An opportunity for Guernsey entrepreneurs

The Digital Greenhouse should develop expertise to do this as a new skill recognised worldwide being led by Guernsey. You are paid a bundle from our taxes so get stuck in.

l I purchased an Alexa Amazon Echo but it comes with no manual, plus it asks me to use my mobile phone to set it up – pathetic. This complexity should just not be present. The device should just be plugged into the mains power and nothing more – it should automatically look for my physically nearby modem and switch on already working. After much effort, helped by one of my children, it now works, with an excellent human voice interface.

l I looked at a new digital radio but it is much more complex than my older radio. Do you remember when you plugged your radio into the mains power and there were two controls – tune and volume? I did not buy the digital radio – pathetic interface.

l I bought a new PC with the latest Microsoft operating system. The human interface was entirely different to my old dead PC – pathetic. After struggling for an hour with their new human interface, I discovered how to switch the computer off.

So, Digital Greenhouse, stop all rubbish products needing an app and:

1. Develop a universal interface based upon a low-cost tablet – not a mobile phone. It would be able to control many devices: TV, radios, Alexa, emails, Microsoft interface, and eliminate the number of remote controls, of which I have five. You buy it at birth and keep it for a lifetime. It takes the core new awful interfaces and converts them into real human interfaces which are tuned to human needs and not tuned to software technology gurus.

2. Develop a new automatic connection and set-up interface on the tablet that uses minimal human interaction but just connects using its own internal powerful computing.

The basic principles would be:

n You plug any device in and it works.

n You have visual controls on the tablet that are human-friendly, not technology-friendly.

n Over the years most products in the world are controlled by this new tablet interface.

n Test it on real people, not young software gurus.

The goal would enable Guernsey to become the human interface centre for the world. With time every new consumer product design team would visit Guernsey to work together to incorporate their interface into the Guernsey tablet solution.

Do not tell me it cannot be done, humans have been to the Moon and brilliant ladies have become CEOs in Guernsey.

REX FERBRACHE

Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology