OK, as I’ve probably noted before, multitouch handhelds (or handhelds in general) aren’t built for serious text input. And I’ve written before that such limitations should not preclude the creation of programming environments from within the devices.

So since then, I’ve been thinking about what could be done for the creation of such environments which won’t require the serious text input that is common in older computing form factors (desktop, server, etc.). And I think I may have found another preliminary solution:

Replacement of text words with graphic symbols or icons.

This means that instead of typing text words by the letter or key in order to construct a single syntax, one could simply create a string of graphic symbols which are interpreted by the handheld to mean a string of words and text symbols.

Preferably, the symbols would be rendered in SVG so that they could contain the data that would be used by the runtime (the web browser?) for interpretation, while providing customization abilities to those who may want to create similar yet distinctive symbols in order to symbolize a level of critical intensity (say, a yellow star as opposed to a red star).

Such usage of SVG (or, if you prefer, PNG) icons as a replacement for text could also be enhanced (and, hopefully, understood) with animated icons and even sound-embedding in the icons.

Now…what applications could be created with this that isn’t already creatable with a desktop computer?

I’m still thinking about that…