Re: OrchidWiz CD

I think I can help here.
"wendy7" <wendy7PETERPAN@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:i0okf.63044$qw.48095@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Kathy, I am still following this thread & wouldn't it be easier just
> to have a laptop with you?
>
For a program like this, this would be the smartest option. A relatively
new PC or laptop would certainly be capable of giving decent performance
with this kind of application.

As always, the trick is to design your application for a specific target
platform, and recognize that some platforms are totally inadequate for some
applications at a given time. A PDA may be totally inappropriate for an
application with the amount of data managed by OrchidWiz, right now, but the
PDA of 2015 may be well suited to such an application.

> --
> Cheers Wendy
>
> Remove PETERPAN for email reply
>
> K Barrett <mormodes@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Turns out a PDA type program was what Alex had been trying to make. I
>> guess the program is too big to run (with any functionality) on a PDA.
>> I've looked at PDAs since posting this (becasue I never believe anyone
>> had have to figure it out for myself) and I see that the processors
>> are very slow, and they have miserable memory. The OrchidWiz program
>> is big and a slow processor would only make it crawl at a snail's
>> pace, no?
>> That said there are a few HP iPAQs with large screens that work in
>> either portrait or landscape... or tablet PCs.
>>
The graphics required for this kind of application are not likely the
problem, although they made need to be revised to better suite the platform.
The big problem will be the slow processor and pitiful memory. The only
time I would consider current PDAs for a database application is if the
database is maintained on the internet and the client application running on
the PDA used greatly simplified queries (processed largely on the server so
that only a single record is sent to the PDA). One MIGHT get acceptable
performance then, but I have my doubts.

The suggestion of porting it to a PDA, though, may well prove feasible a few
years down the road. A few years ago, I developed a simple GPS application
that served to collect data real time, and it ran on DOS with only 640K RAM,
and a 1 MB memory stick. If the database is kept tiny (less than 1 to 2 MB)
one can put a simple database application on an anemic machine. Mine even
had a pretty good graphical interface. It did not, though, do any
significant processing beyond displaying the interface and collecting and
storing data.

I'd guess you won't see OrchidWhiz on a PDA without significant refactoring
to optimize the program for a much smaller computer, improved programming
techniques, and improved hardware. Remember, there was a time when
databases existed only on mainframe computers. Years later, they could be
found on much smaller machines until they eventually made an appearance on
desktop machines, first high end workstations and then PCs. Early on in the
history, database software appeared for PCs, but that software was very
primitive and entirely unsuited for commercial use. Over the same period,
though, software technology, and programming techniques improved to the
point where now a decent desktop or notebook computer could easily handle a
commercial database, at least for small and medium sized businesses, as well
as web applications. Just as there were programs back in the 80's that
would only run on mainframes with acceptable speed, there are manay programs
right now that should not be run on anything less than a relatively new PC,
and I know of very specialized programs that, even today, need a
supercomputer or a cluster of compute servers in order to complete a task in
a reasonable amount of time (such as a week or two). Some environmental
simulation programs need a sizable cluster of compute servers (with the
dastest processors available), terabyte storage, and a few weeks to complete
one simulation.

PDA technology is too new and anemic for the kinds of software I presently
develop, but maybe that will change in five to ten years. While PDA
technology is interesting, I will not be porting any of my software to it
any time soon. Maybe I'll consider that when I can get a PDA that can
handle the same workload that my new desktop can handle (it has an Athlon 64
X2 3800+, with 1 GB RAM and an immense hard drive). I don't think I'll see
a PDA with that power any time soon.

Cheers,

Ted

--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making


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