The ballyhooed “slate” version of the Tablet PC platform pioneered by Microsoft looks to be a victim of a desire to fold “electronic ink” technologies into ordinary notebook PCs.
Analysts: Tablet PC Could Quietly Vanish
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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The keyboard/mouse combo still offers things that electronic ink and voice recognition don’t.
Doesn’t surprise me, Hardware makers are complaining of high prices for the OS, The hardware itself generally lacked the needed functions for a laptop, and were to big and heavy for a PDA, or even a note pad of paper.
I want them merged with notebooks (TOSHIBA has something like this). I want them to cost the same as notebooks. I also want them to have the same power as notebooks.
Pen/tablet PCs were tried about 10 years ago, and they failed then.
IMO, the idea of having a computer that you can carry around and do real work with (vs a PDA) *and* do the work by pen demands a much sleeker hardware setup that today’s technology cannot deliver at an affordable price. Today’s examples of tablet computers are incredibly large and clunky for their intended purposes. Tablet computing will come back in a big way when you can fit all the power you need in something as thin and stiff as a clipboard.
…that converts to-and-from tablet PC when you rotate the monitor.
They’re really great for digital artists who want to “work” without being chained to a desk.
Although I am dubious I could write on one of them. it’s definitely a great replacement to the mouse, even on a standard notebook.
I hope my next notebook and desktop PCs will have one of those screens.
for everyone, that is
I just sold one of my Powerbooks to get one. The best decision I’ve made, from both computational and usability perspectives, in a while.
I like the build quality, the light-weight implementation and the ability to convert to a standard notebook (for coding and writing long pieces) to a tablet (for artwork, doodling and design documents that would take too long to do using special software – I can just sketch, have the sketch corrected and save).
It’s plenty powerful for everything but games (Pentium-M 900), and gets good battery life. I just wish I had one in college – would have made taking notes in my higher math courses/physics courses possible on a laptop.
BTW, I have an Acer Travelmate C104Ti – I’m pretty sure that’s the designation.
I have a Compaq TC1000, and I really love it. It is the first computer I really love. It is much more convenient for casual use such as browsing the web, listening to music and such without the keyboard getting in the way.
When I need to do serious work I just connect a 17″ monitor and a logitech cordless desktop. It has visual studio and all the other stuff I need for my work.
The only thing that sucks is that the transmeta processor is a bit slow. But the next version TC1100 has a centrino processor, so it should be much faster.
But I love the form factor and the detachable keyboard. I swear that I will never get a normal laptop again.
Who would then cover the extra manufacturing costs? Apparently the difference is around $300.
Also it is only the Tablet-Only versions they are talking about, the hinged versions (like my Acer) are apparently doing well. They are the only way to take notes in a math class. If you haven’t tried one out and you are in a place where it could be useful I recommend you do.
Actually I find the things that a table is best for are reading the news paper (Slashdot.org http://www.globeandmail.com , etc) and working on *nix. The portrait mode makes reading a lot easier and the scroll-key on the edge of the screen makes it easy to read through a pdf while I”m installing or configuring something else.
I want them to go away, then I can get my hands on one for cheap to hack.
Currently my tablet is really convinient for notes taking in class. Don’t have to take my binder to school, and the battery is long enough for all my classes. I have completely abandoned my paper, tablet is absolutely for me. Tablets can really get a market share if it were cheaper.
as usual, the hybrids rock.
heigel was right.
my spelling is not