xerox 19790825 Whither NoteTaker free download

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X-EROX PALO ALTO RESEARCH 'CENTER Systems Science Laboratory LSI Systems Area August 25, 1979 For Xerox Internal Use Only To: Bert Sutherland, Alan Kay, Lynn Conway, Chris Jeffers, Ted Strollo From: Doug Fairbairn Subject: Whither NoteTaker? stored: notetakerkick.memo NoteTakers work. I know. The rough draft of this memo was written on a NoteTaker. The machine sat on my dining room table - and there was still enough room for dinner, a few magazines, and all the other things that find their way to such a table. The point is that NoteTakers are small and portable and very powerful besides. However, the NoteTaker project is slipping towards disaster. We, and I include myself, have been weak in our commitment to the program and this weakness will delay the program into oblivion if we are not careful. Both the people who help develop the machine and its future users sense this lack of commitment. spa has felt this weakness more than anyone. They have been forced to make unexpected cutbacks in their manpower and to reassign their personnel to non-existent jobs. They have no true idea what our plans are and morale is very low. They sense our lack of commitment. The same is true of the manufacturing group who are now unsure when or whether they will have a program. Those who have expressed interest in NoteTakers and are willing to put up their money for them can sense the indecision. I can't tell them when to have their purchase orders in because I don't know when the build will start or how much they will cost. They aren't sure if NoteTaker is real. There have been innumerable visitors passing through who have expressed interest and asked "when can I get one"? Answer?? It's time to decide. It's time to make a plan and stick to it. Its time to make a plan and tell others what it is. It's time to put NoteTaker firs~. We need a commitment that everyone in SSL understands and supports. My recommendation is that the issue be discussed with all group leaders as well as spa as soon as possible. SSL must as a group make a commitment to this program and pledge that it will have priority when it comes to allocating budget. As a development program it cannot stand the uncertainties of some research programs. There are many outside suppliers and customers who must be scheduled and accounted for in our plans. With N oteTaker, there are a number of very interesting applications to investigate and opportunities to capture. Education, LSI test bed, field service, and remote communications are some of the applications which have been discussed. All have as a common goal the idea of teaching us and the corporation what portable computing is all about. On a parallel track, John Titsworth once asked ASD if they had ever considered doing a