Slashdot Mirror
Getting Touchy-Feely With Tablet PCs
donnacha writes "Yahoo News are currently running a story, Tablet PCs gaining momentum, describing a renewed enthusiam among computer manufacturers for Tablet PCs, in the face of skeptics who are, apparently, abounding. The skeptics insist, between bounds, that Joe Public just won't pay the extra $150 that touch screens add. Having spent much time lusting over Wacom's
$3,500 Cintiq 18sx, a combined graphics tablet / 18" LCD screen and one of the few pieces of hardware that I would consider starting a family with, I beg to differ. Combined Graphic Tablets/LCD screens are a dream come true for artists and the rise of the Tablet PC might be exactly what's needed to drag that magical match down to reasonable, commodity-level pricing. Question is, will the screens used come anywhere near the Cintiq's 512 levels of pressure sensitivity?"
I just heard some sad news on talk radio - Horror/Sci Fi writer Stephen King was found dead in his Maine home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon. He will be missed :(
Linux likes to be touched all the time
$ touch 121522052002 tux.gz
And he likes to be touched too! go on touch it, you KNOW you want to!
Petroleum jelly
soothes dry skin and lips
Elida faberge ltd(supplier)
UK freepost
admail 1000
london
SW1A 2XX
Freephone 0800591720
I R00z j00!!!!!
This is a first post, hence it's pis being higher than all other posts currently on slashdot.
So go fuck youself you piece of human fecal matter.
A professor at the University of Mississippi is giving a lecture on the supernatural. To get a feel for his audience, he asks: "How many people here believe in ghosts?" About 90 students raise their hands.
"Well, that's a good start. Out of those of you who believe in ghosts, do any of you think you've ever seen a ghost?" About 40 students raise their hands.
"That's really good. Has anyone here ever talked to a ghost?" 15 students raise their hands.
"That's great. Has anyone here ever touched a ghost?" 3 students raise their hands.
"That's fantastic. But let me ask you one question
further... Have any of you ever made love to a ghost?"
One student way in the back raises his hand.
The professor is astonished and says, "Son, all the years I've been giving this lecture, no one has ever claimed to have slept with a ghost. You've got to come up here and tell us about your experience."
The redneck student replies with a nod and a grin, and begins to make his way up to the podium. The professor says, "Well, tell us what it's like to have sex with a ghost."
The student replies, "Ghost?!? From ah-way back there ah thought yuh said "goatse"!
AC RuLz The DAy
AC Homepage:
Destroy all CLiTs
1. Have you missed classes or work because of goatse?
2. Do you have trouble refusing goatse?
3. Do you need goatse in order to have fun at a party?
4. Do you use goatse to build up your self-confidence?
5. Do you use goatse to help you relax?
6. Have you tried to give up goatse and failed?
7. Do you crave goatse as soon as you wake up?
8. Do you get into trouble because of goatse?
9. Do you crave goatse at a definite time daily?
10. Do you lie to others about how often you partake in goatse?
11. Have you gotten into financial difficulties because of goatse?
12. Do you often wish people would just mind their own business about you and goatse?
Remember, there are people who can help you control goatse, instead of goatse controlling you.
I R00z j00!!!!!
One day while I was surfin' round the internet
I came upon I sight I know I won't forget
A naked man with anus stretched there was no doubt
That he had nearly turned his colon inside out!
And I said GO!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Goatse be good!
I know that when he started with his streching ways
That other people must have showed him much dismay
But he paid them no mind and kept on streching his ass
And now he is a hero to the public mass!
So I say GO!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Goatse be good!
So take a lesson all of you both near and far
Be like the man whose rectum shines forth like a star
If he can stretch his ass like that you can't deny
There's no limit to what you can do if you just try!
And I say GO!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Goatse be good!
So when the clouds of gloom are gath'rin round your head
And you think you might be better off if you were dead
Oh when the bombs of stress are burstin' in your brain
And you feel just like a ship tossed in a hurricaine,
Just think about the man whose anus gapes so wide,
And you'll find a source of power hidden deep inside!
And you'll say GO!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go!
Go goatse go, go, go!
Goatse be good!
Some day you are the statue
Home Page
Would you like to set your Home Page to 'http://www.megago.com/go/
CLICK
YES
TO
CONTINUE
Yes No
by reading this comment you have agreed to donate all your worldly collections of porn links (and porn)to me. email the-cheese-king@excite.com with them, or post them here.
no goatse please, ive already got that one.
I R00z j00!!!!!
god this site is a turd.
Is this true? Is there a confirmation story on the net somewhere?
some day you are the lampost
I R00z j00!!!!!
Hey AOL USERS!
AOL 7.0 is here and its alot more fun and a whole easier to use! To download the newer edition please click this button!
