Digital camera, PDF & IPAD through a viewfinder

I'm not an Ipad user at present. And I don't know whether or not I will purchase it in future. One of the reasons I hesitate to buy Ipad is related with the absence of its inserted camera. Why was the camera insertion shelved? Some blogs predict future insertion that is now being planned for next generation IPAD. But my guess on the point is that they noticed the new possible segment of product having an ability to stimulate new demands in the digital camera related fields. Under this A4-nized era, large parts of photographs are taken to be copied & pasted into A4-size PDF documents, blogs and journals. So far, action of taking photos have been isolated with the editorial procedure. But with tablet-sized & Ipad-like camera, news reporters can press the shatter button while checking the accordance of the inserted photo with the one-page layout impression.

(The photographs in the Figure below are cut & pasted from the advertisement in Apple and Nikon homepage.)

On a piano performance

One of the reasons why I am attracted by piano performance is that there exist a moment when the left hand part’s notes and right hand part’s notes are weaving and entangled. In my theory, the relation between lower and upper part can be stated by a parameter, which can be expressed as ‘mutual distance’ or ‘independency’. It’s different from the completeness of chordal resonance. Sadly, I don't have an ability to describe what kind of unit this parameter is expressed by, but it’s certain that the state of two melodies’ mutual distance sometimes send a signal to our ears dramatically.

Though each part is played independently, the ‘mutual distance’ between them can be varied from ‘distant’ to ‘entangled’. A chorus of a piece, I think, had better be played in an entangled state. However, in many cases and at least for me, two parts seem to be played mutually distant, from a beginning to an end.

Luckily, we can enjoy an entangled state a little in this performance found on Youtube, on which two parts are weaving as shown in figure above.

http://www.youtube.com/user/moropantus?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/11/AkOWqhsvH-Q

A present for Si’s 100th birthday

Making chronological table sometimes help us find a different viewpoint of things already known. This time, I picked up Si and challenged to make its chronological table. I don’t know whether 100^th anniversary was celebrated or not in 1928 for Berzelius’ Si isolation. Perhaps not celebrated so much. I guess that the importance of Si was not recognized in those days except for certain people.

However, if we look back based on the figure above, it is clear that the discovery of Schrodinger equation, the foundation of quantum mechanics and band theory that followed, which opened the door to the semiconductor age, was a great present for Si’s 100^th birthday. Without quantum mechanics, Si would have continued to be the Si under 100 years old, which seemed to have no possibility of changing the whole lifestyle of us.

On NW-A845 (3) Operability

To be honest, I feel that the operability of old type Ipod is better than that of NW-A845. Pinpointing my thumb on the right position of the concentric circle on NW-A845 usually doesn't go smoothly. In particular, when operating in one hand, recognizing which part of the concentric circle my thumb is touching isn't so easy without seeing it, while Ipod’s slightly convexed circular dial is easy to identify intuitively only from tangible information.

In addition, the silver concentric circular dial allocation is too low-positioned to operate with thumb in a situation of gripping whole body. Little finger operation would be required if we anticipated Ipod-like operation.

As for Ipod, an idea of the combination of that slightly convexed, relatively big, nearly center positioned and circular dial opened the door to today’s Ipad fever.

However, in today’s situation, I think Sony doesn’t have to introduce the same method as old type Ipod into NW-A845. The next step required for NW-A845 is, in my opinion, ‘a slot-machine-like' menu operation on touch panel working in present screen size. Above figure shows an image of the screen.

As a matter of fact, in handycam series, Sony has been presenting drum-like configuration menu as shown in figure below.

Searching for unique PC related products. (2) Chair

In the realm of scientific measurement, handling multiple equipments is required other than PC operation. An operator has to change the target instrument from time to time. In such situation, assigning procedures for an optimal placement of various machines might be unavoidable by fixing instruments with multilevel rack. However, once some equipment is placed at high position in the rack, its operation may be tough for hands, which have to be kept raising. Therefore, something good has been needed.

http://www.komura.co.jp/products/odekake/index.html

By diverting above product which was originally developed for disabled persons, at least 6 instruments (above left, above center, above right, below left, below center, below right) might be able to be run by one operator.

The up-and-down stroke is 580mm and rotation angle is –90 to +90 deg. As its original purpose is for nursing-care, the up-and-down speed mightn't be enough for industrial use.

Searching for unique PC related products. (1) Outdoor-related goods

Outdoor season has already begun and a rainy season is getting near. During the rainy season, the procedure of data handling in the outdoor field can’t do away with the Note-PC operation inside an automobile. For such kind of purpose, I checked the internet and found three unique products that would help PC users to operate the Note PC in a car.

1) EEA-HBA-66: In-car attachment table for Note PC.

http://www.esupply.co.jp/syohin.asp?sku=eea-hba-66 EEA-HBA-66EEA-HBA-66

2) EEA-LD05: Foldaway table made of aluminum.

http://www.esupply.co.jp/tokusetu/EEA-LD05.asp?sku=EEA-LD05&bun_id1=0

3) EEA-LD09: Foldaway table with Note-PC cooler.

http://www.esupply.co.jp/tokusetu/EEA-LD09.asp?sku=EEA-LD09&bun_id1=1084

On the new model of Sony vaio type P.

Over the last year, I would frequently get access to the web page of previous model of Vaio type P (VGN-P70/80) and touch it in a PC shop many times. Certainly, the previous model was very attractive. Though I did not buy it, I frequently checked the trend of cut in price.

The other day, a new model of Vaio type P (VPCP119KJ) was announced. When I see it’s design first, I was reminded of the design of NEC MC/R320 and MC/R330. The designs of MC/R320 and 330 had given the appearance of ’cheaply-made’ plastic lunch-box, which had been far from high-quality image. Nevertheless, they are strangely attractive even today. Why? Perhaps, plastic lunch-box image is a typical symbol of day-to-dayness and casualness.

In spite of the fate that a commoditized product has to face the day-to-dayness and casualness, most of PC designs haven’t been able to exclude the high-quality image completely. Even Ipad, which strongly features the casualness still contains certain high-quality image. In the context of Japanese culture, Ipad’s design mightn’t able to give an impression of 100%-natural casualness, I guess. Therefore, in this Ipad-fever situation, Sony’s decision on adopting this design seems to get a point to some extent.

Of course, another interpretation on this design may be possiple, which means that Sony implies the fate of MC/R330 in the new model of Vaio type P.

Though I don’t own neither Blueray HDD recorder nor Vaio type P, I think that one-point improvement on moving image file’s transfer will make these products more attractive. The cycle paths of moving image file’s transfer shown in Fig above are immediately required to be completely two-way possible, smoother and more convenient. The path from Blueray HDD recorder to Net-walkman already seems to be perfect.