU.Edu
Northwestern Univ., EECS Dept.		{oddjob,gargoyle,att}!nucsrl!gore