Single-line LCD displays are $1 apiece.
A WQVGA display, at 240x400 pixels (standard television) is $2.
The flash, amplifier, and speaker for your canned speech is not a lot
cheaper than $1, and in a busy lab with a lot of them talking at once,
it might be more annoying than talking card=s and elevators. Also, if
you didn't happen to be right next to one, you might not be able to get
the message. The display stays there, so when you come back into the
room you can see what it is telling you.
The reason mechanical timers have been replaced by computer chips is
that computers are cheaper. Thermostats have also been replaced by
computers for the same reason. The reason most devices have LCD
displays in them is because it is a very inexpensive, mature technology.
Adding a dollar's worth of display to a $500 piece of lab equipment makes
sense.
Which would you rather interact with, a web page for ordering something,
or an automated phone system that begins "Please listen carefully, for the following
menu has been changed..."?
Reading something is much faster and easier than listening to a spoken message.
And it doesn't bother the rest of the people in the lab, or interrupt conversations
between people.
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Get a free science project every week! "http://scitoys.com/newsletter.html"On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 9:19 PM, Jonathan Cline <jncline@gmail.com> wrote:
By the way, one method for eliminating the LCD is to use "canned speech" audio as a user interface. For much less cost than an LCD, the system could play pre-recorded phrases stored in flash memory to a cheap amp+audio speaker, i.e. "two minutes. starting now." Or "two minutes. spinning down. complete." Many chips have more than enough CPU power for this now. It's funny to see lab equipment with these huge colorful displays (adding significant cost) when all they really need is a way to indicate a single measurement number or show the user what operational mode the equipment is currently running in.--To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/diybio/-/eqBCEydCfWMJ.
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