Evan's Weblog of Tech and Life

New location same old content more or less :-)

EvanF — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 03:57:00 GMT

If you haven't noticed by now, the blog moved slightly. I'd say a little to the right but the politico season is long over and there isn't much we can do about it. In case you're reading this through an aggregator, you might want to update the feed location.

In other news, the moment of truth came and went... I was part of a small group of people who had a concept presented at the Executive Retreat a couple of weeks ago. The feedback that we got from the execs was to go ahead and build it. So this upcoming week a few people will be shopping around the concept to the OEMs and if one of them (or more decides to build it) we've got a new and interesting product to put together. For all those amateur detectives out there, read my blog and maybe you'll puzzle out what the concept is or maybe not. At least it's as entertaining as keeping up with what ever the latest Apple rumors are :-)

Methodology & Observation

EvanF — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 23:34:00 GMT

I haven't talked about methodology in a long time (at least not on here). I was recently in a conversation with someone about doing some research using a remote screen capture tool on a PC. The person (who shall remain nameless -- but you know who you are!) basically recruited participants to try out a build of a new concept for a particular software program and was using a tool that allows all of the interaction on the computer to be encoded to a video file that can be sent back over the internet. This way the researcher could watch a video of how the user interacted with the software while sitting back at her office.

I happened upon her in her office when she was watching the video. During the video I noticed that there were gaps in the video, in that there was a pause in what the user was doing while in the midst of the task trying to be accomplished. We talked a little about what we had seen in the video, and I brought up this observation to her. She didn't think that it was all that relevant -- and I disagreed and suggested that unless she knew why the user wasn't finishing the activity in a continuous fashion, then she really didn’t really understand how the user was doing the task.

For example:

- Was the user trying to get the task done and the kids were fighting in the background?

- Was the user puzzled by what he were trying to do and just sat there trying to figure out what to click next?

- Was the user asking someone for help?

- Did the user forget what they were doing when he was returning to the task and thus sitting motionless for a while before starting up again?

- Did the user really make errors as a result of not remembering where they were at in the task or were the errors the result of something else?

At this point she wasn’t very happy. A lot of planning had gone into setting this study up and getting the software properly instrumented and set up for the participants. At the time she was planning the study, it hadn’t dawned on her that the context in which the user is performing the tasks is as important as the task at hand. (Design solutions to address where to click next are much different than a solution focused on helping the user remember what they just did if they’re being distracted while performing the task.)

Technology is great, it can really help to better understand a situation, but if you’re not getting the full context then you’re missing a part of the bigger picture. A lot of products are built in a vacuum, not because there’s missing data about the user, but rather they don’t take into account the larger ecosystem. If you can capture the user in that context, when they’re doing a task you’re interested in, then you’ll have a much richer set of data about how to design a product.

Now onto something completely different

EvanF — Sat, 05 Mar 2005 00:46:00 GMT

Many people have bugged me that I haven't posted in awhile. That isn't because I don't have anything interesting to say :-). Mainly I've been working lately on a project that is a bit of a skunkworks even for Microsoft. It's rare that a very small group (in this case mainly 3 of us -- myself and 2 architects) have been heads down working on something rather exciting that currently no one is yet supporting. We think the idea is pretty big and may have some appeal outside of the walled garden of Microsoft. We're gearing up for a big executive review where we want to show this thing off and hopefully get the permission to go ahead and turn it into a real product. Personally I think it's something that will delight the end user. It won't be perfect by any stretch of the imagination at least not in it's first version -- but part of the exercise that we're doing is to create something that could be sitting under your tree for Christmas, waiting next to the Menorah for Hannukah or wrapped up for whatever your favorite holiday is at the end of the year.

All that said, I am going to start blogging again, but the content might be light or on topics that have little relation to much else, but that's par for the course on the web as we're all amateurs looking to be discovered :-)

There's a party going on...

EvanF — Sat, 05 Mar 2005 00:38:00 GMT

There's a party going on right now. It's been a while in coming, but the momentum is finally building.....

The 1,000,000th Tablet PC was sold during February!

