

Cookie-sized computers - edgefield
http://siftables.com/

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jdoliner
I personally went nuts when I saw this on the front page. For a very specific
reason. About a year ago I purchased a sweatshirt made by a cool little
fashion company called Distilled. It had a really neat design on it that was
reminiscent of electrical circuits. It also came with a little booklet
explaining the origin of the design. The booklet revealed it was created not
by a distilled designer but a collaborator ("partner in crime" as they called
him) by the name of Jeevan Kalanithi and the design was derived from his
"connectibles" project. Pretty cool check it out:
<http://web.media.mit.edu/~jeevan/pages/distilled.html>

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electromagnetic
These would be amazing if they shipped with a WREL (Wireless Resonant Energy
Link) device to charge them, however I believe a simple multi-mini-usb 2.0
dock would suffice, however wouldn't be as useful.

I believe this would be the key problem with this technology for classrooms
and such. Small children aren't going to remember to plug these back in, and
I'm unsure if teenagers would even remember to plug these back in, so I would
love to see a wireless charger for these. I mean even if it's simply one of
the touch-charging pads and not the longer distance WREL.

Also things like battery life would be nice to know. I mean do these things
last as long as an iPod's play time, or do they last like 15 minutes?

One thing I'd love for these is if they were capable of parallel processing.
It appears they just pass information off to each other, and then the one
device does its own task. I'd like it if you could stick 3 together and run a
program that 1 alone can't. I mean with WREL power these could compete with
PCs, with the right software, because the more power you need you simply stick
more blocks together.

I mean you want portability, then stick a couple together and you've got a
PDA. Need a bigger display, well stick another four together or have an
external display you can click multiple siftables into to get a full screen.
Need more power? Stick an extra row under the four and still use the existing
screen. Going on a road trip with some friends, but still need a laptop? Well
if everyone has a couple of siftables each, then stick 16/32 together with an
external display and boot up ubuntu or XP! I hope the technology goes this
way, but I have my doubts.

Edit: The laptop example would be perfect, each persons siftable carries their
own data. Yet when you click a bunch together you can all carry different
accounts on a laptop and do your own thing, and when you're done you take your
siftables back with your modified data.

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delano
The first thing that struck me about this video was how awesome this
technology is. The second thing that struck me was how most of the
presentation fell flat.

The technology is totally amazing and it's going to change the way we live and
learn (this isn't a prediction about Siftables specifically, but this type of
technology in general). Even still, it's possible to give a presentation about
it that doesn't blow people away. It's a good reminder to not let a modest
reception affect how you feel about your own work.

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axod
This is cool, but should there really be patents filed for this? Seems a
pretty obvious setup.

"Cube World" <http://www.firebox.com/product/1201/Cube-World> is a pretty
similar, if more primitive version.

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nazgulnarsil
how is this more intuitive than text printed on a screen? computers are a
natural evolution of the book format of presenting information. I doubt you
can get better until you get direct interfaces.

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Raphael
Obviously, these are not aimed for optimized display of large bodies of text.
Along the same reasoning, the book/monitor format is not optimized for non-
literate applications.

The demos are quite interesting. It's as if Wii controllers have become self-
aware. Obviously, potential is lost when opting for physical items as opposed
to holograms, but until simulating weight and feel is viable, these miniature
devices do have a place in a myriad of activities.

~~~
delano
Tools like this aren't a stopgap. They're real, they create new possibilities,
and they're our future.

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tmadsen
Nice!

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TweedHeads
Pure gold. Possibilities are endless.

