OCR & Services - Where art thou?
reyn...@montana.portal.com
Ghanbari) writes:
> (Note: I was asked to post this note in response to this thread on behalf of
> the author. Please direct replies to him at the address below -Ray)
>
>
> To "Kevin C. Rarick - author of OCR Servant"
> From t...@casbah.acns.nwu.edu
>
> It perplexes me why Scan-X won't let someone simply specify a directory and
> a file type and then save successively, perhaps appending a sequential
> number to the filename?, to that directory. That could actually make a
> workable system. It would probably be a great feature for more than just
> text scans. BUT it's not there.
Boot Scan-X. Select the portion of the screen you want to scan by resizing the
scan box. Select "Batch Scan..." from the menu. Enter the number of scans in
the batch and give it a starting file name. Scan-X will automatically scan and
save the images in tiff files using a sequential numbering system.
> Sure, Scan-X does batch scanning, but only if you shell out more $$ for a
> batch feeder. I don't want to do that. More importantly, a batch feeder is
> useless for handling bound material which is 90% of what I work with.
Since you didn't buy a sheet feeder (which would have gotten you PaperLight for
free), Scan-X will cycle though the batch scanning process without stopping.
You will have to manually reload the scanner in the amount of time it takes to
reset for the new scan (12 seconds if you selection is 14'' long).
> Yes, you're right. VISUS is my main concern and the real thrust of my
> message was my outrage at VISUS for charging a premium for use of the
> Services menu (something that makes your dirt cheap $295 service app
> (something I would actually consider buying since PaperLight would handle
> the housekeeping) now cost _$695_ because I have to pay them $400 for the
> privilege of being able to connect to your application).
Visus did not have the services menu in either PaperSight or PaperLight until
the most recent version of PaperSight 1.2. They added it to PaperSight because
of pressure from PaperSight users who wanted to use OCR Servant. I suggest you
put pressure on them as a PaperLight user buy sending an email request to
paper...@visus.com. This is what I have done. While your at it, tell
Insignia that you want a services menu in SoftPC.
> This now brings the total cost of the software to near $1300. That's not
> competitive. If anyone should take umbrage with VISUS, it should be you and
> HSD for more than doubling the cost of your product.
Not competitive with what? $1,300 is a very small price to pay for PaperSight
and OCR Servant. There is nothing that approaches this combined functionality
at any price on any platform. PaperSight is the killer application on NeXT and
very few people even understand what it does. Visus makes matters worse by
labeling it as a "digital filing cabinet" which it is not.
> No, I don't confuse companies, although I am aware that each company
> recommends the products of the other. Right now, it appears VISUS is
> getting the better of you.
They are getting the best of both of us. Every NeXT application should have a
services menu. Period. I have also recommended to Visus that they make
PaperSight available as a service. I want to take anything on my screen and
say "drop on PaperSight."
> Yes, I do now how services function in the NeXT environment and I know that
> even the slightest functionality, eg. accessing Digital Webster, would have
> cost VISUS nothing to implement. They chose, however, to charge for this.
>
> I don't feel that's a good situation for end users. (Nor for you and your
> product.) Why you don't seem to realize that is beyond me.
We realize this. But, we need assistance from the NeXT community to put
pressure on other software developers who have not implemented services (there
are more than you think). We want all applications to have a services menu so
we can sell more OCR Servant.
> Personally, I don't appreciate your attitude and I don't think it speaks
> well of HSD in particular.
Well, at least we are here on the net and active in the NeXT community.
> Assume some intelligence in end-users and you might get somewhere in the
> industry. Until then, it is you who has quite a bit of "homework" to do.
We are doing our "homework" all the time. Your postings and postings from
others have had a positive influence on our products. After all, where do you
think we got the idea for batch mode ocr off the browser?
--
--
Jack Reynolds, VP Sales
U.S. Snail: HSD Microcomputer US Inc.
1350 Pear Ave., Suite C
Mountain View, CA 94043
(415)964-1400
(415)964-1538 Fax
wal...@capd.jhuapl.edu
reyn...@montana.portal.com writes:
[...a good response to the original poster, most of which I have
omitted...]
I agree with your position on Services; they are one of the gems in
the NeXTstep architecture. But the real reason I am posting is that
you write:
> PaperSight is the killer application on NeXT and
> very few people even understand what it does. Visus makes matters worse by
> labeling it as a "digital filing cabinet" which it is not.
This interests me (and hopefully others or I shouldn't have posted).
How would you describe PaperSight?
c.f.waltrip
Internet: <wal...@capsrv.jhuapl.edu>
Opinions expressed are my own.
reyn...@montana.portal.com
I offend any of my friends at NeXT or in the NeXT community.
PaperSight is not a "digital filing cabinet" and Improv is not "the NeXT
generation spreadsheet." These two metaphors along with other misleading
statements from NeXT have greatly reduced the sales of NeXT computers to white
collar professionals.
The problem is that PaperSight and Improv do things that that are very unique
and have no representation in the physical world. For example, I can explain
to anyone how Lotus 123 works. I can compare it to doing the same thing by hand
on a "spreadsheet." How can I explain to someone how and why I use a six
dimensional Improv model to do my product forecasting? There is no six
dimensional physical representation I can point them to and say, "This is what
it looks like."
PaperSight and Improv are very abstract in what they do. In both products, the
authors fail to clearly point out the benefits of their software. For example,
on page 6-19 of the Improv Handbook, the author creates a 3D model. This is as
far as they ever go! What about a 4D model? What new insights will this give
me? What if I hook an element of a 4D model to a related element in another 6D
model? What benefits will this give me? The advertising, the Steve Jobs
demos, the manuals, the documentation, the import spreadsheet commands, all
mislead me by continuing to point me towards metaphors that make reference to
the physical world and fail to communicate the power of the product.
I talk to NeXT users all day, every day, all over the world. Very few people
who have tried Improv understand the power of the product. If you want to use
Improv, forget everything you every know about "spreadsheets" and throw away
the Improv manual.
Improv is a multi-dimensional computer modeling program that allows the user to
view and interpret information that is too complicated to comprehend in any
other fashion. Improv users gain additional insights from their information
that are "hidden" in conventional (spreadsheet) modeling programs.
If people realized the amount of "hidden" insight there is in every day
information, they would all switch to Improv immediately. Why has Lotus failed
to demonstrate clear examples of how Improv spots trends that are all but
invisible in a spreadsheet? Are they afraid of the 4th dimension? Are they
unwilling to step outside of a physical representation?
PaperSight is more abstract than Improv. Visus's metaphor of a filing cabinet,
drawers, pages, and folders is more confusing than the Improv/spreadsheet
metaphor. Additionally, the most powerful feature of the product is not
mentioned anywhere in the manual. I found out by accident! When I spoke with
the author about this, he said, "Well, it only makes sense that it works that
way."
PaperSight is a computing environment. It attaches hypertext key words to any
data or event that can be represented on a computer. Once the key words
identify the intended origin, the user is free to traverse the computing
environment along any thread desired. PaperSight automatically represents any
"point" in the environment in its original form by remotely using the "point's"
parent program. PaperSight users obtain the highest levels of productivity and
understanding because they are released from the physical limits of handling
and organizing information.
It is time for NeXT to stop demonstrating how Illustrator works in preview
mode. It is time to put away SoftPC. It is time to step outside of the
physical world and do things that can not be done on any other platform but
NeXT.
NeXT should spend less time preaching to the PC/Mac audience. They operate by
the laws of Newton. They only do what can be represented in the physical
world.
NeXT should spend more time explaining how their computer frees ordinary people
from the physical laws of Newton and brings them the power of the laws of
Einstein.
--
Jack Reynolds, VP Sales
U.S. Snail: HSD Microcomputer US Inc.
1350 Pear Ave., Suite C
Mountain View, CA 94043
(415)964-1400
(415)964-0264 Fax
Jess Anderson
In article <1991Aug31....@montana.portal.com>
reyn...@montana.portal.com (Jack Reynolds) writes:
>PaperSight is not a "digital filing cabinet" and Improv is
>not "the NeXT generation spreadsheet." These two metaphors
>along with other misleading statements from NeXT have
>greatly reduced the sales of NeXT computers to white collar
>professionals.
I think this was one of the best postings to appear in this
group in a long time. One might argue that white-collar
professionals are as easily taken in by outworn imagery as
anyone else, maybe more easily that some (sophisticates are
often easily duped). One might argue that getting too far
out front of what the masses are prepared to understand is
bad for business, even if one has a really superior product.
After all, one can only expect so much.
I don't know a thing about PaperSight (but I want to). What
you say about Improv, however, is quite right: it is so *far*
beyond being just a spreadsheet that to describe it with
that term is perhaps akin to describing modern high-speed
networks in terms of tin cans and string.
It's possible, I suppose, that even NeXT, even Lotus, does
not quite realize what they have in their products. Improv
(and from what you say, PaperSight) are a huge step beyond
what most of us are accustomed to using in the way of
computing tools. I think NeXTstep offers a very fertile
ground upon which to nurture the development of tools for
thinking that *far* outstrip anything we know now, and I
wish there were some way to bring this point dramatically to
bear on everyone's consciousness.
There is a tendency, natural enough as far as it goes, to be
sidetracked by the entertainment of high-class toys for
technocrats; I certainly do it a lot, because it's great
fun.