Before they hit the Wall! Useless piece of Techno-Junk!!!
At time of posting there was only one comment moderated above 0. This mean that this article has been trolled!
Hey AOL USERS!
AOL 7.0 is here and its alot more fun and a whole easier to use! To download the newer edition please click this button!
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NOW i can post!
LUNIX IS FOR LOSERS!!!!!
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
I R00z j00!!!!!
Please download the sore code and wait about 2 days for it to compile. Its a lot less fun and a whole lot harder to use! To download it please go to goatse.cx and kiss the picture!
Windows 98 won't work ethier!
This is a warning, don't put potatoes in computers! Or your woody!
Enjoy the latest AOL version and ignore the troll.
It would be good to have the hard and soft copies in the same place, easier to look at.
Mind you I wouldn't mind a 5' x 3.x' touch screen!
So much to do, so little bandwidth.
--
Try Mozilla
As I understand it, these are being aimed at execs who dont want to learn to type, or some crap like that. In other words, handwriting recognition and quick scribbled diagrams, not artwork requiring much sensitivity. Blech.
This space available.
I'd like a tablet pc, or that groovy Wacom thing, but then again, I like to draw. For real work I still use a keyboard. Why? Because a semi trained typist is going to be able to type faster than they can write. One button per letter, versus a few strokes for a letter. Typing 25 words per minute is nothing, now write 25 words a minute. Just thinking about it makes my hand cramp. I have to side with the skeptics on this one.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
> Yahoo News are currently running a story, Tablet
> PCs gaining momentum, describing a renewed
> enthusiam among computer manufacturers for Tablet
> PCs, in the face of skeptics who are, apparently,
> abounding.
Not quite. The article mentions that Fujitsu is having a go at it, and implies that they'll be using Microsoft's new "Tablet-aware" Windows XP.
But the article doesn't claim that sales are up, or that anyone is making any money on these things. The only pundits seem to be those who are marketing product.
This does indicate a gathering of force behind the tablet PC concept, regardless of whether or not that concept is a worthwhile or whether it will ever find a substantial market. In submitting this story to Slashdot, I wanted to suggest that a certain niche of the market, digital artists, would actually find tablet PCs extremely attractive but only if the touch screens are as sensitive as Wacom's existing graphics tablets.
One day quite a few months ago I was over at a friends house,
and boy is he a horny bastard, whenever i sleep over at his house
me and him end up fucking all night, and if we don't, I would always
wake up with spew all over my chest and ass. So anyway, he plays with
his dogs big steamy cock so his dog learned to be horny as well
so I told my friend that I needed a shower, so I go up to his bathroom
and undress. His dog is always in the bathroom, lying down or sleeping
so I reach down to get some soap, but I drop it, so i get down on all
fours to pick it up on a count of it fell behind the toilet, so i get down,
and i feel something large poking at my asshole, and i realize that its
the dogs nose sniffing, so i push him away, but he comes back and starts
to lick, it feels very good, i start to make noises cuz hes back there
working my penis with his tounge, so I become more submissive and open my
legs, that was a mistake because he got up and worked my anus, at first it
was nasty but after a few seconds it felt good, very very good, He kept
pumping and pumping with his big huge swollen knot, all I could feel was
his big fucking club and the hot cum drippping down my leg. He cummed
about 4 times, I myself had two orgasms, after he was done he backed out of
me and I licked his steaming cock clean, then to my surprise, he stuck
his dick inside me again but he didn't pump he just began to urinate
and boy did it feel good, I guess he was marking his terrority,
kind of like saying now I'm his bitch or something, I really didn't
care, I was having too much fun, At that point the masters owner
walked in, because he had planned before to come in the bathroom and
fuck me while I showered, he started to laugh and pulled out his dick
he came at me and started working my thick, girlish ass, the dog was
sort of jealous so he came and stuck his cock in my mouth, i realized
that I was being gang banged by a horny pervert and his dog! But I
loved it! The three of us fucked for a few hours, after that my dick
stayed hard for two hours, his parents found out and had my parents
send me to camp, but thats another story..............
