>>>Do you think that I could be typing this on a phone? - no way!
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>Some of the newer bigger screen phones have OK soft keyboards... but I agree it's just an adaption of clunky technology. Siri tells us the way things are going to go next.
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>>>I'm working with a client who would love to use them in a delivery operation that requires some data entry.
>>>We've done some prototypes, but the drivers' fingers are too large to do any significant data entry on one of them.
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>Shame. Any proposition for bigger screens or bigger buttons, or how about Bluetooth keyboards that hook into the closest device? Some Japanese have done that for years- put down your phone at a vacant workstation and the keyboard, screen and networked printers are all hooked into your phone and ready to go.
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>>>By the time my texting grandsons come of age, that will probably not be an issue
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>Sure... and they may well be willing to do things that we'd find abhorent- including screens tattooed on their corneas or implanted subvocal sensors so they can sent a message or speak on the phone in a crowded subway without disturbing the silent masses around them who are all doing the same. We old codgers will shake our heads and mutter that people used to talk to each other back in the good old days. ;-)

"We old codgers" -- exactly. I feel the same way but there is no holding back time and tide. All these gizmos are part of the environment the new generation has grown up in. My beloved daughters are perfect examples. They are pleasant and have lots of friends, so they are not escaping into electronic devices. It's just part of the modern world -- smart phones, text messaging, email, the internet, Facebook. This generation is plugged in at all waking moments. In fact I razz them sometimes for checking their cell phones for text messages so much, worried that they might have missed one and the sender would wonder why they hadn't replied. It makes me want to go for a long hike in the wilderness, metal-free.

When I was a kid my parents were amused and mystified in equal parts by rock and roll. These kids nowadays, they would laugh with their friends. I guess every generation figures out a way to mystify their parents. (And if one figures out a way to top rap I will tip my cap to them).