• Welcome to the new COTI server. We've moved the Citizens to a new server. Please let us know in the COTI Website issue forum if you find any problems.
  • We, the systems administration staff, apologize for this unexpected outage of the boards. We have resolved the root cause of the problem and there should be no further disruptions.

Are handhelds obsolete?

C

CosmicGamer

SOC-14 1K
Just came across info on Project Glass. Google's augmented reality glasses.

While there are more practical uses, my first response was posting every little thing you do on facebook, twitter, and you tube wasn't enough? Now you can just stream first person tube feeds of every waking moment!

Should hand held devices be totally obsolete by TL8+ Traveller?
EDIT: Rephrasing to: Do you think hand held computers and comms will be uncommon by TL8+ Traveller?

A blue tooth like device over the ear and a eyepiece with the miniaturized computer and tech contained within.
 
Last edited:
Depends on the definition of "obsolete", the needs of the user for access vs security, and the fact that tool ergonomic factors always include specific personal issues.
 
timerover51 said:
Out of sheer curiosity, what Tech Level are we at in the Real World with respect to computers?
Click to expand...

Pre-TL 13 in terms of computer interface since two-way (input & output) holographic interfaces are NOT the normal way that we manipulate data and controls. With at least some prototype work available on holographic interfaces in the real world, that suggests at least two or three TLs before it is the 'normal' interface ... so Traveller TL 10 or 11 in computers.

[TL 10 = Holographic TV; TL 11 = Hand Computers replace desktop and laptop computers.]
 
atpollard said:
Pre-TL 13 in terms of computer interface since two-way (input & output) holographic interfaces are NOT the normal way that we manipulate data and controls. With at least some prototype work available on holographic interfaces in the real world, that suggests at least two or three TLs before it is the 'normal' interface ... so Traveller TL 10 or 11 in computers.

[TL 10 = Holographic TV; TL 11 = Hand Computers replace desktop and laptop computers.]
Click to expand...

Based on that, I would say that handhelds are never going to be obsolete, nor destops or laptops either.
 
GypsyComet said:
Depends on the definition of "obsolete", the needs of the user for access vs security, and the fact that tool ergonomic factors always include specific personal issues.
Click to expand...

This is something that so many futurists forget. Who wants their fellow commuters on the train waving their fingers in everyone's faces to type in their holographic interface? We have people who still think that talking to your computer in a crowded room (of other people using computers) is a faster, better way of doing their work - but people who actually consider the consequences think otherwise. Stuff wired directly into your brain? Some people will think that's cool - but there's also people who think putting a bottle rocket in their kiester and lighting it is cool. I don't think handhelds will *ever* be obsolete - nor, as timerover notes, will desktops or laptops be obsolete. They may shift their roles, but they won't ever go away. (IMHO)
 
tech and change

There is always improvements and changes but did headsets remove speakers from our music lives...no. There are dozens of examples of these new products that are cool but not really destroying everything before them.

I read about the Google project a couple weeks ago and didn't think much about it.
 
savage said:
There is always improvements and changes but did headsets remove speakers from our music lives...no. There are dozens of examples of these new products that are cool but not really destroying everything before them.

I read about the Google project a couple weeks ago and didn't think much about it.
Click to expand...

There is a TED about technology still being available after 100 years, well worth a watch.

Best regards,

Ewan
 
savage said:
There is always improvements and changes but did headsets remove speakers from our music lives...no. There are dozens of examples of these new products that are cool but not really destroying everything before them...
Click to expand...

Once in a while these "improvements" seem to go backward. Who'd 'a thunk in 1965 that the brave new world of the future would include hand-size portable communicators that let you TYPE messages to someone else.
 
Just remember also that there was a massive trend towards mobile phones getting smaller and smaller. I recall having an old Nokia that was a tad under 3 inches long. Now look at phones, they're getting larger and larger.

I think we'll still have the basic form factors, just what they can do will change as technology advances. Maybe a laptop style computer in 50 years may be a mobile supercomputer with military grade encryption and is also a portable power source and satellite uplink.
 
Carlobrand said:
Once in a while these "improvements" seem to go backward. Who'd 'a thunk in 1965 that the brave new world of the future would include hand-size portable communicators that let you TYPE messages to someone else.
Click to expand...