If you liked this story please send feedback to jon@slashdot.org
angry dragon: Immediately after you blow your load in a girls mouth, smack the back of her head and make it come out her nose. When she gets up she'll look like an angry dragon.
bronco: You start by going doggy style and then just when she is really enjoying it, you grab her tits as tight as possible and yell another girls name. This gives you the feeling of riding a wild bronco as she desperately tries to buck you off.
cleveland steamer: The act of leaving a shit stain on the rib cage of a woman while receiving penile pleasure from friction between the mammaries.
club sped: Gang banging a retard. For those idiots out there, sped come from special ed, you do the math. cold lunchThe act of vomiting directly onto some chick's head while she's performing fellatio.
couch bombing: When you fill a small Ziploc sandwich bag with Crisco (or your favorite lubrication) and place it between the cushions on the couch. You then proceed to fuck the couch as if it were a woman...but no need to buy it dinner first.
coyote: This occurs when you wake up in the room of a nasty wombat and you know you've got to give her the slip. However, you realize that your arm is wrapped around her. Therefore you must gnaw off your own arm to get out of the situation. Can be very painful.
dirty river: You give a bitch the most painful anal sex of her life and then ask her to turn around. Just as she turns you surprise her with a low blow, a punch to her lower stomach as hard as you can. Once you land the blow she will shit uncontrollably, shit will flow from her worn out asshole like a dirty fucking river. Then just sit back and enjoy the show.
dirty sanchez: A time honored event in which while laying the bone doggie style, you insert your finger into her asshole. You then pull it out and wipe it across her upper lip leaving a thin shit mustache. This makes her look like someone whose name is Dirty Sanchez.
dog in a bathtub: This is a proper name for when you attempt to insert your nuts into a girl's ass. It is so named because it can be just as hard as keeping a dog in the tub while giving it a bath.
donkey punch: Banging a girl doggy style and then moments before you cum, you stick your dick in her ass, and then punch her in the back of the neck. The blow to the neck will stun the muscles in the female's ass, which will constrict the penis and give you a tremendous orgasmic experience when you ejaculate.
dutch oven: Entrapping an unsuspecting sleeping partner in a world of ass odor by farting under the covers and pulling them over her head (and yours as well if you're into that sort of thing).
flying camel: A personal favorite. As she is lying on her back and you are hammering her from your knees. You very carefully move forward and prop yourself (without using your arms) on your dick while it is still inserted in her vagina. You then proceed to flap your arms and let out a long shrieking howl much like a flying camel. Strictly a classy move.
hot lunch: The result of defecating a tube of shit directly into a girl's mouth.
mung: Obtain a female that has been dead for 2-3 days (the time period since death is important). Then place your mouth just outside her vaginal opening. Have a friend jump on her stomach, and try to catch as much stuff that comes out as you can in your mouth.
pearl necklace: Well known. Whenever you cum on the neck/cleavage area of a girl - it takes on the look of beautiful jewelry. Fuck that diamonds are forever shit.
rear admiral: An absolute blast. When getting a chick from behind (while both partners standing), make sure you don't let her grab on to anything when she is bent over. Then, drive you hips into her backside so that you end up pushing her forwards. The goal is to push her into a wall or table. It's almost as much fun watching her face hit the floor. You rise to Admiral status when you can bang her around the room without crashing into anything and not using your hands to grab onto her hips.
relative humidity: That first drop of sweat that rolls off your balls and down the crack of your sister's ass while you fuck her.
sandbag: Under an assumed name in a tropical region, you meet a young hottie and engage in the well-known cliché of sex on the beach. Just before insertion, remove the rubber (without getting caught of course), and proceed to bang away until you blow your load, without pulling out. As you dismount and prepare for departure, grab a handful of sand, throw it in her eyes, and run away laughing hysterically while leaving her blinded, butt-necked, and knocked up. Especially lots of fun when accomplished during the spring break season.
shocker: When you insert your index and middle fingers in the woman's vagina and pinky in her anus. After giving her a few good minutes of double duty finger banging, pull your fingers out and give your index and middle finger a quick sniff and pinky a good sucking, all in one smooth motion.(a.k.a. Smoking the Pinky.)
snowball: Ah yes, every man's worst nightmare, the dreaded snowball. This happens when a girl blows you and spits the jizz in your mouth. Another definition is when a girl blows some other guy, and then gives you a hot sloppy kiss with some of that guy's fresh jizz still in her mouth. With all those dirty broads out there, odds are it has happened to you. Just ask your friends if it has, cause they probably already know and have been laughing their asses off at you.
stranger: Sitting on your hand until it falls asleep and then jerking off. Eliciting the feeling of a hand job from someone else.
tea bag: To perform the tea bag, have the girl lay flat on her back. Then you squat over her with your hands on your knees, and gently dip your nut sac in and out of her mouth in a motion similar to performing some kinda fucked up yoga exercise.
tossing salad: A common prison act where one person basically chows asshole with the help of whatever condiments are available. (i.e. jelly, syrup, olive oil, etc.) I'm never going to prison.
upper deck: Next time you're at the house of someone you hate, take a wicked shit in the top part of the toilet. They'll go insane trying to figure out where that stench is coming from.
I'm surprised this even got posted, considering 99% of tablet PCs will be running Windows XP Tablet and not Linux.
