SpiroExDeus

05 October 2009

I was surprised that the Shoes won out over the Jacket when Hemingway actually mentioned that wearable GPS would be an advantage. They could have easily gone smaller with the tech. I'm into small form factor - there's a computer called the GumStix - wouldn't have been able to run Windows on it as that's rather bloated but it can run variants of Liinux (before anyone knocks that you can guarantee that if you have a digital box, Playstation etc. etc. that will be running on something *nix based). They would have used what they did because it's easier to install and configure windows on that kind of device but a slimline linux/mobile phone style OS (Android would be another candidate) would have enabled them to produce something more lightweight. some kind of e-paper, e-ink design or electro-reactive fabric would have been better than the projector for personal display use (although a smaller, more powerful pico-projector on the shoulder could open up more intriguing possibilities for display to others). The one bit of the jacket that works perfectly well already is the RFID tech - although housing it in velcro compartments could allow for jacket control system 'upgrades'. The shoes were fun but I can see potential problems. sit down, absent mindedly put your feet together while on the tube and suddenly everyone else is treated to a volume increase. There's also the chance of accidentally skipping track which I have enough problems with normally without adding to it. Also music players don't have many practical uses but with the right software the jacket could even be used for some business purposes (stick a camera in the cuff, install mobile phone tech and you could teleconference via your jacket) and overall has much more potential. Plus heels were never my thing....