I’ve been doing a lot of talking about the coming information age and how it depends on access technology that is as cheap and easy to use as our cell phones (and applications of it that are as appealing as people find their cell phones). But I’ve been slow to mention the MIT Media Lab’s One Laptop Per Child $100 laptop plan.

The truth is that I just don’t know that much about it. That’s why I was interested to find Andy Carvin’s video interview with Mary Lou Jepsen, the CTO of the project. Jepsen answers Carvin’s questions about what’s what and how it works. I was especially intrigued by how the screen works (it’s brighter because there are no color filters).

$100 laptop, mit, media lab, mit media lab, Mary Lou Jepsen, technology, hardware, laptop, information age, digital divide, ubiquitous computing, ubicomp, portable, portable computing

Via Engadget I found mention of the LeapFrog FLY, a pen with embedded computer that reads your handwriting. Need a calculator? Just write out “2 + 2 = ” and hear a response from the pen computer’s synthesized voice. Need to schedule something? Write out the date.

It’s targeted at kids, and the company has released it with a variety of tutoring applications and games (you guessed it: FLYware) appropriate for kids in 3rd to 8th grade. Gizmag has details.

It turns out that it requires special paper (FLY paper, of course), but it’s an interesting concept. I wonder how much more it would have cost to use accelerometers (eliminating the need for that special paper) instead of an optical sensor?

Big picture moment: The computing world of today is built around computers with keyboards and big screens, but what might it look like if this pen-computer takes off? What applications might we build for a networked FLY? The world is in search of a $100 laptop, but this pen is available now for that price.

computer, edutainment, embedded computer, fly, fly paper, handwriting, leapfrog, optical sensor, pen computer, pen-based, pentop, pentop computer, special paper, tutoring, ubicomp, ultraportable

Via Gizmodo, we make money not art, and The Engineer: spray-on computers.

The idea is to develop computers about the size of a grain of sand (though they say a cubic millimeter here), give them sensors and networking capabilities, and completely change our notion of “computer.”

From The Engineer:

Each Speck will be autonomous, with its own captive, renewable energy source. Thousands of Specks, scattered or sprayed on a person or surfaces, will collaborate in programmable computational networks called Specknets. Scientists are even considering the idea of a putting the devices in a spray-can, allowing the Specks to be sprayed onto a whatever surface they wish.

In the short term, engineers imagine a number of useful, but not revolutionary uses for these Specknets:

They could be used as lighting and temperature sensors in buildings, placed in aircraft wings to detect failures or used to sensitise medicine bottles to ensure that people take their prescribed medication at the correct times.

But don’t let that confuse you into thinking that they aren’t aware of the broader implications. Here it is straight from the Speckled Computing project website:

Speckled Computing is the culmination of a greater trend. As the once-separate worlds of computing and wireless communications collide, a new class of information appliances will emerge. Where once they stood proud — the PDA bulging in the pocket, or the mobile phone nestling in one’s palm, the post-modern equivalent might not be explicit after all. Rather, data sensing and information processing capabilities will fragment and disappear into everyday objects and the living environment. At present there are sharp dislocations in information processing capability — the computer on a desk, the PDA/laptop, mobile phone, smart cards and smart appliances. In our vision of Speckled Computing, the sensing and processing of information will be highly diffused — the person, the artefacts and the surrounding space, become, at the same time, computational resources and interfaces to those resources. Surfaces, walls, floors, ceilings, articles, and clothes, when sprayed with specks (or “speckled”), will be invested with a “computational aura” and sensitised post hoc as props for rich interactions with the computational resources.

computational networks, computer, computers, computing, computing fabric, computing project, idea, information appliances, information processing, nano-computing, nanocomputing, networking capabilities, smart appliances, specknet, specknets, specks, spray, spray-on, spray-on computer, spray-on computing, sprayon, ubicomp, ubiquitous computing

My week with the Pepper Pad is over, and the UPS van just drove off with it, but I’ve still got a lot to report.

My testing ran into problems when it turned out that the WiFi network in the library was on the fritz. I did some netstumbling today and found that only two APs were broadcasting at anything close to full-power and all the others were whispering like they were gonna get shushed by an old-time librarian. In short, at some point in the past few weeks, though I’ve been too busy and ignorant to notice, the WiFi in the building followed the freshmen to the nearest kegger and didn’t come back.

But, using the two working APs as guideposts, I found WiFi range to be good enough that I’m pretty sure if the other APs were working, we’d have complete coverage. That doesn’t mean, however, that I got to do all the testing that I wanted, and what I’m least happy about is not having a chance to put it in the hands of some students and see how they used it.

I get the feeling that it wouldn’t take long for the students to discover the streaming net radio and instant messaging, but all of that is gravy on top of the way I imagine it could ease and improve access to the 300,000 print volumes we have in our collection.

