tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post114732506912607122..comments2024-03-25T21:41:06.801-07:00Comments on Mobile Opportunity: Desperately Seeking the Info PadMichael Macehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-14590708853902380602012-07-16T10:17:54.813-07:002012-07-16T10:17:54.813-07:00So after 6 years nobody has actually made one yet....So after 6 years nobody has actually made one yet. It seems like it might be getting closer. I look at the hardware for Google's Nexus 7 see that it could almost be there. <br /><br />My ideal would be for Microsoft to take Windows RT and put it on the Nexus 7 hardware with the addition of Wacom active digitizer. I can't imagine that a digitizer could add that much to the BOM. If Google can sell the Nexus 7 for $200, it may be possible for Microsoft to hit something less than $300. If they release it themselves as a Surface tablet (with the nice kickstand and a magnetically attached pen) I'll be standing in line to hand them my money.<br /><br />-Michael O. SchonemanMichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16815002149809075207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-34196433162184817582011-10-05T15:39:46.971-07:002011-10-05T15:39:46.971-07:00Thanks for the comment, ReformedCE. When you talk...Thanks for the comment, ReformedCE. When you talk about X-ray are you referring to using search modifiers in a search engine, or some app I haven't heard of?<br /><br />If you mean search modifiers, no that's not what I'm picturing.Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-2604763128798933022011-10-05T14:42:46.645-07:002011-10-05T14:42:46.645-07:00This post is amazing. Consider that Amazon has do...This post is amazing. Consider that Amazon has done the ebook thing with the Kindle almost exactly as you outlined. With the Kindle Touch just announced, the hardware is largely built for a true paper replacement. The contextual cross-referencing is in place via X-ray. Just let us use that IR touch screen with a passive stylus!!!ReformedCEnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-91030601409150658502010-07-31T03:51:55.798-07:002010-07-31T03:51:55.798-07:00The iPad is going to make this so much easier.The iPad is going to make this so much easier.successful entrepreneurhttp://www.successful-entrepreneur.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-21219072464042535662010-04-28T05:32:02.156-07:002010-04-28T05:32:02.156-07:00The new Apple iPad comes closer, but not close eno...The new Apple iPad comes closer, but not close enough to this concept. For one, it's more oriented around art and media even though iBooks is a large selling point of the device.<br /><br />The Info Pad would need something that is completely geared towards it's one product. The iPad, while amazing, does a lot of things and is essentially a large, albeit very cool, iPhone.<br /><br />Here, for me are the lists of things that the Info Pad would need to have:<br /><br /><b>1. Integrated Student Features</b><br />If you can get the markets to bend on this (schools tend to be very slow in adopting technology) you can really make it work well, bend it towards scheduling and homework, and tests...here is what I envision. In Middle School I had to carry an agenda with me all of the time...it was my passbook to do things, my tests were signed in it (by my parents...which meant the test was then stapled to the agenda) I was required to write down all of my homework and stuff in it...all useful stuff but I'm stuck with this book in addition to all of my textbooks.<br /><br />Strike a licensing deal with some major textbook companies: Glencoe, McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall, the like. A school would be able to register and buy in bulk the textbooks required for their curriculum for each grade. Then, hand out Info Pads to the students and it becomes their school. <br /><br />Note-taking application, textbooks, and agenda. Teachers can send tests to the Info Pad through bluetooth and parents can sign digitally straight on the info pad. Of course, a tasks and calendar application would give you a lot of flexibility for homework and the like. Need a hall pass? Teacher signs on your info pad in your 'agenda' program and you can go get that stapler or whatever.<br /><br />The Info Pad could thus become a school...I mean, I spent around two hundred dollars for textbooks for last year of school...I would be much more willing to buy this...it would be WAY more useful.<br /><br />And lastly, on this point, since you really gave me some thought sparks about the indexing by date and contact, index all of your homework and tasks and stuff so that you can look at a specific date and see notes you took in which subjects and tests and projects that you turned in that day, with a link to the actual project if it is on the Info Pad's memory.<br /><br /><b>2. Sudoko</b><br />Gotta have sudoko...not sure why, but it'd be fun to have ONE game! :)<br /><br /><b>3. eBooks</b><br />A previous comment got it exactly right...eBooks are hard to manage. You don't have that bookshelf metaphor that is so good in real life. So here's my idea...have a database of all books sold on the Info Pad. Make certain tags required. (Like Genre, Author, Subject, Title, etc.) Then, make an app that has 'bookshelves', similar to Apples new iBooks app, which you can sort bookshelves by title, genre, whatever. <br /><br />And I agree with you about doing third party apps for most things, but I think the ebook reader and marketplace should be developed by whoever makes the pad...just since that's the core of the idea and it needs to be done 'right'.