Who bought the lucky unit? Was it some executive from a Fortune 500 company buying the latest and greatest Fujitsu in Maple Valley? Was it a student purchasing an Averitec during mid-winter break in Gainsville? Was it a graphic artist pre-purchasing the newest Toshiba in Los Angelos? Or how about that IT manager who finally gets what tablet is about who bought 150 of the new HP Tablets for the group he supports in Buffalo?

Well whoever it was, here's to you! Now it's on to the next 9 million. There's all kinds of interesting stuff being done for the platform... when are you going to buy one?

CES and small computers...

EvanF — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:22:00 GMT

While my OQO still hasn't arrived, I was able to borrow one from someone on the team who isn't really using his and thus I wanted to give the device a workout during an event that was in theory designed for the device. Well let's just say I had some technical difficulties with the machine which I'm working on resolve.... but at the highest level and since MSFT is paying me to evaluate the device for now I'll just say that it's an interesting companion.

But on to small computers.... There were 2 devices caught my eye, not from a mobility perspective but rather for a feature/function/size perspective for the home.

First from Aurora Multimedia was the XPC Pro. This is a PC is a full function PC with video and surround sound capabilities in a package 8.5 x 1.75 x 13 with a built in DVD drive. They were showing it off as a second PC to attach to your TV etc, but I think that there are probably some other potential usages that are pretty interesting. However don't have a clue about the performance etc, so maybe I'll get to try one out

Second was basically a complete DVD player/Stereo about the size of a car radio that can be mounted in a drive bay of a PC or used as a standalone component. This was the VPC-2000 from Asour Technology. This reminded me of the days that I worked for Compaq and we had designed a car stereo looking component in the front of the PC that did a lot of the same functions, but at the time was limited by Windows and ultimately failed since the actions didn't happen in real time. You would change the volume and 10 seconds later Windows would respond and then the volume would actually change. However in the implementation that I saw here, I thought it was a well integrated package that really does a great job at consolodating the functionality.

One other interesting product was a thing called the Pocket Surfer from Datawind. This is basically a thin client that's about the size of a checkbook but really thin and light. It uses bluetooth to your cell phone and connects to a backend server to let you browse the internet. A much larger screen than a blackberry or most of the palm or ppc devices out there so it has some interesting applicational uses.

I'll say more about my experiences with the OQO once I finish up my overall evaluation...

More on a small computer...

EvanF — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 16:11:00 GMT

Lora and I exchanged some lengthy emails last night on this subject. Here's the one that kicked it off, basically indicating that my pricing structure was definitely off. While I later concede some of her points, there are some other factors involved that I'll just have to leave to your imagination...

Hey Evan,

Are your daughters going to use Linux? LOL You took me back in time. I felt like I was reading an article from 1999 or 2000 because of the hardware description.

I'm not sure that your costs are right. Was that Microsoft cost or real cost after import taxes, US sales office profit margin, then for sale?

You say $50 for the board, but let's use a board that is available en mass and people are doing what you described:

VIA EPIA-V8000A VIA C3, uses SDRAM, has audio, video, and LAN - Cost $88 in bulk; retails for $99 Case with Power supply - 90W minimum required - Cost somewhere around $50 - $100 depending on appearance and quality of power supply SDRAM memory - nonECC, unbuffered, 512MB - Cost $89 on open market, B or C grade, so it is a step up from toy grade Hard drive - 40GB for around $48 Windows XP Home $83 Total Cost $358 plus freight * 1.05 = $375

Wow the system builder just made $17. I'm sure they'll be thrilled. lol Of course, there is keyboard, mouse, optical drive, and display too. Even if the case and motherboard are sub $100, as you suggest, then you're still not any more competitive over current $399 systems. What's compelling about it?

If you want a $399 system, there are plenty to choose from, and some with quite a bit more processing power -- either AMD or Intel based. (Yes, then you have a fan.)

3) Remember, 5+ year old kids want streaming audio, streaming video, play games, play MP3s while chatting, chat, and more chat. Four year old technology can't handle this. Plus, they want USB 2.0, IR, and bluetooth to sync with their other gadgets. Run as much as a kid would, and then see if you think it's fast enough. Go to a few pre-teen sites, the javascript doll making sites, play iTunes, and have 5 chat windows open, plus homework, and then see if it's OK. Adults are usually more careful about what they open than kids.

