Thinking Outside The Bun

[johnfowles]

The topic title I have stolen from the US fast food chainTaco Bell (http://ww.tacobell.com)
http://www.tacobell.com/images/home_2004_aug_ecard_on.jpg
who use it to try to
wean addicts away from Burger King and Macdonalds
Ever since i first got seriously involved with a computer I have wondered why they invatriably have monitors set up in landscaoe mode. (wide and short)
wheras many times especially when composing or viewing a long letter or page it would require far less scrolling if the monitor was
in "Portrail" mode.(tall and thin)
Indeed The first computer that I realy got to grips with was an Amstrad (http://http://www.amstrad.com) PCW8512 where "PCW"
stands for "Personal Computer Wordprocessor" and 'Amstrad" is short for Alan M. Sugar Trad-ing (American readers will no doubt
be fascinated to learn that in the planned UK version of the popular US series "the Apprentice" it will be "Electronics mogul
Sir Alan Sugar who takes the place of the Donald (Trump)"
Yet even that computer dedicated as it was to Rord Processing had its built-in monitor in landscape mode
For a long time I have wondered why there was no choice allowing one to use a portrait orientated monitor
searching now I find that long ago
the Apple IIc
http://www.danamania.com/albums/beige/aaa.sized.jpg
sported such a screen and one person said:-
"Hell even Xerox had portrait monitors back in the stoneages"
http://www.macos.utah.edu/Documentation/MacOSXClasses/Assets/staralto.jpg
and an Amiga was likewise endowed http://www.hack.org/mc/images/abc1600.jpg

As far as I could deternmine it might be because the early monitors were cheaper if based on television (CRT) tubes
and of course they are landscape historically as one person said
"As for why TVs are landscape, I believe it was to imitate movie screens."
but to my mind logically for text viewing portrait makes much more sense
http://www.ixbt.com/video/ctx-pv520/90deg-s.jpg
Yet as another opinion put it
"I think I like landscape. Probably because my eyes are side by side and not on top of each other."
Anyway last year I was quite excited when offerred by tigerdirect.com (http://www.tigerdirect.com) the chance to buy
a 15" LCD (flat-panel) monitor for about $225 I noted that it featured a pivotting (rotating)display, but decided that exceeded my budget so I waited and soon
thereafter the same (Florida) outfit offerred a (non pivotting) 14 1/2" LCD for only $150 (after the usual ridiculous American practice of getting a $50 mail-in rebate). (14 1/2 " is the same size as my Vaio laptop's screen and I find that most acceptable)
I got excited again last week when I enviously discovered that my step-daughter's newly delivered Dell PC came with a super 19" LCD monitor that pivotted. I had cause to check a PC World review of this model 1901FP monitor where I read with mounting
excitement "Dell offers the 1901FP with PCs that have ATI- and NVidia-based graphics cards and drivers that can rotate images from landscape to portrait mode. If you purchase the monitor separately and your graphics card driver doesn't have this rotation capability,you will need to spend about $50 on software from a company such as [url=http://www.portrait.com}Portrait Displays</A> to take advantage of the portrait-orientation mode."
I had soon visited that site and discovered and downloaded a trial version of their Pivot® Pro software (which may be purchased by download for $39.99). wait for this animated demo to run to see what I mean:-
http://personalcomputing.portrait.com/images/common/pivot_demo.gif
Note that 0 is landscape and 90 is portrait and 180 is upside-down landscape (presumably intended to enable the viewing of Australian websites or e-mails!!)
I installed the program(me) and after propping my monitor on its side was delighted to see pages in portrait mode
All I now have to do is manufacture a permanent stand or see if i can attach a pivotting stand of my own design
The programme adds a neat icon to the taskbar to easily switch modes
So anybody else with an LCD Monitor can follow suit if they've a mind to.
I will be most interested to see if this topic generates any response.

------------------
My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot




[This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited August 29, 2004).]

[LSH]

Crazy Brit!!

