Command Line for the Internet Age [24 May 2002|02:18pm] Google is evolving into the command line for the information age, and I think it is great. I just stumbled across its ability to give a phone directory listing for people when you include a city along with their name in the search box. Once it works properly for businesses, this will soothe a long-time frustration with web phone directories. It always seemed to take too much clicking and typing to get a useful answer, but I never looked up numbers often enough to justify having any dedicated UI exposed to facilitate finding them. Now, I don't need to, because the functionality is hidden on the google toolbar. The great power of the command line is that it can provide access to a nearly infinite amount of functionality and information in a small amount of space. The classical limitation of a command line is that the means to accessing that information is opaque. The user must know before and the proper commands. This limitation is addressed by the Google example in two ways. First, Google uses what can loosely be termed "natural language processing" to guess at what answers the user is looking for. Then, it uses the space afforded in a web page, and the navigational ease of a point and click interface, to offer those answers to the user. post comment

TiVo makes customers an offer they can't refuse [24 May 2002|04:13pm] On Wednesday night, the BBC transmitted Dossa and Joe, a drama with an unexpected twist. Owners of TiVo personal video recorders found that their boxes recorded the show whether they programmed it in or not -- and now it's there, the recording can't be erased for about a week. Dubbed a "must see" by the BBC, the corporation arranged with TiVo to send the recording command to all registered boxes. They pick up programme information by modem over the Internet, and the command was embedded in the schedules. While I can sympathize with the anger and frustration this must have inspired in a lot of Tivo Owners, this sort of arrangment seems like it could be a good thing if Tivo uses it to keep broadcasters happy so they can keep offering their product without taking out features. Especially since the recording capacities on these things are getting high enough that an extra show shouldn't make that much difference. The only downside I see is if the mandatory recording keeps Tivo users from using their unit in the manner they see fit, a distinct possibility, since most (all?) only have one tuner. post comment

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