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No, the product was a computer, the Canon Cat[0]. The leap keys were one of its unique features. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat https://en.wikiped

No, the product was a computer, the Canon Cat[0]. The leap keys were one of its unique features. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat

andai 4y ago
>To avoid a mode, the Canon Cat was designed without a power switch. The reason was that products react to gestures differently, depending on whether they are on or off, and a power switch therefore introduces a mode. To save energy, the Cat went into a low-powered sleep state if it was not used for five minutes. To make sure that sleep was not a mode, any user action or incoming message turned on the Cat without perceptible delay; furthermore, the user action that turned it on was not lost but took effect just as if the machine had not been in the sleep state. >In many systems, computers come out of sleep mode at the touch of a key, but the keystroke that turns them on—and any keystrokes made subsequently but before the system is fully awake—are lost. Not losing any keystrokes turned out to be an elegant feature. For example, if you had a sudden inspiration or had to take a note during a telephone call, you could just start typing without worrying about the state of the Cat or even looking at the display. It is a characteristic of modelessness that, once you become habituated, you do not have to think or plan before you act; your attention stays on the content of your work. The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin
- andai 4y ago
  I believe the Cat also had (invented?) autosave. From the same book: >I am not paranoid, just realistic. Yet these elaborate procedures [constant saving and backing up] should be unnecessary. The system should treat all user input as sacred and —to paraphrase Asimov's first law of robotics, "A robot shall not harm a human, or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm" (Asimov 1977, p. 44). The first law of interface design should be: A computer shall not harm your work or, through inaction, allow your work to come to harm.
- retrocryptid 4y ago
  The Cat absolutely has a power switch. "Low Power Mode" isn't as low as you might think. The screen is still active and instead of completely blanking randomly moves the text "Canon Cat" around. That being said... I've never known it to randomly access the disk when the screen is blanked. And I try not to stress the power supply by turning it on and off a lot. I probably only use the thing a couple hours every other / every third day. Surprisingly, I've only had to replace the power supply once.

No, the product was a computer, the Canon Cat[0]. The leap keys were one of its unique features. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Cat

andai 4y ago

>To avoid a mode, the Canon Cat was designed without a power switch. The reason was that products react to gestures differently, depending on whether they are on or off, and a power switch therefore introduces a mode. To save energy, the Cat went into a low-powered sleep state if it was not used for five minutes. To make sure that sleep was not a mode, any user action or incoming message turned on the Cat without perceptible delay; furthermore, the user action that turned it on was not lost but took effect just as if the machine had not been in the sleep state. >In many systems, computers come out of sleep mode at the touch of a key, but the keystroke that turns them on—and any keystrokes made subsequently but before the system is fully awake—are lost. Not losing any keystrokes turned out to be an elegant feature. For example, if you had a sudden inspiration or had to take a note during a telephone call, you could just start typing without worrying about the state of the Cat or even looking at the display. It is a characteristic of modelessness that, once you become habituated, you do not have to think or plan before you act; your attention stays on the content of your work. The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin

andai 4y ago
I believe the Cat also had (invented?) autosave. From the same book: >I am not paranoid, just realistic. Yet these elaborate procedures [constant saving and backing up] should be unnecessary. The system should treat all user input as sacred and —to paraphrase Asimov's first law of robotics, "A robot shall not harm a human, or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm" (Asimov 1977, p. 44). The first law of interface design should be: A computer shall not harm your work or, through inaction, allow your work to come to harm.
retrocryptid 4y ago
The Cat absolutely has a power switch. "Low Power Mode" isn't as low as you might think. The screen is still active and instead of completely blanking randomly moves the text "Canon Cat" around. That being said... I've never known it to randomly access the disk when the screen is blanked. And I try not to stress the power supply by turning it on and off a lot. I probably only use the thing a couple hours every other / every third day. Surprisingly, I've only had to replace the power supply once.