[Hidden-tech] need thoughts on future search tools for kid's book

[Steven Solomon]

Folks,

Chris got it right, in my estimation. Digital ink/paper and heads-up  
displays will blow away the screen size problem. So-called iVsion  
binocular glasses cost $3G a couple of years ago, and now they cost  
about $400. When the cost drops to $60 they will be as ubiquitous as  
iPod Minis. Meanwhile companies like Boeing are using the current  
devices to replace pallets full of repair manuals for 747s. Amazon is  
selling its clunky Kindle using electronic ink for under $600.  
Foldable displays have been demonstrated and are only a few years  
away from being productized. Watch French Thomson and Phillips go for  
this to leap past OLED displays dominated by the Asians.

As for the "washabilty" issue, well, that was solved decades ago by  
folks that make wrist watches and SCUBA gear. Design and build the  
new devices well, lower the cost to consumers, lower power  
requirements, and they will be of no more concern in the laundry than  
the tee shirt that your five year-old just barfed on. From my  
personal experience, walking around in the last two days of terrible  
rain, my iPod Nano suffered no damage. The laundry problem is an  
engineering and manufacture, pricing, one. Not a show stopper.

So, invest in China's (and neighbor's) growing industrial capacity,  
earnestly seek to reform Africa's hobbled post-colonial politics and  
economies, make new markets lead by teenagers in S. Korea and Japan,  
and let 'er rip. Our kids will catch up.

S


On Apr 29, 2008, at 4:52 PM, Chris Hoogendyk wrote:

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> Reva Reck wrote:
>> Has it occurred to any of you miniaturization proponents that  
>> looking at anything on a 2x3 inch screen is less than ideal? How  
>> about the fact that clothes, especially kid's clothes,  need to be  
>> washed occasionally & that pockets loaded w. electronics will be a  
>> nightmare for whoever's doing the laundry? Are these electronics  
>> going to be so cheap that we won't care when our kids lose them or  
>> break them after falling on the playground and/or tearing a  
>> pocket? Or are these going to be classroom items that belong to  
>> the school, hopefully with head-lice proof headsets? Pardon my  
>> cynicism, but I think it's important to distinguish between  
>> virtual reality and the real world.
>
> The screen is an issue. There are people who are getting along with  
> the iPhone while they are on the move. But you're not going to be  
> reviewing a corporate spreadsheet or approving a page proof on an  
> iPhone. This is why people are looking at foldable digital paper,  
> further future contact lenses as binocular 3D displays, and lots of  
> other ideas. It's also why some people have larger computer  
> displays or living room oversize plasma displays. The iMac  
> essentially is the display.
>
> With sufficient miniaturization and intelligence, the contacts  
> approach will be able to present essentially anything your eyes are  
> capable of seeing. This is already being experimented with with  
> goggles. It's just a question of continuing miniaturization.
>
> Wearables and miniaturized portable devices are already around. I  
> have a T-shirt that has a wireless display icon covering the front.  
> As I walk around, it lights up a faint blue to indicate the signal  
> strength wherever I happen to be. It's a purely geek thing, but  
> there it is. If I wash it, I have to remove the emblem from the  
> front, disconnect the interior wire, and remove the battery from an  
> inside waist level side pocket. Wash the T-shirt, reassemble it,  
> and go geek.
>
> And, yes, prices are dropping. There is crazy geek toy stuff that  
> wouldn't make sense if it wasn't dirt cheap to whack a chip into  
> something and make it work. The first calculator that I bought cost  
> a few hundred dollars and couldn't do what the $15 scientific  
> calculators can do now. Heck, the first digital computers filled  
> large rooms and could barely do what a $15 programmable scientific  
> calculator can do now. Look how robust and ubiquitous cell phones  
> are now. The first hard drive I got on my Mac Plus way back in 1986  
> was several times larger and multiples more expensive than a drive  
> I can get now that has more than 10,000 times the capacity and is  
> much faster as well. The MacBook Air doesn't even have a disk  
> drive. It uses a variant of memory chips as a solid state drive. I  
> have a keychain fob that is an actually memory simm that I once  
> paid hundreds of dollars for. Now it is junk, or geeky decoration,  
> because we can get 1000 times that much memory in the same space  
> for less money.
>
> It's happening. And the speculation stuff is in labs being played  
> with. People's imagination and genius will determine what becomes  
> available. The market place and what the masses respond to will  
> determine how things really turn out.
>
>
> ---------------
>
> Chris Hoogendyk
>
> -
>   O__  ---- Systems Administrator
>  c/ /'_ --- Biology & Geology Departments
> (*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center
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> <hoogendyk at bio.umass.edu>
>
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Steve Solomon
http://www.othereality.com

"Anyone who isn't confused doesn't really understand the situation."
									
Edward R. Murrow