Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2002 08:03:24 +0800 From: Raymond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [LIB] Why did Toshiba stop producing Libretto?
At 02:00 PM 7/06/2002 -0700, you wrote: >Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 13:57:08 -0700 (PDT) >From: "A. N. B�r�mcekci" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Why did Toshiba stop producing Libretto? > >I got my Libretto and cannot believe how useful it is. I begin to >wonder why Toshiba killed it. Didn't Libretto sell enough? Was it a >product ahead of its time? Palm is different, but WinCe machines should >have no chance against a new Libretto provided that they are in the >same price range. Actually I'd have to say that PocketPC/WinCE/Handheld Linux and similar devices do have their place. If you just want a phone number quickly or want to see your diary, its a lot nicer to be able to press a button and have the device instantly turn on and display the page rather than having to wait 20 seconds for your laptop to come out of suspend mode. Also, whilst it IS possible to put your Libretto into your pocket, its lot easier to carry around a Palm or PocketPC/WinCE/Handheld Linux device in one's pockets. Finally, remember that they're steady state so you don't need to worry about a hard drive crash. I think the Libretto in their small size ultimately died due to user interface problems ... that keyboard won't get any bigger for a laptop of that size but as it is, it isn't all that easy to type on and I've got small fingers! Ditto for the pointing device. Note that the tiny Sony Vaio wasn't designed for traditional touchtyping for instance. Also, for older people the screen does get hard to read (hence the Vaio having the 'magnify' button). Whilst I live in hope that Toshiba will release another tiny Libretto because despite all this I still think there is a market for them, realistically I don't seem them doing it until they develop a better way of doing the user interface (perhaps it may take until they build a projection keyboard into the laptop and have a touchscreen so you could still use it if you didn't have a surface to project onto). Of course, I am still of the opinion that there should be more companies producing alternative input devices such as chording keyboards (ya I know, HandyKey still produce one but apart from that, to get one you really need to build your own), and half-QWERTY keyboards (where only half the keyboard exists, to get the other half you hold down the space bar and the missing keys are mirrored across ... surprisingly easy to type on as your brain rewires the keys of both hands onto 1 hand as long as you've been taught to touchtype properly). - Raymond --- /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ | | "Does fuzzy logic tickle?" | | ___ | "My HDD has no reverse. How do I backup?" | | /__/ +-------------------------------------------| | / \ a y b o t | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | | Need help? Visit #Windows98 on DALNet! | | ICQ: 31756092 | Libretto IRC channel #Libretto on DALNet! | \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/ ************************************************************** http://libretto.basiclink.com - Libretto mailing list http://www.silverace.com/libretto/ - Archives -------TO UNSUBSCRIBE------- Reply to any of the list messages. The reply mail should be addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Then replace any text on the message's subject line: cmd:unsubscribe --------TO UNSUBSCRIBE DIGEST------ Do above but with this on subject line: cmd:unsubscribe digest **************************************************************
