European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Royal boost to business by Sheila Rule new York times in Britain pork sausage fertilizer shoes and other everyday goods can break into the rarefied realm of Royalty. Part of the trick is getting noticed by the right people. The right people in this Case Are Queen Elizabeth a the Queen Mother and Prince Philip and Prince Charles. The Queen allows herself and other members of the Royal family the privilege of demonstrating their satisfaction with certain goods and services that their households use by granting what Are called Royal warrants to the tradesmen who provide them. More than 850 men and women currently hold the warrants impressive documents proclaiming that Quot by command of the Queen Quot a company s goods or services Are of a Quality that merits official Royal recognition. In a country that still regards the Queen As one of its great sources of National Pride a Royal warrant provides instant status. Those on whom the Honor is bestowed Are allowed to Wear a Royal warrant holders association tie or head Scarf attend a formal luncheon and dinner As Well As the association s open Golf Day and to have sent on their behalf greetings or Flowers to members of the Royal family on birthdays or other special occasions. More important the warrant holders Are allowed to display prominently a but of course tastefully a the Royal coat of arms at the Entrance to their establishments on their packaging and stationery. Their goods and services Are elevated to the position of Royal goods and services suggesting that they Are the Best available. Quot its the Creme de la Creme Quot said John Weatherston owner of . Hardie amp co. In Glasgow. He holds a Royal warrant As maker of the Queen s bagpipes which Are played not by the Queen but by the Queen s Piper. Quot it does t Cost you anything Quot he explained Quot but by the same Token they can take the Royal warrant Back without any excuses because it s actually a gift from them to you. If anyone misbehaves Well the Royal family would t like that. After you get it you meet people in a similar position who Are All trying to behave  Royal warrant holders Range from manufacturers of clothes and cigarettes to Pogo stick makers. Tim Heald author of a recently published Book on the history of the Royal warrant and its holders said that written evidence of the practice dates to the Middle Ages. The warrant is always Given to specific individuals who Are directors of their companies Heald said and never in a Blanket Way to the companies. People in the professions like physicians and lawyers Are not eligible to receive warrants. Traders of a variety of descriptions Are eligible but can Only apply after regularly serving the Royal family for at least three years. Applications which must include sales receipts that prove that substantial business is done with Royalty Are carefully examined by the Royal household tradesmen s warrants committee. From 20 to 30 companies Are granted warrants Everyl year Heald said and just As Many lose them. The warrants most of which Are held by britons Are reviewed after 10 years. A reasons for losing the Royal warrant Are never revealed Quot Heald said adding that the warrant could Bel taken Back if a company went bankrupt was taken Over by another concern or no longer supplied the product that originally gained the warrant. Quot but if someone exploits the warrant for example taking a huge advertisement out that said they had it he would be Likely to lose it or at least get a Crisp telling off from the  a in other words a Heald writes in his Book by appointment 150 years of the Royal warrant and its holders Quot no vulgar exploitation of the warrant is allowed. You would not be allowed to produce Royal Oxford marmalade with a coat of arms several times bigger than the word a marmalade a much less include a line that said As eaten by her majesty the Queen on Toast for breakfast  that would be very bad form and you would be struck off instantly Quot yet the implication of the discreet tiny coat of arms which is allowed is very much the same Quot he went on. Quot potential Consumers Are expected to assume that the Queen is indeed in the habit of using All these items regularly. And the message however subliminal is that if you too consume them then an infinitesimal part of the magic of monarchy will rub off on you. Of course the message must be imparted with the utmost Good taste lest the Crown be thought to be endorsing a commercial product for commercial gain. But provided the taste is Good a in every sense a the message May be  the Royal warrant holders association which has offices opposite the rear Entrance of Buckingham Palace helps keep track of the use of the warrant and can take to court anyone who uses the Royal coat of arms in an illicit fashion. But Heald said a Strong letter from the association usually was enough to make wrongdoers behave. Quot All of this is taken very seriously Quot said . Howard a Royal warrant Holder whose Mayfair window cleaning co. Has been sprucing up Royal windows for nearly 70 years and these Days cleans those looked through by the Queen Mother. Computers without keyboards by David e. Sanger new York times More than a decade into the personal computer revolution tens of millions of people Are still far More comfortable scribbling on a pad than typing on a computer keyboard. And few countries Are More keyboard phobic than Japan where the enormous complexities of entering 7,000 chinese based ideographs into a personal computer have left offices shockingly a automated. Now a few computer makers Are beginning to sell computers with a simple solution to the problem they get rid of keyboards altogether. In what May be a glimpse of computing s future Sony corp. And Canon inc. Have begun to sell notebook size machines that allow users to write on a touch sensitive screen with a pen. Their writing is converted not quite instantly into neat rows of glowing computer Type which can be intermingled with careful electronic sketches or digitized doodles then printed out in Type just As is done on a personal computer the Battery operated machines a some Call them Quot pen computers Quot others Quot stylus systems Quot or Quot smart paper Quot a Cost from $500 to $2,300 and so far they Are available Only in Japan where makers say the need is greatest. They still have their share of annoying technical glitches chiefly mistakes in Reading handwriting and a Host of japanese and american companies is scurrying to improve the technology. But experts say the sudden appearance of the Sony palmtop and the Canon a note in Tokyo a electronics stores Marks the beginning of an entirely new Way to communicate with computers. The technology could in five or 10 years make a computer the size of a writing Tablet approachable to people who do not Type and who refuse to go near anything that Clacks and beeps. Over time the development could also rectify a huge technological imbalance. Although Japan a population and Economy Are half the size of those of the United states Market forecasters predict Only 1.6 million personal computers will be sold in Japan this year compared with 12 million machines in the United states. Quot this has been a dream for us because keyboards Are so difficult Quot said Shingo Tamura a Leader of the development team at Sony. Right now Tamura a dream looks More like a Cross Between an electronic Filofax and a Post it note a a place to keep Quick notes to append a description to an electronic picture or to update a phone list or a Calendar or a schedule. Sony a machine goes a step further. It can take a Handwritten note convert it into clean Type and drawings dial the phone and Send it As a facsimile. In the future the machines Are expected to be used As an architect s Sketchpad a travelling Salesman s order and notebook and a place for musicians to compose and for lawyers to update their electronic files without disturbing the quiet of the courtroom. Ultimately the machines will be Able to perform All the functions of Laptop computers with keyboards including organizing columns of numbers reaching powerful data bases and communicating with other computers of All sizes. Who will get the upper hand in the technology a american companies building on their strengths in computing or japanese concerns building on theirs in consumer electronics a is far from Clear. Virtually All of the critical hardware technologies for the new machines Are japanese including the pressure sensitive screens that Quot read Quot handwriting. But the software to make it All work Many believe will play to the strengths of the american computer Industry and already there Are forays into the technology. The Grid computer division of Tandy corp. Already markets an Quot electronic clipboard Quot useful to people who fill out forms though far less versatile than what Sony s new palmtop ptc-500, so far on Sale Only in Japan has a special pen instead of a mouse to Point to desired function diagram on its hat screen. Is coming out in Japan. Similar technology has been used in the United states on desktop machines by Wang laboratories. The most promising american project is at go corp., a Silicon Valley Start up concern in Northern California. Go s first product is widely expected to be a versatile pen based machine that allows easy Transfer of data to desktop personal  16 a a a the stars and stripes saturday april 28,1990