>>>It really is naughty of you to convert "less and less relevant" to "death knell" especially after I've said that mobile doesn't need to displace PC to succeed. Oh, well. As long as everybody stays productive, we can review in a year and see what's happening.
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>>Fair enough, but I got confused in that your original statement was in reply to something where I wasn't talking about mobile apps at all. But I understand you are passionate about this technology and it would seem with good reason so if nothing else you've stimulated me to look into it further.
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>>Meanwhile I am working on my own invention - a telephone big enough to hold easily in the hand and hard to lose or break even if thrown (I'm thinking of two piece with and independant hand set employing the durability of black Bakelite ) with a simplified interface ( I'm leanng toward single purpose, numbered buttons ) that overcomes the problem of always losing the damn thing or the battery going dead ( having a lot of success with a wire tethering it to a wall ) Software requirements are minimal and a big safety issue addressed as it is unlikely to be used frequently while driving ( I call this the "cord length safety feature" )
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>>I'll keep you posted.
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>>( oh, and stay tuned for my "pad" that has a clamshell screen cover with a built in keyboard ! )
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>I think it might be useful if when entering the number you had a little time to think before you made the call. Perhaps a rotating dial could be used. Be nice if the hand set was big enough to be wedged between ear and shoulder as well.
I had indeed considered that but I was distracted by an infrastructure issue. Between unemployment and customer frustration with automated routing systems, I am proposing an intermediate layer of human "operators" who would connect the calls. They could even be "voice activated" to where one would merely speak the number and they would connect you. Mnemonics could also be applied to make it easier to remember exchange prefixes such as "Montrose - 4675 please"
( we are trying to sign Lily Tomlin for the ad campaign )
Charles Hankey
Though a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.
- Thomas Hardy
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.
-- T. S. Eliot
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
- Ben Franklin
Pardon him, Theodotus. He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
