Comments on: I Want to Give My Computer the Finger http://gigaom.com/2009/07/10/i-want-to-give-my-computer-the-finger/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:04:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: macdad http://gigaom.com/2009/07/10/i-want-to-give-my-computer-the-finger/#comment-216911 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:56:04 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=58209#comment-216911 Several movies and TV programs recently – since Minority Report (in 2002) – have used displays similar to the Milan table from 2006.

Giving the finger to my computer works no better than giving the finger to my Indian ringneck bird when he squawks sharply enough to rupture my eardrums. However, I believe a computer that utilizes gesturing might have some meaning associated with that particular gesture sometime in the future.

]]> By: Joe Franscella http://gigaom.com/2009/07/10/i-want-to-give-my-computer-the-finger/#comment-216910 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:56:53 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=58209#comment-216910 Why am I reminded of Tom Cruise in Minority Report?

http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/uploads/minority-report-ui.jpg

]]> By: Mike Cerm http://gigaom.com/2009/07/10/i-want-to-give-my-computer-the-finger/#comment-216909 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:26:16 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=58209#comment-216909 No one actually does, but this is all stuff that you can do using voice-commands in Vista (and Windows 7, I presume). It’s actually pretty powerful and accurate, requires little training… but no one actually uses it. Web-browsing by voice is not nearly as quick and easy as by mouse and keyboard, but if you’re in a situation where you can’t use either, voice-control is pretty functional.

I think voice-command is preferable to gestures, both now and going forward. Sure, you can’t have everyone in a cube-farm voicing commands all the time, but it could be great for the home. Saying “Close that” is a lot easier than flinging your arm to the side. Saying “Open Firefox” and “go to Gmail.com” is a lot easier than gesturing a cursor to a fixed location on a screen, then trying to type by waving your arms around.

This isn’t the future, either. This is all stuff that you can do today.

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