ipad, laptop, desktop
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides. So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered). Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard. Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________
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Just some comments from my experiences and a question about labour, as I am starting to kick at Apple glee clubs that seem to be popping up at conferences. I am enjoying the iPad effects on writing thread though. I have used keyboards since 1978 starting with Texas Instrument's keypunches typing code and chemical formulas. My fingers are also used to playing 4 string electric bass guitar. I didn't start to type English sentences into computers until 1994 or so. Before that I never had access to word processors. I have some limited experiences trying to type up essays with an IBM Selectric ( electronic typewriter) in the 1980's when I also started to learn touch typing from library books. Apparently teaching programmers to do touch typing is a real money saver. Word processors saved my education late in life. I think too fast for writing. I wonder how members of this list feel about the company Foxcomm that makes most of our Apples, IBM's and Dells, etc.? Their workers are working in miserable conditions. Some of the scholars I have read on this list also have looked at labour conditions in the ICT business world. Someone on this list recently pointed me to a book on the sustainability of the Information age and I am reading that book. I briefly used an iPad at a family member's ( and Apple stock holder) house last month. Today I tried to use a display model Blackberry Playbook in an office supply store. In both cases, I had to ask people how to get around on the device. When I was writing a thesis I was doing it in LaTeX code on a Macbook and an eMac. I used a template published by my university. I have also tried a mediawiki Intranet web site for note keeping not on the world wild web but on a home network running apache web server on my macbook. These days I just write papers in Word and do PowerPoint and am not fighting any software battles at work. We are not allowed to use iPads at work. I work in government and cannot even take work home because of confidentiality. Peter Timusk at571@ncf.ca ptimusk@sympatico.ca web: www.crystalcomputing.net blogs www.cyborgcitizen.org -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Charles Ess Sent: January-14-12 11:17 PM To: Barry Wellman; aoir list Subject: Re: [Air-L] ipad, laptop, desktop Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard. Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman
______________________________________________________________________ _
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
______________________________________________________________________ _
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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I wonder if this is a generational thing, or if it is somehow tied to typing skills. I learned touch typing in the late 1960s -- first on manual, then IBM Selectric typewriters. When I switched to computers in the early '80s the keyboard seemed very natural and I've never seen it as a problem to be surmounted. I use a Nook Color as a reader and occasionally to skim through email or web surf, but I hate typing on it. An iPad would be just as bad, I'm sure. I sat next to a guy on an airplane a few days ago who was typing on his iPad using only his thumbs, very much like people text on a cell phone. He was moving at a pretty good clip, but not nearly as fast as one could type on a keyboard. I've never seen anyone do more than hunt and peck successfully on a tablet. Perhaps touch typing is possible, but the adaptation would have to be difficult. Adding an accessory keyboard to an iPad seems to run against the concept. At that point one has the same weight and bulk of Charles' Macbook Air (or the ultra-thin knock-offs of it just coming on the market). That would seem a more versatile choice to me, should my institution stop insisting on supplying me with bulky, 7 pound Dell laptops. -- Mark D. Johns, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Luther College, Decorah, Iowa USA ----------------------------------------------- 2011-12 Director, Luther Study Centre 23 Haslemere Road Nottingham NG8 5GJ United Kingdom ----------------------------------------------- "Get the facts first. You can distort them later." ---Mark Twain On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Peter Timusk <ptimusk@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Just some comments from my experiences and a question about labour, as I am starting to kick at Apple glee clubs that seem to be popping up at conferences. I am enjoying the iPad effects on writing thread though.
I have used keyboards since 1978 starting with Texas Instrument's keypunches typing code and chemical formulas. My fingers are also used to playing 4 string electric bass guitar. I didn't start to type English sentences into computers until 1994 or so. Before that I never had access to word processors. I have some limited experiences trying to type up essays with an IBM Selectric ( electronic typewriter) in the 1980's when I also started to learn touch typing from library books. Apparently teaching programmers to do touch typing is a real money saver. Word processors saved my education late in life. I think too fast for writing.
I wonder how members of this list feel about the company Foxcomm that makes most of our Apples, IBM's and Dells, etc.? Their workers are working in miserable conditions. Some of the scholars I have read on this list also have looked at labour conditions in the ICT business world.
Someone on this list recently pointed me to a book on the sustainability of the Information age and I am reading that book.
I briefly used an iPad at a family member's ( and Apple stock holder) house last month. Today I tried to use a display model Blackberry Playbook in an office supply store. In both cases, I had to ask people how to get around on the device.
When I was writing a thesis I was doing it in LaTeX code on a Macbook and an eMac. I used a template published by my university. I have also tried a mediawiki Intranet web site for note keeping not on the world wild web but on a home network running apache web server on my macbook.
