Re: Nokia 770 "Internet Tablet" available at CompUSA

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 4 Dec 2005 21:05:00 -0500, "wkearney99" <wkearney99@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
in message  <Pcmdnb-j14rSPQ7enZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>I can't get all that excited about $400 for a device that's basically just a
>web browser, and undoubtedly one that won't be able to display enough sites
>without hassles.  Couple it with crappy battery life and I'm even less
>thrilled.  If it truly does full-screen, 30fps (or better) video playback
>then I *might* start getting interested.  But this review doesn't hold out
>much hope of that:

Yup ;-) Six years ago I bought a surplus IBM Thinkpad 760 Industrial Touch
screen ( 12", 800x600 color screen; 8.5"x 11.8" x 2.3" case; 100mhz Pentium;
W95b/Office97; 12vdc, battery-backed power) for ~US$600 to run a CyberHouse
client and local server over TCP/IP. It also serves as web browser and entirely
functional MSOffice workstation. For security reasons, I'm not inclined to add
a WI-FI card to the unused PCMCIA slot.

(One frequent comp.home.automation participant who has the hots for the Nokia
was still flailing away at me in this newsgroup as recently as this year for
that 'extravagant' purchase  ;-)

That rugged, compact machine in its refined, black cast magnesium alloy case
looks and works like new. And in the intervening 6 years, I haven't spent (much
;-) time or $ on  plasticky remote thingies like the Pronto, Omni, and the
like. I have cloned the hard drive (scuze me, 'fixed disk') for when the
inevitable occurs. Like the Nokia 770, it won't do full screen video -- but so
what? How much more does it add to see Lehrer's face when he talks?

My experience with this and other touchscreens as large as 21" is that:

1) The screen is always too small
2) The device is too often where the potential user is not
3) Interface/devices that do their jobs well actually get used in
_overwhelming_ preference to devices that just barely do the job.

(In other words, initial enthusiasm for immediacy of access  ("Oh -- how very
handy!" ) wanes as the reality of reduced performance grows old ("What the
%!#????" ).

Mis dos centavos ... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org