There ought to be a word for it
You know, that moment when you reach out and grasp your mobile ‘phone and draw it towards you on the table…
… and wonder why the mouse pointer isn’t moving.
Turns out there are some projects to let your mobile function as a remote input device but those are a bit like using the arrow keys. Anyone (Chris?) going to tell me about a project to detect small movements in your mobile and move the pointer?
But more than that, I want the word; in the spirit of The Meaning of Liff. What word can I use to say I’ve done it again, with the mobile and the mouse?
Jame Says:
American’s would call it a brain fart.
May 22nd, 2006 at 3:26 pmRaj Says:
I used to do that, but now I use a trackball - which does not feel like a mouse when I touch it, also I’ve been using a “compact” keyboard, and as I’m right handed, the trackball goes to the right, and the phone to the left !
As to a word to describe it, the nearest I can think of would be “a blonde moment”, not to be disparaging to blondes … oh well I’ll stop there before finding myself in an even deeper hole !
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:36 pmDrew Says:
Yes, i think this phenomenon is discussed in “the design of everyday things” by donald norman.
May 24th, 2006 at 7:53 pmI’d look it up for you, but my life is in boxes once again, and I think that Mithi has my copy of the book.
Smiles
Drew
mungbean Says:
Well, …
1. Nokia have been experimening with accelerometers in phones (to recognise gestures), and
2. Bluetooth phones supporting HID profile ALREADY work with OSX (at least)… I can pair my SonyEricsson ancient-thing-with-broken-joystick with a Mac and use the joystick to move the cursor around. (or at least I can when it’s not being broken).
So… it’s just a system integration exercise.
And now back to your non-geek scheduled comments.
As for the initial problem, it’s the same one as rinsing your paintbrush in your coffee cup… always makes me laugh at myself for some reason. It could be a “Type 1″ error, or maybe that’s a PostScript thing.
I need to get out more. (Thanks for lunch today BTW!!!!)
June 2nd, 2006 at 5:56 pm