Kitchen Internet Kiosk? 91
ZeLonewolf asks: "My parents are remodeling and greatly expanding their kitchen, and my mom would like to add a kitchen internet kiosk that would allow her to look up recipes online and watch TV. Since this is a kitchen, the display and input devices should be appropriate for a kitchen environment, i.e. resistant to dust and moisture. To eliminate the need for a mouse I priced out a touch-screen monitor for $600. The keyboard would need to be sealed, something like ThinkGeek's roll-up keyboard. I haven't been able to find pre-made kiosks for this purpose. Four years ago, the Audrey internet appliance would have been perfect for this sort of thing. Is there anything modern that comes close?"
Re:fp (Score:2, Funny)
Stroker Ace: "I know you! You're Audrey Meadows!".
Aubrey James: "No, I'm Audrey James... AUBREY James... Schmuck!"
-FB0
Toaster computer (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Toaster computer (Score:2, Insightful)
1. doesn't look like he's going to be slashdotted
2. here is a coral cache http://mywebpages.comcast.net.nyud.net:8090/adamb
Re:Toaster computer (Score:1)
I'm also really starting to like this whole Coral Cache idea [nyud.net].
Coral Cache (Score:2)
http://mywebpages.comcast.net.nyud.net:8090/adamb
Computer vs. TV (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd like all of my data to be on one screen, too. It is just cheaper (and faster) to have more than one. If you can afford to put it on one, you wouldn't need this post on
Re:Computer vs. TV (Score:1)
This way, you've taken care of the tv, app, and input functionallity all in one shot.
I disagree (Score:2)
I think at some point someone was working on a MythTV module called MythRecipe even...
The nice thing about Myth is that the kitchen kiosk doesn't need a coaxial drop - A cat5 or 802.11g connection will give you both net access for bringing up recipes and the ability to stream video from a central recording box that contains the tuners.
Re:Computer vs. TV (Score:1)
roll up keyboard not sealed (Score:2, Informative)
It is all one piece of rubber except near the cord entry, so you may be able to use some silicone to seal that up and get an entirely sealed keyboard. But also remember that the rubber on this thing isn't very thick or strong at all.
Audrey still available (Score:3, Informative)
Ebay usually has Audreys available, don't forget the USB ethernet adapter. FWIW, I've got one in my kitchen, it works fine, but it's browser is pretty limited: no javascript/java, which may make some of the popular recipe sites hard to use. If you're doing your own recipe DB though, no problem.
As the other poster said, get a separate TV.
Re:Audrey still available (Score:1)
PowerDesk? (Score:3, Informative)
water and dust resistant keyboard (Score:1)
Here's the link:
http://fingerworks.com/lp_product.html
Unfortunately it is difficult to type on it without looking at the keys. It took me about a week to get comfortable with it and six months to approach my old typing speed
Re:water and dust resistant keyboard (Score:1)
it's dust proof because there aren't keys, but it is most definitely not kitchen proof!!!! water on the board is BAD, or anything else on your fingers when using the board...
Re:water and dust resistant keyboard (Score:2)
For a kitchen computer, I'd go with a Shuttle system, which gives you a good
Audrey still good! (Score:3, Interesting)
This is the simple menu I created for my Audrey:
My Audrey [fperkins.com]
An idea for the keyboard... (Score:1, Interesting)
I have no idea where to buy something like this though... Shouldn't be too difficult to make yourself.
Re:An idea for the keyboard... (Score:1)
Get wireless and you can (hopefully) do a good job of sealing that up so you wouldn't have to worry about it falling into the sink.
If it is wired, I'm not sure how well it could get sealed up, but it could be played with probably so that the cord exiting the bag is some distance away so a drop in the kitchen sink doesn't mean keyboard death due to water).
Re:An idea for the keyboard... (Score:1)
To protect against viruses?
Re:An idea for the keyboard... (Score:2)
$600 for a touch screen monitor? (Score:1)
thoughts... (Score:2)
As for the keyboard, the one you have selected looks really neat, and I personally think it would be cool to have one. However, I might question the usability aspects of it. We have a public area computer, and the number one concern with the keyboard is being able to move it around
Re:thoughts... (Score:2)
Re:thoughts... (Score:2)
Maybe a touch screen is a good idea in the same way that an integrated pointing device on the keyboard is a good idea, but I still believe you should have a traditional mouse. Of course another downside to touchscreens is finger prints....
Re:thoughts... (Score:2)
Re:thoughts... (Score:2)
Re:thoughts... (Score:2)
Get a mouse anyway... (Score:1, Insightful)
What a MARVELOUS excuse to buy a Mac Mini (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:What a MARVELOUS excuse to buy a Mac Mini (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What a MARVELOUS excuse to buy a Mac Mini (Score:1)
If you pair it with a monitor and mouse, wouldn't you be farther ahead to just buy an iMac in the first place?
