Editors Comment: Jake's
original article, published on August 26th, has been replaced with this updated
version
Welcome to the first part of
my five part series on the future of handheld computing. I have written this
series based upon the kind of handheld computing software and hardware I as a
designer and end user envision and would like to see. To a large extent this
series is based on a presentation I gave Jeff Hawkins the founder of Palm
Computing, Handspring and the inventor of the original Palm Pilot.
The following is an outline
of what I will be covering in this series:
Part 1: Bullet Train. The origins of BulletTrain and BulletTrain for
the Treo 600.
Part 2: Phantom V Design Reference. See the futuristic handheld
computer I designed which I consider to be close to the perfect form factor.
The Phantom V is approximately two thirds the size of a Treo 600 yet its
screen is physically twice the size of the Treo 600s screen.
Part 3:
Bullet Train Desktop Dashboard. I believe that there needs to be a new
PIM (Personal Information Manager) desktop application to replace Palm Desktop
and Microsoft Outlook. I designed a highly customizable new user interface
that allows you to extend your desktop to the Phantom V and also allows you to
run multiple handheld applications on your desktop.
Part 4:
Bullet Train Auto Dashboard. See how I envision cars working with PDAs in
the future.
Part 5:
Bullet Train Express Schedule. A replacement for the native Handspring
Datebook+ program.
I was able to get a very
early preview of the Treo 600 and as a result I wrote an article that was
published on TreoCentral named Treo 600: Love at first sight:
http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/240-1.htm
As many of you know, I am
extremely passionate about design. I have been designing for two decades and I
take design very seriously. I am also an avid Treo 270 user. After I wrote my
article I contacted Jeff Hawkins and shared with him that I had many ideas on
how to take the Treo to next level and beyond. I had almost two weeks prior to
my meeting to prepare. As you will see I not only offered my constructive
criticism, but I offered detailed solutions from my outside the fishbowl
perspective.
I invested a great deal of
time prior to my meeting coming up with ideas on how to significantly improve
the entire Treo-Palm Desktop experience. I previously developed my BulletTrain
Keyboard UI enhancement which you can view below, but because I was so excited
and passionate, I kept working on my presentation and ended up designing a
handheld device I dubbed the Phantom V.
If you have any questions or comments about my
work product I would be happy to respond in the thread that follows this
article. I would like to see my BulletTrain Keyboard concept made into an
application, but I am a full time designer and I do not have the time to produce
BulletTrain myself. Interested third party developers can contact me directly
for further discussion. To learn more about my design background and philosophy
please go to: www.JakeEhrlich.com
I hope you enjoy reviewing my
presentation as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Best regards,
Jake Ehrlich, Designer.
San Francisco, California
U.S.A.
Next Page: Part 1: The Origins of BulletTrain and BulletTrain for the Treo 600 >>
