Surface Computing
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Now this is what I want on my desk. Or actually for my desk. Microsoft introduced surface computing last week at a conference as a prototype they're shooting for sometime in the next year or so. The downside? It's estimated at $5,000 or so. Not a good idea if they want them to sell. I think they'd be better off taking the XBOX approach, sell them for $2500, take a loss, and get ahead of everyone else in the world.
When I saw Minority Report and The Island, the computing surfaces they used were pretty cool. Using fingers to manipulate objects on a large surface area seems like a cool idea. I've often thought that the way to eliminate paper was to get a 42" or so desk surface that was my computer. Let me type with a keyboard when appropriate, write with a stylus when I'm taking notes, and move objects around with a stylus or finger to get them set up. With the equivalent of a 42" TV screen, I could put a couple full sheets of paper on display, have a side bar of email, and still have room for my SQL editor. Can you imagine Visual Studio with that size of real estate?
I'm looking forward to that wave of computing growth.
It's been a year since the Department of Veterans Affairs had a laptop stolen from an employee's home. It was recovered and supposedly the information wasn't copied or lost, though I'm not sure how they determined that. However in looking back, I saw this very interesting article on lessons learned from the event.
The article looks at some of the things you'd expect, data encryption, better data retention policies, remote access policy, etc., but there's one big area that I think might have an impact on our jobs as DBAs.
Who has what data?
It's great to have notification of when data is lost, encrypting data, etc., but what if you're not sure if data has been lost? Are you aware of how much data is on your laptop? Or you have on a remote device? What if you had a copy of a database, or an extract, or something else, from six months ago? What if you synched up files automatically for someone to work on remotely and their job changed? If they lost their laptop after 3 months, would they realize that there was sensitive data on it?
Tracking data access is hard. I'm not sure how many people actually have had lots of experience doing it. Intel used to track every time someone accessed chip designs and while I'd hate to think we need to implement that in most systems, there are probably some where it is needed.
Now if we could just get some good frameworks for some of these tasks.
Steve's Pick of the Week : The article is worth reading, but the slide show is pretty cool. Now if I can get one of these, with a keyboard and mouse for coding, but a pen for writing and the size of my desk, I'm excited. -
It's a neato concept, but at the wrong angle. It's an ergonomic nightmare
, from the picture shown. My neck hurts already. Now if most of the surface were higher, at a viewable angle... ah, then I suppose my shoulders would ache.I'd like to see a larger, conference-size version. Put your video-conferencers around the edges, allow multiple users to manipuate what's on the screen; might be real nice for brainstorming / design work. But how long will it be before someone puts Pac-Man on it?
Here there be dragons...,Steph Brown
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Need 3-D to make that work well!
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Marketing, Marketing, Marketing.
It is cool, but for who ? It is not a great paradigm shift, nor is it a wonderful technilogical breakthrough. Just glitz and glimmer in my opinion. We need something different, something 'radical' - a learning computer - Terminator anyone ?
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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I can just see someone dropping their ice-cream cone on it....
I can also see a sysprog that I used to work with going off his tree:
"DON'T TOUCH THE F****** SCREEN!!!!"
(and of course, every time he went away from his pc. I would run over and put a single fingerprint somewhere on the screen...
)A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
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I am one of those clean screen folks but I just do not have the problem more than once with anybody. I just simply tell them not to. if they insist then I replace their monitor with a smudged dirty old one (it is being able to tell the PC Techs to do your 'dirty work').
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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Having been a Tablet PC user for a couple years now, I can't under estimate the screen hygeine problem... but Surface doesn't require penning or touch really. It seems that it could theoretically work with an imaginary surface just as well as a physical one. The [poor] state of projector technology which needs a projection surface instead of providing a holoraphic one, plus the protein units' need for tactile feedback, is the limiting factor.
People preference is also an issue. My [anecdotal] observations lead me to believe that humans do not enjoy the arcade table-style consoles or quasi-ergonomic PC desks which place the viewing screen at a down angle from the viewer. I'm not sure why, but it just feels wrong to me, and other people's behavior seems to indicate that they think it odd, too.
The other big problem that I see (from looking at my desk right now) is that horizontal surfaces become quickly covered with all manner of things. Isn't that what horizontal surfaces are really for? It's hard enough to compute around the clutter with a mouse and keyboard! Imagine what Surface will have to account for if it's input and display has to account for your mess.
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I can see hours of puerile amusment in changing the wallpaper to a picture of hundreds of documents or with a single coffee cup ring
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Here is a video from Popular Mechanics. It really does look cool.
Microsoft Surface: Hands-on First Look
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid932579976?bclid=932553050&bctid=9337
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