Aw, fuck it. Let's go bowling. - The Big Lebowski
Playing Quake3 on touch screen can be classified as a voodoo magic.
There's also the fact that Transmeta seem to be making progress in this area, lending the whole tablet concept Torvalds-powered street cred.
So, how long before everything is done on wirelessly connected notepad-shaped flat touch screens?
Tablet PCs are usefull for artists, artists, and only artists. I use mine for automotive maintenance(OBD 2), and I tried programmming at school with it. It simply drew way too much attention, and without a real keyboard I was typing as slow as my fellow classmates would have on a real keyboard.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
I think a tablet would be great for sales people. Instead of having everyone stare at a lap top screen, rotating it back and forth, a tablet makes much more sense.
A tablet does not put up a "wall" between the client and the sales person like a laptop screen does. A tablet would be very nice for me to take to normal meetings. A Tablet could not replace by Laptop for a few reasons, and it doesn't make sense to have two machines like that, so I guess the tablet is out for me.
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
Well, just cause Linus works there doesn't mean that Transmeta necessarily has anything to do with Linux.
;)
Realize all the work that Microsoft has been putting into XP Tablet for months behind the scenes. It needs handwriting recognition software, too, which MS claims to have "the best in the world." Also, realize that applications have to be built with the inking/tablet API. MS has received partnerships with lots of companies like Adobe and Autodesk to design applications for this.
People dog Windows for having a graphical-only mode, but I think Linux's console-based roots combined with that crap called X Window System isn't good enough for tablet PCs. I think a Linux Consortium needs to be founded to design a new GUI (and NO I don't mean Window Manager) from the ground up.
Hey, if little old Apple coulda done it with Aqua, don't you think all the Linux programmers could do it? Oh wait, why not just run OSX?
Aw, fuck it. Let's go bowling. - The Big Lebowski
I work for a company that makes low cost military flight simulators for prototyping of new equipment. Often we will use touch screen monitors to mock up instrument displays.
In terms of rapid prototyping, it is quite easy to modify a display, and the touch screens allow for interaction with the various knobs and dials.
It is mostly appropriate for displays that do not normally allow for that much interaction, as the pilot is missing the tactile cues that are present with a physical knob, and so the touch screen requires more attention and is more difficult to use than a physical knob.
One problem with working with touch screens is that after a while you tend to expect all LCDs to be touch screens and end up poking them inappropriately.
Would be in the lounge/sitting room. It wouldn't clutter, or look out of place like a desktop or laptop.
You could use it to surf the web, or to control your Autiotron MP3 player. I want one!
--- My dad's political betting
It's good to know this tablet can measure pressure -- but it would be nice if touch screens recognized multiple SIMULTANEOUS points of contact. All the touchscreens I've 'touched' only function as a type of mouse (i.e. use a single contact point to define single pointer location). If screens could measure touch points across the entire screen simultaneously, they could be used to select text quickly (think of a 'pick' action), recognize gestures ('twisting' an on-screen knob), or even recognize the *shape* of your hand (the coolest yet most insecure biometric authentication ever! :-). Seriously though, the age of the mouse seems to passing and touch screens should provide more than just a single 'mouse-point' reading.
PS: From what I gather, resistive touch screens look more promising than capacitive ones... This page explains why
No a tablet is not good for people who use the keyboard all the time (ie. coders) and no a tablet might not be very useful for artists and yes, some things might be done different (ie. slower) than how its done as we speak.
But by golly I'm a sucker for a TabletPC. Of all the uses I've found for my computer very few of them make me appreciate that I can't take my computing into the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the couch, my friends places, a café or whereever I may please. The TabletPC will offer a !much! more casual way of computing.
What I think is important to recognize is that the TabletPC is not a computercentric device - that is, its applications and usage is an entirely different framework than that of coding, digital imagery and the likes. It's main aplicability are topics beyond the computer itself. Things that has to do with the world we live in and the things we do every day - not things that has to do with keeping a computer running. We use other computers for that - ones that are tailered more specifically to this application.
Further, I've seen hybrids of desktop / Tablet PC's that make the best of both worlds: dock the tablet and you've got a full fledged destop pc. Pick up the display and you've got a Tablet PC.
My two mere cents anyhoo
naah sig schmig
I have seen the future, and this is it.
Kevin Moriarty
Apple has had good, working handwriting recognition technology ever since the Newton 130 or 2000 or so in 1996.