Re:What a MARVELOUS excuse to buy a Mac Mini (Score:1)
Re:What a MARVELOUS excuse to buy a Mac Mini (Score:1)
No to expensive sealed keyboards. (Score:2, Insightful)
1 - Keyboards are cheap. Very cheap. There are many sub $20 keyboards out there that have better feel than any of the fancy "sealed" ones I have ever used.
2 - Standard keyboards are amazingly hard to kill.
Re:No to expensive sealed keyboards. (Score:2)
Re:No to expensive sealed keyboards. (Score:2)
A Mac mini might be nice for this (Score:4, Insightful)
You can mount the touchscreen alongside, on a swing mount that can let them stow it underneath the cupboard when not using the computer. I saw something similar done last week with a TV on This Old House.
Troll? Nay, nay! (Score:2)
The only other really viable candidate for the job besides a Mac mini is one of the super-slim Mini-ITX boxes (I've actually got one of those that I us
Re:Troll? Nay, nay! (Score:2)
however.. flour.. flour in your precious mini. the g4 cube would have worked find in the kitchen but think again of the mini. FLOUR IN YOUR MINI, STUCKING IN THERE. flour in the tiiiny whirling fan. so you'd at least want to stick in the cupboard or somewhere and it becomes quite irrelevant if it's few cm's bigger or not.
Re:A Mac mini might be nice for this (Score:2)
Got more money than sense? iCEBOX! (Score:2, Informative)
If you do then this is the toy for you. I ran across it a while ago and bookmarked it for my post-lottery kitchen remodel.
iCEBOX FlipScreen [beyondconnectedhome.com]
Re:Got more money than sense? iCEBOX! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Got more money than sense? iCEBOX! (Score:2)
Re:Got more money than sense? iCEBOX! (Score:2)
sony PCV-W series (Score:2)
A more practical solution (for you PC users out there) is the Sony Vaio PCV-W series. This is an all-in-one series (similar to the G5 iMac) with a built-in fold-down keyboard. It's pretty good for kitchen use because the LCD is covered by an eigth-inch thick piece of plexiglass (or lexan. i'm not sure) -- you'd need a hammer/very sharp objec
Re:sony PCV-W series (Score:1)
Re:sony PCV-W series (Score:1)
Nice.
Touchsrceens and boards (Score:4, Informative)
Other links of interest:
Linux Touch Screen HOWTO [tldp.org]
EPIA HOWTO [sympatico.ca]
Gentoo EPIA HOWTO [epiawiki.org]
Nehemiah Hardware Entropy Generator [peertech.org]
VIA PadLock support for Linux [logix.cz]
Re:Touchsrceens and boards (Score:2)
Start with an Mac mini (Score:2)
Also if you put the keyboard and mouse into a air-tight cabinet or drawer of some sort you won't need to worry about whether they are themselves damage proof, ie: make a pullout drawer with a hidden surface on a roller track.. put a rubber seal around the drawer and keep it closed when not in use. If you go with wireless you won't have to worry abo
Re:Start with an Mac mini (Score:2)
Re:Start with an Mac mini (Score:2)
put the Mac mini under it in a air-tight cabinet under the drawer
Do that and dinner won't be the only thing cooking in that kitchen! Computers, even slow and small ones line the Mac Mini, need ventilation.
Does anyone still make IR grid 'touch' screens? I haven't seen one in over 15 years.
Frankly, this sounds like a good application for a tablet PC, but you'd have to use something like the Hauppauge WinTV USB adapter, which doesn't produce a good full-screen image, and would add wires and clutter
Re:Start with an Mac mini (Score:2)
Guess I got ahead of myself there a little though, assuming some things would be assumed
thanks for completing my post though.
An iCEBOX for the kitchen (Score:3, Insightful)
look at Sony ICF-CD555TV + notetook (Score:1)
Just get her a computer! (Score:2)
And what is the difference between a kitchen and a hospital lab? Nothing. And labs have tons of computer equipment.
The environment in a kitchen is nothing special ... use a cheap keyboard and an optical mouse (the trackball gums up) on a low-end computer. Adding a TV card so they can watch TV is probably not a good idea. Unless the best location for the TV is
Re:Just get her a computer! (Score:2)
Why not just stick a regular TV in there and just use a printer on her regular PC then?
Until I have a fridge that tells me what I've got and what I can make with it, it sounds a bit pointless.
My dream kitchen computer (Score:3, Interesting)
_______
The problems with a kitchen computer are numerous:
- Space - No one wants to give up counter space for a computer, and besides it would be a pain to lean over (you don't sit down very much in the kitchen).