These days I just write papers in Word and do PowerPoint and am not fighting any software battles at work. We are not allowed to use iPads at work. I work in government and cannot even take work home because of confidentiality.
Peter Timusk at571@ncf.ca ptimusk@sympatico.ca web: www.crystalcomputing.net blogs www.cyborgcitizen.org
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Charles Ess Sent: January-14-12 11:17 PM To: Barry Wellman; aoir list Subject: Re: [Air-L] ipad, laptop, desktop
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard.
Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles
On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman
______________________________________________________________________ _
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
______________________________________________________________________ _
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Anecdotally, but interestingly considering where the debate here is going, here's a report of an iPad keyboard being easier to use for an elderly woman: http://thehairpin.com/2012/01/an-84-year-old-sends-her-first-text-message Abby Waysdorf Utrecht University On Jan 15, 2012, at 5:09 PM, Mark D. Johns wrote:
I wonder if this is a generational thing, or if it is somehow tied to typing skills. I learned touch typing in the late 1960s -- first on manual, then IBM Selectric typewriters. When I switched to computers in the early '80s the keyboard seemed very natural and I've never seen it as a problem to be surmounted.
I use a Nook Color as a reader and occasionally to skim through email or web surf, but I hate typing on it. An iPad would be just as bad, I'm sure. I sat next to a guy on an airplane a few days ago who was typing on his iPad using only his thumbs, very much like people text on a cell phone. He was moving at a pretty good clip, but not nearly as fast as one could type on a keyboard. I've never seen anyone do more than hunt and peck successfully on a tablet. Perhaps touch typing is possible, but the adaptation would have to be difficult.
Adding an accessory keyboard to an iPad seems to run against the concept. At that point one has the same weight and bulk of Charles' Macbook Air (or the ultra-thin knock-offs of it just coming on the market). That would seem a more versatile choice to me, should my institution stop insisting on supplying me with bulky, 7 pound Dell laptops. -- Mark D. Johns, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Luther College, Decorah, Iowa USA ----------------------------------------------- 2011-12 Director, Luther Study Centre 23 Haslemere Road Nottingham NG8 5GJ United Kingdom ----------------------------------------------- "Get the facts first. You can distort them later." ---Mark Twain
On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Peter Timusk <ptimusk@sympatico.ca> wrote:
Just some comments from my experiences and a question about labour, as I am starting to kick at Apple glee clubs that seem to be popping up at conferences. I am enjoying the iPad effects on writing thread though.
I have used keyboards since 1978 starting with Texas Instrument's keypunches typing code and chemical formulas. My fingers are also used to playing 4 string electric bass guitar. I didn't start to type English sentences into computers until 1994 or so. Before that I never had access to word processors. I have some limited experiences trying to type up essays with an IBM Selectric ( electronic typewriter) in the 1980's when I also started to learn touch typing from library books. Apparently teaching programmers to do touch typing is a real money saver. Word processors saved my education late in life. I think too fast for writing.
I wonder how members of this list feel about the company Foxcomm that makes most of our Apples, IBM's and Dells, etc.? Their workers are working in miserable conditions. Some of the scholars I have read on this list also have looked at labour conditions in the ICT business world.
Someone on this list recently pointed me to a book on the sustainability of the Information age and I am reading that book.
I briefly used an iPad at a family member's ( and Apple stock holder) house last month. Today I tried to use a display model Blackberry Playbook in an office supply store. In both cases, I had to ask people how to get around on the device.
When I was writing a thesis I was doing it in LaTeX code on a Macbook and an eMac. I used a template published by my university. I have also tried a mediawiki Intranet web site for note keeping not on the world wild web but on a home network running apache web server on my macbook.
These days I just write papers in Word and do PowerPoint and am not fighting any software battles at work. We are not allowed to use iPads at work. I work in government and cannot even take work home because of confidentiality.
Peter Timusk at571@ncf.ca ptimusk@sympatico.ca web: www.crystalcomputing.net blogs www.cyborgcitizen.org
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Charles Ess Sent: January-14-12 11:17 PM To: Barry Wellman; aoir list Subject: Re: [Air-L] ipad, laptop, desktop
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard.
Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles
On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman
______________________________________________________________________ _
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
______________________________________________________________________ _
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I've been a Mac person for almost 20 years and have iMacs at home and on campus, and an aging Macbook Pro that will likely be replaced w/a MBAir sometime this year. I am considering an iPad 3 this year primarily as a "gadget" and my first e-reader that also lets me have value-add (particularly email) services if I want them .... but my intention is to explore it and how it might fit into my life and habits, not change myself to fit its features. Like Charles, I am not enamoured with typing on glass, both due to the size of my fingers and the fact that I enjoy the tactile response of each keypress -- many times I know instinctively I've made a typo by feel as opposed to seeing the letter appear. It's also why I have a Blackberry for a "smart" mobile phone and not an iPhone/Android .... I like the keyboards and buttons, and fact that I can use it one-handed. (It's got a touchscreen as well, but I never use it) I've played with iPhones/Androids and just can't get into them or used to them. Blergh. IMHO tactile feel is the major shortcoming of tablet devices. This recent article from a journo at the Detroit Auto Show the other week pretty much explains how I feel about interface design and tactile response -- The Sad Death Of The Knob, Switch And Button http://digg.com/newsbar/Technology/the_sad_death_of_the_knob_switch_and_butt... ... just some rambling thoughts while I sip my Sunday coffee. (make that gulp....) GO RAVENS! -- rick On Jan 14, 2012, at 23:17 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard.
Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles
On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________
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--- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.
There's a new technology around the corner that might fix the issue. "Feel Screens" that let you experience different surface structures on a modified touchscreen. It's still just glass, but supposedly it can feel like velvet. Or gravel. Or grass. It might make touchscreens much more attractive to users that miss the physicality of regular keyboards. Gotta keep an eye on that, I guess. http://cnettv.cnet.com/senseg-demos-prototype-touch-feedback-technology/974 2-1_53-50115714.html?tag=cnetRiver Timo (first post on AoIR, I just wanted to share the finding) -- Timo Kaerlein Universität Paderborn Graduiertenkolleg Automatismen Warburger Str. 100 33098 Paderborn Fon +49 5251 60-3772 Web www.upb.de/gk-automatismen Am 15.01.12 16:52 schrieb "Richard Forno" unter <rforno@infowarrior.org>:
I've been a Mac person for almost 20 years and have iMacs at home and on campus, and an aging Macbook Pro that will likely be replaced w/a MBAir sometime this year.
I am considering an iPad 3 this year primarily as a "gadget" and my first e-reader that also lets me have value-add (particularly email) services if I want them .... but my intention is to explore it and how it might fit into my life and habits, not change myself to fit its features.
Like Charles, I am not enamoured with typing on glass, both due to the size of my fingers and the fact that I enjoy the tactile response of each keypress -- many times I know instinctively I've made a typo by feel as opposed to seeing the letter appear. It's also why I have a Blackberry for a "smart" mobile phone and not an iPhone/Android .... I like the keyboards and buttons, and fact that I can use it one-handed. (It's got a touchscreen as well, but I never use it) I've played with iPhones/Androids and just can't get into them or used to them. Blergh.
IMHO tactile feel is the major shortcoming of tablet devices. This recent article from a journo at the Detroit Auto Show the other week pretty much explains how I feel about interface design and tactile response --
The Sad Death Of The Knob, Switch And Button http://digg.com/newsbar/Technology/the_sad_death_of_the_knob_switch_and_bu tton
... just some rambling thoughts while I sip my Sunday coffee. (make that gulp....)
GO RAVENS!
-- rick
On Jan 14, 2012, at 23:17 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard.
Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles
On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman
_______________________________________________________________________
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
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--- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.
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The new touch interfaces that we associate with "smart phones" aren't tactile but they are all about touch obviously -- instead of having your actions abstracted one level through a mouse, your hand is the mouse cursor and you can do a lot more than with just a simple mouse (multi-touch actions). Yes the lack of a keyboard with buttons where you feel the physical compression of a spring or spring-like device is something that some people miss, and that's fine, but it's not the point. Rick, I don't get it when you say you can tell you've made a typo instinctively by feel -- all the keys on a keyboard should have exactly the same feel. You could tell by the exact placement of your finger, but the same is true on an iPhone. Perhaps it's a bit like playing a fretted stringed instrument versus a fretless one -- people learn how to do it. (Yes you have to get the note right, but you have to have your fingers in the right place initially.) Also, the dimensions of the iPhone and Android phones are so that most people, unless they have really small hands, can hold the device in one hand and their thumb can cover the entire screen. (Whenever you see anyone saying how the next iPhone should be bigger, you know they are an idiot.) I can't speak for Android devices, but my iPhone has four buttons and one switch (power/sleep, home, volume +/-, mute). These aren't phones, though, these are new devices that never had knobs or many buttons or switches. Whenever a new tech comes out, we frame it in the thinking of the technology it is based on (terms, laws, acceptable uses). Horseless carriages, wireless telegraphy, smart phones. I, too, greatly value the feel of the key compression on a keyboard. I could go on about the terrible Atari 400 membrane keyboard when I was a kid (but it wasn't really meant for typing) or how I've saved an old IBM-style keyboard with that awesome spring action -- I haven't used it in years, and have nothing to use it with, but out of sheer emotional joy I've held onto it. Actually maybe I've never used it, I might have just bought it out of the junky used keyboard bin one day. When I look at my iPhone (or a cousin's Android), I am astonished at how awesome it is. It's physically smaller than my first hard drive, and I don't mean the Mac footprint case it came in (and that was only 20MB), and yet it has a battery, touch screen, computes, can be a cell phone, has internet capability, has a ton of storage, some connectors, a speaker... It's thinner than my pinky finger. Amazing. Saying it doesn't have a keyboard.... well it's not supposed to. It's kind of like pointing out how those newfangled horseless carriages don't have horses. -Nat. On Jan 15, 2012, at 10:52 AM, Richard Forno wrote:
I've been a Mac person for almost 20 years and have iMacs at home and on campus, and an aging Macbook Pro that will likely be replaced w/a MBAir sometime this year.
