Pen-based computers span man/machine gap. (Focus: Office Technology)

Pen-based computers span man/machine gap

A local research firm predicts the sale of pen-based computers in the U.S. will skyrocket to over 900,000 annually by 1995, and a number of area companies are leaping into the fledgling market or closely eyeing the possibilities.

On a device the size of a notebook, users enter data with a stylus that looks like a pen. Someone unfamiliar with the machine could, for example, hand write "I am computer illiterate" right onto the screen. The person could then put an "x" over the first two letters in the fourth word, quickly delete them, and be welcomed into the computer age. All entries are made with a pen, not with the keyboard or mouse of a traditional computer.

"This is not an evolutionary step," said Stu Lipoff, an electronics systems analyst at Arthur D. Little in Cambridge. "This technology comes the closest yet to bridging the gap between man and the machine."

"This is one of those technologies that has been hyped and promoted for quite some time," but which now is …