From: tron@apple.com (Tantek Celik)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
Subject: Re: What are we doing with our notebook computers?
Date: 23 Nov 92 18:21:32 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.laptops
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.

In article <1992Nov22.161709.1177@yvax.byu.edu>, fordj@yvax.byu.edu wrote:
(stuff deleted)
> 
> From my own experience, and from thinking about some of the things I saw 
> at COMDEX this past week, I can offer the following examples of the kinds 
> of "new roles" I am thinking of:
> 
> 1.  Personal time management.  I picked up a demo version of the new 
> Franklin planner-based software at COMDEX and have been experimenting 
> with a couple of different "To Do List" managers, trying to find the one 
> that best fits my work style.  While this kind of software has been 
> available for some time, it is only with the appearance of notebook 
> computers that is has become practical to do all or most personal 
> scheduling online.  What issues are you dealing with to make this happen?  

I ordered a PB170 the day they were announced (this was before I started
working for Apple.)
I have looked at quite a few off the shelf "To Do List" managers, and they
all seem to suffer from a few common problems.

1. Most people work differently than most other people.
As a result, I have found that every off the shelf "To Do List" manager
that I have checked out didn't quite have the look & feel and features that
I wanted.

2. Most people's work styles evolve (read change) for the better over time.
Every off the shelf "To Do List" manager has pretty much a fixed interface,
and fixed feature set.  As a result, using such a tool kind of freezes your
work style and doesn't let it freely evolve for the better.  And even you
do fight it and evolve, you find that your once useful tool is now
inadequate.

My solution to problems 1 & 2: write my own "To Do List" manager in
HyperCard which behaves and functions pretty close to how I want it to.   
(It's hard to hit a moving target).
I have consciously fought the workstyle freezing effect by telling myself
that if I want it to change, I can change it, because HyperCard is an
extremely flexible development environment, and you can get things up and
running really quickly (unlike the 60's-style batch programming which still
seems to be in fashion.)

3. Most To Do lists contain references to People and Organisations which
you then have to go look up in a separate application or database.
I know that some To Do list managers have an integrated database to solve
this problem, but what happens when you also want to do your finances on
your computer with a finance program which also has references to People
and Organisations.
And just for the sake of argument lets say you have a program which does To
Do list management, Person & Organisation database management, and
finances, what happens when you desire/acquire a new program which also
refers to People and Organisations, like a Mail program?
As should be obvious, this is not a problem which is unique to To Do list
management, however it is a problem which becomes quite apparent (sp?) when
you begin to use a computer in this fashion.

My solution to problem 3.  I keep Person and Organisation info in HyperCard

stacks which are linked to/from my To Do stack and my Money stack etc.  And
if I need to add more functionality I just write a new stack. (or download
one from the net and modify it etc. you don't necesarily have to write a To
Do, Person, Organisation, or Money stack from scratch, there are lots of
free ones on the net)

> 
> 2.  Interviewing support.  In my current job I do expert interviewing 
> ("knowledge acquisition") to support the development of certification 
> tests of computer skills.  In the past I have done similar interviewing 
> to support expert system and instructional development.  I have always 
> craved a portable computer to support me in this and finally I have one.  
> In addition to allowing me to type notes while I interview, I can now 
> work with experts to develop "shared representations" (sorry for the 
> cognobabble) of the area of expertise we are covering.  These 
> representations, not necessarily textual, require that I do some things 
> outside of the range of my word processor so I have begun some 
> interviewing support tool development in HyperCard.  Anybody else doing 
> things like this? 

Not me.  Sounds like an appropriate application of the technology though.


> 3.  Classroom notetaking support.  I am also currently a graduate student 
> (but not for long!) and am happy to have a good notetaking tool.  
> Naturally I make heavy use of my word processor in doing this.  Anybody 
> using any more specialized tools than this?  What about the effect of 
> notebook-based notetaking on the degree to which you use or do not 
> use/include diagrams in your notes?  I did some research a couple of 
> years ago with some undergrad classes that I was teaching about the form 
> of notes.  Not many graphical/diagrammatic kinds of things in their 
> notes.  Mostly just text core dump.  Do notebooks free us from this 
> tendency or just make it worse?

I have found that for taking textual notes, a notebook computer works
really well (I can type faster than I can write).  But for diagrams etc.
the application support/hardware is not there yet.  I personally believe
that to take effective diagrammatic notes, one needs a pen interface, so I
have a miniature white board velcroed to the back of my Powerbook which I
use for 'caching' diagrams until I have the time to do a 'write back' to a
drawing application. :-)

> 4.  Library research.  I spent a lot of time last year developing a 
...
> 5.  Turning lab research into field research.  I am currently working on 
...
It's been a while since I done either of these so I can only imagine that
using a notebook would make these tasks easier.
 
> I am very interested in learning how people are using their notebook 
> computers and what barriers you are breaking down, what new frontiers are 
> opening to you.  Let's discuss these issues in this group as well as the 
> hardware concerns.

Here, Here.

> "Thanks for noticing me."  :-)
> 
> John M. Ford             BYU Instructional Psychology Program
> 740 South 50 East        (801) 224-9039
> Orem, UT 84058           fordj@yvax.byu.edu

tron@apple.com

THE OPINIONS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE THOSE OF MY OWN, NOT OF MY USER OR
SYSTEM.

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