David Lu / Phone Dial Web Browser

A Java application runs an embedded version of the open source web browser Mozilla. This application reads bytes from the serial port, and builds an IP address from the numbers dialed.

Motivation
Our relationship with technology is quickly becoming analogous to our relationship with fast food. Like the fast food restaurant chain McDonalds, information technology (e.g. the internet) seems to be everywhere. We expect it to be fast, and collectively value convenience and efficiency over elegance and craft. In the Phone Dial Web Browser, I ask how we might bring beauty and appreciation for craft back into our interaction with the now commonplace, pervasive web browser.

Skills used: electronics, Java, Visual Basic (a derivative of VB was used to program the BX chip)

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		Phone Dial Web Browser Description A web browser that uses a rotary phone dial as a custom physical interface.
		To use it, one dials an IP address rather than typing a URL. Dots are entered by pressing a button, external to the dial.
		How It Works A BX24 microcontroller counts pulses from the phone dial. When a number has been dialed, the BX24 sends a byte containing this number to the serial port of this laptop.
		A Java application runs an embedded version of the open source web browser Mozilla. This application reads bytes from the serial port, and builds an IP address from the numbers dialed. Motivation Our relationship with technology is quickly becoming analogous to our relationship with fast food. Like the fast food restaurant chain McDonalds, information technology (e.g. the internet) seems to be everywhere. We expect it to be fast, and collectively value convenience and efficiency over elegance and craft. In the Phone Dial Web Browser, I ask how we might bring beauty and appreciation for craft back into our interaction with the now commonplace, pervasive web browser. Skills used: electronics, Java, Visual Basic (a derivative of VB was used to program the BX chip)