At the risk of being serious for a moment, back in the previous century the department at HP labs which I worked for was involved in a study about what was then called "computer appliances". What brought it on was the 50th anniversary** edition of the HP calculator had so many features that people were finding it hard to use. At the same time a company called Franklin came out with a hand-held dictionary and a hand-held translator (French-English was the first one I think).
The question was whether people would prefer to have an all-in-one device or a handful of single-use devices. The result of the study was people wanted both. :-)
**50th anniversary of HP, the calculator had only been out for about half that time
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Date: 2012-10-15 11:32 pm (UTC)At the risk of being serious for a moment, back in the previous century the department at HP labs which I worked for was involved in a study about what was then called "computer appliances". What brought it on was the 50th anniversary** edition of the HP calculator had so many features that people were finding it hard to use. At the same time a company called Franklin came out with a hand-held dictionary and a hand-held translator (French-English was the first one I think).
The question was whether people would prefer to have an all-in-one device or a handful of single-use devices. The result of the study was people wanted both. :-)
**50th anniversary of HP, the calculator had only been out for about half that time