Not backwards...more expansive. Size...miniaturization is part of the trend system.

Laptops today are far more powerful than systems on the apollo missions...so is your phone. :rofl:

We still need faster systems! That trend will not stop.
 
Carlobrand said:
Once in a while these "improvements" seem to go backward. Who'd 'a thunk in 1965 that the brave new world of the future would include hand-size portable communicators that let you TYPE messages to someone else.
Click to expand...

And, that it would be more popular than actually talking to someone?

What I've always wanted was a machine that was modular. I want a laptop that docks (adding more capability), and I can take just the screen somewhere (like a tablet), or I can take out the phone module and go (allowing dialing by pushing buttons), or I can take just the transmitter and my earbud (for just making phone calls on my contacts list). The mechanics of that get pretty complicated.... :nonono:
 
Fritz_Brown said:
I don't think handhelds will *ever* be obsolete - nor, as timerover notes, will desktops or laptops be obsolete. They may shift their roles, but they won't ever go away. (IMHO)
Click to expand...
Please note that I altered my original question to be uncommon instead of obsolete. Perhaps I should alter again to say something like

Do you think hand held computers and comms will be uncommon compared to hands free portable(*1) systems by TL8+ Traveller?

(*1) hands free does not preclude motion sensing of the hands. It even allows for optional, but does not require, wireless hands needed input devices from keyboards to smart weapons interfaced with the main system to whatever.

And add that I am using Mongooses descriptions for TL where
TL 7 is
A pre-stellar society can reach orbit reliably and has telecommunications satellites. Computers become common.
At the time of writing, humanity is currently somewhere between TL 7 and TL 8.
Click to expand...
TL 8 is
it is possible to reach other worlds in the same system, although terraforming or full colonisation are not within the culture’s capacity. Permanent space habitats become possible. Fusion power becomes commercially viable.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Nah, CG, the question is fine. My answer to your last post, though, is they will serve different functions. The hands free will be fine for voice communications and some interaction through a heads-up display (like the Google glasses). Anything requiring watching motion or consuming lots of data will want something at least pad-sized. (Though, yes, a few people will do it on their HUD.) Real data manipulation and interaction with control systems, etc. will require a large display (or multiple).
 
Ben W Bell said:
Just remember also that there was a massive trend towards mobile phones getting smaller and smaller. I recall having an old Nokia that was a tad under 3 inches long. Now look at phones, they're getting larger and larger.
Click to expand...

Is it that our phones are getting larger, or that our movie theaters are getting smaller and just happen to have a very small phone attached to them?
 
savage said:
Not backwards...more expansive. Size...miniaturization is part of the trend system.

Laptops today are far more powerful than systems on the apollo missions...so is your phone. :rofl:

We still need faster systems! That trend will not stop.
Click to expand...

Given the realities...

We're close to the physical limits of processors - peak resolution CPU's at present are already hitting unreliability in silicon, and are borderline in Gallium Arsenide. (Quantum Tunneling unreliability.)

We're also hitting the limits of portable device cooling - high end laptops can be used as panini presses already.

We're not at theoretical maximum energy density in batteries, but no revolution is expected. So we can expect another 40-50% energy density.

Which means, it's not going to get much smaller.

What I expect -
Handhelds will continue to be the standard interface. More cores, multi-layer processors, maybe wider data words.

Desktops and laptops will continue to be used for higher power applications. Possibly liquid cooled. (Migrate the processor heat to the back side of the screen, for example, where it won't cook your thighs.)

Display resolutions to about 450dpi (beyond typical user perception of 300DPI).

Wearable Personal Area Network computing - CPU on a belt-pack, voice input on a headset, visual output via headset and/or tablet, touch input with a tablet or a laser keyboard.

Desktop miniframes with 30-40 cores at 128bit or 256bit RISC CPUs, at 2-3GHz and 2-3 tics per instruction, liquid cooling, and multi-terrabyte ram, muti-petabyte storage, and quite possibly, multiple user capability.

(MacOS, Unix and Linux laptops can at present support 2 simultaneous users if you configure them correctly; by default, they are not so configured. Requires external second screen, and external keyboard and mouse. Or an XTerm.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Personal Point Defense Lasers (Part I)
Replies
1
Views
3K
Johnny_BoomBoom
J
Back
Top