I am considering an iPad 3 this year primarily as a "gadget" and my first e-reader that also lets me have value-add (particularly email) services if I want them .... but my intention is to explore it and how it might fit into my life and habits, not change myself to fit its features.
Like Charles, I am not enamoured with typing on glass, both due to the size of my fingers and the fact that I enjoy the tactile response of each keypress -- many times I know instinctively I've made a typo by feel as opposed to seeing the letter appear. It's also why I have a Blackberry for a "smart" mobile phone and not an iPhone/Android .... I like the keyboards and buttons, and fact that I can use it one-handed. (It's got a touchscreen as well, but I never use it) I've played with iPhones/Androids and just can't get into them or used to them. Blergh.
IMHO tactile feel is the major shortcoming of tablet devices. This recent article from a journo at the Detroit Auto Show the other week pretty much explains how I feel about interface design and tactile response --
The Sad Death Of The Knob, Switch And Button http://digg.com/newsbar/Technology/the_sad_death_of_the_knob_switch_and_butt...
... just some rambling thoughts while I sip my Sunday coffee. (make that gulp....)
GO RAVENS!
-- rick
On Jan 14, 2012, at 23:17 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Well ... FWIW ... After a year of trying, I've given up on using the iPad as a "serious" computer - but my reasons are likely more idiosyncratic than not. Can't get used to a virtual keyboard - congrats to those who can! Was intrigued by the Zagg keyboard, but for the first generation iPad, the keys are too small and too closely spaced together for my somewhat largish hands and touch-typing trained fingers. But the OS and memory limitations were the final straw - when I work, I often have scads of applications and files open in ways that the iPad just can't do. I can see using the iPad as a writing machine on a commute when you have little else to have to access or deal with - but I commute on a bike most of the time, so that's not a good idea for me ... Still use the iPad as a reader - i.e., with Kindle, Nook, and other apps. Great for that. Sorry you don't "do Mac" - my recently acquired MacBook Air has turned out to be surprisingly satisfying. Following the example of many wise colleagues, I got it initially as a travel machine. But contrary to my initial expectations, it is has enough zip, memory capacity, and storage capacity to serve as my main machine. While not as compact as an iPad with a keyboard - it's not much heavier, and is far more capacious, including a full-sized keyboard.
Apple didn't pay me to say any of this. Best, Charles
On 1/14/12 7:15 PM, "Barry Wellman" <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
Perhaps because I've been using one for 55 years, but I don't know why anyone would abandon a proper keyboard for a glass iKeyboard. Real keys seem more natural to me than glass keys or even handwriting (for churning out long prose. And using a clip-on keyboard with an iThing seems kludgy. Besides, the OS is awful, wonders of Siri besides.
So when I am not using my desktop (just bought a 27" screen for better editing), I am using a laptop (my old Lenovo Thinkpad X60) and eagerly awaiting the advent of proper ultrabooks this summer. (Don't do Mac; netbooks underpowered).
Just my .02. I ain't gonna argue with anybody, but curious to read others' thoughts on this list.
Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________
S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________
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--- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.
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------------------------------- Nathaniel Poor, Ph.D. http://natpoor.blogspot.com/ https://sites.google.com/site/natpoor/
On Jan 15, 2012, at 12:13 PM, Nathaniel Poor wrote:
Rick, I don't get it when you say you can tell you've made a typo instinctively by feel -- all the keys on a keyboard should have exactly the same feel. You could tell by the exact placement of your finger, but the same is true on an iPhone. Perhaps it's a bit like playing a fretted stringed instrument versus a fretless one -- people learn how to do it. (Yes you have to get the note right, but you have to have your fingers in the right place initially.)
