Tablet Mac Becomes Reality 276
teknokracy writes "MacMod has a story about a unique Mac hack. Joseph DeRuvo Jr. says: 'As a Photographer and a Dyslexic the idea of being able to use a Tablet as a platform for showing photographs, editing, and an extension of my badly organized memory is very appealing. ... So taking matters into my own hands I cut into a Dual USB iBook and didn't look back.' It seems our intrepid hardware hacker hasn't just flipped around the LCD and added a semi-functioning touch screen - he's completely engineered a new kind of mac portable, complete with a CF reader, properly installed touch sensor, and topped it all off by properly engineering it all into an Ives-worthy design. With all the trouble these particular iBook models have experienced, why not hack one up for fun and turn it in to something useful?"
Google Cache (Score:2, Informative)
Site already down... (Score:5, Informative)
Id hit it!! (Score:5, Informative)
It's not unique (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Sweet hack! (Score:5, Informative)
How in the world does he type on this thing?
Using Inkwell [apple.com], which is part of OS X. I've read [beanblossom.in.us] that it was developed from the handwriting recognition technology developed for the Newton.
Re:TabletPC = Bad idea? (Score:5, Informative)
I recently bought a Tablet PC off eBay (Compaq TC1000) for use in a data acquisition system. I can see how the Tablet PC might be useful for certain vertical applications (like my own), but IMHO it's not a very good platform for general computing.
Suprisingly, the handwriting recognition is not that bad (with SP2). The biggest problem I've found is that the OS is simply XP with a few "tablet" features bolted on. The Tablet PC really needs an interface developed from the ground up to make use of the pen-based interface.
For example: As we all know, Windows uses the second mouse button for contextual menus - some of these menus are not easily accessible (or accessible at all!) using left-clicks. Left clicks and left double-clicks can be done by tapping the pen, but right-clicking is done (on my machine at least) by holding the pen to the screen for a few seconds. This is pretty kludgey; the contextual menu pops up at unwanted times, like when I'm trying to drag-and-drop icons, or maybe when I'm thinking for a moment and I'm letting the pen rest on the screen.
That's one example, but their are others. Like I said, the handwriting recognition isn't too bad, but it's awkward for entering things like URLS (despite some helpful tools such as ".com" buttons). My model is "convertible" tablet, and I find that 90% of the time I'm using it in laptop mode.
YMMV
Here's a picture of it, at least (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.engadget.com/entry/12340006530
Full article text (Score:3, Informative)
Friday, 10 December 2004
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Close to 12 years ago I caught wind of an Operating System called PenPoint. This was one of the first pen driven operating systems out there. I had contacted them and spoke of how so many people had been left out of the technological revolution and I had thought it was due to the awkwardness of the current state of hardware and software design. At that time I would have hoped Apple would have risen to the challenge to develop a Tablet but as it turned out it was Microsoft who took the chance.
Working with a computer all day long, I have to say that there is nothing quite as pretty as OS X. It is by no means perfect, as a Photographer running 4 Epson printers and depending on the quality of output, it is a continuous frustration and I am afraid the fault lies with Apple not Epson.
As a Photographer and a Dyslexic the idea of being able to use a Tablet as a platform for showing photographs, editing, and an extension of my badly organized memory is very appealing. I had purchased an early QBE, which I was happy with, except for the problem of going between the QBE and all my other desktops which are Apples, it was always the odd man out, in addition to the frustration of finding cross platform software. So taking matters into my own hands I cut into a Dual USB iBook and didn't look back.
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The first thing to consider is what I needed it to do. As a Wedding Photographer I needed something that would serve me in the field, so it needed to have:
-A built in Compact Flash Card reader
-Firewire (USB would be to slow)
-Two built in hard drives (so that the flashcard could be written to both at the same time)
-Extra Firewire ports for external hard drives and DVD burners.
-Bluetooth built in for keyboard and mouse when needed
-touch screen and the driver board for it.
Some functions I wanted to keep intact:
built in mouse click
on off switch
built in CD burning
good air port reception
mic for voice recognition
ability to put it into sleep mode when I close the cover
Putting it all together I have to thank God wasn't so bad, miracles happen everyday.
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The first problem was how to make it touch sensitive. I obviously had thought of going with Wacom but, using their technology would require a different screen configuration which would make it more difficult. Thank God I had found out about Troll Touch, they were a pleasure to work with. Troll Touch are makers of touch screens for Kiosks. They were one of the few manufactures that had a driver written for OS X, the digitizer sits in front of the screen and is touch sensitive, while the driver board runs through a USB port. A resistive digitizer is good and bad, it means you can use your finger to navigate and click, even ink will recognize your hand writing, but you do not have the full functionality of what a Wacom tablet will give you.
The second problem was how to fit all this inside. I had acquired the shell of a dead iBook so with that I took the top plate and used it as a spacer. Recognizing that I had no need of a keyboard I pulled that out making room for the extra hard drive and slot for the flash card reader. I also had to make room for a USB and Firewire hub in the shell. Not to make light of all this but it is a creative process, like baking bread, there is a recipe but, there is also some room for making it up as you go along. After opening the thing up and figuring out where everything will fit, I started to look into removing the screen and hinges. I also came to the (frightening) realization that to get the hubs to fit and not have their cables running from the o
Re:Ob. Simpsons Quote (Score:3, Informative)
Microsoft now license the original software for us on the Pocket PC.
Re:He could have saved a lot of bulk! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:MacMod being down (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.macmod.com.nyud.net:8090/Limages/storie s/mods/i-Tablet%20_Images_7total/20041006--001016. jpg [nyud.net]
Re:Tablet + Mac OS X = WINNAR (Score:2, Informative)
They told me to think different, so I made a toilet seat.
Re:Ob. Simpsons Quote (Score:1, Informative)