But it's maybe a good idea to keep in front of our minds the
idea that the whole reason for computing is to make possible
mental activity that without computing would literally be
inconceivable. Each advance in computing should always
answer someone's "what if we had..." question. I've been
in the trade since 1955, when it was a marvel to get numbers
back from data on punched paper tape (Iliac I). Things have
gotten better, especially in terms of speed, reliability,
and convenience, not to mention cost-effectiveness.
But most people using computers are still thinking of words
and numbers put on paper by human hands with wooden pencils.
The *real* potential of computing lies, I think, in
seamless, transparent, and above all interactive coupling of
the tool to our thinking processes. It seems to me the
virtual reality people are the ones who are really at the
leading edge of these developments.
>NeXT should spend more time explaining how their computer
>frees ordinary people from the physical laws of Newton and
>brings them the power of the laws of Einstein.
Why stop there? It's really the powers of Buddha we need.
<> It is precisely because it is fashionable for Americans
<> to know no science, even though they may be well educated
<> otherwise, that they so easily fall prey to nonsense.
<> They thus become part of the armies of the night, the
<> purveyors of nitwittery, the retailers of intellectual
<> junk food, the feeders on mental cardboard, for their
<> ignorance keeps them from distinguishing nectar from
<> sewage. -- Isaac Asimov, "The Armies of the Night"
--
Jess Anderson <> Madison Academic Computing Center <> University of Wisconsin
Internet: ande...@macc.wisc.edu <-best, UUCP:{}!uwvax!macc.wisc.edu!anderson
NeXTmail w/attachments: ande...@yak.macc.wisc.edu Bitnet: anderson@wiscmacc
Room 3130 <> 1210 West Dayton Street / Madison WI 53706 <> Phone 608/262-5888
Chuck
|>In article <1991Aug31....@montana.portal.com>
|>reyn...@montana.portal.com (Jack Reynolds) writes:
|>>NeXT should spend more time explaining how their computer
|>>frees ordinary people from the physical laws of Newton and
|>>brings them the power of the laws of Einstein.
|>Why stop there? It's really the powers of Buddha we need.
OK, folks, this has gone far enough. Yes, NeXT (along with Improv and
PaperSight) can and will change the way we (ordinary mortals) work. And yes,
Improv is truly wonderful.
But if you're looking for the powers of Buddha, you're looking to change a bit
more than just the way we work. No technology will ever be able to do this.
Ever. Best to hit the power-off button and go outside and sit under a tree and
don't get up until you're enlightened, if that's what you want. Ohm.
Jess Anderson
In article <31...@tamsun.TAMU.EDU> cnh...@maraba.tamu.edu
(Chuck Herrick) scoffs:
>In article <1991Aug31.1...@macc.wisc.edu>
>ande...@macc.wisc.edu (Jess Anderson) writes:
>>In article <1991Aug31....@montana.portal.com>
>>reyn...@montana.portal.com (Jack Reynolds) writes:
>>>NeXT [...]
>>>frees ordinary people from the physical laws of Newton and
>>>brings them the power of the laws of Einstein.
>>Why stop there? It's really the powers of Buddha we need.
>OK, folks, this has gone far enough. Yes, NeXT (along with
>Improv and PaperSight) can and will change the way we
>(ordinary mortals) work. And yes, Improv is truly
>wonderful.
Now let's see -- you're accepting the premise, then (these
are great tools, and they will change the way we work), but
...
>But if you're looking for the powers of Buddha, you're
>looking to change a bit more than just the way we work.
perhaps we have some disagreement over what Buddha's
powers might include.
One thing to do about this is look again at the Subject:
line, which says metaphor. The idea is really only of
extraordinary powers of mind, of deeper ways of thinking
than we are accustomed to.
>No
>technology will ever be able to do this. Ever.
It isn't really possible to counter a statement of faith
like that one.
I would observe that never-ever is *quite* a long time, and
that it is only a few years since people were unable to
imagine that we would *actually* do thousands of things we
now do routinely, without turning a hair or even noticing
that it represents a marvelous technological achievement.
>Best to hit
>the power-off button and go outside and sit under a tree and
>don't get up until you're enlightened, if that's what you
>want. Ohm.
Heh heh, I think that's "om;" ohm is something else
altogether.
But enlightenment is not something you pursue, I expect;
rather, it comes to you when you are ready, and the whole
point of the Buddha metaphor is that by thinking in a new
way, we could perhaps be in a better position to realize the
power of the emerging technology. If that falls short of
ture enlightenment, well then it does; the results could
still be impressive and of great use, I think.
Mind you, I have nothing against sitting under a tree, but
the point would be to do more with my power-on button than
I've been doing, I think.
<> Hunger is not a problem of supply -- there is lots of
<> food being produced in the world. It is a problem of
<> politics and economics, which are more and more the same
<> thing. -- John Olson
