Home Computer - Overview (old)

Nothing in our daily lives is more upsetting than the personal computer. It is clunky, hard to learn, and ruins our backs and wrists. It is a failure of industrial and Interaction Design, and I aim to lay down a plan to fix - nay - replace it.

Yes. Replace it. Seriously.

I'm laying this down in full over the course of several posts on this blog. From hardware requirements to software and operating system functionality. The whole deal. Free. Steal at will.

Why not try to sell the idea? Simple. No one would ever buy it. And if they did, they wouldn't know how to make it happen. My hope here is that someone will come along, read it, love it and make it happen. Of course, any serious company would never take an idea this way, so for anyone who wants to buy the idea, legit and legal, just contact me. I'll sell it cheap.

So, first things first. Forget everything you already understand about the personal computer. It is a failure for 3 major reasons. Those reasons are:

1. Home and Work PCs are identical.
2. Computer Professionals and Basic Users are forced to use the same hardware and software.
3. Computer Professionals build software to give other Computer Professionals systems they would want.

So what is the fix? Easy, you build a home computer that isn't designed for use by professionals and isn't designed to be a workhorse for business. In other words, you plug it in like a stereo system and it just works.

Blasphemous, Impossible, Outrageous. Sure, I know. But it gets better. The perfect home computer won't let users do these things:

1. Download Software
2. Upgrade
3. Replace Hardware

Oh heavens no! But yes, it is true. And here is why:

1. Download Software

   The perfect home computer would come with all the software that 90% of users want and no more. The 10% of the market you lose is made up for by everyone else on earth who can suddenly use a computer for the first time. New software will magically appear if the computer is connected to the Internet, because it will automatically get new software from the upgrade server. Which leads to...

2. Upgrade

   If the computer is connected to the Internet, it will automatically download upgrades. It won't ask, it just will do, and it will install those upgrades whenever the user restarts the computer on their own, or in another situation I'll talk about eventually. Not connected to the Internet? What do you need security upgrades for?

3. Replace Hardware

   The hardware is locked, and only buying a new version of the home computer will give you an upgrade. However, there will be no need for upgrades to hardware, because the user base doesn't care. As long as the computer doesn't appear slow, they don't care what it has on the inside. People were perfectly happy with 66 megahertz windows 95 machines, it is only the greater needs of the bloated software that requires greater speed.

So, smarty pants, what is the fix? Simple, but not easy. The perfect home computer will require some serious new looks at old problems. Thankfully, I've done most of the work for you. So what does the perfect home computer have? I've broken it down for you:

• Hardware
  • Magic Box
    • Competitive Processor
    • Lots O Ram
    • Decent Graphics Card
    • Decent sound
    • CD/DVD burner
    • Blu-ray and/or HD-DVD
    • Media (all current)
    • USB, Firewire, other buses.
    • 5.1 or even 7.1 surround support
    • HDMI/S-VIDEO/Component Video connections.

    This box sits under the monitor and allows access to all media and buses on the front, sound and other connections on the back.

  • Portable Multi-touch Monitor

    This the first of the more-than-cosmetic new devices. Think of it has a tablet laptop, without the laptop. An iPhone with a bigger screen. It is essentially the pads from Star Trek the Next Generation. This comes with a dock that makes the device just like a traditional monitor and also recharges the batteries, the dock could be built right into the magic box. This device sports a keyboard button that calls up a software keyboard built into the OS. The device connects when disconnected from the dock via wi-fi to allow the monitor to be taken anywhere in a person's house.

  • Wired/wireless Keyboard

    Yes, both. You plug it in to charge the batteries and to get a faster response time.

  • Wired/wireless Mouse

    Yes, both. You plug it in to charge the batteries and to get a faster response time.

  • Web Cam
  • Printer/Scanner
  • 2.1 speakers (L R and sub)
• Software

  This list may not be complete.

  • Office

    It is unavoidable that users will need basic office software. Working at home is inevitable, but basic office software is not the same thing as a working computer. Being able to look at a spreadsheet doesn't require all the systems currently in place on working computers.

