For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't intended for note-taking at all.
I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of convergence in portable devices.
> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > intended for note-taking at all.
> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > convergence in portable devices.
Well, FWIW I'm writing out this response on a Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PC which has a wide variety of note-taking software available.
Another alternative would be a Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition ebook reader.
If you wait to stick w/ paper, I've found a fountain pen and the Circa/ Rollabind/Atoma the most flexible.
> On Mar 7, 4:17 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
>> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't >> intended for note-taking at all.
>> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of >> convergence in portable devices.
> Well, FWIW I'm writing out this response on a Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet > PC which has a wide variety of note-taking software available.
> Another alternative would be a Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition ebook > reader.
> If you wait to stick w/ paper, I've found a fountain pen and the > Circa/ Rollabind/Atoma the most flexible.
Tough to fit a Stylistic in a pocket. It bags, so. And the battery gets too hot to be comfortable next to one's privates.
It's not that I want to stick to paper, it's that a tolerable solution has been rendered inconvenient by progress. We sometimes lose from progress.
Heck, if I can't get a flying car, how about a measly jet pack?
>On 3/7/2010 9:02 PM, William F. Adams wrote: >> On Mar 7, 4:17 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: >>> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took >>> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I >>> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting >>> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
>>> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much >>> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I >>> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of >>> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't >>> intended for note-taking at all.
>>> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one >>> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the >>> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book >>> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of >>> convergence in portable devices.
>> Well, FWIW I'm writing out this response on a Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet >> PC which has a wide variety of note-taking software available.
>> Another alternative would be a Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition ebook >> reader.
>> If you wait to stick w/ paper, I've found a fountain pen and the >> Circa/ Rollabind/Atoma the most flexible.
>Tough to fit a Stylistic in a pocket. It bags, so. And the battery gets >too hot to be comfortable next to one's privates.
>It's not that I want to stick to paper, it's that a tolerable solution >has been rendered inconvenient by progress. We sometimes lose from progress.
>Heck, if I can't get a flying car, how about a measly jet pack?
Jack Tingle wrote: >It's not that I want to stick to paper, it's that a tolerable solution >has been rendered inconvenient by progress. We sometimes lose from progress.
There was a book, _Philosophy of Everyday Things_ (POET), that points out it isn't really progress if the design cycle is so short that the changes in design are just changes to be different from the previous year's version, without considering what had worked or not worked about the previous model.
(Also worried about the number of days left for my no-phone, no-camera, simple electronic notepad...)
> > On Mar 7, 4:17 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> >> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > >> intended for note-taking at all.
> >> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > >> convergence in portable devices.
> > Well, FWIW I'm writing out this response on a Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet > > PC which has a wide variety of note-taking software available.
> > Another alternative would be a Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition ebook > > reader.
> > If you wait to stick w/ paper, I've found a fountain pen and the > > Circa/ Rollabind/Atoma the most flexible.
> Tough to fit a Stylistic in a pocket. It bags, so. And the battery gets > too hot to be comfortable next to one's privates.
The battery doesn't heat up at all --- apparently you've never used one? Mine is running much cooler since I swapped out the 30GB HD for a 4GB Solid state drive. There is still a bit of warmth from the CPU itself, but that's manageable.
> It's not that I want to stick to paper, it's that a tolerable solution > has been rendered inconvenient by progress. We sometimes lose from progress.
Have you considered the Sony PRS-600 which I mentioned? I often carry my PRS-505 (about the same size) in a (rather large) shirt pocket. Demo units at your nearest Borders, possibly Best Buy or other electronics retailer.
In article <4vl9p5dt6705sqn09adq0tjg4nj9m20...@4ax.com>, Jack Bohn <jackb...@bright.net> wrote:
> There was a book, _Philosophy of Everyday Things_ (POET), that > points out it isn't really progress if the design cycle is so > short that the changes in design are just changes to be different > from the previous year's version, without considering what had > worked or not worked about the previous model.
Google gives only three results for _Philosophy of Everyday Things_, so I'm thinking you may have meant _The Psychology of Everyday Things_ by Donald A. Norman, which had it's title changed to _The Design of Everyday Things_, after the author discovered that the psychology title sucked. It even includes a story about changing the title, which is applying the books principles to the book itself.
> On Mar 7, 9:19 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> It's not that I want to stick to paper, it's that a tolerable solution >> has been rendered inconvenient by progress. We sometimes lose from progress.
> Have you considered the Sony PRS-600 which I mentioned? I often carry > my PRS-505 (about the same size) in a (rather large) shirt pocket. > Demo units at your nearest Borders, possibly Best Buy or other > electronics retailer.
