Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.llnl.gov!ncis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!ucsd!rutgers!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!dht
From: dht@drutx.ATT.COM (D. Tucker)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Walkman computers
Message-ID: <10008@drutx.ATT.COM>
Date: 18 Jan 89 18:29:14 GMT
References: <336@belltec.UUCP> <27304@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO
Lines: 34

In article <27304@bu-cs.BU.EDU>, kwe@bu-cs.BU.EDU (kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent W. England)) writes:
> 	A cellular phone connection would make it truly portable.  The
> heads-up display would be very useful for navigating around,
> especially if the unit had a satellite navigation system so it knew
> where it was.  (These are all ideas from the Tablet, the U of Illinois
> Apple contest winner for the PC of the year 2000.)  I like it.

	I _never_ want a car phone, I need some privacy! What about
	sidewalk bumps and trash? You have to have some kinda mini-
	radar to not bump into strangers... I like to see where I'm
	going with my own two myopic eyes! I don't like digitized
	video, even as good as it's going to get. Maybe night-vision
	would work, infrared to see heat radiate off people. The eyes
	are a wonderful filter, protect us from going blind looking
	at the sun's corona in a solar eclipse. 

> 	Uh, oh.  I just thought of something.  You remember the
> pre-calculator nerd with the slide rule hanging on his belt?  I can
> see myself with one of these units hanging on my belt with the phones
> and display hanging on my glasses-  I get an interesting piece of
> e-mail as I'm walking down the sidewalk that I just *have* to reply
> to-  I reach down for the chord keyboard hanging on my belt (a little
> too low) and start groping it as I type out my reply.  To anyone else
> on the sidewalk it's "instant geek".

	No, in the near future it will be digitized speech, not pure
	writing... Maybe if we all learn sign language with gloves it
	will work, but the world will be a dim place without speaking.

> 	Going to have to think of some way to use this thing without
> looking like a complete nerd.   :-)

	Nerds are emotionally-arrested postadolescents, thinking with
	their high IQ and not feeling subtlety with their hearts.