Technabob

Mentioning the Newton makes me think of how Microsoft still seems obsessed with handwriting/pen interfaces. This may be a generational thing. There seems to be an assumption that the average person finds writing with a pen the most natural way to record information. But I bet there are a lot of us now who spend more time typing on a keyboard than writing with a pen. I found myself surprised, for example, when the user hand-wrote a URL in the browser app to go to a page. Hand-writing a URL is a pretty foreign experience, except in those rare cases when I need to remember a URL and I'm away from a computer (and I can't remember the last time I actually did that).

Your comment also got me Googling for the Simpson's clip that was pretty much the Newton's tombstone. But I found the video introducing the Newton at the bottom of this page more interesting:

http://technabob.com/blog/2007/07/20/classic-apple-moment-newton-handwriting-recognition/

One interesting thing is that it is clear that the Newton was struggling to find a way to move data around before the dawn of the world wide web. You can print! Or fax! At least, you can the next time you are physically next to a device. Or you can "beam" something who happens to be in close proximity. Er, if they also have a Newton.

The fact that literally half of the intro video is devoted to getting the handwriting recognition to work correctly, though, is certainly ominous. It indicates that the hand-writing interface was…

The esteemed user interface designers at Apple should have had enough common sense, adolescent spirit, and focused vision to manage to see they were designing something that looked like a grinning penis with a rash on the tip. This is why we have focus groups and #MeToo. Otherwise you end up with things like the Gavin Belson Signature Box III, Slack Penis Swastikas, and Trump-Pence Logos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KbRA2RjhgQ

https://technabob.com/blog/2018/12/01/gavin-belson-signature-edition-box-3-case-mod/

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/slack-new-logo-design-backlash

https://www.wired.com/2016/07/ins-outs-new-trump-pence-logo/

I can understand why Jobs cut the Control Strip, despite its dominating but sexy name, and prior art in international interface design (Kontrollstreifen), when he returned to focus on saying no, and put bullets into OpenDoc's and the Control Strip's heads.

https://medium.com/@donhopkins/focusing-is-about-saying-no-steve-jobs-wwdc-97-ff0174c171d0

More info from Wikipedia on Apple's Control Strip and its earlier use in widely deployed international interface control systems, aka Kontrollstreifen (Control Strip), Todesstreifen (Death Strip), Handlungsstreifen (Action Strip), and Pieck-Allee (Pieck Avenue):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_Strip

>The Control Strip was initially released in 1994 with the PowerBook 500 series of notebook computers and the PowerBook Duo 280 subnotebook computers, at that point…

Just as far as birds go, perhaps putting protective rings around the propellers such as this one[1] might reduce or prevent propeller injuries to the animals.

As far as damage to drones from attacking animals... I have less sympathy :)

The noise might be the most annoying aspect of a drone. Animals tend to have very keen hearing and one of these bad boys hovering in the vicinity is going to be like a super loud and obnoxious leaf blower to a dog, coyote, deer, bear, etc.

But, it's likely that animals will adapt, as the writer pointed out, similarly to how predators and herd animals in Africa have gotten accustomed to eco-tourists in open buses, snapping pictures and shooting videos and chattering excitedly for reasons no animal can discern. Those crazy humans. As long as they don't try to steal my females....

1. http://technabob.com/blog/2013/12/08/swann-quad-starship-quadcopter/

One of my favorite bands Unheilig (German goth / rock band) has a massive merchandising business, despite being one of the top selling German artists of all time. The store has way more than just t-shirts & posters, there's well over 200 SKUs:

https://www.emso.de/unheilig_2

I sometimes feel a bit cynical about it, but I'm glad they found a way to fund their tours & keep churning out more of my favorite albums every year.

Edit: To be closer to topic, Panic [1] used to sell t-shirts & hoodies, Atebits [2] used to sell pillows of the Tweetie app icon, and The Iconfactory [3] sold models of the Twitterrific Ollie blue bird.

[1] https://panic.com/blog/panic-goods-cheaper-shipping-coda-shirts/

[2] https://technabob.com/blog/2010/03/03/tweetie-pillows/

[3] http://www.cardboardspaceshiptoys.com/toys-c-3/ollie-the-twitterrific-bird-vinyl-p-1505.html

I don't think the switches are gimmicks at all, but I'm with you in that ergonomics is a much more important aspect.

I have used the previous Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, and I think that a real ergonomic should be totally split, not just angled.

The perfect keyboard would be something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u896xlgMpH4

An UltraErgo Wireless Split Keyboard, and set it on the arm rests of a nice chair, something like the chair of the captain in the Original Star Trek Enterprise.

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/star_trek_captains_chair.jpg