[Reader-list] A Case for PDA Student Computing

[Are Flagan]

Pardon the weaving, hope it serves a purpose:

> hi Are, yes, i've read of the Simputer and it is partly
> because of this that the idea became clearer to me, but
> i also have a lot of experience with earlier electronic
> organizers (sharps), a used-Psion, and now a Handspring
> that is unable to sync with my Mac OS X. i am not writing
> so much from how these devices, as they have evolved, are
> used today, but how they could be used and designed, and
> in this way i do think the software and OS' are a limit,
> and determines certain possibilities and user behaviors.
> this also relates to this week's news about the pending
> death of the PDA, and also trends in that industry which
> seems to have suffered more setbacks than other form factors
> (Apple Newtons, myriad hybrid devices).

This is the current catch 22 of the PDA. They are developing the OS to the
point where it may actually need to boot, rather than being a simple on/off
button launch. The development is also is reflected in hardware; laptops
move toward PDAs and PDAs move toward laptops. It is almost hard to
categorize certain models. That cellphone/PDA hybrid is the latest attempt
at carving a niche for the palm-sized, mobile computing market. But why did
the PDA die? The best reason I have heard is that most people put more into
them than they get out; hence they waste rather than save time with the
current datebook, memo pad, and address list configurations. I agree that
this is very much a question of software development, although most
functions of MS Office, for example, can be performed thanks to Documents To
Go (but all that proprietary stuff costs additional money, and the
installation procedures etc. also currently require a desktop, as well as
conduits for synching etc., etc., etc.)

> the aspect of the Simputer that surprised me was the price,
> as it seemed like a lot of money. yet, if it is customized
> for the uses intended, it may well be worth the cost. yet,
> to me, if such a device is to function somewhat autonomously,
> it has seemed that the cost of batteries would be critical
> to users being able to afford using current devices which
> are notorious for eating batteries, and without recharging
> the cost of the device could be had in batteries within its
> lifetime. therefore, i thought that the Simputer should be
> packaged with a hand-crank or solar-panel and adapter and
> charging station for rechargeable batteries, if cost is an
> issue, and use will be mostly done with batteries.

The problem with rechargeable batteries, unless they are of a common AA or
AAA type mold, is that most manufacturers make them proprietary and device
specific. When they die, you have to buy a designated new one, if available,
or re-cell them, and this can be a costly affair (as evidenced by the sought
after and discontinued Beaulieu Super 8mm cameras, for example). The real
question is perhaps what kind of long term commitment such a platform may
elicit to make it feasible in the first place and sustainable in the long
run. I think we are obviously talking public rather than private support
here, where the second follows the former for gain and not the other way
around (the current US model where social security ends up as fodder for the
volatile stock market). Sarai is from what I have read no stranger to an
erratic power supply and keep plenty of battery backup to make computing
less prone to disaster. Maybe someone has some first-hand experience with
this, or suggestions?
 
> Psion is an interesting company in the field of PDAs, even
> though their dominance or niche market has changed. they
> sell consumer-grade devices, but also retailing computers
> that look like those devices used in warehouses for scanning
> and inputting information into a database, either with a
> wand or some scanning code-reader for UPC symbols, etc.
> they are used for retailing, such as clothes, for grocers
> to document their inventory, and now traditional PDAs also
> have such wand attachments for turning a consumer-grade
> device, to specialize/customize it for such industry uses.
> 
> the reason this is important for PDAs is that they can be
> customized in ways that scientists and other professional
> fields are doing it, with probes, measuring devices, etc,
> which could greatly help in issues of education and utility,
> where a science class, say, would need just the attachment
> probes to make a device, and not a customized piece of
> equipment to do basic science education work. so too, a
> PDA could (possibly, i'm guessing) become an oscillator,
> teach basic programming for young people to young adults,
> could help learn logic through basic (virtual) electronics,
> and other SIMulations programs, whether for biology or
> for economics. the other aspect is that some PDAs go into
> strange but unique areas that offer possibilities of the
> range of these (small) computers, and that is software
> can turn them into music-teaching devices (MIDI controllers,
> even, i think, and a theremin, too) and brain-wave bio-
> feedback setups (including this just for range). these
> are attachments, and software could do much by itself-
> if only it existed. and it could, if the platform were
> repurposed and became more valuable through development.
>
> this makes me wonder about developers, as i've known or
> intuited the potential of these devices yet am always
> underwhelmed when the reality of where PDA and computers
> are at, and my attempts at programming are stuck in trying
> to learn code still, so becoming a PDA developer is far
> from something everyone can do by themselves, unless it
> becomes part of basic education (or, at least its a hope).
> i've always wanted to have an etymology dictionary, say,
> on a PDA, yet such tools are not yet developed, and to
> find the relatively few developers for a platform that
> might find similar interest determines that possibility,
> then, also, if it is to be a commercial or free program.
> yet, there are a large range of wonderful programs (in
> miniature) for PDAs, including planetariums, star-viewing
> programs, music, drawing programs, databases, and other
> programs which could be refocused for education and beyond.

You are also highlighting the core problem with PDA computing. Once you
have, in the current climate, purchased all the modules, accessories and
software to make your PDA conversant with your needs, it has turned into an
eclectic collection of paraphernalia that probably make you wish you had
bought a laptop instead. In some ways, this is simply a repeat of the
upgrade curve we have already gone through (although scaling is reversed,
perhaps) -- from less to more, with various profitable and dead end avenues
explored along the way. Breaking apart the desktop does not necessarily make
it cheaper and better, just a pain to carry around. (It does however allow
for better customization.) And protocols and compatibility once more become
key concerns; we are back in the territories thoroughly enjoyed by
monopolies. Will open source do better in this second round? (I guess you
answer that it should below, perhaps due to an added awareness. If only we
had the luxury of history repeating itself...oh, we actually do?)

