Milo: + + Perhaps the most impressive demo that people saw was something + called Milo. Milo is a math program that uses the new Pen Manager + and the handwriting recognition code in what a truly useful + applications of pen technology. Perhaps a blow-by-blow description + of the demo from our estimable Pythaeus will illustrate Milo's + amazing possibilities best. + + "After everyone had seen the pen stuff and was truly impressed, a + very unassuming young man came out and began READING off of a + prepared speech to the audience. He never looked up! He just went + ahead with what was actually a very good speech. Once he had + explained himself and Milo, he started the demo. He first wrote + + 2 + 3 = + + and the machine responded with + + 5 + + He then wrote something like + + 345 x 435 = + + and the machine gave the correct answer! OK, sure that's neat, but + not all that difficult once you have handwriting recognition. + + He then wrote a complex algebraic routine with divisors and powers + and all that stuff. The machine understood how to reformat the + characters as things were added. (The divisor shifted the text up, + etc.) It looked very much like MathType. But, the machine also + understood what things in the equation stood for and knew how to + work with them. When he dragged a value to the other side of the + equation, the program subtracted it! When he moved a number to the + bottom of the divisor, it made the power negative! This went on + for a few minutes with interspersed clapping and cheering. (He + still never looked up.) + + He then wrote a trigonometry equation, and the Mac immediately + graphed it. He then wrote a simple line equation, and it added + that to the graph. He then showed us how you could study the + intersection by zooming in on the points in question. At this + point he thanked the crowd, quit his demo, and began to walk off + the stage. The crowd erupted into cheering and clapping and the + whole hall gave him a standing ovation. Remember, these are + developers! His manager had to bring him back onto stage where he + took a slight bow, but was obviously overwhelmed by the crowd. It + was the most amazing and utterly useful thing that I have ever + seen on the Mac. And realize, it was running on a Quadra, but + there was no time lag. Updates were instantaneous. In a couple of + years we won't know what to do without this. As an engineer I only + know that I want and need this technology now, and in the Personal + Digital Assistants." + +