Apple Tablet Interface to Come With 'Steep Learning Curve'?

[iOrlando]

it looks like the main argument here and this thread correctly picks up on it is:

would you consider that a mouse, or any other new innovation, had a steep learning curve when you first used it?


it is possible that this "person" meant that it is a new way of doing things, but I dont think it is right to label that as a steep learning curve. A steep learning curve means if you do not put effort into learning the process, you will suck at it and be completely lost. Using a mouse is a new process, yes, but you dont need to sit down with it for 20 minutes to figure it out. You need maybe 15 seconds to figure it out. Using a multi-touch track pad is a new process, yes, but it took maybe a minute to go ohh ahhh I see how it works, not 2 weeks.

i still say this whole "insider" info is fake and just for page views for that site.

 

[mathewr]

Great post. This is fascinating. I could never find the old fingerworks pages. This is a while new language. Very 2D Minority Report'ish (Or CNN Election Watch'ish). This would defintely require a learning curve, but would ultimately become intuitive. To me, the purpose of all the slow build up to the tablet and multi touch was to get people comfortable with hand gestures. First the track pad, then the multi touch track pad, then the iphone and now the tablet. I definitely prefer the two finger scroll on my macbook to the point and hold of the mouse pad button and drag of the scroll bar on my powerbook.

i loved the magic map. it will be awesome to have one of my own

 

[vocab]

Vocabulary Lesson

"Steep Learning Curve", contrary to popular belief means "easy to learn". It describes the curve of ignorance alleviated coming down very quickly/steeply (i.e. easy to learn).

A tablet with a steep learning curve would be very easy to learn. One wonders if the author meant "shallow learning curve" (long, slow learning process).

Keep on learning!

 

[acurafan]

i thought mac products were supposed to 'just work'....oh wait!

 

[MasterDev]

Yeah, well I just talked to another Apple employee that says there is going to be a video game console released within the next quarter!

 

[rdowns]

Yeah, well I just talked to another Apple employee that says there is going to be a video game console released within the next quarter!

It will be called the iPod slate.

 

[lifeinhd]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11a Safari/525.20)

it looks like the main argument here and this thread correctly picks up on it is:

would you consider that a mouse, or any other new innovation, had a steep learning curve when you first used it?


it is possible that this "person" meant that it is a new way of doing things, but I dont think it is right to label that as a steep learning curve. A steep learning curve means if you do not put effort into learning the process, you will suck at it and be completely lost. Using a mouse is a new process, yes, but you dont need to sit down with it for 20 minutes to figure it out. You need maybe 15 seconds to figure it out. Using a multi-touch track pad is a new process, yes, but it took maybe a minute to go ohh ahhh I see how it works, not 2 weeks.

i still say this whole "insider" info is fake and just for page views for that site.

Not necessarily true. I tried teaching my grandfather how to use a mouse, and after an hour he still hadn't gotten the hang of it. And he's not an idiot either. My mother can never remember how to send an email attachment, despite me walking her through it 20+ times.

 

[MasterDev]

It will be called the iPod slate.

Maybe there will be a game called, "Tony Hawks Pro iSlater"

 

[gibbz]

2nd lesson

"Steep Learning Curve", contrary to popular belief means "easy to learn". It describes the curve of ignorance alleviated coming down very quickly/steeply (i.e. easy to learn).

A tablet with a steep learning curve would be very easy to learn. One wonders if the author meant "shallow learning curve" (long, slow learning process).

Keep on learning!

It can mean either.

The familiar expression "steep learning curve" may refer alternately to rapid learning that is easy, or especially hard, or to steady progress that is increasingly difficult. Which is referred to needs to be clarified by context. The difference is specifically whether one is referring to the rate of learning or the rate of investment needed to learn. Typically for a steady rate of learning, the rate of effort or time invested first decreases and then increases without bound in approaching the limits of learning or perfection for a given subject and method. Originally it referred to quick progress in learning during the initial stages followed by gradually lesser improvements with further practice.[5] The progress may be measured in different ways, e.g. memory accuracy vs. the number of trials.[6] Over time, a different use of the metaphor has become common, in which a "steep" learning curve means that something requires a great deal of effort to learn, on the association of the word "steep" with a slope which is difficult to climb. This has led to confusion and disagreements even among "learned" people.[7]

Frequently a "learning curve" is used to describe the effort required to acquire a new skill (e.g., expertise with a new tool) over a specific period of time. If it's a complex task requiring you to reorient your way of thinking as with learning new software, what makes it a "steep learning curve" in the mental strain of comprehending a new language rather than the time or physical effort involved. The effort to achieve significant progress and sufficient skill to start using a tool may be fairly predictable, but achieving real mastery requiring much more time, effort and making original discoveries about its use. Often learning brings one to an "impasse", only resolved by a seemingly radical intuitive change in direction, an "ah-ha moment" or "breakthrough" representing "S" curve learning of a different kind and on a different scale.

 

[harley3k]

Using the iPhone touch keyboard was reported as being difficult to get used to when it first came out.