4) Put it into a robot that can do the things 2-4 year old kids want and OK, I can rationalize it a little better then. Or, just use a smartphone and figure out a way to attach it to a monitor. Either of those ways are cheap and cute.

It's a tough product to sell, and a few companies like AJump, EWiz, Max Group, ASI, etc are building low cost, small boxes. Intel has repeatedly had a problem with microATX, VIA with miniITX, and now with the miniBTX. If anything, VIA with miniITX was able to ride the edge of custom systems and portable gaming machines for LAN parties, but these are not sub $400 systems. (Check out www.mini-ITX.com)

-- Lora

She's right that it's easy to build a cheap"ish" system using commercially available parts, but of course you get what you pay for. But what if I was paying for a different value proposition to begin with? Could you make a market as big as the current PC industry with a different value proposition? Probably not. But maybe just maybe you could create something just a little special.

A really small computer

EvanF — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 00:19:00 GMT

Over the last week, I've been playing with a development board from a chip manufacturer that is a relatively dated product in that it really isn't all that fast, doesn't use any cutting edge technology, but runs Windows XP at an acceptable level. Sure I'm not going to be going to play any games on this machine, but for doing my general work day in and day out, this is an awesome board.

The dev board is about the size of a standard size hard drive, but the board has a ton of space on it and could easily be miniaturized to encompass less than the volume of a laptop drive! It has all the ports you'd expect USB, audio, VGA etc, but it runs at a very low processing speed compared to anything that you'd buy today. What I find really neat about this device is that there is no fan, the power supply is just about non-existent and I can put my hand right on the CPU while the machines been on for days on end. Okay so it's a little warm, but by no means is it burning hot.

Why do I like this little dev box so much? Well right now I have a second PC at home for my daughters to play games (things like Fredie Fish -- nothing that's a demanding application), but the cheap PC that I put together for them is just so noisy and takes up a lot of space. Just imagine if I built a PC around a board like this, plugged in an external CD (unpowered) and ran the USB cable up to the desk next to the keyboard. An ultra compact machine that does everything that I need it to do.

But it gets better. The cost of the entire board and the existing housing of this device probably is clearly less than $100 maybe as close as $50. If someone were to manufacture this in volume, you could probably have a complete PC (keyboard, mouse, CD, HD, motherboard, etc.) that runs XP, Office and other standard apps plus general games (nothing ultra-intensive) for $100 for the entire package, software extra of course :-)

Would you buy one? Line starts after me!

CES and Vegas

EvanF — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 03:09:00 GMT

So for the first time I actually get to go to Vegas for CES. Guess now that Comdex is dead, have to go for the major show. But speaking of shows, Vegas has a lot of them and I know nothing about the ins and outs of getting tickets for these shows. The reason I'm wondering is that my wife is going to come along with me and she most definitely wants to see a show. Probably a magic show or something like that, but what are the tricks to getting really good tickets for cheap prices? I'm figuring someone out there has the knowledge that google just barfs over giving a gazillion paid links for cheesy sites etc. Anyone with the inside scoop want to fill me in?

Playing with MSN Spaces

EvanF — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 23:34:00 GMT

So I've set up a purely personal blog on MSN. The picture management capability is interesting as it's a lot easier than having my own website (which I haven't updated in eons). I'm thinking that maybe I'll give up my vanity domain and just simply use something like MSN Spaces for posting pictures of the family and kids and giving a quick update on what's going on.

A) It seems like it would be a lot less work to update

B) It's free (for the time being)

C) Is there a C?

Any thoughts on the potential downsides?

OQO not on it's way :-(

EvanF — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 23:29:00 GMT

Well appears that the OQO that I had ordered, wasn't really ordered, so I'm not going to get a Hannukah present this year, maybe in time for New Years or perhaps in time to take it for a test run at CES. Having had a few minutes to look at the one that one of my co-workers is using (and is frustrated with) it seems to me that perhaps something like this on the floor of CES would be great particularly when paired with wireless connectivity (either via a cell phone or Wifi). However for CES a camera is real useful too (but no integrated camera). Of course I have to see whether or not this whole pariing of devices works out for this particular application; and of course there is that small little detail of cost-justification...

