READINGDelete Keys-Clipboard Technology For the last generation. Silicon valley and Tokyo have been working to design computers that are ever easier to use, there is 5 one thing however, that has prevented the machines from becoming their user-friendliest: you still have to input data with a keyboard, and that can require you10 to do a lot of typing and to memorize a lot of elaborate commands. Enter the clipboard computer a Technology that has been in15 development for the last 20 years but took hold in the mass market only this year. Clipboard PCs- which as their name suggests, are not much bigger than an actual20 clipboard-replace the keyboard with a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen and an electronic stylus. Users input data by printing Individual letters directly on the 25 screen. There are two technologies at work in a clipboard PC: one allows raw data to get into the computer 30 the other to figure out what that data means. The first technology relies principally on hardware and varies depending on the particular computer. In one system, marketed 35 under the name GRIPad, the computer’s LCD screen is covered by a sheet of glass with transparent conductive coating. Voltage is sent across the glass in horizontal and 40 vertical lines forming a fine grid: at any point on the grid, the voltage is slightly different. When the stylus- which is essentially a voltmeter- touches 45 the screen, it informs the computer of the voltage at that point. The computer uses this information to determine where the stylus is and causes a liquid 50 crystal pixel to appear at those coordinates. The position of the stylus is monitored several hundred times a second, so as the stylus moves across the glass, 55 whole strings of pixels are activated. What we do is sort of connect the dots, says Jeff Hawkins, the creator of GRIPad. Users can 60 then write whatever they want on the screen with a kind of electronic ink. Making that writing comprehensible to the computer, 65 however requires the help of some powerful software. When the stylus is being used, the computer is programmed to look for moments when the tip does 70 not touch the screen for a third of a second or more. Every time this happens- and it happens a lot when somebody is printing- the software assumes that one 75 letter or number has been written. The pixel position of
this fresh character are then passed on the computer’s pattern recognition software, which 80 instantly identifies the letter or number written. The software does this by first Cleaning up the character- smoothing out crooked lines and85 removing errant dots. The remaining lines and curves are then compared with a series of templates in the computer’s memory that represent hundreds of thousand of 90 different versions of every letter in the English alphabet an all ten numerals. When the computer finds the closest match, it encodes the character in memory and displays it 95 on the screen as if it had been typed. The entire process takes just a fraction of a second. To delete a word, you simply draw a line through it. To move to the next 100 page, you flick the stylus at the bottom of the screen as if you’re flicking the page of a book. There are a handful of clipboard computers now on the market, 105 including GRIDPad, which is sold in the US; Penvision, manufactures by NCR and sold around the world; and Sony’s Palmtop and Canon’s Al Note, both sold only in Japan. 110 IBM and Apple are also pouring millions of dollars into the technology. In addition to this hardware, a variety of software is also 115 making its way to the market. Depending on the power of the computer and the sophistication of the software, clipboard systems can be programmed to 120 understand the particular quirks of a particular user’s printing; this is an specially useful feature in Japan, where elaborate kanji characters make 125 up the most of the written language. Improvements in software may soon allow machines sold in the US to understand not only printing but continuous script as 130 well. Given such flexibility, the designers of clipboard computers are predicting big things- and a big market- for their products. 135 There’s no doubt about it, says an optimistic Hawkins. “You’re going to own one of these things in the non-too-distant future”.
Exercise 1Match these words with their definitionA clipboard 1 surface on which pictures or data are shownB stylus 2 electrical forceC screen 3 pattern used as a guide for creating letters or charactersD grid 4 individual dot on a computer screenE voltage 5 network of lines crossing at right anglesF pixel 6 pointed implement for drawing or writingG template 7 portable board with a clip at the top for holding papers.
Exercise 2
Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) in relation to the information in the text. If you think a statement is false change it to make it true.The American and the Japanese are working together to produce user-friendlier computers.The clipboard computer was first sold twenty years ago.On a clipboard, an electronic pen replaces the traditional keyboard.In the GRIDPad system, when the pen touches the screen, it informs the computer and a liquid crystal pixel appears at that point.The software decides that one character or number is complete if the tip of the stylus is not in contact with the screen for more than half a second. The whole process of recognizing letters or numbers and printing them on the screen takes very little time.There are many clipboard computers sold today which are all available everywhere in the world.Clipboard systems can be made to understand any kind of writing.
Exercise 3Use the information in the text to complete the dialogue in your own words.
How big is a clipboard PC?_______________________________________________________________
Does it have a keyboard?_______________________________________________________________
How does the stylus work?_______________________________________________________________
How does the computer know when one letter or number is complete?_______________________________________________________________And how does the computer recognize different letters?_______________________________________________________________
Can you delete a word after you have written it?_______________________________________________________________
Are these system capable of recognizing joined writing?_______________________________________________________________
Mérida. Venezuela.