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SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc Bao Smith, B.Sc Tim Blythman, B.E., B.Sc Technical Contributor Duraid Madina, B.Sc, M.Sc, PhD Art Director & Production Manager Ross Tester Reader Services Ann Morris Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Dave Thompson David Maddison B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Ian Batty Cartoonist Brendan Akhurst Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (12 issues): $105.00 per year, post paid, in Australia. For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au Editorial office: Unit 1 (up ramp), 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 * Recommended & maximum price only. Printing and Distribution: Editorial Viewpoint Hand-held devices discourage creativity There’s no denying that smartphones and tablets are very handy devices. They give you the ability to look up information just about any time and anywhere. For example, there are times when I need to know the pinout of a device in front of me. The easiest and quickest way is often to do a web search on its part code and then read the data sheet on my phone’s screen. But I don’t understand people who think that they can ‘get rid of’ their computers because they have a smartphone and/or a tablet. Sure, these devices are computers, and they can do many things that a desktop computer can. But they can’t do it all, nor can they do many of those things particularly well. To a large extent, replacing your proper computer with a mobile device relegates you to a being a ‘consumer’ of information, rather than a creator or producer of it. Even something as simple as writing a moderately-sized e-mail becomes a difficult task on a smartphone or tablet. Typing hundreds of words becomes a chore, and the risk of mistakes becomes much higher (auto-correct doesn’t allways get it write!). An external keyboard makes this easier, but the small portable ones are not very nice to use, and it’s hard to type quickly on them. And while there are millions of “Apps” available for Android and iOS, surprisingly few have the features you need to be creative (besides drawing and painting, which tablets have always been good for). You can pretty much forget about drawing up circuits or PCBs in a CAD program. All the ECAD software I’ve tried on Android devices has been a joke. Even if a proper ECAD program was ported to a mobile platform, and the device’s hardware could handle it, using it with a small(ish) touchscreen would be a nightmare. It would take hours to do something that would take minutes on a desktop or notebook computer. Without a proper mouse and keyboard, your productivity would be virtually nil. Another vital aspect that a lot of people forget about is ergonomics. You can’t really hold a mobile device in front of your face for very long, so you end up having to lay it down on a desk (or prop it up on a stand). But then you’re looking down for hours at a small screen, causing neck and eye strain, and you’ll get sore arms from prodding the screen. A properly set-up PC does not have this problem. With a good keyboard, mouse, screen and chair you can be productive all day without straining anything. (It’s arguably healthier to avoid sitting down all day, but unfortunatey, this is the reality of modern office work.) So I’m concerned for the younger generations who are growing up surrounded by mobile devices. They may have limited exposure to ‘proper’ computers. I suppose school will expose them to computers and productivity software, hopefully giving them opportunities to learn how to code, write prose, draw diagrams and so on. That should spur their creativity. I think it’s essential to be creative and ‘make’ stuff, whether that is art, science or engineering-based, or something else. Of course, you don’t need a computer to do that, but more and more these days, computers are involved in creative activities. I can even imagine sculptors taking advantage of 3D printers to create tricky shapes. So, keep your computer. Be productive. I don’t know about you, but I get bored with passive entertainment after a while, and I have to go off and do something productive. It’s just so much more engaging, and you get a much better sense of satisfaction from having done something useful. Nicholas Vinen 24-26 Lilian Fowler Pl, Marrickville 2204 4 Silicon Chip Australia’s electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au