Oh well, I've got some other devices that I've got to do some more in depth evaluation of.

Having a second or third or fourth computer...

EvanF — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 18:12:00 GMT

I know almost everyone out there who will read this blog has more than 1 computer at their disposal already, so what I really want to know is if you were to give an additional computer to your brother, sister, mom, dad, great aunt Sally, or whomever who only has a single PC today, what would you want them to experience? That is to say, if you were to give them the computer what would you want them to get out of having this second computer that they don't get out of having the original computer that they already have. And if you were to do this, I want to know more than "it's a better computer" than the old one (in that you want to replace the old one with the new one) rather what benefit if any would there be to having these multiple computers for this particular person. Place yourself in their shoes, not your own, of course you want one machine to develop on, one machine to play on, one machine to experiment on, one machine to ...., but does your great aunt Sally?

OQO on it's way?

EvanF — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 18:07:00 GMT

So in my quest to have time on every small form factor machine out there and to figure out what the real end value is behind these devices, I did order an OQO. Appears it's somewhat backordered, as they got more orders than they expected -- which is either good news for them or that they produced a very small number to begin with and anything over that is more than they expected :-) Needless to say, I found JK's comments on what he's been seeing relative to this machine troubling. Particularly the comment about the digitizer. Getting these things to work well is tricky - all kinds of little things interfere with the accuracy of the electro-magnetic digitizer and if you look at the edges on any Tablet PC, you're bound to find a spot or two (or more) where the calibration is just off and you can't do much with it. What worries me here is that since the device is so small, there's only a very limited amount of space that a "human" can target and that will often be close to the edge on a device like this. Thus this would severely limit the overall usefulness of the digitizer itself. Guess we'll just have to wait and see when I get mine.

Glass Wall - 1 : Evan - -5

EvanF — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 17:57:00 GMT

Well the day before last was a banner day for me... I went to hear a talk about innovation, left the talk to go out to the lobby, and smacked my head right into a glass wall. I must commend the janitors as it was the cleanest piece of glass I never saw. End result was that the glass wall is still standing, but I took 5 stitches above the eyebrow. Okay enough wallowing in self pity and utter embarrassment. Back to work...

Tablets on Display...

EvanF — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 16:41:00 GMT

In my previous post, Chris asks why not put this one of a kind Compaq prototype in the display case of all the tablets that is in the building where the tablet team is located. I'll see if I can find a picture of that display case that I can link off to since I can't easily post images here, but it's not as easy as it sounds... Basically there is a glass show case in the lobby of our building (which incidentally is getting plastered with Halloween decorations, but that's a different story) where there are many old Tablets, webpads and other misc hardware that helped to inspire us and let us test out our ideas. The funny thing is that many of the Tablets that we wanted to put into the display case don't fit. The problem is that the glass shelves are of a fixed height and most of the tablets that are primarily designed for a portrait orientation are too tall for the shelves. At one time we had some in there positioned in landscape, but it just looked goofy with a few of them on their sides. So until someone donates a better display case, we'll all have to just hold on to our memories :-)

New Tablet...

EvanF — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 10:02:00 GMT

Well not exactly new, but new to me… This afternoon I was helping the Tablet User Research team clean out a storeroom where they’ve been keeping their equipment that was for studies. Interestingly enough there are all kinds of interesting tablets in there particularly for certain studies, but there’s also plenty of really old equipment such as pre-production Acer TM100s and some of the early prototypes that we used way back when. As we were going through I spotted this “tablet”. So it’s now in my possession. It’s a one of the kind Compaq Tablet that was created specifically for the announcement that Compaq was entering the tablet market. Of course it kind of looks like a giant ipaq, but it’s a real tablet and was nothing at all like what Compaq released. The secret to this tablet is that it’s really the same tablet as the prototypes we had been using, but a new “shell” was constructed around it to make this prototype seem real. Way back then while Compaq was already committed to entering the market, they didn’t want their ID revealed to the world, so it was all smoke and mirrors. A little piece of Tablet PC history, rescued from the storeroom…