>For those looking for information on putting computers out in public
>spaces/exhibits, an article in the 13Feb95 MacWeek describes the MIKO from
>King Products Inc.  It is a modified Mac Powerbook 540 in special case
>with a 640x480 16bit color touchscreen, with no keyboard, etc accessible to
>the user.  Specs are System7, 12/320, with all the standard expansion
>capabilities.  Obviously, any standard or custom-written Mac program
>could be used with it; the touch-screen only interface for public use
>gaurantees no monkey-business.  List price is $6800 (yikes!) for a wall-
>mountable unit.
>
>The info given for King Products is: voice 905.625.1111 or 800.877.6456,
>fax 905.625.0688.
>
>I have no connection with King products, am making no reccomendation,
>etc.  Just relaying the information for those museum information providers
>who may find it useful.
>
>Greg Trimper
>Consultant, Developer
>[log in to unmask]
 
Here's a citation on the above topic from Current Cites. The article cited,
from New Media, was pretty good and covered many platforms and options.
 
Weiss, Jiri. "Multimedia hits the streets", New Media 5(2) Feb. 95: 44-49.
Anyone developing public information systems will be presented with the
problem of on-site delivery at some point. This article will help them. It
covers the various available technologies and issues around creating public
multimedia computer kiosks. One solution to on-site presentation of course
is just to put a computer or two in a gallery or lobby and let the user
access the information from it. However kiosks can add value in several
ways: for the public who are not comfortable with computer mice and
keyboards, and carry work associations with seeing computers, kiosks can
draw them in where a Windows-sprouting PC will not. Kiosks can also guard
against vandalism or theft of fragile computer components, not to mention
creating a professional shine for the institution's public face. This
article is very useful in that it contains discussion of the human as well
as tech issues, case studies, reviews of the options, costs, and rows of
vendor contacts.
 
 
 
Richard Rinehart              | University Art Museum / Pacific Film Archive
Information Systems Manager   | University of California at Berkeley
[log in to unmask] | 2625 Durant, Berkeley, CA 94720-2250
                              | http://www.uampfa.berkeley.edu/