Microsoft Tablet PC fun but useful? Only so-so.

[johannsabbach]

I've been to the MS Tablet homepage at

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/tabletpc/evaluation/tours/default.asp#

and I'm not impressed with any part of this except it's fun-factor and the potential usage for the future. COMDEX praised it this last year, stealing the show probably because it's just plain fun. My problem relates to its usefulness NOW. I think it's just another way to make a laptop a toy with a large price tag. SURE, I'd enjoy having this toy, but I'd be wasting more time with technology than ever, even though it isn't high technology anyhow. The 'versatility' that MS is bragging is nice, but only seems to have a slight advantage in the meeting room. I can use my laptop now in meetings, but yeah, it can get in the way. When I was finishing my MA, Laptops did just fine in the classroom. This could cut down on paper, but at the cafeteria it's just as stealable as a laptop (which is faster for recording a teacher's words).

Perhaps I'm just too low-budget, but this is not going to necessarily be the future. It might just be a good option to have common with some laptop models for people who have the right environment for a tablet.

I hope these are found to be reliable in the future, lasting 6 years or more like my first laptop, and come down in price as the years go by. Perhaps it will be worth the extra couple hundred dollars in a few years when the price goes down like it did with DVD players.

My favorite part of the tablet idea is this: I can use my writing hand to take notes without having excess paper, allowing me to take notes, doodle, and have fun when things are supposed to be serious. Since I am nearing 30 with an MA in my pocket, it would just be good for developing relationships with something to talk about and get through boring meetings. Is this worth the extra one or two thousand dollars?

-Johann, Teacher with a Tabula Rosa no more. -johann
Always think twice...fix once.
Don't think...fix many. (bring asprin)
Hope I can be some help to you someday!

 

[CharlieJax]

Laptops wern't very usefull when they came out at first and they were the size of desktop computers.

The first palm pilots sucked.

The first comptuers where the size of a room.

640K was the limit for memory

2G was the hard drive limit

Nanotechnology is usless today

The first cars stank, were slow, and had no roof

The tablet PC is a device that is currently just a large palm pilot, but in the future will replace laptops, perhaps desktops and even TVs... Imagine the ablity to have a video chat with someone right there while you are typing on a virtual keyboard on a subway and eveything else you can do with a laptop without the added weight or having to move the screen around...

The best tablet PC I have seen is the (toshiba?) one where it can function as a laptop or a tablet by simply flipping the monitor.

Time is all it will take to improve the tablet PC or send it packing... we shall see if it can evolve into a usefull tool or if it will just stay at the toy level (where palm pilots, two way pagers, wireless web, cell phones, and all the thousands of other usless items we use everyday should have stayed).

CJ

Don't drink and post, save that for driving home!

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

I would disagree on the cell phones and PDAs. In many cases, yes, they are toys, but they can be useful. Since I am rarely home, people need a way to get a hold of me, and I don't like to use my work phone for personal reasons so I use my cell phone. My palm I use for both a toy and for reminders of what I have to do. My memory is very short (heck I forgot where I am going with this ) so I need something I can look at and see what is going on. I never got used to carrying a scheduler, so with my carrying pouch, it works wonderfully. iSeriesCodePoet
IBM iSeries (AS/400) Programmer

 

[Tarwn]

On Tablets: They are slowly finding niches where they are useful, just like the first computers did. Doctors find that with a wireless connection to their patient records they can cut down on travel time between rooms and run a paperless office, removing some of the "Dead" time usually taken by them walking to the files, getting the patient file someone else had to take time to pull, walking back to the patient, etc even if the next patient is in the room right next to their previous patient. As they find niches like this they will soon become indispensible tools, similar to how desktops have become.

On Celphones and Handhelds: Even the manufacturers are a little worried that a the craze is dying down on some of their products they need to find more functionality to offer for them. HP and Motorola (to name only two I am personally aware of) are constantly searching for new products to inclide or provide access to. There really is a limitation to what these products can do, and generally they have yet to find niches of their own. There are $40 schedulers, a lot of people are still using palms (ie, overpowered schedulers), etc. Once enough technology has been created specifically for handhelds and phones then they will start to become necessary, but as it is he phones are only necessary for their primary function (making calls) and the handhels are only useful.

-Tarwn ________________________________________________________________________________
Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq333-2924

 

[cdogg]

One thing is for sure. Tablet PC's will first be popular in the business environment, particularly with sales/marketing reps. They are always looking for cutting edge technology to help aid in onsite demonstrations to customers or any other marketing pitch. In other words, many will see this "gadget" as a way to impress, if not improve functionality. You've got to factor that in...

As others have stated, it is way to early in the game to determine the outcome. It could go the way of VHS and CD's, or end up like Betamax!

~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein