It’s been a while since I’ve commented on the topic I study every day, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction, in case you’ve forgotten…it really has been a while). I sit here waiting for some CDs to burn and continuously think to myself that it won’t be long until I will never have to *wait* for my computer to do anything, ever again. This is because, as you probably know, computers and their components are getting faster and faster literally every day. Moore’s law tells us that computer processor speeds double every 3 years, and also states that the price of a given computer processor speed drops in half in the same amount of time. Basically, if the things we do on the computer stay the same, the amount of time it will take for the processor to work on them will be shortened dramatically in a short number of years.
The repurcussions of this increase in speed will mean a lot for all of us. First of all, we won’t have to spend as much money on these blasted machines. More importantly, however, this will mean that engineers and others will have more inspiration to improve the peripheral toys we all use in conjunction with our PCs…music systems (both for sound input and output), pointing devices (like mouses), input systems (like keyboards), and most important (in my opinion), Really Awesome Displays.
I envision a world in which computer monitors are *everywhere*, but not in a scary 1984 way…as long as those in the HCI profession have something to say about it. Imagine a computer monitor the size of an entire wall…it displays nothing save a rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and then all of a sudden you realize you’ve forgotten your friend’s phone number on your dresser at home. Walk to the wall and after a few taps, you’re searching theYellow Pages for the number. Now, imagine doing the same thing on your car window. How about on a page in the newspaper?
There will soon be a day where you will be able to access the internet via your kitchen table, refrigerator, and even your paper notebook. These displays will change the way we live, and will be the tools that our children wonder how we could have lived without. Ubiquitous displays…information literally at your fingertips. It’s exciting, and in some respects a bit scary, but truly awesome technologies are on their way. I, for one, can’t wait.
Have a great Thanksgiving, world.
2 responses to “Really Awesome Displays”
before i left new york i remember reading about a foldup newspaper style computer that was either being worked or had actually come out….man, i’d love one of those
It would be weird though to take a picture of yourself naked and then put it on a screen that covers a whole wall. You’d be like wow that still looks small. Or I didn’t realize I had hair there. Or wow I must be working out cause I am so sexy. And then you find out that the government has tapped in to every display you have and that there is some super hot fbi agent chick in a van outside your house looking at the naked picture of you just dying to break into your house and handcuff you … I mean … disply bad very very bad