Comments | da_lj: Nicely done, Apple

da_lj

Nicely done, Apple

Jan 09, 2007 21:45

This article from Time has a hands-on description from a reporter, and makes it look that much more appealing. If you're interested in such things, and are willing to shell out the money, that is. I bet lots of people are.

"To Jobs's perfectionist eyes, phones are broken. Jobs likes things that are broken. It means he can make something that isn ( Read more... )

geek, mac

Comments 16

ckd January 10 2007, 04:12:10 UTC

The MacBook Pro doesn't have a PCMCIA slot; it has an ExpressCard/34 slot.

Perhaps a Bluetooth GPS would be a better choice?

da_lj January 10 2007, 12:16:30 UTC

The MacBook Pro doesn't have a PCMCIA slot; it has an ExpressCard/34 slot.

...which is a PCMCIA standard; I just didn't take the time to remember the full name. :)

Yes, eventually, I probably will end up with a bluetooth GPS. I'm just casting about for something worth using that slot for.

dcseain January 10 2007, 05:11:45 UTC

Yep. You could get an excellent one for 1/3 the price of the mac tablet.

thingo January 10 2007, 06:08:38 UTC

The video you point to is a live recording of a video that's already available directly here. I've played with Jeff Han's system, and I can say without reservation that it's the single coolest thing ever. Apparently, it's not even too hard to build one, a project that's on my long-term todo list.

Also apparently, Apple licensed this technology from Han. It would be really neat if this were the sensing technology in the phone, though it's not clear from my understanding of FTIR-based sensing how they would have managed it.

da_lj January 10 2007, 12:30:55 UTC

..did they? It looks they might've patented multi-touch themselves. (along with a universe of other things). Hope this doesn't mean every interface designer is going to be cursing Apple once it becomes clear what Apple requires licenses to use.

thingo January 10 2007, 15:00:13 UTC

Hm. I had heard rumours that Jeff's work had been acquired by Apple. That may be complete bunk, or it may be true but not applicable to the iPhone. Web searchers on "Jeff Han" and "Apple" definitely turn up a lot of pages where the two are mentioned together.

da_lj January 10 2007, 15:09:43 UTC

OK, I'll believe your rumours.

Thread 9

chezmax January 10 2007, 13:49:55 UTC

It look pretty cool. :)

And if this means data features will become cheaper, then I'm all for it :)

epi_lj January 10 2007, 18:00:51 UTC

You could buy a GPS receiver as a PCMCIA card for your MacBook Pro if your MacBook Pro had a PCMCIA card slot. Unfortunately, it has an ExpressCard/34 slot (which I guess is technically a PCMCIA standard). As far as I know, there are no GPS modules for ExpressCard/34. There are hardly any ExpressCard/34 modules at all.