Re: Thoughts???
Message #2 Posted by glynn on 29 Sept 2002, 1:10 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Iqbal
For those who haven't yet followed Iqbal's link, it is a page of description and some nifty renderings of a calc that the author says is a kind of a cross between PDA and the HP49g...
I am glad to see that there ARE those who are thinking big. While some of his current decisions will likely be subject to later re-thought and modification, he has some interesting beginnings here.
In particular, the inclusion of a "memory-stick", or a SmartMedia (which type I prefer), etc. removable storage card is something I have long regarded as an essential part of future calc designs-- the 21st century analog of the mag-strip-- but carrying LIBRARIES of programs at a time. The fact that this technology is not just "off-the-shelf", but that most digital cameras and some mp3 players currently incorporate it, means there is ample experience and several sources of media available, and pc-based readers/writers for it; so putting a compatible storage card slot in a programmable calculator becomes virtually inevitable and obvious.
Of course, his vision and mine are not QUITE in sync; I'd trade away most all of the PDA features for more expansion and I/O, and 41/42 compatibility. That said, what a marvelous vision and ability to synergize this young man has! As many of you know, new products almost always come as responses to, and progressions from, existing products.
Though some engineering/materials/physics naivete would have to be worked through (one flex of this machine would end its career), I can see much of what he is aiming to achieve, and it is in a general direction I approve. I can only guess that this Mr. Marino Arturo has many more ideas in him, and I look forward to seeing what he may bring forth in the future.
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