(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Announcing Ubuntu and Android dual boot developer preview
Looks like they are going to market in 2014. Wonder if many of us Linux followers with support this effort. Not many of us were willing to support them when they asked for our help.

But, I fear that MS, who is already delivering this, as well as APPLE who has already tested an iOS Tabletop/desktop/smartTablet will drown this Linux movement. Fingers are crossed that this gains traction. It has great potential in spurning new interest in Linux as a easy to use platform.

FYI

jpeps wrote: If you're going to lug around a 3 lb laptop, you might as well pack a mouse that will be far superior to a touch screen.

Touch screens may (currently) be the only reasonable UI for a smartphone or similar-sized device, but imagine if touch screen had come first for computers more generally, and then someone clever had invented the mouse, which is such a revolution in user-friendliness compared to the greasy, over large, touch of the finger on the screen you are trying to look at and control! Give me the mouse any day!! Revolution will perhaps come along properly with voice control coupled with eye-movement detection and control, but seems to me that touch is only great for crude interfaces for the likes of eftpos terminals/supermarket shopping screens and similar environments in industry/warehousing (that's a big market of course). Even voice control is a bit of a pain to be honest, I'd rather silently click a mouse button than say "click"...!

What would be good is some kind of user-wearable mouse interface (like the wristwatch). Could use that to control any device (mobile, laptop, desktop, whatever is around). As for voice control: imagine everyone shouting at their smartphones on the subway every morning on the way to work (painful) - but a wearable mouse of some kind or other, letting them silently control their devices (and use voice only when useful or necessary) - forget having to touch the computer... surely unnecessary in this wireless world?

mcewanw wrote:Touch screens may (currently) be the only reasonable UI for a smartphone or similar-sized device, but imagine if touch screen had come first for computers more generally, and then someone clever had invented the mouse, which is such a revolution in user-friendliness compared to the greasy, over large, touch of the finger on the screen you are trying to look at and control! Give me the mouse any day!!

I guess I'll be the voice of reality here and say that Touch Screens DID come before the mouse. Touch Screen Technology actually dates back to the 1960s, it shipped on Machines in the early 80s, but was never widely adopted. Why? Because it was impractical based on how computing worked at the time. 'Multi-touch' isnt anything new either... it dates back to the 80s as well. Touch is NOT new technology. It's just been ignored because for the most part its not superior to other methods.
The only reason it took off was that Phone Manufactures wanted to ditch physical keyboards so they could make larger screens and smaller phones. So they had to force a new user Input paradigm on people. Touch input has been tried many many times by the industry with varying levels of failure every time. Does it have a place in computing overall, yes I believe it doesl; but it will not replace the mouse or keyboard.

gcmartin wrote:... Wonder if many of us Linux followers with support this effort. ...

I am no developer so there will be no great amount of support contributetd by me. But I am waiting for a Tablet with the abilitiy of a dual boot. And I am willing to do tests, if someone develops something.

Laie wrote:

gcmartin wrote:... Wonder if many of us Linux followers will (<=== a correction) support this effort. ...

.... But I am waiting for a Tablet with the abilitiy of a dual boot. And I am willing to do tests ...

CES is showing off new version of these. Some vendors ARE referring to them as "tablets", while others are using similar kinds of references, as well.

There's several technologies that are announced. One is this by the MAJOR CPU developers. This is a comibination hardware and Operating Systems integration.

But, here's something of note from Today's CES showings. <=== This is what Gartner and others have already reported as businesses are adapting the UI's use. This is already playing out in your hand, your home security, your home comfort and management systems, your car, your purchasing, all the way to how work elements for corporates/businesses will be accomplished not to mention how we will travel. Yes, this will be met with all kinds of reactions from young and not-so-young. ... forget the old, they will be left unable to catch on or up.

Then there's Canonical's approach.

This is going to be an exciting year! It will be a clash of old and new...NOT old versus new, but "old and new" where, IMHO, there will be several approaches to "smoothe" the transistion with some MASSIVE integration occurring.

FYI

gcmartin wrote: Yes, this will be met with all kinds of reactions from young and not-so-young. ... forget the old, they will be left unable to catch on or up.

Then there's Canonical's approach.

I think you're talking about trivial technology, like new social networking apps and toys that people with more life experience hopefully know to avoid. The important changes in technology are affecting manufacturing, medicine, engineering, etc., or basically back-end technologies that change life for everyone. Using a mouse vs a touch device really doesn't mean much in terms of practical usefulness. Don't get overly excited about marketing hype.

Gadgets around the house, new entertainment devices, etc., add nothing to quality of life. Cure's for cancer, stem cell research, etc, do. Young people will be most affected, because existing jobs will be closing out, and they will have to develop entirely new skill sets to earn a living.

jpeps wrote: I think you're talking about trivial technology, like new social networking apps and toys that people with more life experience hopefully know to avoid. The important changes in technology are affecting manufacturing, medicine, engineering, etc., or basically back-end technologies that change life for everyone.

Indeed, like IBM's $1 billion investment inWatson

Agreed! The idea is that, as the President of Yahoo echo'ed in her speech, "mobile technology is ..."

We are, indeed, seeing across the board change that is occurring in platforms in industry, education, research, and the people who use this.

An extension to things that we touch is the expected rise in 3D holographic devices which senses your movement in a field of scope translating that to some action on a screened device(s).

Sci-Fi
"Are we integrating the smart-system under our control for events or is the system integrating us, using us to initiate event(s)?"

Its exciting to think how far we have come, since 1961. ... with technology.

