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Re: New power-user peripheral: Could I get some he
Phos.... #6522 12/09/09 09:04 AM
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> I'm looking for developers. All of you have said you don't have the chops. So what else is left between all of you and me but to hash over my presentation and attitude?

Have at it, if you want to. I probably made a mistake asking in a place like this, rather than spending a little more time trying to find a dev forum to pitch.


I don't think you made a mistake at all; even if you haven't gotten what you're looking for you have gotten valuable input that you can put to excellent use, if you care to digest it and accept its validity, in restating your presentation to a more "suitable" audience.

For what it's worth, I've been in your position. I even got my security system patented and was told by an "in-the-know" NSA associate who read the patent that my system was better than the one NSA had been developing for six years.

I created a website, linked to it everywhere I could, got everybody I know in any sort of position to promote it to spread the word, even got a coupl'a inquiries, but, in the end, all I've got is a piece of paper with a gold seal on it that announces to the world that I was awarded a (now expired) patent (Edit: and a sneaking suspicion that one guy to whom I pitched it has stolen it for in-house use).

Bottom line is that we concept guys are at the bottom of the heap...

A guy with a coupl'a million bucks and an idea to combine a keyboard with a food processor will find more developers than he can shake a stick at while a guy with an earth-shattering idea and an empty palm is more likely to get his idea stolen. (Remember that the guy who invented variable windshield wipers installed them in his car, drove to and had his invention rejected by every auto factory in Detroit, and didn't see a penny from them until years of patent infringement lawsuits culminated in victory.)

My advice to you is to find yourself a top-notch salesman (Whether se believes in your idea or not is academic if se's a real salesman.), let hir find a backer, and then, and only then, look for developers.

I wish you the best of luck...better than I had. smile

Last edited by artie505; 12/09/09 10:10 AM.

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In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: New power-user peripheral: Could I get some he
artie505 #6525 12/09/09 12:19 PM
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Quote:
My advice to you is to find yourself a top-notch salesman (Whether se believes in your idea or not is academic if se's a real salesman.), let hir find a backer, and then, and only then, look for developers.

If the gender-specific salesman is acceptable, why on earth are the gender-averse pronouns se and hir even necessary?

Quote:
Bottom line is that we concept guys are at the bottom of the heap...

I think that depends on the concept and the guy (or should that be gul?). Yes, someone with a ton of cash can promote a dubious concept (Dean Kamen, perhaps?), and someone with a brilliant idea can die without a dime to his name, but plenty of "concept guys" have had fabulously successful careers.

Personally, I think the single most significant thing Phos could do would be to change the name of his product. "AccessPad Pro®™" is, to me, an awkward name, too long and not at all mellifluous, which fails to conjure any useful image of the product's appearance or purpose. If the net effect of the device is to multiply the power of the user's fingers, get that into the name! Even MultiPad has a more dynamic ring than AccessPad. Or xPad, playing on the traditional symbol for multiplication.

Or how about Command Shift, a pun describing the product's metafunction? ("But now, there's the Command Shift option!")

And unless/until there's an AccessPad, I think Phos should lose the "Pro"—all it does it imply a two-tiered product offering, thereby introducing unnecessary ambiguity about the product being offered.



dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
Re: New power-user peripheral: Could I get some he
dkmarsh #6526 12/09/09 12:49 PM
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> If the gender-specific salesman is acceptable, why on earth are the gender-averse pronouns se and hir even necessary?

Lousy proofreader; I canned him after reading your post.

> Yes, someone with a ton of cash can promote a dubious concept (Dean Kamen, perhaps?), and someone with a brilliant idea can die without a dime to his name, but plenty of "concept guys" have had fabulously successful careers.

True, but I'll hazard a guess that on top of having concepts they were all top-notch salespeople or had such a partner.

Edit: > Personally, I think the single most significant thing Phos could do would be to change the name of his product.

I'll stand by my earlier suggestion that he stop addressing "power users" and begin addressing his entire target audience of "keyboard-centric (or some-such) users."

> And unless/until there's an AccessPad, I think Phos should lose the "Pro"—all it does it imply a two-tiered product offering, thereby introducing unnecessary ambiguity about the product being offered.

Excellent point!

Last edited by artie505; 12/09/09 12:57 PM.

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: New power-user peripheral: Could I get some he
artie505 #6530 12/09/09 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted By: dkmarsh & artie505
>>>Personally, I think the single most significant thing Phos could do would be to change the name of his product.