But all of that is speculation, and I’ve got real findings to report…later.

tags: computer, fond farewell, good bye, internet access, pepper, pepper computer, pepper pad, portable computer, portable computing, post pc, post pc device, ubicomp, ubiquitous computing, ultra portable, web access, web device, web pad

• Pepper Computer
• Buying a Pepper Pad at Amazon
• Pepper Hacks
• Victor Rehorst has been blogging about his Pepper since he got it (a few days ago)
• Pepper Pad stories at TeleRead
• Other Pepper Pad stories here at MaisonBisson

tags: links, pepper, pepper computer, pepper links, pepper pad, portable computing, ubicomp, ultraportable

The Pepper Pad (available at Amazon) has a very clean out of box experience. There’s nothing to assemble and no questions about what order to do things in. Just open, unwrap, plug in, startup.

I attempted running through the configuration in my office, but the WiFi propagation is very weak there and Pepper Pad couldn’t catch a signal. The requirements listed on the box say only two things: “broadband” and “WiFi,” so it’s no surprise that the configuration application requires WiFi — or perhaps a BlueTooth phone it can connect through? Without a signal I was forced let it charge and make plans to explore it at home from the comfort of my couch.

Configuration was simple once it was charged and nearer an access point. One click to connect to my AP, a few prompts for my email configuration and registration, and I was ready to go. I started up the web browser, Mozilla, and was quickly surfing a few familiar sites to see how they displayed on the 800 x 600 screen. Text is clearly legible and comfortable to read. The screen is quite sharp, but the anti-aliasing on the text gives it a pleasing softness. Overall, the screen experience outclasses my Sony Clie TH55 (which does no anti-aliasing), and compares well with desktop displays.

As it turns out, the limited horizontal resolution is less of a problem than I imagined. Some horizontal scrolling is necessary on some websites, but they’re rarer than I thought (I’m among the worst offenders) and when scrolling is necessary, the d-pad on the left of the screen does the job easily and smartly. A scrollwheel on the right does the job for vertical scrolling, and it’s the only control you’ll need for browsing most sites.

The screen is bordered by a rubbery frame, the bottom of which has a molded clip to hold the stylus. The stylus and touch screen replace a mouse, though they’re not used for handwriting recognition (there is no HWR on the device). Using the touch screen is easy and it responds to both the stylus and finger taps, but it sometimes doesn’t respond as fast as I expect or give recognizable feedback to acknowledge the click. Scrolling the screen by dragging the stylus along the scrollbar can be frustrating on large web pages, but the problem mostly disappears on smaller pages.

Web browsing goes better with a soundtrack, and with a few quick taps I was listening to streaming MP3 radio using the bundled player. The stereo speakers are better than one might expect from their small size, though bass response is understandably limited.

One of the most distinguishing features is how comfortably it fits in your hands. Certainly, typing is a two-handed activity, but one can spend a lot of time using the Pad with only one hand — a necessary feature if you’re walking around the library with it or using it as a recipe book in the kitchen. The kick stand keeps it upright with the screen at about a 45 degree angle and the rubber edges and feet keep it from skittering across the desk or counter. Grabbing it from a table is an entirely different experience from trying to pickup a laptop, and it’s a positive example of how much farther we can go in terms of truly portable computing.

I found myself walking around the house, browsing the web and streaming music all the way. With a few more clicks I was streaming New Hampshire Public Radio and looking up interesting bits on the web. The Pepper Pad may be a little expensive to use only as a portable radio like that, but it’s at least a very satisfying one. Of course, it can do a lot more than play MP3s and streaming radio, it plays these silly K-Fee ads too.

I was at home, after all, and work could wait.

tags: computer, internet access, pepper, pepper computer, pepper pad, portable computer, portable computing, post pc, post pc device, ubicomp, ubiquitous computing, ultraportable, web access, web device, web pad

The Pepper Pad’s technical details — a lightweight Linux powered device with an 8.4-inch SVGA touchscreen, Wi-Fi auto-configuration, Bluetooth device support, multi-gigabyte disk, full QWERTY thumb-keypad, stereo speakers, and more — are already well reported. But I’ve been arguing that attention to such details runs counter to the purpose and intended use of the device. Many computer users can name (and point to) the CPU in their computer, but who of those can tell me what CPU or chipset drives their cellphone? How many of them can identify the operating system on their phone?

The Pepper Pad, I believe, is the type of device we need to drive information services into the mainstream. …To drive internet access well beyond the 100 million US subscribers who have at-home internet access today and start approaching the nearly 200 million US subscribers who carry cell phones. That’s why I’m interested in their applications in libraries, and that’s why I’m looking at the demo unit above.

More details after it finishes charging.

computer, internet access, pepper, pepper computer, pepper pad, portable computer, portable computing, post pc, post pc device, ubicomp, ubiquitous computing, ultraportable, web access, web device, web pad