Although it has never crossed my mind before, I'm now wondering why such a product isn't more popular. Not being a technological wunderkind, it took a bit to follow all that John. Maybe someday when finances permit...my creative energy levels aren't up to devising a stand for monitor.

One question:
what are you using to prop your monitor up?
Also, as a bit of advice, don't try this with your laptop!

[brink]

This really is quite interesting John, since I have had to scroll to read the entire line of your post. I, of course, will let you research all there is to this pivoting screen and when you have it all figured out I will follow your advice, budget permitting.
Thank you again, John.
btw is this what you were doing Friday when you were at the chat room but missing?

[LSH]

"family duty" brink. Remember? *smirk*

[brink]

doodie or duty?

[violet Blue Horse]

Some thoughts here in no particular order. Some of the earliest writings were no doubt on a scroll, reading from left to right but in a vertical format. This perhaps influenced the cocnept of paper size. I imagine the first attempts at book binding likewise influenced standard paper size. A book that is a little taller than it is wide is sturdier for carrying arond.

Then you have the modern age where no one reads books anymore. Still most languages, though not all, read from left to right. This one would think would influence the horizontal screen length.

Then there is the porportions of a television screen which have always been horizontally oriented to accomodate the images shown on them that were shot on film which likewise, usually has a horizontal orientation to it. People became accustom to the size of television screens and it probably seemed like a logical conclusion to many of the first manufacturers of monitors to use that horizontal orientation. And I'm assuming that some of the first monitor manufacturers were also making televisions. Easier to standardize the whole production line.

In the end it doesn't matter to me because the boss can't use a computer for shit and does everyting on a typewriter for his trusty Office Manager to retype in Word.

I personally, at this point, would just be happy to have a monitor or any size and shpe who's screen doesn't perodically take on a sickly yellowish hue.

And yeah, it's a slow day.

------------------
Born once - Got it right the first time. )O(

[LSH]

LOL Violet.
Bosses, gotta love 'em.

ps. I read books. lots of them. as often as I can.

[johnfowles]

quote:Originally posted by LSH:
ps. I read books. lots of them. as often as I can.
Yes but have you read any of my three favo(U)rite books Laurel??
THey are:-
1.A Town Like Alice a.k.a. The Legacy by
Nevil Shute (http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/nevilshute/)
http://www.nevilshute.com/98/hi_res/town_like_alice.jpg
I have just finished rereading this for about the tenth time (I have also watched the
magnificent 5 hour Australian made mini-series about seven times and never tire of the story, much like a good album it can be repeatedly experienced and enjoyed)
2, THe Magus by my namesake John fowles (http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/johnfowles/johnfowlestheauthor.htm)
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/johnfowles/06.TheMagus(1966)dustjacketfrontandspline.jpg
There are many pics including a one of me at a computer at- http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/johnfowles/thingstolookat.htm" (http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/johnfowles/thingstolookat.htm)
and a third book this time not a novel although it sure reads like one
and one I described in an earlier topic about
Manaus (http://www.corfid.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002279.html)
And Deborah
you said inexplicably
"This really is quite interesting John, since I have had to scroll to read the entire line of your post"
I had absolutely no such problem so perhaps you have your monitor's resolution set far lower than mine
To check this simply right click anywhere on your desktop select "Properties" then "Settings" I have mine set sat 1024 by 768
but resetting to 800 by 600 gave me the scrolling problem of which you speak.
That reminds me I must do some research on the problem of trying to display overlarge pictures here as the handsome Norwegian Valley pic I selected to display in my reply to Daniel's "WFY" topic was so large on the website where I found that to see it here would have entailed excessive scrolling so I saved it then used MGI Photosuite to reduce it then uploaded to Sidney's Gord Home Page group site
All this to help my fellow lightheads of course!!

------------------
My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot
(edited to correct my /UBB code)



[This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited September 01, 2004).]

[brink]

John, you are correct (as usual), by resizing my screen it does not have to scroll. You are a genius.