Apple’s Magic Trackpad

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I almost remember my first computer mouse. The weird sensation of coordinating my hand movements with the cursor on the screen. And –once I got the hang of it– how wonderful to be able to click and drag and all the rest. From time to time, you had to take the little ball from the guts of the mouse and clean off the crud sucked up from the desktop or the mouse pad (remember mouse pads?).

I tried some of the early touch pads but found them klunky. So, when I got my first MacBook –which came with a touch pad– I made sure I had a mouse close at hand. But the more I used the Mac’s touch pad, the more natural it felt. In time, I left the mouse at home.

Apple recently began shipping the Magic Trackpad and I have to say I love it. It took a few hours to feel completely natural but I now find myself using all of my fingers to do lots of things that are much more difficult (if not impossible) with a mouse. And it all feels completely natural and ergonomic.

The AlphaSmart 3000

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I spotted this at a nearby table in the Coffee Zone last week. I couldn’t resist interrupting the gentleman to inquire. The AlphaSmart 3000 is a word processor with a tiny LCD screen. Just 4 lines of text. You can call up other documents using the gray keys. There’s a USB port for moving your stuff to another computer.

According to the owner, a few AA batteries gives him 700 hours of hunting and pecking. I’d really like to meet and interview the person who conceived of this device.

Last of the Mays Boys

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It was a family weekend for smays.com. My brother Blane is back in the states for a few weeks to get his second oldest son, Spencer, officially enrolled in college. He’ll be attending Liberty University in Lynchberg, VA. (I’m pretty sure they don’t know there’s a flaming lefty in the family)

Oldest son Ryan –a junior at Union University– drove over from Tennnesse and we all met up in Tulsa. The brothers hadn’t seen each other in a year-and-a-half so they had some catching up to do. [L-R: Ryan, Blane, Spencer]

I handed down my 15″ MacBook to Spencer as a graduation present and he immediately loaded Skype so he could talk with his sweetie back in Indonesia. I know they whispered sweet nothings for 90 minutes at one stretch, which would have been one expensive phone call. But those days are gone now.

It was miserably hot in Tulsa and the traffic was like nothing I’ve seen in a while. Bumper-to-bumper for as far as you could see.

During our time together, my brother pointed out that we were “the last of the Mays line.” At least our strain. And since Blane and I won’t be making any more humans, it will be up to Ryan and Spencer to keep the name in lights.

And it’s wonderful to be home again.

Scott Adams: Immortality

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“…we’re a simulated (programmed) world left behind by advanced humanoids that shed their bodies billions of years ago. Our simulated world is the closest they could come to immortality. They were romantics, much like ourselves, and couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from their loved ones for eternity. So in our programmed little world, when we feel a special connection to another, it’s because we knew that person when we were real, and the program allows us to feel it again as if new. Thus, when you meet your soul mate, it is a reunion of sorts. And it will happen over and over, in each subsequent life the program provides for you.”

Scott Adams concludes an interesting post on stress with this lovely take on reality.

Newspaper! We’re gonna need more newspaper!

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It’s been five years or so since our last experience house-training a puppy. Barb has read several books on the best ways incorporate a puppy into your family but right now it’s mostly about taking her outside about every 20 minutes. And hugs. Lots of hugs.

Lucy is slowly warming to the new dog and will come around in time.

A Golden Retriever puppy is distilled love. It wants nothing more than to be with you. And to play. Which –in this weather– involves short breaks, stretched out on the AC vents.

Blogging will be light for a while.

iPad above every player’s locker

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Beginning Monday, the 123 back-lit nameplates about the lockers of Nebraska’s varsity football players will be replaced with iPads.

From the story on Huskers.com:

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne admitted Friday that he didn’t know a lot about iPads, “but the main purpose,” he said, “is for communication, so if Bo (Pelini) or an assistant coach needs to schedule a meeting, everybody can know immediately, whether they’re in the varsity locker room or the walk-on locker room at the Hawks Championship Center.

For compliance reasons, the iPads will be mounted into each player’s locker. The football staff will have the ability to send messages to the players via their iPads. The players will be able to acknowledge and respond, but their messages will be limited to football and academic personnel only.

The new capability will enable the football staff to post events to each player’s iPad calendar, so he will know the times of each practice, conditioning session, academic meeting or position meeting, even if it’s called at the last minute.

What about the capability to access all iPads remotely so they can play the same video at once?

“Wireless can cause a slight delay, but yes, that’s the plan – to get all to play at once when the situation calls for it,” said Chad Chiesa, a Nebraska Athletic Department IT specialist. “With the assistance of a software development firm that specializes in mobile device applications, our hope is to keep everything in sync.”

I’m sure the guys in Cupertino didn’t foresee this particular use of the iPad but they knew in their hearts and smart heads that there would be no end of creative uses. Do you think they pull these down and replace them with the new RIM Blackpads? Or Microsoft’s Slate?

via Uber Husker, Todd Perry

Introducing the HP 6000 PRO

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Our local HP rep brought a new computer by the office yesterday for our IT guys to check out. It’s the HP 6000 PRO. I couldn’t resisit teasing him a little about the revolutionary design breakthrough.

“Whoa! That is so COOL! Everything built right into the monitor? No separate box?! Damn!

This is just the sort of thing that makes PC’s hate Mac fanboys like me. But I couldn’t help myself. Apple introduced the iMac G5 in 2005. 5 years is a lifetime in hardware innovation.

And then Phil dug out the HP’s power supply and I felt so bad for the rep I wanted to give him a hug. This thing is literally the size of a brick. The only good thing about the monster is you can rest your feet on it.

There’s nothing wrong with seeing a good design and emulating it. Shit, Apple does this. But if you go that right, at least try to make your design a little better than the one you are copying. And there’s the rub. Just can’t do it and keep keep the price down.