I'll stand by my earlier suggestion that he stop addressing "power users" and begin addressing his entire target audience of "keyboard-centric (or some-such) users."

>>>And unless/until there's an AccessPad, I think Phos should lose the "Pro"—all it does it imply a two-tiered product offering, thereby introducing unnecessary ambiguity about the product being offered.

Excellent point!

Best advice yet, and something to which I'm quite amenable. I was never super-keen on the name, but it was the first thing I came up with as a "working title." The name stuck while I concentrated on other aspects. So-called power-users were the group of users for whom my concept seemed most applicable, but really, any user could find it useful. And to address tacit:

Originally Posted By: tacit
If I were to buy a multi-button input device, it wouldn't be one that acted only as a set of shortcuts. I'd want something with more functionality.

And they already exist. They are called "chorded keyboards" or "keyers" and they are commonly used with wearable computers, when you don't have access to a full physical keyboard.

The device that Phos is describing sounds almost exactly like the HandyKey Twiddler2 chorded keyboard--a small hand-sized device that allows keyboard input by using different combinations of key presses. Unlike his device, though, the Twiddler2 does more than just function keys; it's a set of programmable function/shortcut keys and also a full-fledged alphanumeric keypad. Different combinations of button presses produce different letters.

I think the learning curve on my device would be more gentle, compared to the slope of a "chording" device, because it builds on the memory pathways already in use by people who employ the standard Command|Option|Shift &/or Control modifier combos. Learning to employ chording techniques—as used by the devices mentioned—require a significant amount of dedication to active study and practice before it would match or outpace the use of a conventional keyboard for accessing the equivalent combinations of keys; most people in my observation don't want to be bothered (think about this example: How many millions of people are aware that the Dvorak arrangement for conventional alphanumeric keyboards is far more efficient, but never bother to learn it?). Still, as versatile as it could be it's never been intended to act as a replacement for a standard alpha-numeric keyboard, the same way that a digitizing tablet isn't generally meant to be. Could you use a Wacom to pull down an on-screen keyboard and tap out messages into a text editor or a website text field? Sure...but why would you if you have and a familiar with a conventional keyboard?

Further...what you (tacit) had said about the A.P.P. being a sort of one-trick-pony is misguided. Since the driver would allow any key on the device to be assigned to any conventional-keyboard call to the OS, it could very easily act as an outboard NumPad. Generally, though, I think the people who have a need for one of those would buy one of those.

I have a solution/rebuttal for the electromechanical vs. multi-touch argument, but I have other business to attend to right now. Maybe later?

Sometimes I feel like Billy Blaze (see: Night Shift, with Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton...)"Hi! Great to meet you!! I'm Billy Blaze!!! I'm an idea man!!!!", but with stronger (though fewer) concepts & none of the charm. wink smile



We write what we are.
Re: New power-user peripheral: Could I get some he
Phos.... #6537 12/09/09 09:21 PM
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Originally Posted By: Phos....
Hmm...not to brag or anything, but during my early weeks of learning guitar in mid-1972 it took me about 20 minutes to cleanly move between F and all the other chords I had learned. (Then again, I was taking lessons from—and was inspired by—a guy who was able to pretty much nail Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow album on third 3rd spin through the album)

20 minutes? Was that on a Strat with a .008 high E string and action so low a micrometer would be needed to measure it... or, say a cheaply-made acoustic with perhaps .013 (or higher) top string and action raised up enough to drop a cigarette through? Point remains: it involves contorting one's wrist and fingers into uncomfortable positions... and even your friend would probably concede that is every beginner's experience: barre chords and the 2nd-position B major type as dkmarsh rightly mentioned. [Yes... "Freeway Jam" was pretty much a requisite, and i also transcribed "Diamond Dust" myself (beautiful progression, not to mention George Martin's production), and covered it in one or two bands back in the day. Great stuff... definitely Beck's best.]


Originally Posted By: Phos....
I'm not sure I follow the guitar chord simile, or would want to qualify it as a universally-applicable comparison. (Conversely, I used to touch-type at 70 wpm. My years of warehouse work made that skill disappear. I'm currently an eyes-on-keyboard pecker, but I'm a damned fast pecker! wink smile ).

Well, i'm not here to argue. If this device you made is any good it should (will?) pretty much sell itself.

Best o' luck.


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