(Yes, the first newtons had laughable handwriting recognition at first. But by the time that the newton was at the end of its life cycle, it was actually a good, worthwhile, usable product, one that technology is only just now catching up with. People don't remember that the year Windows 95 came out, NewtonOS v2.0 won the "Best New Operating System" award at comdex.. the problem was that Apple released the Newton prematurely, and then hyped it endlessly. Then a few years later, in *1996*, when the thing was actually FIXED, they did absolutely nothing to promote it. So the general public, unless they read "MacWorld" cover to cover, didn't know the Newton then worked-- they just remembered the beginning of the Newton's cycle, when Apple released it in a blitz of hype, and every journalist in the world picked it up, tried it out, and reported, hey, guess what, this thing doesn't WORK.)
Apple will be putting handwriting recognition back into the OS with mac os 10.2. But it is too late-- by the time that 10.2 is released, MS will have their handwriting-recognition-enabled WinXP Tablet Edition *preinstalled on tablet PCs being shipped in stores*. Before 10.2 is released, WinXP Tablet Beta will be in the hands of consumers. Although Apple has had a great handwriting recognition tech for years, MS will actually be releasing the tech first-- and when they do, it will be in a much cooler form, namely tablet laptops. Something apple currently has no analogue for at all. (iWalk? What's that? Is that like the segway?)
Just think what apple could have done: they didn't have the funds or resources to continue developing the Newton in 1997. However, they could have sold/licensed some of that technology to Wacom, and worked with them on getting some kind of simple, early version of this Cintiq thing (which, by the way, is absolutely the coolest tech toy i've seen in ages) created-- then put the newton handwriting recognition stuff into the Mac OS. They would have had an advantage for *quite* awhile in that you would have something absolutely unique for the Mac OS-- Wacom would surely release windows drivers for their tablet/monitor, but 1) it would take a really long time for MS to play catch-up and get some kind of workable handwriting recognition feature, not counting Graffiti (handwriting recognition not being a useful feature, but definitely an eye-catching one to consumers), and 2) this was back when the Mac OS had multiple monitor support, and Windows didn't to speak of. (Mac OS has had seamless multiple monitor support for a long time; Windows didn't in any functional form until Windows 98, and even for awhile after that, it was buggy).
Think about all that could have done for Apple-- even though the monitor might have been prohibhitively hyperexpensive outside of its designated "niche market", given the LCD tech of the day, Apple could have been publicly seen as doing something truly revolutionary and new at a time they were troubled. Instead, Apple just gave off the impression that year of falling apart at the seams. An image problem which of course didn't help sales. Instead, though, MS is going to be the one to first take advantage of this technology, and Apple will be playing catch-up in a field they pioneered.
Typical-- the entire computing world, including apple, is just now catching up with where Apple was six years ago. Once again, Apple is far ahead of Microsoft in terms of getting something working & usable, and far, far behind microsoft in terms of actually getting their technology into the hands of consumers. I'm tired of this being the way the computing world works.
Now i can't wait to see what happens when the Windows world discovers the "voice command" useless gimmick.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
"...one of the few pieces of hardware that I would consider starting a family with..."
/. any more. Touch-screen/graphics tablets just don't arouse those sort of feelings for me.
I don't think I am nearly geeky enough for
I want a tablet PC simply to "passively" consume information. No need for fast/complex input.
To watch videos, listen to music, look at pictures, read comics/manga, read texts, surf the net.
The wireless lan would be perfect to simple phone home to my stationary PC fuctioning as a large server for the information i want, or fill the tablet PC hard drive up if I am going out of range of the wireless.
A tablet PC would be perfect to combine the versatility of a PC with basically the portability of a book (I want mine slightly smaller than most tablet pcs i seen), but a book with images and video too, unlike the very limited ebook readers out on the market now.
They do need to work on that battery life though.
Tablet PCs make good near-wearable computers (i.e. see this webcam).
Not having to deal with the weight and required protection of a keyboard is a big win. You can wrap them up in neoprene with a see-through thin plastic window and use a stylus to interact with the screen.
These things are going to become the interface to your smart home. A touchscreen gui for your a/v system, smart fridge, dishwasher, lights, etc. It's happening now with companies like Crestron and AMX, and Microsoft is coming up with something similar
I have yet to fathom why all of the computer manufcaturers seem insistent that tablet PC's are the way of the future. A company I worked for had a bunch of table PC's that were supposed to be sold as part of wireless Internet services, and they were horrible? I mean technologically, they were sort of impressive, but the actual usability of the beasts was just awful compared to a laptop. Furthermore, the price of one of these beasts was roughly double the price of a midrange laptop.
It's sort of funny how blind they are to the reality of this market. Think about this for just a moment. Look at the market for hand held PDA devices. A couple years ago did any of them have keyboards? Nope. Now, suddenly all of them are getting keyboards because, simply, it's much easier to enter information on a keyboard. They all seem to be convinced that entering data using handwriting is so natural and easy but I'm sure I'm not the only one who. after years of incessant typing, can barely write in cursive anymore without serious concentration.
