MAILPHONE: A New Concept in Electronic Mail Networking

摘要

This technical report covering a six-month period (July-Dec '80) describes the design of the MAILPHONE, a Man-Machine Relations (MMR) concept demonstration project in computer-based systems. The intent of this project is to show that new approaches to man-computer interface design can overcome serious problems associated with the underutilization of military computer systems. In the present project, the approach was to select a useful military computer system which was poorly designed from MMR viewpoint, redesign it with careful emphasis in the key MMR areas, and document the improvements in acceptance and performance. The military computer system selected for improvement was the ARPANET electronic mail system. The MMR improvements were realized by a complete redesign of the electronic mail interface, and demonstrated by the MAILPHONE, a microprocessor-based system featuring a desk top unit purposely designed to resemble the familiar telephone. The MAILPHONE, while complex technologically, is designed to be operationally both simple and friendly. The report provides a detailed description of MAILPHONE system concept, including the user interface, the MMR features, and hardware implementation. The software design at the functional level is also included. (Author)