"The tendency now is for all of them to implode into one electronic Swiss Army knife. But how usable are they, what is their future, and how could they be better?
Only decades ago, portable radios were cutting-edge. The integrated circuit was the breakthrough in miniaturization. Before long, the Palm Pilot appeared, which fit in a shirt pocket and kept track of phone numbers, addresses and notes.
I got one and hated it. The problem wasn't with Palm, but with the whole idea.
Technology was making the Palm and its imitators more and more powerful, but wasn't making my fingers any smaller. I found myself peering intently at the thing, the screen of which was too small, and poking at it with the little stylus thingy that I kept losing.
To take notes, I either used the handwriting-recognition software, which almost worked sometimes, or stabbed at the virtual keyboard with the little stylus thingy. A dime notebook and a ball-point pen worked better.
The hard part isn't making the gadget powerful, but making it usable by sausage-fingered humans. And if you can't make it pleasant to use by normal people, you limit yourself to the geek market.
The aggregate complexity of gadgets is becoming excessive. A PDA these days comes with a thick manual. Sure, I can study it and learn the 79 functions and what all the inscrutable little icons mean.
Throw in an IPod, a digital camera with a 150-page manual (Canon S400), a scientific calculator with multiple layers of menus and a 230-page manual (Texas Instruments TI-89), and so on and - how many folk actually do it? Collectively, they become burdensome, except for geeks, who love controllable complexity.
Those who design one gadget forget that the hapless user has to deal with eight other gadgets, too. And there is a tendency to add features no one really wants just because it is possible to do so. Has anybody, ever, anywhere, actually used a lap timer on a digital watch? More and more devices are being added to pocket gadgets. Examples abound.
According to Wired, ""Handset makers like Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson have introduced so-called smartphones that can load computer-like applications, while also offering an organizer, music player, camera and photo album, as well as an e-mailing device.""
This is happening because a PDA is essentially a lot of computer memory with things stuck on it, like lenses (presto, a camera) or headphone jacks (presto, a music player). All of this increases complexity and thickens the manual.
The next addition to the line of pocket dinguses is the ""route-finder."" This uses the military's Global Positioning System satellite signals to let your telephone know exactly where it is on the face of the earth. The telephone also has map software. You tell it where you want to go and a pleasant female voice tells you when to turn onto which road.
Before long I have no doubt that it also will be a video camera, e-mail terminal, Web browser, toaster oven and riding mower, all in your pocket.
It's really cute, but does it come with a donkey to carry the manuals?"
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