The only real advantage that there is to the table design is that you can carry it around and use it without needing to sit down. That's somewhat useful in some places and it is only a necessary feature in very limited areas (medical use is about the only thing I can think of off the top of my head). If somebody could get a hybrid design together for only slightly more than a full blow laptop, then maybe it could work.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
This good be a great tool for people with severe CTS, or who would like to take an occasional break from typing and mousing so much.
I'd imagine it could also has other accesibility uses as well.
I'd also think that it could help improve productivity in certain situations. When I'm using a laptop, I usually try to use an external mouse. Personally I hate trackpads, and the eraser heads rub my fingers raw after awhile. For confined spaces (e.g., airplanes), being able to use a stylus or my finger instead of a mouse would be pretty useful.
At the very least, I could hand the stylus to people who come over to my laptop to collaborate. That way, they can point at things with the stylus instead of putting their grubby fingerprints all over my LCD.
You forgot another major feature that Linux is missing that is needed on these highly portable platforms. Power Management support. No I am not talking shitty APM I am talking about ACPI. Along with it you get some cool configuration ability.
Silly Rabbit...Sig's are for kids.
But as Apple found out, demand is the key. The Palm OS succeeded for a variety of reasons, but my feeling is that it triumphed over the Newton primarily due to two things:
1) Newton's early, much-huballooed release that didn't live up to expectations
and
2) The form factor of the original Palm Pilot. The Palm devices were and are smaller. They fit in a pocket or a purse or an attache. They fit the paradigm people were used to. The Newton's bulk simply looked and felt clunky and awkward to many people.
Now Microsoft is going to ship their tablet technology soon, but aside from geeks on Slashdot, there just is no hue and cry for handwriting recognition technology. The Tablet PC is a cool technology in search of a real-world application.
For example, look at the size of a Tablet PC. Sure, it might be spiffy for surfing the Web while you're sitting on your couch, but honestly, will most people replace their laptops with Tablets just so they can do this? With laptops getting so thin and light, there isn't much discernable difference between a Tablet PC and a laptop in terms of bulk and size.
As has been mentioned before by others, typing is inherently faster and less of a strain than writing by hand. It's simply a more efficient means of turning thoughts into data. With speech recognition coming into its own on laptops, I don't see how the Tablet PC's handwriting recognition will seem in any way superior to consumers.
The gap in time between XP's handwriting recognition and OS X 10.2's release will be minimal, but even so, I doubt there will be a groundswell of consumer excitement about the technology.
Apple learned its lesson the first time around - whatever they do with handwriting recognition, my guess is they have some real-world applications in mind for specifically-defined markets.
Just because Apple has been slow to market with their handwriting recognition products doesn't mean they have been foolish all these years. In business you have to pick and choose your battles, and I think Apple has been smart not to take up the cause of handwriting recognition until the time is right.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
whats really interesting about this tablet is the statement: "Textured surface for natural pen-on-paper feel"
Thats really cool - because you know anytime you try to sign your name on those little lcd's that UPS and some cash registers have - you can never make an acurate signature due to the fat that the plastic on plastic slides all overthe place and you dont get the friction of pen on paper which gives you enough feedback for you to be able to acurately control the path of the tip of the pen.
This problem is severely overlooked.
sonicblue seems to be dumping them cheap ($599 from the original price ~$3000). I picked one up, it's running Midori linux on a transmeta 400 mhz chip, has 128 megs of ram, a 5 gig disk, orinoco 802.11, USB, and IR.
You'll need a USB keyboard to do anything major on it, but it's a slick little device
I would love a Tablet PC for surfing the web and reading some things while I'm sitting at a table at my local Starbucks or other cafe. The other day, I printed out the main page of /. just as a printer test at work, and brought it with me on my lunch break at Starbucks yesterday, along with my newspaper, and the "Version Fatigue" story, which I printed elsewhere as a test (rather practical things, than a stupid Windows Test Page). I enjoyed my printouts over a latte, and wished that I could have read other sections, and so on. I would not want to try to type on a tablet PC, but if it was light, and could be held in one hand easily, like I did my printouts, I would be quite pleased. I have a Zaurus, but the screen is still a bit too small for comfortable reading of a large page.
One thing everyone misses about why these will be useful is notetaking for engineers. Have you ever tried taking notes with a keyboard in an engineering class? Fuck no. I use a pen-and-paper notebook, but I'd rather have it all digitized.
I like the idea of a Tablet PC type device for reading books and webpages with. When I read a book, it is usually sprawled on a couch or bed.
