DiadDude///New Diad

[upsyo]

Hey DiadDude,


Whats up with the new DIAD? Any new features? Give us some insight please.

 

[Cementups]

come back in 2012. It may be in prototype by then.

 

[DS]

diadadude is actually really helpful and open to suggestions...maybe he got downsized...maybe it was HIM that invented that "shift" key

 

[Dagoof]

maybe it was him that put the signature key under every ones thumb

 

[Covemastah]

Al Gore invented th DIAD ...

 

[moreluck]

He only designed 37% of it.

 

[DiadDude]

After a lot of research, progress is being made in securing the next DIAD terminal.

The company had a desire to use "off the shelf" devices if possible with only minor customizations (color and logos). As some of you are aware, there were several tests performed in actual small package operations and that data was evaluated to figure out if "off the shelf" was a realistic goal.



All of the terminals tested had the following things in common.

• Smaller and lighter than the current DIAD 4.
• Have the display oriented in portrait instead of landscape (taller than wide instead of wider than tall).
• Use a 2D imager as opposed to the 1D scanner in the DIAD 4.

The terminals were of differing shapes and sizes and had a mix of the following features

• ABC and QWERTY keyboards
• Scanners at various angles in relation to the top of the device

The following things were determined from our testing:

• The smaller group of the terminals were too small to allow for adequate keyboard space.
• Lanscape screen orientation was acceptable for displaying the DIAD application
• The QWERTY keyboard, which has 10 keys in each row, required the keys to be too small to be usable by many drivers
• 2D scanner was acceptable and often performed better when barcode might be unreadable by laser scanner
• The scanner should be at an angle to the top of the terminal and should not shoot straight out the top of the device

Now for what's important to you.

• I still lurk on here
• An announcement of the selected vendor and device should be coming in the near future.
• The device is expected to use the same software as the DIAD 4 with some improvements to take advantage of the capabilities of the new terminal.
• There will be no "shift" key
• The signature key should be a non-issue

 

[UPSviking]

Thank´s for the info...

Over on my side of the pond all of our competitors are using the newest state of the art scanners, and all i hear from our clients are that ours is the hardest to write your name on and so on...

It would be very welcome to get some new DIAD´s.

 

[DiadDude]

• Lanscape screen orientation was acceptable for displaying the DIAD application

Correction. The above should should read:

• Portrait screen orientation was acceptable for displaying the DIAD application

 

[upsyo]

thank you very much for the update....keep us posted

 

[barnyard]

Thanks for the update. I was one of the testers and thought I gave a bunch of feedback. Good to know something is coming.

 

[bad company]

Thanks for the update. I got to be in a small focus group regarding the various different devices, and it was a pretty neat experience.

It seems like you guys/gals actually listen to the drivers and consider their input. Would you be interested in making a move to package operations?...

 

[NHDRVR]

I always felt that Diad 3 was the best of the versions so far. The only thing they needed to tweak was the speed, and maybe make it a bit smaller which is really just cosmetic stuff...

The problem with the current one is that customers always hit the sig. key to knock it out of the screen, you hit a letter when you are typing a message and sometimes it doesn't like to take it. For what ever reason you look down and you are in your 'scheduled pickups' ( I never hit a button) and the designer of the 'shift' key was not a driver...

To be fair, the speed is very good, the size is fine to hit dogs with and I have yet to break one when I throw it.

 

[SmithBarney]

Let me preface by saying I miss my DIAD...(and I'm at FedEx Express now with the PowerPad)

The DIAD Scans much faster than the PowerPad i miss that(I have a couple bulk stops)
PowerPad uses 2D scanning I believe and amazingly scans some barcodes that have been beat ripped etc.) 2D might be why its so slow to scan.

PowerPad runs on top of windows mobile in a shell app... it absolutely sucks for reliability we send back on average 4-5 a week for repairs. I can't ever remember sending back a DIAD.(I'm sure it happens)

Now reliability could be the hardware, but I put my money on the software.(at fedex)

I do like the graphical interface that FedEx uses for interface, vs big arrow little arrows..
while I wouldn't foresee a major overhaul in the software(don't fix what aint broke)

The touch screen on the PPAD screen is very similar to the Palm Pilot screens its firmer than the DIAD screen, thus why customers generally like the PPAD vs DIAD. We use a firm stylus vs the DIAD stylus which is slightly softer giving a rubbery/grippy feel while writing.

 

[DS]

I still lurk on here

We all know that ups decided to listen to the drivers,and rather than do studies and such,decided that the browncafe would be a great place to find answers for free.I still think we should be able to edit a completed stop.When you have 300 stops,its easy to put in the wrong house # or apt # come on trust us just a little bit...DiadDudeyou are no lurker.
You are a valued member in our home away from home.
I met Scott Davis today and I told him about you.

 

[DiadDude]

All,

I'm happy to give the updates and hope that you find them useful. As I eluded to in my previous post, we're closing in on an anouncement of the selected hardware. When that information is made public, I hope to share some more interesting information. Unfortunately, until the selection is made I'm not really at liberty to share any more just than the basics.

Hopefully when the final product is released there will be more positive than negative things to say, and you'll see something that lets you know that your concerns were heard.

 

[soberups]

I would be perfectly happy with the current DIAD 4 if the signature key could be relocated and the unused F1-F6 keys could be changed to create a complete set of alphabet keys that would eliminate the need for the "shift" key.

 

[DiadDude]

I would be perfectly happy with the current DIAD 4 if the signature key could be relocated and the unused F1-F6 keys could be changed to create a complete set of alphabet keys that would eliminate the need for the "shift" key.

The F1-F5 keys are not "unused". Those keys are actually used for quite a bit of functionality in the DIAD 4. You couldn't do DR, NI1, COD and lots of other stuff without those keys.

 

[brownrod]

I wonder how man millions of dollars of driver time has been wasted due to customers grabbing the DIAD and hitting the sig key with their thumb.

This is very poor design. That key happens to be in the exact spot where it is most troublesome. Everyone who handles the DIAD naturally hold the DIAD right there. And when in sig mode that is the only key that does anything. Unbelievable.

It's obvious this DIAD was never tested outside of the laboratory environment.

 

[DiadDude]

I wonder how man millions of dollars of driver time has been wasted due to customers grabbing the DIAD and hitting the sig key with their thumb.

This is very poor design. That key happens to be in the exact spot where it is most troublesome. Everyone who handles the DIAD naturally hold the DIAD right there. And when in sig mode that is the only key that does anything. Unbelievable.

It's obvious this DIAD was never tested outside of the laboratory environment.

As we've discussed before, the DIAD 4 was not designed to be signed upside down. It was built to be held right side up like a DIAD 2. During the FIELD TEST of the DIAD 4, drivers requested that the signature screen be turned upside down to match the way customers were used to signing the DIAD 3.

But anyway, since it was OBVIOUS, thanks for pointing it out and thanks for twisting the "Sig Key Sucks" knife one more time.