Anyone remember the LED-watches?

gcmartin wrote:
Its exciting to think how far we have come, since 1961. ... with technology.

Great innovations like coffee cups that tell you when they're empty and wrist bands that let you know when you're tired; garbage cans that let you know when they're full. I'm just so excited

I'm almost completely into text browsing now, after being bombarded with floating social media buttons, etc. It's increasingly difficult to understand anyone via a cell phone. There's a zillion ways to lose your personal identity, also waste your time.

re LED watches. That's probably a great example of technology that exchanges quality for cheap availability.

Edit: Here's an alternative technological project to chips for coffee cups. Nothing exciting, however, and of unknown retail value.

"Our research focuses on application of high-performance computational methods to biomolecular computing, with a special interest on parallel, multiscale algorithms for molecular dynamics. Simulations of biomolecules are an area of great potential, both to understand cellular processes at an atomic level, and to drive important applications such as drug design. One difficulty is the size of the simulations needed (hundreds of thousands of atoms) and the fact that stability of the numerical algorithms severely limits the step size used to solve the systems of ordinary differential equations that arise in these simulations. We attempt to construct both better algorithms that are able to take longer time steps and efficient parallel implementations that exploit the multiple time and space scales present present in biological systems. These methods are driven by specific applications, such as limb formation, protein folding, and drug design."

(Current folding@home project running on my XP)

jpeps wrote:

gcmartin wrote:
Its exciting to think how far we have come, since 1961. ... with technology.

Great innovations like coffee cups that tell you when they're empty and wrist bands that let you know when you're tired; garbage cans that let you know when they're full. I'm just so excited

Little things amuse little minds, as the old saying goes.
I find it odd, that a grown-up person, obsessed with triviality, needs to continuously dump his joy on the forum.

Although this is simply an announcement of an App for Windows, its a prelude of things to come this year.

In addition: Expect to see at least 3 newcomers into Touch to take traditional OSes to a whole new level of Touch experience for users; no matter what platform they use. And expect Apple to extend iOS across their product line to combat what Microsoft has already done in their product line.

Coming soon as this new stuff is showing the way for both apps and OS subsystems.

Now maybe Opera users will understand why ... (new Opera offshoot will fail within 2-3 years as Opera, itself, will continue to nudge away at the market with their latest directional changes.)

It seems the Ubuntu phone is happening this year.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/19/ubun ... bq-mobile/

gcmartin wrote: Anyone remember the LED-watches?

Well I remember this one but could not even afford the kit at the time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch_(wristwatch)

Then again Douglas Adams had this to say about digital watches.

http://ytinstant.com/#watch?v=2yKaSfUlNRY

This is a very note-worthy announcement. Those who believed in Ubuntu to set the path, were RIGHT.

The world is changing to match direction on industry needs. Hello... hello...

anikin wrote:

jpeps wrote:

gcmartin wrote:
Its exciting to think how far we have come, since 1961. ... with technology.

Great innovations like coffee cups that tell you when they're empty and wrist bands that let you know when you're tired; garbage cans that let you know when they're full. I'm just so excited

Little things amuse little minds, as the old saying goes.
I find it odd, that a grown-up person, obsessed with triviality, needs to continuously dump his joy on the forum.

lol

gcmartin wrote: Anyone remember the LED-watches?

Yes, I brought one while in England, as a present for my then 'girlfriend' back in late 1976. Cost the earth, was hard to read, went through batteries, and she was asked to remove it in a theatre once as you couldn't turn it off since it turned itself on when it got dark and it was distracting others.

Nice idea though.

We need a new version of puppy that will replace the button hook and buggy whips.

"New version of ...."

Looking at @ETP's Metro interface for his BluePUP and its desktop, this distro would be a rather simple and easy transistion for a Windows8 user coming into Puppyland with all-in-one PC/laptop with touch ability. Watched a seminar presenter over the weekend using a 19-inch Dell as a tablet. This peaks interest and certainly could attract some newbie adventurers other than those of us who already have a touch PC.

LightHouse64 (LH64) was the first PUP to have touch enabled at the time the system booted to desktop. 01Micko was next with his 64bit Slacko64. LH64 advance a new experience with the mouse button defaults in the system when he "switched" what occurs when a mouse button 1 is clicked on the desktop. His LH64 brings the menu for touch application selection. Brilliant!

As the idea of touch may seem "new" to PUPs, it has been available on some PUPs for over 3 years now.

There are, of course, other approaches by other OSes (MACs/Windows) and distros (Ubuntu/Fedora) to the touch experience if no one likes the PUPPY approaches demonstrated by its members, thus far to/for us.

Here to help

Windows 8 can shove it.

Do you know that my local tech shop is offering downgrades to Win7 for us$75? From what I hear, business hasn't been slow on that front, either.

Windows 8 is the new MS Bob.

Yes, but we are looking for those chaps with all-in-ones/PCs/laptops/Macs/macbooks/etc to join us in the Puppy experience. And we have facilities that will make them happy.

Don't know how many others are interested, but for $75 (US) and the cost of an Win7 MS license, PUPPY users could offer a similar service at a much reduced cost. REMEMBER, ALL of these PC/laptops have 64bit processors and large RAMs yielding some great possibilities with little/no negative impacts. Same for MACs, today.

Let's hope some of our distro developers see some value in making it a little easy to step into Puppyland with the touch PCs/laptops that are sold today. In a classroom, today, 16 of the 17 (by show of hands) advance majors have touch screen PCs/laptops used everyday.

We have pride here, but as @Tlchost shares, something new surely could NOT hurt us. Besides, we really aren't talking about anything new. Its already here in our grasp.