On Thu, 23 Mar 2000, J. Coon wrote:
> How come no one ever thought of incorporating a help screen on a
> minidisc recorder? Things like removing a track mark, or moving a track
> on a portable aren't as intuitive as they should be on several of the
> units.
This is something that's been bugging me for a long time!
First some background: I bought an MZ-R50 sometime last year, and I've
been quite satisfied with the unit in every respect, except for the
headphones and the UI. In addition to that, I'm a total gadget freak and
computer nut.
I've always wondered why nobody's thought of taking some hints from the UI
that Nokia uses on their cell phones. Imagine an MD walkman, but with a
UI like a Nokia 6188 or 6190. I'd have a numeric keypad to enter track
numbers to play, or titles when editting, in addition to the up/down
arrows and buttons to use on screen commands ("SoftKeys" as Nokia calls
them). I think an MD player could do without the talk and end buttons,
but maybe have play/stop/ff/rw/pause/record instead. ;-)
Just some ideas that I'd like to see in the UI:
- First and foremost, a dot matrix display is essential to make everything
else usable.
- When you press up or down, it would bring up a track list, showing the
track titles and playtimes. Pressing Enter or Play would play the
track. Ideally, this would function identically to the phone book on my
6188.
- A playlist editor could be done in a similar fashion.
- When done right, a numeric keypad is actually a pretty easy way to enter
titles, much easier than the jog dial on my R50!
- The UI could also allow for a digital graphic equalizer. I think this
would rock! At the very least, I'd like to see a Mega Bass control with
more than three settings - there are too many times that I want it half
way between Min and Max.
Of course, it is essential that it have a simple UI that can be used when
"blind", meaning either in the dark or through clothing. There are many
things that MUST be able to be done without going through a menu.
I think that the portable MD manufacturers could take some really big
hints from cell phone makers (especially Nokia) to make their products
better. I have to admit that my R50 is fairly easy to use, but how
exactly do I move a track around again? ;-)
</rant>
-- Dave Kimmel
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ICQ: 5615049
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