A laptop doesn't yet cut it for this as the keyboard is definitely in the way. Real Good Handwriting Recognition (TM) is the killer app for a note taking device (admittedly I'm not sure whether it should be tablet sized or plam sized) as pen input allows you to quickly make diagrams. Keyboards suck for diagrams, I gave up on the laptop for taking notes in presentations/meetings because switching to the paper for diagrams was less efficient than using the paper for everything.
If we ever want a paper-reduced (or paper-less) life/office environment there are 3 key requirements:
1) easy form factor for reading
2) easy text AND diagram input
3) data authentication/identification and archival nature at least as good as paper
Tablet PC's and really good handwriting recognition are steps to addressing the first 2 factors.
Tablet PCs are the natural evolution of the Ultraportable laptop, IMO.
.02
I'm all for being able reach in my bag, resume from suspend-to-disk, load up mapquest and find that "pizza place in the neighborhood". The combination of wireless broadband and "slate-type" devices is part of my recurring "Geektopia Paradise" fantasies that I seen to be having all the time.
I, for one, have used my VAIO SuperSlim notebook(armed with our friend, 802.11b) to do everthing from "WarWalking" (scanning for wild 802's on foot) to ordering chinese food (all of this, without giving any money to Starbuck's).
Given the popularity of PDAs and Laptop PCs in our culture, I think that the tablet concept will be well-recieved by a pretty large cross-section of consumers, ranging from soccer moms (read a novel, order dinner, eMail the hubby...all on the sideline's of Junior's scrimmage match), to the hardest of the hardcore geek (dude, have you checked out my go-everywhere Linux tablet with built in camera and GPS module that updates my webcam AND coordinates?).
Just my
I whole heartedly agree. The state-of-the-art in GUI or human computer interface technologies has stalled in my opinion--at least commercially.
What we need is soem more gesture based computing (as seen in Minority Report) along with much more intutive data storage and retrival based on context and time (maybe like the Brain).
I find that I often recall information based on its proxmity and relationship to other information. For example, sometimes I can't recall an exact web site I visited, but I can remember what other web sites I saw around the same time I was visiting it. That information along with a history allows me to find what I was looking for.
Also, my email repository is a great history of infomration and conversations that I often refernce. I find that I don't even like to save specific information into files any longer, but just leave it in the email to be recalled (by searching) later.
What would be cool is if we never explicity saved anything, but everything we did was archived automatically. After some preset period of time, old stuff could be moved to offline storage or erased based on some defined attributes. Of course, you could go into the archives and mark some stream or bits of information as very important and not to be erased.
I don't know, I guess I'm rambeling, but I do feel that much more humanistic interfaces to computers are possible, and possible today, we just have to be open to try them.
It's like with typing, they made QWERTY to cripple people because the old typewriters couldn't handle the speed at which they typed. Well, that's not an issue anymore, but are we abandoning QWERTY? NO! Why not? We should so that we can type faster now.
It's the same with interfaces, this whole mouse, GUI, folder file storage, helped us deal with technology that wasn't cabable of more. Now, processing, storage, and memory are so much cheaper... we could be doing much more.
Oh well...
I don't agree with your assumption that it is too late at all.
I think of it more like the MP3 market - Apple simply will wait until they can release a usable, well-thought out tablet. Even though I personally would have been happy to see a tablet iMac, I realize that appeals to a very small number of people in reality right now. A $400 tablet with a well thought out interface will simply destroy whatever weak version 1.0 (2.0, 3.0) tablet Microsoft might have by that point (at least on technical merits, who knows after the marketing factor is applied). And because it's based on OS X will be more appealing to the technical user as well!
Do you want the sucky tablet that keeps crashing and trying to talk to Microsoft every day, or would you prefer the tablet that has a real unix shell and can edit movies via iMovie and the firewire connection (Talk about a killer app, portable video editing platform!!).
My ideal tablet - an Apple tablet with 15" touch screen, handwriting/optional voice recognition, firewire, USB, Airport card, and a 40GB ram disk onboard.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Many of the data entry tasks that nurses do can be done with well-designed checkboxes and pull down menus that are easily performed on a Tablet PC. The few bits of text they do enter are in a sort of shorthand that they can enter just as quickly via handwriting as they could by going to find the nearest terminal with a keyboard. Doctors don't type anyway, they dictate. So all they'd need would be a built-in, or conveniently attachable microphone. All of these things can potentially result in a higher standard of care for the patient and savings for the care provider.
There are so many applications that are too complicated for little pocket devices, but for which "real" computers, even laptops, are too clumsy and inconvenient. Casual reading, browsing a museum web site. I guess most of them are recreational -- when you're trying to relax, you don't want to be tied to a lot bulky hardware, and you probably don't need to do a lot of complicated interactions.