<br /><br /><b>4. Note Taking, etc.</b><br />I agree with you on most of this stuff, but I do think that handwriting recognition should be an optional thing to turn on? Since, admittedly, storing notes as .bmps isn't exactly lightning fast...even if you find something indexed it would still take a while to open, especially if its a long note.<br /><br />More Comments in next comment...blogger comment limit is 4096 characters?asdfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316467884850300896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-84952681736260929472010-01-30T21:13:12.372-08:002010-01-30T21:13:12.372-08:00Thanks, e!Thanks, e!Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-86506142611807479052010-01-30T04:13:31.438-08:002010-01-30T04:13:31.438-08:00Eerily prescient, given the announcement this week...Eerily prescient, given the announcement this week of the Apple iPad. :)ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02059959240482081115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-60448843045847793842009-05-27T23:57:58.796-07:002009-05-27T23:57:58.796-07:00Fred wrote:>>Don't know if anyone is pay...<B>Fred wrote:</B><I>>>Don't know if anyone is paying attention to this thread any more</I>I do, and you might be surprised by how many readers it stil gets. <br /><br /><br /><I>>>just in case and just for fun check this out</I>Yeah, I ran into that when I was first researching the info pad idea. Their concept was more restrictive than the device I'm thinking about. But it is interesting. Thanks for mentioning it.<br /><br /><br /><B>Gene wrote:</B><I>>>How compelling would a Palm webOS based tablet/slate be to you?</I>Heck, I'd settle for one based on the old Palm OS ;-)<br /><br />But seriously, I think the device could work if built with any of several mobile operating systems: Android, Symbian, WinMob, webOS, iPhone/Mac OS. iPhone is the least promising because it (currently) doesn't support use of a stylus.<br /><br />But whatever the OS, the key to success is the apps built on top of it.Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-26982386064714771582009-05-27T13:46:34.549-07:002009-05-27T13:46:34.549-07:00Michael,
How compelling would a Palm webOS based ...Michael,<br /><br />How compelling would a Palm webOS based tablet/slate be to you? <br /><br />http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=10139<br /><br />Best regards,<br /><br />Gene EvansUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06249014040108649253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-15821284348336243622009-05-25T07:47:38.757-07:002009-05-25T07:47:38.757-07:00Here's a link that might make you happy:
http://ww...Here's a link that might make you happy:<br />http://www.tekistore.com/pd_dna500.cfm<br /><br />But the previous post was definitely a things that make you go hmmmm...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-31525238851406420102009-03-31T15:09:00.000-07:002009-03-31T15:09:00.000-07:00Don't know if anyone is paying attention to this t...Don't know if anyone is paying attention to this thread any more but just in case and just for fun check this out (circa 1995): <BR/><BR/><B>http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/Research/Old/Infopad/index.html</B> <BR/><BR/>All the links on the page are are dead now.<BR/><BR/>Fred BurghardtFred Burghardtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-66858385302041140632008-09-18T13:31:00.000-07:002008-09-18T13:31:00.000-07:00I must say, a digital sketching device would be so...I must say, a digital sketching device would be so perfect. <BR/><BR/>Its genius.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>RoseAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-15748617041319333762008-08-28T04:48:00.000-07:002008-08-28T04:48:00.000-07:00I am hoping the rumored "college" based Kindle is ...I am hoping the rumored "college" based Kindle is the info pad it is in my mind! I really need something to keep all of my pdfs, my own notes and is searchable. <BR/><BR/>And no the illiad is not the right device for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-25989496088509722702008-08-28T00:06:00.000-07:002008-08-28T00:06:00.000-07:00Thanks for the tip. Hmmmm, I have an old Zodiac ar...Thanks for the tip. <BR/><BR/>Hmmmm, I have an old Zodiac around here somewhere, I wonder if it'll still boot up... ;-)Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-20456715628037060102008-08-27T05:19:00.000-07:002008-08-27T05:19:00.000-07:00I know that this post is old now, but anyone still...I know that this post is old now, but anyone still interested should difinitely check out Ninerpad for Palm (www.ninerpad.com)<BR/><BR/>The web page does not do it justice. Try it out on an older palm. Later treos have abysmal digitisers and will create a poor experience. I tried it on a Zodiac and it is very good. If palm made a larger screen device this would be an ideal companion to the usual PIM offerings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-19236511504890870972008-07-30T20:21:00.000-07:002008-07-30T20:21:00.000-07:00It's a wonderful idea, but while I would have love...It's a wonderful idea, but while I would have loved to have something like this in college, those of us students in Life Sciences were expected to take notes which included diagrams drawn with -- are you ready for this? -- several different colors of pen. So, a gray scale note taker would not have worked for many of my classes.