> (ob. discl. a friend of mine develops software for it)
I have a jetBook for reading, as well as two old clapped out WinMo PDAs (I work in a factory and use one a lot ... limited life span). The PRS-600 would be a bit delicate for what I do. A paper log book works fine. If I need to electronify anything from a log book, I just scan it in as a pdf. The complaint is that at one time, I had more functionality, and now it's going away.
Jack Tingle wrote: > For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > intended for note-taking at all.
> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > convergence in portable devices.
> Now then, about my flying car...
> Disappointedly, > Jack Tingle
Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when you've got a secretary: take dictation.
> > On Mar 7, 9:19 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> It's not that I want to stick to paper, it's that a tolerable solution > >> has been rendered inconvenient by progress. We sometimes lose from progress.
> > Have you considered the Sony PRS-600 which I mentioned? I often carry > > my PRS-505 (about the same size) in a (rather large) shirt pocket. > > Demo units at your nearest Borders, possibly Best Buy or other > > electronics retailer.
> > (ob. discl. a friend of mine develops software for it)
> I have a jetBook for reading, as well as two old clapped out WinMo PDAs > (I work in a factory and use one a lot ... limited life span). The > PRS-600 would be a bit delicate for what I do. A paper log book works > fine. If I need to electronify anything from a log book, I just scan it > in as a pdf. The complaint is that at one time, I had more > functionality, and now it's going away.
I'm seeing a fair bit of choice --- ranging from units the size of a pen, up through notepad size slates --- I just searched for ``PDA'' on Amazon and there were a dozen new units on the first page of results --- what's your definition of ``large screen''? One of the units has a 3.7" display. There're a number of ebook readers w/ note-taking capabilities in a variety of screen sizes. WritePad on an iPhone or iPod Touch is supposed to be quite good.
Rugged doesn't appear in your original post, so I'm mystified by your dismissal on that count of the PRS-600 (I put my PRS-505 in a zip-loc bag when I take it to the beach).
So if you seriously want suggestions on a sci-fi-like device, please provide a compleat list of your requirements, highlighting the ones which you feel aren't being met, but which did exist in a previous product.
> Jack Tingle wrote: >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
>> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't >> intended for note-taking at all.
>> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of >> convergence in portable devices.
>> Now then, about my flying car...
>> Disappointedly, >> Jack Tingle
> Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
> But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when > you've got a secretary: take dictation.
A) AFAIK, neither the iPod Touch, iPhone, nor the iUnicorn, aka iPad, have/will have native handwriting recognition (wrong kind of screen, etc.) I'm interested in the iPad, or rather I was until I found out they won't let you use an SD card to move data around except for photos.
B) Dictation isn't the problem. WinMo can do that crack out of the box. It's note taking that's gone bad. I read today that no WM 6.5 applications will work on WM7, so I guess my next phone (in a couple of years) will be run by RIM, Android or something, and I'll go back to printing out my daily schedule on paper. Our data security drones won't permit (wisely, IMO) corporate syncing with the cloud. "Forwards, into the past!"
>Jack Tingle wrote: >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
>> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't >> intended for note-taking at all.
>> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of >> convergence in portable devices.
>> Now then, about my flying car...
>> Disappointedly, >> Jack Tingle
>Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
>But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when >you've got a secretary: take dictation.
Yes, but how many people have secretaries any more?
-- Dorothy J. Heydt Vallejo, California djheydt at hotmail dot com Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the hotmail edress. Kithrup is getting too damn much spam, even with the sysop's filters.
> In article <836a49c6-59c7-4abc-ac46-93206240e...@t41g2000yqt.googlegroups.com>, > Robert Carnegie <rja.carne...@excite.com> wrote:
> >Jack Tingle wrote: > >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> >> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > >> intended for note-taking at all.
> >> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > >> convergence in portable devices.
> >> Now then, about my flying car...
> >> Disappointedly, > >> Jack Tingle
> >Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
> >But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when > >you've got a secretary: take dictation.
> Yes, but how many people have secretaries any more?
I thought it really unfair that when my mother died, my brother inherited her secretary.
> > Jack Tingle wrote: > >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> >> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > >> intended for note-taking at all.
> >> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > >> convergence in portable devices.
> >> Now then, about my flying car...
> >> Disappointedly, > >> Jack Tingle
> > Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
> > But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when > > you've got a secretary: take dictation.
> A) AFAIK, neither the iPod Touch, iPhone, nor the iUnicorn, aka iPad, > have/will have native handwriting recognition (wrong kind of screen, > etc.) I'm interested in the iPad, or rather I was until I found out they > won't let you use an SD card to move data around except for photos.
The HWR from the Newton MessagePad is available for the iPhone as I noted already:
Dorothy J Heydt wrote: > In article <836a49c6-59c7-4abc-ac46-93206240e...@t41g2000yqt.googlegroups.com>, > Robert Carnegie <rja.carne...@excite.com> wrote: > >Jack Tingle wrote: > >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> >> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > >> intended for note-taking at all.
