Computer advances I'm STILL waiting for...

[mr_a500]

Computers have become so stagnant it's disgusting. If I compare my 1987 Amiga (with some slightly newer parts and software ;-)) with a computer that is 19 years newer, there seems to be only minor improvements and even some things that are WORSE. Here are some things I thought we'd have before 2000:


1. Ultra high res displays and the end of anti-aliasing

It seems these days higher resolution just means bigger displays, but back in 1998 I read an article about IBM prototype displays with 10x the resolution density. Their prototype was 17" but resolution was something like 22,000 x 9,000. This would make anti-aliasing a thing of the past because everything would be as crisp as print on paper. I think they said something about Windows having to support this and that may explain why we'll never have it.


2. The death of Virtual Memory

With 64bit processors and the ability to access >4Gb of RAM, why do we still have slow annoying virtual memory? Virtual memory should have been a temporary workaround until memory became plentiful. Why swap back and forth, shortening harddrive life and slowing everything down (and causing major problems if you don't "shut down" properly).


3. The death of optical discs

In 1997 I read about holigraphic storage cubes which could contain much more data than DVD, required no spin-up time (non-moving), were cheap to produce and were the size of a sugar cube.
I've always loved Compact Discs for music, but hated it in computers (slow spin-up, stupid inactivity spin-down). DVD - which I waited for since 1990 - turned out to be crap (like a VCR with Windows on it, crashing all the time).


4. 3D OS

They've talked about this since the '80's. I've seen 3D OS demos (in the late 90's) with hundreds of floating windows (in 3D, obviously) and flipping looked easy. Switching multiple applications using standard desktop is a pain in the arse (at least Amiga has multiple screens).


5. Speech recognition

Whatever happened to that? I'm not saying I want to type a document by saying it, but it might be good for fast OS access like switching windows, running automated tasks or opening programs. Maybe we've already got this, but I haven't seen it.


6. The death of Windows

Just kidding - but this would actually be a computer advance ;-)



Anybody have anything they've been waiting for?

[iamaboringperson]

4. 3D OS

What the heck is a "3D OS"?

[Karlos]

mr_a500 wrote:

5. Speech recognition

Whatever happened to that? I'm not saying I want to type a document by saying it, but it might be good for fast OS access like switching windows, running automated tasks or opening programs. Maybe we've already got this, but I haven't seen it.

This seems to be a feature supported in MacOS X if the speech preferences are anything to go by. That said, I haven't tested it.

[Karlos]

mr_a500 wrote:

1. Ultra high res displays and the end of anti-aliasing

It seems these days higher resolution just means bigger displays, but back in 1998 I read an article about IBM prototype displays with 10x the resolution density. Their prototype was 17" but resolution was something like 22,000 x 9,000. This would make anti-aliasing a thing of the past because everything would be as crisp as print on paper. I think they said something about Windows having to support this and that may explain why we'll never have it.

In all fairness, it's one thing to have a device capable of this resolution, but quite another to drive it at any realistic refresh rate. Perhaps if you had 4 graphics cards working in parallel on successive portions of the display, each with their own DVI connection to your super duper high res display you manage it... ;-)

[mr_a500]

What the heck is a "3D OS"?

You've never heard of this? There have been a bunch of different concepts for 3D in operating systems rather than the flat desktop model. The one I liked was where windows were arranged sort of around a 3D cylinder and when you wanted to switch, the current window would be transparent and you could select from the many windows floating behind it.

It's hard to explain without visuals. All I know is that it looked and worked great. I suppose it's similar to the computer in the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report" (crap movie though), but without the stupid hand movements.

[mr_a500]

In all fairness, it's one thing to have a device capable of this resolution, but quite another to drive it at any realistic refresh rate.

Yes, you're exactly right. I just realised this after posting. That kind of resolution would require massive amounts of RAM (making virtual memory still necessary) and would need faster processors too.

Well, I still want it someday. ;-)

[Karlos]

I've seen 3D desktop environments tested before. I think the consensus is that they are visually disorienting for too many people to be genuinely useful compared to more traditional methods.