<BR/><BR/>However, now that I am in business, and the need for multicolored notes is gone, as long as I could print my notes to PDF or to an application such as OneNote so that I could highlight and annotate, I would buy one of these in a heartbeat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-45270691503194303112008-03-15T13:23:00.000-07:002008-03-15T13:23:00.000-07:00Amazingly when I bought my Tungsten t3 I had ideal...Amazingly when I bought my Tungsten t3 I had idealized an Infopad.<BR/><BR/>I had previously had some 6 among PalmPilots and Handsprings and that device, with a decent resolution, bluetooth connection and an expansion slot (2 would be better) looked nearly perfect but for the screen size, still too small.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13508455868292374957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-86022675218359774782008-02-25T19:58:00.000-08:002008-02-25T19:58:00.000-08:00I return to this post often hoping something or so...I return to this post often hoping something or someone has an answer. I will keep waiting but I am surprised in this information age that this is not possible at least in part.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13708036708703472292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-60193944224305226192008-01-18T15:32:00.000-08:002008-01-18T15:32:00.000-08:00Probably it's cause my idea is too much ambitious ...Probably it's cause my idea is too much ambitious you didn't comment this sketch...:-(<BR/><BR/>http://redj3k.deviantart.com/art/iMoleskine-71144323RedJ3khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14096094225437964714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-73393363100183936032008-01-15T06:55:00.000-08:002008-01-15T06:55:00.000-08:00This looks interesting:http://www.engadget.com/200...This looks interesting:<BR/><BR/>http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/13/iriver-prepping-handwriting-friendly-e-book-tablet/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-3601876674322500652008-01-08T23:17:00.000-08:002008-01-08T23:17:00.000-08:00>>aside from the price, and maybe some maturation ...<I>>>aside from the price, and maybe some maturation of the software, why isn't the Iliad what you want?....I know maybe the screen isn't *quite* good enough on the refresh rate yet</I><BR/><BR/>Yeah, if you cut the price in half, fundamentally rewrote the software (it's more than a tweak), and fixed the screen, you'd probably have a good info pad product. Certainly in terms of size and weight the Iliad is outstanding already.<BR/><BR/>But the software and pricing are huge changes.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>Or maybe this thread is older than the iliad?</I><BR/><BR/>The Iliad and products like it were either shipping or pre-announced when the original post was written (in May of 06). But a lot of the posts here tend to turn into longer-term discussions, so don't worry too much about the original post date. This isn't a typical weblog in that respect -- it's more like a collection of essays that have some longevity to them.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>I'm just wondering how would you go about bringing a very similar device to the market so much cheaper?</I><BR/><BR/>I've talked with a lot of friends who have heavy hardware experience, and I'm convinced that a ~$300 price is doable. You might have to use a conventional LCD in the first generation product, which isn't ideal, but at least you'd overcome the latency problem.<BR/><BR/>I have no idea why the price on the Iliad is so high.Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-7504932842391608262008-01-08T03:09:00.000-08:002008-01-08T03:09:00.000-08:00Ah, I see. Yeah, I guess that makes more sense. ...Ah, I see. Yeah, I guess that makes more sense. Maybe that's how the iliad handles that issue too?<BR/><BR/>So, aside from the price, and maybe some maturation of the software, why isn't the Iliad what you want?<BR/><BR/>I know maybe the screen isn't *quite* good enough on the refresh rate yet, but if it was, at least right now wouldn't that make it more expensive?<BR/><BR/>Presumably the price of the Iliad will fall as the product (or some similar competitor) is produced in larger numbers, right?<BR/><BR/>Like wise the price and quality of the e-ink screens (or some other new technology) will bring down the prices of all such devices as the technology matures and becomes more widely adopted.<BR/><BR/>Without major changes in product direction, the iliad software would also probably keep approaching what you're looking for as it matures anyways, wouldn't it?<BR/><BR/>but this is all just a waiting game.<BR/><BR/>Are you just talking about some kind of marketing issue? Selling enough of them with a solid plan so that you can afford to sell them cheaper? I mean, I'll certainly join you in dreaming about $300 Iliads, but changing the name doesn't get us there any quicker...<BR/><BR/>Am I missing something in terms of a fundamental difference between the iliad and the infopad?<BR/><BR/>Or maybe this thread is older than the iliad? I'm in the "leave a comment" section so I don't see when the very first post was, but I see comments in 2006... and I have no idea when the iliad came out.