Perhaps over time on a touchpad I would get the same 'feel' -- I don't discount that possibility. It may just be that I'm used to the keypress feeling. *shrug* -- rick
A simple response.... http://www.shanetilton.com/2012/01/15/writing-from-the-ipad/ Sent from my iPhone On Jan 15, 2012, at 12:18, "Richard Forno" <rforno@infowarrior.org> wrote:
On Jan 15, 2012, at 12:13 PM, Nathaniel Poor wrote:
Rick, I don't get it when you say you can tell you've made a typo instinctively by feel -- all the keys on a keyboard should have exactly the same feel. You could tell by the exact placement of your finger, but the same is true on an iPhone. Perhaps it's a bit like playing a fretted stringed instrument versus a fretless one -- people learn how to do it. (Yes you have to get the note right, but you have to have your fingers in the right place initially.)
Perhaps over time on a touchpad I would get the same 'feel' -- I don't discount that possibility. It may just be that I'm used to the keypress feeling. *shrug*
-- rick _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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Apologies for cross-posting. Elena --- Call for Proposals Issue 117: Radical Histories in Digital Culture Deadline extended to January 31, 2012 The Radical History Review seeks submissions for an issue that will explore the political and historical implications of the accelerated proliferation of digital culture in the first decade of the 21st century. We are now in the midst of a dramatic cultural and political change as digital culture in the form of personal communication devices, online social networking sites, instant mass messaging, multiuser video games, and numerous other digital media forms, reshape the way we communicate and interact with each other. Just as the modern industrial era reshaped the nature of human and political subjectivity, the digital information era is reshaping social movements, how we view ourselves in relation to the social and political, and rewiring where, how, and with whom we engage in political action. This issue of RHR will examine the impact of digital culture on political life at the local, national, and transnational level, such as the “Twitter Revolution” in Iran, social networking and the Arab Spring, and the popular use of digital communication tools in “Occupy Wall Street”. It will explore the strengths and weaknesses, and popular perceptions, of digital media in struggles for justice through a series of interlocking themes including but not limited to: 1. The mobilization of local, national, and transnational social movements through the use of social network sites, tweets, texting, and other forms of networked and instantaneous communication forms. 2. The rhetoric of digital “equality” and unequal access to digital culture: class, race, region, and gender, and access to social media and digital communication technologies. 3. The impact of digital culture on collective memory, conceptions of the historical, historical research methods, and the writing of history. 4. The role of history in digital humanities: archival practices, collecting history online, historical text mining, and digital storytelling. 5. New and emerging communication gatekeepers, stealth campaigning, corporate/state deception or propaganda, online surveillance or information mining, and the state’s manipulation of networked information in war/conflict situations. 6. Oppositional consciousness and a reshaping of civic involvement and political participation in a digital world. 7. Individualism, social networking, and the emergence of a neoliberal subjectivity in cyberspace. 8. “Serious” video games and social change; multiuser online games and the countering of complex social/political challenges. 9. Art, culture jamming, and a contestation of visual culture by artists or artist groups working in the digital arena. 10. Digital technology and journalism/photojournalism: from the proliferation of alternative news sources to the impact of cell phone photos and video as documentation. 11. Digital culture and the law: the policing of cyberspace; digital media as legal evidence. 12. Radical software, open-source initiatives, and efforts to liberate software, hardware, or digital media infrastructure from corporate/state governance. 13. Radical pedagogies for the digital age. At this time we are requesting abstracts that are no longer than 400 words; these are due by January 31, 2012 and should be submitted electronically as an attachment, to contactrhr@gmail.com with “Issue 117 submission” in the subject line. By February 29, 2012, authors of approved abstracts will be asked to submit their full articles for peer review. The due date for completed drafts of articles is July 1, 2012. An invitation to submit a full article does not guarantee publication. Please send any images as low-resolution digital files embedded in a Word document along with the text. If chosen for publication, you will need to send high-resolution image files (jpg or tif files at a minimum of 300 dpi), and secure written permission to reprint all images. For preliminary e-mail inquiries, please include “Issue 117” in the subject line. Those articles or other materials selected for publication after the peer review process will be included in issue 117 of the Radical History Review, scheduled to appear in Fall 2013. Abstract Deadline: due January 31, 2012
participants (10)
-
Abby Waysdorf -
Barry Wellman -
Charles Ess -
Elena Razlogova -
Mark D. Johns -
Nathaniel Poor -
Peter Timusk -
Richard Forno -
Tilton, Shane -
Timo Kaerlein