A better system for accessing large amounts of open windows is expose (gah, another mac thing, I must be going soft in my old age), where you can readily see all your open windows on the display in one go...

[mr_a500]

I was just thinking - in all of science fiction, the one "ultimate computer" was from the 1974 film Zardoz.

The computer is a small ring (the ultimate portable), inputs are voice recognition and visual, outputs are voice/sound and projected images (no bulky screen needed), and of course, wireless connection to a central computer. (who knows how it's powered, but it doesn't seem to need recharging ;-) )

[Karlos]

I'd rather see "Neural Nanonics" like those discussed in Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn, but something tells me that type of thing is a bit far off (if it ever happens)...

[bloodline]

Karlos wrote:

mr_a500 wrote:

5. Speech recognition

Whatever happened to that? I'm not saying I want to type a document by saying it, but it might be good for fast OS access like switching windows, running automated tasks or opening programs. Maybe we've already got this, but I haven't seen it.

This seems to be a feature supported in MacOS X if the speech preferences are anything to go by. That said, I haven't tested it.

I have and it works really well... but I feel uncomfortable have to speak actions which usually I do without thinking about them... Also you can't use it in a socal environment (like a Coffee Shop) and it annoys anyone else in the vacinity.

[bloodline]

Karlos wrote:
I've seen 3D desktop environments tested before. I think the consensus is that they are visually disorienting for too many people to be genuinely useful compared to more traditional methods.

A better system for accessing large amounts of open windows is expose (gah, another mac thing, I must be going soft in my old age), where you can readily see all your open windows on the display in one go...

Expose is great... I'm hunting down a similar function commodity for Windows... I keep hitting the F9 key on my Windoze box expecting to see all my programs...

[Karlos]

bloodline wrote:

I have and it works really well... but I feel uncomfortable have to speak actions which usually I do without thinking about them... Also you can't use it in a socal environment (like a Coffee Shop) and it annoys anyone else in the vacinity.

For a minute I thought you were talking about your [d]socks[/d] mac...

Not sure about annoying but doing it in a coffee shop is likely to put people off their drinks. Especially anything foamed...

[bloodline]

Karlos wrote:

bloodline wrote:

I have and it works really well... but I feel uncomfortable have to speak actions which usually I do without thinking about them... Also you can't use it in a socal environment (like a Coffee Shop) and it annoys anyone else in the vacinity.

For a minute I thought you were talking about your [d]socks[/d] mac...

Not sure about annoying but doing it in a coffee shop is likely to put people off their drinks. Especially anything foamed...

:lol:

[Oliver]

Windows progs (not sure about OS) have had speech commands and feedback.  Word is supposed to support this in some way.  I think you have to train it to understand your accent though.  Opera also has some speech command capabilities.  I always just can't be bothered though.  I usually only decide what I'm going to type, one or two words in advance, so there's all too frequent editing.  I don't think I could be bothered doing that with a spoken interface.

Virtual mem is rather a silly thing, specially with windows.  So is all the rediculus caching that's performed.  It just doesn't matter how much RAM you have, windows loves that HD swap file.

I think the feature I'm really looking for is a couple of extra arms and hands: one for the mouse, and one for my coffee, with two on the keyboard at all times.  Would be damned handy for tricky soldering jobs too.

VR gloves are still under development.  Might be good to use for some tasks at least.  My uni's trying to develop VR gaming as a means of therapy for disabled or injured people.  The idea is for kids particularly, to develop better motor coordination in their hands, while playing those all too adictive games.  Should have potential.

Anyway, I guess the computer advance I'm most waiting for is ... OS4 on my x86 box.   ;-)  Sorry, don't want to start any arguments again.

[whabang]

mr_a500 wrote:

In all fairness, it's one thing to have a device capable of this resolution, but quite another to drive it at any realistic refresh rate.

Yes, you're exactly right. I just realised this after posting. That kind of resolution would require massive amounts of RAM (making virtual memory still necessary) and would need faster processors too.

Well, I still want it someday. ;-)

Dell's new 30' monitors requires a graphics card with two DVI-connectors... :-)