<BR/><BR/>But, regardless of the age of the thread, I see you saying that for a 20 million dollar investment you could produce what you're looking to produce... but if it costs them 700 to sell an Iliad and 400 for the kindle which doesn't even have touch-screen, ... then, I'm just wondering how would you go about bringing a very similar device to the market so much cheaper?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02806266229628999057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-18172492887574109842008-01-06T01:28:00.000-08:002008-01-06T01:28:00.000-08:00Excellent questions and comments, Nairbv. Thanks ...Excellent questions and comments, Nairbv. Thanks very much.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>How would you store these drawings though? just as black and white compressed bit-map images?</I><BR/><BR/>Probably grayscale. Even 16 levels of gray can do a nice job of anti-aliasing. And as storage capacity goes up and e-ink screen technology improves, I'd like to see it move to color.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>I mean, that creates issues for scaling anything you write. What if a new "infopad" comes out and the screen is a different size? Do you lose all your old data? I'd want to keep everything forever.</I><BR/><BR/>Me too, and no way you would ever toss out any old data. Even if the screen resolution changes, there's no reason why the old notes pages would go obsolete. You'd just scale and smooth the bitmaps as needed. It's pretty easy to do algorithmically.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>Likewise, without good seamless integration to desktop computers, fear of inevitable data loss when the device breaks or you stop making them would scare away a lot of customers. At a minimum, the data would have to all be in open standard accessible formats.</I><BR/><BR/>Agreed.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>And what about viewing your data on a computer screen? Is it just going to look like a PDF where you zoom in and out and scroll around? pdf's are pain.</I><BR/><BR/>I think it could be easier to navigate than a PDF. No offense to Adobe, but Acrobat was designed first for fidelity to the printed page, and then second for navigation. I'd flip those priorities around.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>And then, you mention reading and marking up ebooks on this thing... This seems to be where it would be the biggest problem: If you're going to draw in an ebook, ... how do you get reflowable text? </I><BR/><BR/>You attach the comments to a particular point in the text rather than a particular spot on the screen. Think Post-it notes.<BR/><BR/><BR/><I>>>I think highlighting text in a book should be a digital markup, not just scribbles on a fixed page.</I><BR/><BR/>Agreed. The highlighting function should be linked directly to the text, so you can reflow the book.Michael Macehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17966107280587843091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-14003867691455819942008-01-06T00:45:00.000-08:002008-01-06T00:45:00.000-08:00How would you store these drawings though? just a...How would you store these drawings though? just as black and white compressed bit-map images?<BR/><BR/>I mean, that creates issues for scaling anything you write. What if a new "infopad" comes out and the screen is a different size? Do you lose all your old data? I'd want to keep everything forever, which is a nice thing about having real digital text.<BR/><BR/>Likewise, without good seamless integration to desktop computers, fear of inevitable data loss when the device breaks or you stop making them would scare away a lot of customers. At a minimum, the data would have to all be in open standard accessible formats.<BR/><BR/>And what about viewing your data on a computer screen? Is it just going to look like a PDF where you zoom in and out and scroll around? pdf's are pain.<BR/><BR/>And then, you mention reading and marking up ebooks on this thing... This seems to be where it would be the biggest problem: If you're going to draw in an ebook, ... how do you get reflowable text? If you drew in a particular place on a fixed page, and then you changed your font size, ... your comments wouldn't make any sense anymore.<BR/><BR/>I can't imagine many people buying a device as an ebook reader if it didn't even have reflowable text. <BR/><BR/>Maybe the part about drawing sketches would be OK. I think for highlighting text in a book though, and for adding notes and such, having some way to enter real text would be a necessity. Likewise I think highlighting text in a book should be a digital markup, not just scribbles on a fixed page.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02806266229628999057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17898384.post-24361488141226200552008-01-02T00:59:00.000-08:002008-01-02T00:59:00.000-08:00Yeah, I've been thinking of a device like this jus...Yeah, I've been thinking of a device like this just recently. The one in my head is a lot more like a moleskin though. It sounds ambitious but the technology has been patented and is in development: the best would be for it to be completely flexible, so you could stick it in your back pocket and sit on it without hurting it or yourself. Aesthetically it should also be as simply elegant as a moleskin, none of this silly silver and chrome. <BR/>Would be really great to see something close to this on the shelves soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com