- Cleanliness - a keyboard and mouse would be ruined in short order.
- Noise - maybe a bit of a minor issue, but it's always better to have less noise.
I always thought the following would be cool:
Hardware
- Motherboard - a mini-ITX motherboard would be perfect (low energy, possible fanless operation, tiny, integrated everything).
- Enclosure - a slim box that would mount sideways, screwed to the side inside of one of the upper cabinets.
- Cooling - if heat is a issue, a plenum could run on the inside of the cabinet from holes on the bottom of the cabinet through the enclosure to the ceiling. A fan to draw air through (as well as the power supply, ethernet, etc.) would all be up out of sight
- Screen - an LCD panel with touch-like screen, mounted portrait layout, right on the cabinet door (so that it is right at eye level, and out of reach of the small kids).
- Pen - whether it is a true touch screen (like a PDA) or a wired light pen, I don't know, but this would be the primary input device.
- Speakers & microphone - small, slim models also mounted into the cabinet door.
- USB/Firewire connections - for quick upload & download to/from a PDA, camera, memory keychain, etc.
- another PC - running as a server.
Note that I don't want a hard drive, keyboard, or mouse. The most work in this would be physically installing the screen & speakers in the door so it looks good and the wires flex properly with the door swing, and with designing the motherboard enclosure and plenum. Oh, and wiring everything through the ceiling.
Software
- X-terminal setup - this machine would be boot-on-LAN, and all storage would be over Ethernet - run as much as possible on the server end.
- Handwriting recognition - since the machine would never be used for entering in large amounts of data (I don't code while cooking), there is no need for a keyboard (most entry would be on the server, and this would mostly be a "retrieval" device) - but there should be a handwriting code for when you need to enter in text, maybe like Palm's graffiti.
- Applications - I want this machine to do the following functions
- Organizer - standard PDA stuff (calendar, address, to-do, notes, calculator, etc.)
- Recipe database - duh! (and actually useful, given the screen's location)
- Message centre - retrieve both voice and email messages
- "Thumbtack" board - leave notes for others in the house (vocal or written)
- Browser - access to the Web and local files
- Live Broadcast - you could access TV, radio, etc. with server-based tuners
- Stored Entertainment - play back mp3, divx, etc.
No word processing, spreadsheets, photo editing, games, etc. here! Just stuff that makes sense in the kitchen (communication, passive information and entertainment).
Even if all the pieces were in place for doing everything I want here, there would be a lot of work to build an interface that would pull it all together nicely. All apps would be set up for as little data entry as possible (tapping on buttons should be the main interaction).
Of course, all this is way beyond my abilities, time, and cash flow to actually do. But that's my dream kitchen machine.
____________
Since I posted that over 2 years ago, nothing's changed. The configuration is still exactly what I want, and I still have no way to build it
Re:My dream kitchen computer (Score:3, Interesting)
Once again, it sounds like an ideal application for a Windows XP Tablet PC, except that you have the O/S and storage locally, and no X-Windows or TV (unless you have a Windows MCE box somewhere saving shows to disk, and want to play them later on the Tablet).
These are small, quiet, do handwriting and voice recognition, have touch-screen and can run any application that runs under Windows. Unfortunately, they also cost from $1,600 and up, which makes them more expensive than a low-end Mac Mini with a flat
Re:My dream kitchen computer (Score:2)
Interesting, never really thought of that. How heavy are the things? Could you comfortably put a big one into a cupboard door?
IBM Netvista All-In-One (Score:2)
You can find them on ebay [ebay.com]. Not cheap, but not crazy expensive either.
Welcome to my kitchen (Score:1)
It is slow, but I've recently found a way to significantly boost its speed -- VNC to the 1.4 GHz machine upstairs. Running mozilla on the 133 MHz processor is painful, but the old processor runs a
Re:Welcome to my kitchen (Score:1)
How about a fridge? (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.lginternetfamily.co.uk/fridge.asp [lginternetfamily.co.uk]
I could only find a UK link for it, but it seems like it might serve what you want, although I'm not sure about watching TV...
- Built-in TV tuner for watching TV broadcasts
- Built-in MP3 player for downloading music
- Internet Radio for listening to radio stations
- Built-in video camera for taking still photos
- Built-in CCD camera
I agree on idea of combining TV and 'pute (Score:2)
It is a touch screen after all...
When you get it up have it all nice and working with linux drivers ecetera (for touch screen) whipe up a knoppix distro and I will love to slap it in my kitchen.
Watch porn while having a pot noodle. haut cuisine or what.
I've always thought these are cool (Score:1)
Reality (Score:2, Interesting)
-Peter
In NYC, a kitchen browser would rock (Score:1)
o-sl-o
Retrofit your refrigerator as a kiosk (Score:1)