Now I can't imagine having to actually press down on physical keys on my phone. I type so much faster without it.

Using a Qwerty keyboard has a learning curve too...remember when you couldn't touch type?

 

[MacPhilosopher]

No way...

I just can't imagine Apple delivering a new product with a such a major handicap. A big learning curve will deter market adoption, and that is just not Apple's game.

 

[redcrow240]

Am I the only one that thinks this could be some sort of eye recognition? have your eyes be the mouse cursor and press a button on the back side of the slate to confirm a click. Add voice command use instead of a keyboard (but with virtual keyboard as an on/off option) and we're talking the next step here! If anything it'll greatly reduce smudges on the screen lol

 

[JMax1]

Maybe there will be a game called, "Tony Hawks Pro iSlater"

or maybe this A.C. iSlater?

 

[Clix Pix]

Am I the only one that thinks this could be some sort of eye recognition? have your eyes be the mouse cursor and press a button on the back side of the slate to confirm a click. Add voice command use instead of a keyboard (but with virtual keyboard as an on/off option) and we're talking the next step here! If anything it'll greatly reduce smudges on the screen lol

Now THAT's a thought! I do hope, though, that if they have voice recognition/voice command that there is still an option for keyboard input as well.....

Also, another possible name for this thing? How about "iScroll?"

 

[Peace]

I have found that in some instances a long time Windows user could find OSX to be a learning experience so a "steep" learning curve may be from the Windows point of view.

 

[tgaskin]

Education?

"he/she hoped we liked learning"
Maybe he/she was referring to academic materials on the tablet?

 

[swarmster]

"he/she hoped we liked learning"
Maybe he/she was referring to academic materials on the tablet?

Exactly. Glad I read all the replies before I added my own.

The "source" never (supposedly) said anything about a steep learning curve, just that they "hoped we liked learning".

Maybe the "meeting" was about how they'll have some massive number of textbooks available day one.

 

[125037]

Sounds like one of those "controlled leaks". "Wouldn't go in to detail but stated she hopes we like learning"... That's exactly what it sounds like.

It will be called the iPod slate.

I'm pretty doubtful. I don't think they want this known as an iPod, rather an entire new product "line".

 

[swarmster]

Exactly. Glad I read all the replies before I added my own.

The "source" never (supposedly) said anything about a steep learning curve, just that they "hoped we liked learning".

Maybe the "meeting" was about how they'll have some massive number of textbooks available day one.

I stand by my saying that, even if this is real, it doesn't sound like it has anything to do with a learning curve. But if you guys are looking for something to go nuts over, a lot lately has been pointing toward some of the thoughts in Apple's patent from a couple years ago:

https://www.macrumors.com/2008/02/21/advanced-multitouch-writing-without-a-stylus-and-more/

For example, "have to write or draw something? Just pretend you hold a stylus or pen in your hand and start writing/drawing." Using multitouch on your hand to figure out what you're pretend-writing seemed like a "surprising way to interact" with something to me. It might even have a bit of a learning curve.

Haven't heard much talk about it though.

 

[sporadicMotion]

*crosses fingers*

terminal only device

 

[DaveGee]

'Steep Learning curve' usually equals 'hard to use.' It means you need to learn how to use it and it will take time and mistakes to get it right. It doesnt mean its new and you will just get use to it after some use.

Steep Learning Curve to me say NON-INTUTIVE and something Apple isn't exactly a fan of.... I'm not buying it... The last device Apple rolled out that required a modicum of 'learning' was the Newton and we all know what the results were...

Looking at it another way, Microsoft could've EASILY rolled out a Newtonesq product that made the same demands on the user (aka training the device) and people would have lined up to buy it and the press would have sang its praises...

Apple... sorry they can't do it... Its EXPECTED no DEMANDED of them to build an elegant product that works the way you'd expect it to. Period, end of sentence.

 

[nsayer]

Already done

I thought Apple already debuted such an interface.

 

[Pigumon]

Space/Time Gateway.

Maybe there will be a game called, "Tony Hawks Pro iSlater"

or perhaps a quasi Jack Nicholson game called iChristianSlater?


Anyway, I think the slate will be a space/time gateway where you will touch an icon on the screen which will create that icon in 3d space, then you'll reach your hand in and manipulate the icon to do whatever it's designed to do.

This would justify the steep learning curve, though some will still say $1000 is too much for that.

I just hope it doesn't accidentally access Hell.

 

[zombitronic]

For example, "have to write or draw something? Just pretend you hold a stylus or pen in your hand and start writing/drawing." Using multitouch on your hand to figure out what you're pretend-writing seemed like a "surprising way to interact" with something to me. It might even have a bit of a learning curve.

I like that idea. Maybe, with your fingers in that position, you could double tap on the screen as if tapping with the tip of a pen or pencil to signal that you'd like to start "writing," which would then let the device interpret your input through this method.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Introducing iSlate Clean. Comes with a Objective C compiler. Think Different. You make the tablet do what you want.