> and maybe this is why PDAs are stuck or may become extinct
> for awhile again, in that they have all the bells & whistles
> of a confused device which has no clear plan for development.
> they do succeed in certain areas, such as with the military
> where some devices become part of a whole battlespace network
> and diagnostics and logistics device, or at least some are
> proposed as being such, and probably today's working proto-
> types could bring fuel-cell batteries or some type of OS
> or some development that may be done through academic R&D
> networks or public funding that could help bring devices
> to another level of economy, reliability, and usefulness.
> 
> maybe there are two devices in this model, an internet-
> hybrid device, and dedicated standard devices (for education
> where Internet/multimedia use is not mission-critical when
> a dedicated lab might be better suited for media-rich work).
> the hybrid devices may have bells & whistles, a bunch of
> features and devices built-in, such as internet-connectivity,
> audio recording, video playback, broadband wireless, GPS/
> GIS, mp3, and the rest. all the things that would probably
> be going the opposite direction of what educators may need,
> or want to have kids exploring on their computers in class
> or at home. yet, the major aspect of PDAs for me has been
> that they are indeed very capable computers, and could be
> further developed in a way that expands ubiquitous computing
> so that the majority of functionality may not need to rely
> on a desktop or even laptop system but one may be able to
> fare rather well with a PDA-as-satellite-computer-system.
> current web-based applications such as downloading daily
> news to PDA is a killer application for regular devices,
> if the main computer OS has the software, but the industry
> is in a major fiasco with regards to issues of stability,
> reliability, and having a mission for the devices.
>
> one aspect of feature-rich applications and technology
> that could work with PDAs for education, for basic computing
> may be having a wireless phone modem for text messaging,
> to work as a pager. and there is a company that was a start-
> up that uses radio signals to broadcast news to PDAs. in
> this way, say even with the Simputer, the radio infrastructure
> could be coupled with the adpated-PDA to receive news and
> weather and information (one-way) without needing to have
> the power to transmit information back (batttery/cost) and
> thus to ramp-up some of the services available, from various
> levels of centrality (radio broadcast of information) and
> dispersal (local software crafted for specific needs). it
> is in this way that the PDA could be shaped/formed into
> a more useful device. and much of it relies on the way it
> is perceived, and the way it is developed, and by whom.
> and, while there are glimmers of hope with software on
> occasion, to take the full resources of a state-based
> education system, or some larger structure such as a
> community initiative, such devices could make 'community
> mapping' (visual database of local resources, for use
> by members of a community) a killer app that has little
> to do with typical large-scale commerce, and is into a
> type of micro-commerce, or intra-community commerce,
> which might share traits with open-development planning.
> 
> i think Are also hit on a major aspect that could be
> beneficial in that, if control over the platform could
> be developed such that there could be some open-development
> for an education computer (my assumption of what is needed
> to make this happen, a PDA based on specification standards,
> and in large enough quantity to make manufacturers interested
> in Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) of devices through
> rebranding or modifying today's basic technology). if such
> a platform exists, it would allow a computer that is not
> controlled but controllable, which starts off open- and
> not closed- to independent possibilities, that current OS'
> and hardware seemed plagued with. and another aspect is
> that such a device need not even be nation-specific, and
> worldwide scales could be had, such that if someone in
> the USA won't develop it because of opposition, another
> place might, where private influence is not dictating
> what can and cannot happen with computing devices and
> their potential. it is almost an issue of 'free computing'
> as in, 'free speech', by not restricting free development
> versus one of a type of enslavement to corporate models
> of hardware and software development and the ideologies
> which place certain things at the top of the list, and
> others off-the-table or impossible, because of special-
> interests and potential loss-of-current-profit models.

This is a really interesting area where I hope we can benefit from some of
the insights and experiences garnered at Sarai. China embraced its modified
Linux kernel for security reasons (I have a 160 page PDF report on the
adoption of open source within the US Dept. of Defense if anyone is
interested, just email) and it is fair to say that India and Pakistan move
toward it in order to get a piece of the computing economy. With a projected
install base (potentially add-on, third-party market share) for Linux
rivaling Apple within a couple of years, this is a way in for those who have
had their software engineers work for foreign companies and profits exported
in the past. And think about it; with an installed and growing user base in
the millions and millions, based on an open kernel, with possibly thousands
of highly capable engineers making headway with all kinds of applications,
the balance of power, along with some pretty big bucks, may actually shift
as quickly as it takes you to say Microsoft. And what if some relatively
cheap and decent hardware, like the Simputer model, came along with it?
Something tells me that the Redmond and Cupertino crowds may be looking over
their shoulders at India right now. This is also guesswork, of course. But
what you propose seems to be taking shape on another continent -- currently
going through its own _personal_ computer evolution. And all this is taking
place while Microsoft is negotiating hefty discounts, up to 90%, to become
the OS and supplier of choice in these countries. We are perhaps talking
some serious "social aspects" of software here.

> all of this is guesswork. regarding the first feedback
> on the list, most issues were dealt with in the text-
> about media-specific computing (art-computer) there
> could be used, dedicated computers with wacom-tablets
> (digital drawing tablets) that are donated/used and
> a computer with painting software, or a music computer
> with MIDI instruments and this could help bring arts
> to students that may not have supplies or teachers
> but people with knowledge of these devices could help
> revive the arts within schools by using computers in
> the way (it seems) they were intended to be used, for
> the betterment of people and as social devices, not
> as a replacement for these. brian
> 
> 
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