> >> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > >> convergence in portable devices.
> >> Now then, about my flying car...
> >> Disappointedly, > >> Jack Tingle
> >Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
> >But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when > >you've got a secretary: take dictation.
> Yes, but how many people have secretaries any more?
Now what was that maybe notable antique spacey-fantasy story that firstly turned on the secret hidden inside father's(?) secretary... which in due course became more clearly a piece of furniture.
...and the E. E. 'Doc' Smith(?) tale where the pilot had a vigorous conversation on topics of interest to the reader with the ship's computer... job title for a guy with some log tables. Or slide rule or whatever. (And future check: how many people /now/ in rasfw don't know what those are - or didn't till they came here!)
> On Mar 8, 5:40 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> I have a jetBook for reading, as well as two old clapped out WinMo PDAs >> (I work in a factory and use one a lot ... limited life span). The >> PRS-600 would be a bit delicate for what I do. A paper log book works >> fine. If I need to electronify anything from a log book, I just scan it >> in as a pdf. The complaint is that at one time, I had more >> functionality, and now it's going away.
> I'm seeing a fair bit of choice --- ranging from units the size of a > pen, up through notepad size slates --- I just searched for ``PDA'' on > Amazon and there were a dozen new units on the first page of results > --- what's your definition of ``large screen''? One of the units has a > 3.7" display. There're a number of ebook readers w/ note-taking > capabilities in a variety of screen sizes. WritePad on an iPhone or > iPod Touch is supposed to be quite good.
> Rugged doesn't appear in your original post, so I'm mystified by your > dismissal on that count of the PRS-600 (I put my PRS-505 in a zip-loc > bag when I take it to the beach).
Actually, there are only 3 on that page: the HP111, the HP211, and the Asus 626. All of the others are hard stock. Any of the three have large sized screens compared to most smart phones. The 211 reportedly does not take notes well, leaving two. I'm just not willing to carry one of those _and_ a smart phone. Hence, back to the logbook, since the smart phone does a lot of other things well.
The readers won't sync with Outlook, remind me of meetings, make phone calls, run spreadsheets, take photos, or play games. My phone will.
I put my old Dell X51 in a Rhinoskin aluminum case when I took it to work. That's not considered ruggedized, just cautious. Ruggedized PDAs are a whole 'nother ball game.
> On Mar 8, 9:44 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: >> On 3/8/2010 8:51 PM, Robert Carnegie wrote: >>> Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind. >> A) AFAIK, neither the iPod Touch, iPhone, nor the iUnicorn, aka iPad, >> have/will have native handwriting recognition (wrong kind of screen, >> etc.) I'm interested in the iPad, or rather I was until I found out they >> won't let you use an SD card to move data around except for photos.
> The HWR from the Newton MessagePad is available for the iPhone as I > noted already:
Wow! Now that's a blast from the past. You can edit plain text files! Huzzah!
The iPwhatevers have their good points. Working well in a business environment isn't one of them, IMO. I'm going to miss WinMo 6.5 when it goes away. This is all really depressing.
> > On Mar 8, 5:40 pm, Jack Tingle<wjtin...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> I have a jetBook for reading, as well as two old clapped out WinMo PDAs > >> (I work in a factory and use one a lot ... limited life span). The > >> PRS-600 would be a bit delicate for what I do. A paper log book works > >> fine. If I need to electronify anything from a log book, I just scan it > >> in as a pdf. The complaint is that at one time, I had more > >> functionality, and now it's going away.
> > I'm seeing a fair bit of choice --- ranging from units the size of a > > pen, up through notepad size slates --- I just searched for ``PDA'' on > > Amazon and there were a dozen new units on the first page of results > > --- what's your definition of ``large screen''? One of the units has a > > 3.7" display. There're a number of ebook readers w/ note-taking > > capabilities in a variety of screen sizes. WritePad on an iPhone or > > iPod Touch is supposed to be quite good.
> > Rugged doesn't appear in your original post, so I'm mystified by your > > dismissal on that count of the PRS-600 (I put my PRS-505 in a zip-loc > > bag when I take it to the beach).
> Actually, there are only 3 on that page: the HP111, the HP211, and the > Asus 626. All of the others are hard stock. Any of the three have large > sized screens compared to most smart phones. The 211 reportedly does not > take notes well, leaving two. I'm just not willing to carry one of those > _and_ a smart phone. Hence, back to the logbook, since the smart phone > does a lot of other things well.
The problem is phones are optimized for small size which works against working well for note-taking --- complaining that you're choosing to replace a larger devide w/ a smaller one which introduces a new capability (voice communication) and only gives up one (note-taking) is pretty minor to my mind, but I find digital note-taking fascinating, so....
