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| The Top 10 Interfaces Of The 20th Century |
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posted by Editor on Monday September 24, @07:39AM
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This article from the MIT Technology Review runs down the top 10 interfaces of the 20th century. The criteria were systems that convey information so elegantly that we hardly think about the power they give us, so that "boundaries dissolve and we become one with our technologies". As you can probably guess, VCRs and ATMs did not make the list.
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It seems to me that the touch-tone telephone is in some ways just a specific instantiation of a more general interface: the 10-digit keypad.
Where and when did those first show up? Numerous everyday devices use them-- calculators, microwaves, TVs, ATMs, computer keyboards, etc. Surely at least calculators and typewriter keyboards used that interface before 1963, right?
--Greg
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Come to think of it, I wonder if cash registers had 10-digit keypads first, and whether those really are an innovation of the 1800s?
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The 10-digit keypad is also found on cash registers. For some reason unknown to me, they decided to flip the keypad upside-down for computer keyboards. So even though I dial phone numbers and ring up sandwhiches very quickly, my 10-key keypad on the keypad is gathering dust.
One thing I would love to see is a general keypad--perhaps not as part of the keyboard but as another periphrial, that would allow users to define their own keys and their own interface for the computer.
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First, it is possible to redefine keyboard keys, as most people who use Dvorak or International layouts can witness. If you really want to make that suggestion, contacting Microsoft might be a good place to start.
Second, I use the numpad all the time. First, most calculators (my TI-83+ does) have used the numbers this way for a long time (some TI's are exactly the numpad minus the "NumLock" button). PACER CATS Cash Registers, for example, (used by Showcase Cinemas, Paramount Parks, etc...) use the highest-to-lowest order as well.
I personally think that it is ATM/Phone's that have it upside-down. I think that we have an easier time equating Higher in Location with Higher in Value. The reason that we don't do "9-8-7" is because we all realize that we equate Farther to Right with Higher in Value.
Also, OT, you mentioned your idea of a keyboard. I think that if light plastic displays-- the so-called "paper" displays ever become viable, using them on the keys would be a very nice way to build international keyboards.
--WorldMaker--
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by Short Circuit on Tuesday September 25, @01:18PM EST (#4)
(User #56 Info)
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Wouldn't it make more sense to simplify this into the pushbutton?
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