On 23 Mar 2006 at 9:21, Marc Sims wrote: > MIT has been experimenting with interactive touchscreen computing ..for quite some time. > Just think of it no more keyboards and mice to deal with in using data ... input.
Some of the underlying problem there is that there's been a sort of Gresham's law at work. The WIMP interface was largely invented by Doug Englebart in the mid-60s [*forty* years ago]. Xerox "borrowed" it, spiffed up the interface some, but mostly the change was technological [bitmapped displays] more than any substantive change in the GUI. Later, Apple "borrowed" it from Xerox, spiffed it up some, but it was still pretty much the same old stuff. And so it goes, for another 30 years of developers basically using the same-old-stuff because it is well-known, mostly works, and is [for the most part] free. I always wonder what would've happened if Englebart [or even Xerox] could have patented the interface, so that subsequent generations of developers would have had to "license or innovate" [as engineers in EVERY other discipline have to!]. I wonder how much the UI would have advanced by now [considering the unbelievable advanced in essentially every other aspect of computing] if there were some incentive to innovate... /Bernie\ -- Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Pearisburg, VA --> Too many people, too few sheep <-- -- ---------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Is your picture included in the Official Win-Home List Members Profiles Page? http://www.besteffort.com/winhome/Profiles.html If not, write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