That said apparently the Nokia N900 can run Xournal:
``It runs Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, so you get all the basic PIM functions, plus mini versions of the Microsoft Office applications, including Word and Excel.'' --- what exactly do you need in note-taking that such a device doesn't offer?
Regardless, isn't the PDA smaller than the logbook?
Robert Carnegie wrote: > ...and the E. E. 'Doc' Smith(?) tale where the pilot had a vigorous > conversation on topics of interest to the reader with the ship's > computer... job title for a guy with some log tables. Or slide rule > or whatever. (And future check: how many people /now/ in rasfw don't > know what those are - or didn't till they came here!)
Remember what they are: yes. Remember how to use them: no way. --
Robert Bannister wrote: > Robert Carnegie wrote: >> ...and the E. E. 'Doc' Smith(?) tale where the pilot >> had a vigorous conversation on topics of interest to >> the reader with the ship's computer... job title for a >> guy with some log tables. Or slide rule or whatever. >> (And future check: how many people /now/ in rasfw don't >> know what those are - or didn't till they came here!) > Remember what they are: yes. Remember how to use them: no > way.
Some of us not only remember how to use them, but even still have them available to use.
> Dorothy J Heydt wrote: > > In article <836a49c6-59c7-4abc-ac46-93206240e...@t41g2000yqt.googlegroups.com>, > > Robert Carnegie <rja.carne...@excite.com> wrote: > > >Jack Tingle wrote: > > >> For many years, I carried a bound book, a record or log book, and took > > >> all my notes on the lined and numbered pages. Come the 21st century, I > > >> switched to the obviously superior technology of PDAs with handwriting > > >> recognition. Now my notes were electronic and vastly more useful...
> > >> Except, almost no one makes large screen, general purpose PDAs much > > >> anymore. My current PDA is a smart phone, which does almost everything I > > >> need it to do. It just does a lousy job of note taking (as do most of > > >> the current crop, I believe). Most of the popular devices aren't > > >> intended for note-taking at all.
> > >> I'm not about to spend $400 to get a device that does exactly one > > >> function better, and lacks several other useful functions. Not when the > > >> price for my current device was $0. My secretary ordered me a bound book > > >> this week. It's just one more little unintended consequence of > > >> convergence in portable devices.
> > >> Now then, about my flying car...
> > >> Disappointedly, > > >> Jack Tingle
> > >Are we deliberately not naming the iPad? Never mind.
> > >But a modern Windows PC can do something else that's unnecessary when > > >you've got a secretary: take dictation.
> > Yes, but how many people have secretaries any more?
> Now what was that maybe notable antique spacey-fantasy story that > firstly turned on the secret hidden inside father's(?) secretary... > which in due course became more clearly a piece of furniture.
> ...and the E. E. 'Doc' Smith(?) tale where the pilot had a vigorous > conversation on topics of interest to the reader with the ship's > computer... job title for a guy with some log tables. Or slide rule > or whatever. (And future check: how many people /now/ in rasfw don't > know what those are - or didn't till they came here!)
Excellent point. I read Divers Down to my kids a while ago and had to take breaks to explain what a slide rule was and why it was necessary to borrow an adding machine.
>>> ...and the E. E. 'Doc' Smith(?) tale where the pilot >>> had a vigorous conversation on topics of interest to >>> the reader with the ship's computer... job title for a >>> guy with some log tables. Or slide rule or whatever. >>> (And future check: how many people /now/ in rasfw don't >>> know what those are - or didn't till they came here!)
>> Remember what they are: yes. Remember how to use them: no >> way.
> Some of us not only remember how to use them, but even still > have them available to use.
> Brian
I can sort of imagine a use for log tables. I think, when it comes to slide rules, I never could do much more than elementary arithmetic which I could probably have done quicker by other methods. It all depends on what your needs and interests are.
Robert Bannister wrote: > Brian M. Scott wrote: > > Robert Bannister wrote:
> >> Robert Carnegie wrote:
> >>> ...and the E. E. 'Doc' Smith(?) tale where the pilot > >>> had a vigorous conversation on topics of interest to > >>> the reader with the ship's computer... job title for a > >>> guy with some log tables. Or slide rule or whatever. > >>> (And future check: how many people /now/ in rasfw don't > >>> know what those are - or didn't till they came here!)
> >> Remember what they are: yes. Remember how to use them: no > >> way.
> > Some of us not only remember how to use them, but even still > > have them available to use.
> > Brian
> I can sort of imagine a use for log tables. I think, when it comes to > slide rules, I never could do much more than elementary arithmetic which > I could probably have done quicker by other methods. It all depends on > what your needs and interests are.
And abilities. There used to be "lightning calculator' acts who could do maths fast in their heads and amaze an audience.
The basic slide rule is basically log tables drawn on two sticks, but better models have more tricks, I think?
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