This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by James Robertson. Original Post: Why things don't always get better Feed Title: Cincom Smalltalk Blog - Smalltalk with Rants Feed URL: http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/rssBlog/rssBlogView.xml Feed Description: James Robertson comments on Cincom Smalltalk, the Smalltalk development community, and IT trends and issues in general. Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by James Robertson Latest Posts From Cincom Smalltalk Blog - Smalltalk with Rants

Improvements come in spurts, not in a straight line. Why? Well, here's an example of wait time: Scoble is off about the Tablet again:

Tim's "senior person without a soapbox" was complaining about not seeing any improvements to notebooks in 14 years. Hmm, ever see a Tablet PC? You can't use your notebook while standing up, but I can. That's a huge improvement in UI.

Hmm - I can count the number of times I've wanted to use a computer while standing - it's a small number. And no, airport security lines don't count. Why? Well, you imagine holding a tablet PC, a shoulder bag with your clothing, and the computer bag - and then figure out just how comfortable you'll be with a Tablet taking up both hands. Now add a child to watch, or a wife you should be talking to... this isn't a use case, it's a non-use case. I've yet to see anyone doing this at an airport, and I travel a fair bit. So far as I'm concerned, the Tablet really isn't a big deal - No one I know wants to write with a pen.

Now, the question is, are we about to see a 3D user interface revolution? Sun has been showing around its cool LookingGlass user interface. Microsoft has a bunch of 3D stuff in the lab.

Yeah, and I've been pointing to Croquet as well. We were talking about this on the IRC channel the other day - outside the games space, just how useful would a 3D user interface be? At least Scoble is properly skeptical about this one (follow the link to his site).