    • Word Processor
    • Spreadsheets
    • Presentations (powerpoint)
  • Web
    • Websites
    • Feeds
  • Email
    • Message
    • In box
    • Contacts
  • Photos
    • View
    • Fix
  • Calender
    • Add Event
    • View
  • Games
  • Music
  • Movies
  • IM (all the common ones, integrated.)
  • Webcamming software
• OS
  • Top Bar

    Across the top of the screen will appear a bar, somewhat like the task bar in windows, only it is always full. Every task on the system can be accessed here or on the bottom bar. The top bar shows groupings of common programs, although some items are sub programs as you might have noticed in the software listing. I will detail how the interface functions in great detail and perhaps with flash if I can get it working in it. (I hate flash for this kind of thing, however it is the only rational way to display this kind of thing on line.)

  • Bottom Bar

    Across the bottom of the screen is another bar, this one shows tasks that don't overtake the entire screen. The music button slides out a control pane for adjusting the library or stopping/starting play. The IM button will display current IM conversations and will show your contact list.

  • System

    I said once that there are no control panels or settings or meaningless choices. That isn't 100% true. There are some features that require adjustment. None of these have shortcuts or key bindings to confuse the user. This is the only place to make these changes.

    • Handicap Modes

      Blind support, Deaf Support, Limited Sight Support. A set of radio buttons to decide which is in application here. None of these will make sighted/hearing users lose functionality. They will only enable new things, like a screen-reader for the blind.

    • Mouse

      Sensitivity, double-click speed

    • Keyboard

      The effects of holding down a key, and other usability concerns.

    • Localization

      Each unit will ship set to a certain nationality, and can be changed on first run. However, there is value in being able to switch nationality at a later date.

    • Connection

      Internet connection information. While most of this would happen automatically, or on first run of web/email softwares. This area is required because of the various quirks of the Internet. This is more like another way to reach the backups for all the automatic Internet systems.

  • Automation

    Speaking of automatic systems. Nearly everything that CAN be detected WILL be detected, and in the event of a failure on the part of the OS, it will ask the user for help and suggest places that the user can find help if they need it. The computer is the user's slave. It ASKS for help. I can't stress that enough.

    • Internet Connection

      While there is something dubious about wireless connections, here is a simple process that should get most computers connected. This would auto-run any time the computer can't connect, but intelligently as you will see in another post.

      1. Check for phone line.

         Prompt for number to call and user name and password, or to ignore the phone line.

      2. Check for LAN

         If a wired connection is possible, always choose it.

      3. Check for unsecured Wireless with highest signal strength.

         Ask user if they own or have permission to connect to this connection. Test to ensure it isn't a coffee shop which will redirect all traffic to a sign up plan site.

      4. Check for unsecured Wireless with next highest signal strength.

         Ask like above and continue till all unsecured wireless signals are checked.

      5. Secured Wireless.

         Prompt user for secured wireless password/key or to say they don't have one. If they provide one. Start with highest signal secured wireless and try all types of security.

      6. Failure.

         Offer suggestions for how to fix the problem, or on what options they have to get Internet service.

    • Email

      Provided there is an active Internet connection. Email will ask the user for the connection information for setting up e-mail. It will give detailed information about who to contact and where to look to find this information. As this archaic system will likely be the most difficult part of the setup process. One possible solution to this problem is to prompt the user for their email address and to partner with various providers to pass on to the software as much of the info required as is possible. If the software can ask the user for only an e-mail address and user name/password. That would be ideal.

    • Hardware

      Since the hardware is locked, the system can make really good guesses as to what exactly has gone wrong and take the right action. If the monitor is broken, it will issue verbal audio commands on how to fix it or what to do. If the sound system is broken, it can do the same with the screen. Rather than a cheap solution to big problems, IE, beeps. It should access a special chip set that gives verbal audio descriptions of what is wrong, in the place of numbers of beeps.

    • Upgrades

      As long as the computer is connected to the Internet, it can download automatic upgrades to the computer. This means FREE software, security enhancements and other upgrades. Software is NOT only made by the people who sell the computer. However, it is all distributed through them. Users don't buy the software, instead the company regularly looks at software that other companies build for the system and makes a purchases for all their computers and for all that may exist in the future. These pieces of software need to pass very strict standards, but other aspects of the OS itself will force certain aspects of the software to be well designed. I'll go into that more later.

It is also important to address Mods a bit. A mod is any modification to the system made by the user that isn't intended by the people who manufacture the device. If people in the mod world would like to make this computer do other things, they can have at it. I don't care. The basic user won't do this, and if someone ruins the system by modding it, it isn't the fault of the company that made it. If someone wants to bother, let them. This system isn't out to restrict user's creativity. It is out to give the most common user an easy to use, perfect-out-of-the-box computer for everyday tasks.