You can rely on the TenTec list to get down to the existential questions!
I am also one who values "finger feel", and my mouse does not deliver it as
it slips and slides across my desk. (My Orion is light years ahead.) It's
like working with a flight simulator -- don't trust anyone who wants to fly
an airplane with mouse and a desktop metaphor! (How do drone operators do
this?)
The "perfect" computer controlled rig (whether SDR or not) should emulate a
real, physical front panel IMO. In aviation, this is what you'd call "fly
by wire". It can be completely realistic - with knobs, meters, buttons,
etc. on a metal panel. In fact, it can even be better than a traditional
front panel.
For example, with "haptic" (tactile) feedback, you can imagine a VFO
controller (knob, if that's your preference) that pushes back (sticks) a
little on a CW or other signal when it is properly tuned. (Coordinated with
a visual and/or aural signal.) Or, you could feel the frequency boundaries
as a buzz when you move into another sub-band or if you try to do something
illegal for your license class. And so on.
There are many more possibilities for computer-human interfacing for amateur
radio than what we've seen to date. I see they're working on brain-wave
sensors for computer control. I hope that will be better than my mouse. We
should look to the gaming community for signs of what is to come.
73 Martin AA6E
On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 1:50 PM, alan geller <alan_geller2001@yahoo.com>wrote:
> An Apple executive told me that their success came from designing products
> with great "fingerspitzengefuhle", which to him meant that users could feel
> the device thru their fingertips.
>
> This is a very human and analog sense in an increasingly digital world.I
> like tuning in signal which lets me feel I am capturing the information out
> of the ether. Hooray for knobs and meters. I have been on a few computer
> design teams but I cringe inside when I realize that half the people in the
> world that wear shoes make their living by sitting behind a desk filling in
> and playing with spreadsheets..it's getting scary.
>
> Alan/K6ADG
--
Martin Ewing, AA6E
Branford, CT
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|