Tablets are only a part of the solution. You also need networking that's secure, reliable, reasonably fast, and affordable. A sort of "last inches" problem.
People will need to do some text input with their tablets, and few will be satisifed with handwriting. It's doable (despite the fuckups with early Newtons) but as you point out, it's too slow. I expect there to be a lot of work on things like virtual keyboards., special kinds of electronic shorthand, and fancy one-handed input devices. Actually a lot of these things have been worked on for years, but haven't found a market yet.
Why are you lusting instead of buying? Could it be that the price is holding you back?
Who could use a tablet PC?
Anyone with a desktop pc could. Of course, they already have a desktop that's more suited to desktop work than a tablet PC would be.
Anyone with a laptop could. Of course, they already have a laptop and I personally would prefer a laptop to a tablet.
Anyone with a palm pilot/pocket-pc/zaurus/etc could. But the tablet PC is way bigger and bulkier and heavier and more fragile.
What's the benefit of a tablet? They run the same OS and the same software, so the only benefit is you get to write on the screen. Is this enough to add to your store of PC's? I don't think so.
So all in all, I can't see any benefit at all for the vast mojority of people.
They may displace a few laptops, but they're not going to grow the market.
Microsoft's fortune was built on the PC, and they keep trying to replicate it. They keep hoping to morph the PC into a new form factor that will suddenly explode the market and make them another fortune. Every device and OS they've put out for years has just been a dressed-up PC or PC peripheral.
However, it's not going to happen. PC's are now a mature industry. Pretty well everything that can be done with them has already been thought of.
As others have pointed out, the tablet PC is just a modern Apple Newton running MSWIndows. Or, alternatively, a large-factor Palm Pilot running MS WIndows.
It's not a revolutionary new device, and it's not going to generate revolutionary new profits.
Thats right, straight from the world of Nabisco clerks to the desk of an executive, fierce and fast and slighly refurbished tablets for under $300 and these execs can do things on them like they could 5 years ago. Hey like run project! Which they can't understand anyway. And cruise porn on their couch.
Gotta wonder about these tablets....the $3000 one will just be on ebay in 3 years for $300, they just don't upgrade and don't handle well. I just want a mini-monitor wall designed out of a bunch of Clie's ducktaped together. 5x5 Clie's makes a table PC--just get the screen driver going...actually that would be wild a Palm monitor wall...sad like Palm Art.
Gesture-based computing has a lot of intrigue for me, and while the stuff in Minority Report was pretty fake (gesture at a green screen, put in the rest later), it still looked like a lot of fun.
But I would go one further. I want an extremely sensitive camera that could tell where on a screen I was looking, and use that like a mouse cursor. If they have cameras that can identify you based on your eyes from 10 feet away, certainly they can tell where your eyes are focused on a screen with a few millimeters.
That, to me, is the ultimate in interfaces. Effective voice recognition would be great as well, but that's stalled too.
Wonder why.
Synergy is your friend
Testing submission.
My Canberra ANU Aikido site
Trouble is, I have what is sometimes regarded as a somewhat old-fashioned style of handwriting which (although I'm somewhat proud of it) tends to defeat most OCR software, and I can't see it working for me...
So do you think it'll be cool for some kiddie to come up with a routine that tracks the movement of your eyeballs over Britney Spears' cleavage?
Linux Jounral (Doc Searls column specificly) mentioned this conportable. You will have to look for the conportable, but it looks to be neat.
The screen is on an arm of sorts, that allows you to use it in several different configurations. It can look like a normal laptop, or you can extend the arm up, and look more a desktop with a flat screen, or flip the screen around and close it, and it becomes a tablet PC.
If it was something more than a way to drum up VC, I would be completely happy. As it is, it seems that they only have prototypes to use as bait for VC.
Guys, you're missing the point. These aren't machines aimed at keyboard jockeys. I have piles of paper jottings, notes etc. that I wish I could edit, alter and compile. Forget handwriting recognition - for me, the killer app is Microsoft Journal. It turns your PC into a real simulation of a paper pad crossed with a wordprocessing document. Being able to wordprocess your own handwriting and hand-annotate Word documents is very cool.
I had to present the Tablet PC idea (i.e. the new ones, running Windows XP Tablet Edition with all the correct software) to my sales department. Like you, they were sceptical. When I explained what it did, then the wireless networking and direct manipulation technologies (simple drag and drop file sharing from PC-to-PC) they understood it.
It solves a real problem, I think it's going to be a hit.
By the way, it's the sort of thing Apple should have done but can't because they just don't have the resources or vision any more.
Frontpath Progear LX
Linux version of the tablets. Back in stock
http://p01.com/u.d?mkQcV1_Ia1na2Iu=80