Technology potential

I just had a long conversation with a guy at work regarding technology. I know, a geek talking about tech isn't a surprise. I've long maintained that the way we interact with computers is forced and non-intuitive. I like to say that while we live in a three dimensional world, computers force us to interact in a two dimensional way. I've had an idea percolating in my head for over a decade now regarding that. I actually bought 2 Nintendo PowerGloves to help me create a proof of concept. But our conversation really only touched that before going in a slightly different direction.

We talked about how people interact in a business world, and how the technology that is available (albeit sometimes in separate pieces) if utilized better, can have a drastic impact on productivity. We discussed how people use their individual desktops - not on their computer but their actual physical desktop. Often there are stacks of folders, papers, manuals etc. A large majority still use pen and paper to capture many of their ideas and then have to go through several steps to convert that into an electronic version.

For an example, I'm asked to design a new application. I'm given some quick details and that's it. Currently, I go to my desk, get out a pen and paper and start writing/drawing. I'll write out the data that needs to be captured and shown. I then draw out a user interface to interact with the data. I then have to take that drawing over and show the interested parties to get their approval. This often leads to changes to the drawing which can make a mess. This step sometimes has to get repeated a couple times before everyone is satisfied. I then create the database and then get down to the programming. And this would be for a relatively minor application. The larger and more complicated an application gets, the longer these steps would take and the more collaboration required to resolve everything.

Imagine if you will an alternative. I have an electronic desktop. Not on my computer - but an actual desktop surface. I can draw on it as I would on paper but it's 100% electronic. It would change the above scenario. I gather the notes, write out the data as above. But I do the drawing on this new desktop and then gather the parties to review the UI and I could make changes to it in real time - as natural as drawing on a piece of paper. Or potentially, share my "desktop" so we would all see/work on the same drawing.

Seems limited use as a programmer maybe. But look at other business aspects. Flowcharting, business meetings, all these types of things could be done in a much more natural way and as important - SHARED in a much more natural way.

Technology has advanced to a point where we can really change how we interact with our environment. There is no longer a need to be tied down to working in a 2 dimensional way. We can make a change, and definitely for the better. Imagine if we were all able to share a version of our desks, have an instant scan of a document/page that would be shared with anyone else. Forget the archaic NetMeeting etc. Sharing ideas in real time would improve productivity drastically. Forget having to travel around the world, or having projects being put on hold until someone travels to resolve an issue. Imagine being able to provide needed information and details hundreds of miles away. Discussing engineering changes, instead of taking weeks of work to determine what it would require and what the changes would affect - as well as the time to have that information passed around, it could take moments. Imagine physically using your hands to grab a component and moving it over and seeing in an instance how it would change the layout of everything - and sharing that view with all parties at the same time. No longer requiring emails to pass back and forth etc. Everyone sees the same thing, at the same time.

Technology has such phenomenal potential, if it would only be taken advantage of. There are companies that live on the cutting edge - a local company Smart Technologies development an innovative Smart Board that was a drastic change on how meeting can be conducted. Microsoft has a DigiDesk that comes close to what I envision - not that I can find very much information on it. And really, I'd be nervous about this type of product coming from Microsoft. But wow does it look cool.

More later...