Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

WallsRSolid writes "Microsoft just finished a week-long series of lectures and demos at my university, and the product that really stole the show was the Tablet PC. I was in a room with probably 150 hardcore linux users, and it seemed to me that the demonstration just floored them (the entire lecture hall CHEERED a Microsoft product). I believe that Microsoft's own online hype literature is insufficient in describing just how powerful their Tablet concept is. A July preview, Acer's propaganda, a press release about their initial success, and a behind-the-scenes account (good article) of the enabling technology. Oh, and the input stylus is electromagnetic, not pressure-sensing, ANY document (not just MS) can be annotated, and the journal software is AMAZING in its power and flexibility."

Comments

Cheering for Microsoft? Nope...

[KeatonMill]

I doubt they cheered because it was Microsoft, but because it was a tablet PC. As the article says, people have been trying to make an effective tablet PC for years. Maybe Microsoft will *&@% it up, but at least now we know that it CAN be done, and maybe other companies will figure out how to do it as well. I hope

Credit Where it's Due

[Gleng]

I hate Microsoft not because of any moral high ground, but because of their shoddy products and suspect business practices.

If they fairly produce a product that is useful and works well -- standing on it's own merits, then I say good luck to them.

I must say though, I'll believe a good Microsoft product when I actually see it for myself. ;)

What's wrong with a keyboard?

[sitturat]

I don't know why people think a keyboard is such a bad thing. I can type much better than I can write, and I expect that goes for most PC users under the age of 50.

My laptop gives me amazing mobility. I can even use it without having a desk by putting it on my lap (hence the name LAPtop).

I just don't understand what is so revolutionary about the Tablet PC. Can someone please enlighten me?

Re:What's wrong with a keyboard?

[tswinzig]

I don't know why people think a keyboard is such a bad thing.

It's an extra piece of equipment to carry around, you have to sit down to use it adequately, and it requires two hands to operate at a reasonable speed (no chord keyboard rebuttals, please).

However, all that being said, there is nothing stopping keyboards from being integrated with tablet pc's that Microsoft is showing off. Some do have that as an option.

I can type much better than I can write

No one is saying you'd have to write EVERYTHING on a tablet PC! Read the articles about them. Go see a demo. That's not the point. The point is you CAN walk around with it like a notebook and make notes, do cool things standing up and moving around with a PC easily, then set it down on your desk and sync up with keyboard, mouse, etc.

I don't get it

[Sleestack]

Exactly how are these features beneficial?

I learned typing so that I didn't need to use such a painfully slow method as handwriting anymore. Why is everyone so delighted that your WPM is going down?

As far as speaking, I don't know about the rest of you, but voice processing is useless for me practically everywhere I use a computer: On the train, in meetings, and at my desk. Everytime I've heard someone use a Dragon speech product I almost immediately hear someone else asking them to turn it off because it's annoying.

Microsoft's mission

[rseuhs]

... seems to be to desperately try to put a x86 in place of every electronic device.

Just look at XBox: Big, loud, fragile, power-consuming, sold at 150$ loss - and still behind Gamecube and Playstation.

Now the same with Tablet-PC: Isn't it just an oversized PDA? The way I see it, it combines the disadvantages from PDA and Laptop: It's too heavy and big to casually carry it around in a pocket, battery lifetime is measured in hours like with a Laptop. - But it lacks a keyboard, many interfaces and connectors.

Why should anybody choose it over a Laptop? or a PDA?

What will they think of next

[niall2]

First Microsoft reinvented computing by giving us Windows 95 and now the tablet PC a little over eight years later in 2003. Brilliance.

First Apple reinvented computing by giving us the Macintosh in 1984 and now the Newton a little over eight years yater in 1993. Brilliance.

I guess the real question is when did PARC come up with all of this. 1978?

This is super-exciting!

[standards]

This is super exciting! Just a few questions!

Microsoft just finished a week-long series of lectures and demos at my university

What university?

the product that really stole the show was the Tablet PC. I was in a room with probably 150 hardcore linux users, and it seemed to me that the demonstration just floored them (the entire lecture hall CHEERED a Microsoft product).

What did they cheer for, other than nebulous "amazement?"

I believe that Microsoft's own online hype literature is insufficient in describing just how powerful their Tablet concept is.

What hype are you refering to, and exactly how is their "hype literature" insufficient?

Oh, and the input stylus is electromagnetic, not pressure-sensing

How is that better? Is an electromagnetic stylus a requirement of the Microsoft technology?

ANY document (not just MS) can be annotated

Can I annotate OpenOffice documents?

the journal software is AMAZING in its power and flexibility.

What exactly does it do that's powerful and flexible?

More details please! I don't feel the amazement yet - perhaps you could tell us all why we should be amazed! Then we'll love you!

They killed it, now they (try to) resurrect it

[blamanj]

In the late 80's a concept called "Pen Computing" was the Next Big Thing. Companies like Grid were building the hardware, and companies like Go were designing software that would be appropriate to the platform.

Along comes MS with vaporware called "Pen Windows" and the whole industry collapses because everyone wants to see what the 800 lb. gorilla is going to do. Naturally, attempting to kludge up an entirely new UI on top of Windows fails miserably, but not before everyone else runs out of money and the idea dies.

Of course, there were other issues, CPU performance, LCD cost, etc. but the technology was relegated to the Newton (and the subsequent PDA industry) where it has languished for 15 years.

Re:how long..

[thumperward]

I had that. Really fun figuring out what the problem was.

Incidentally, for the record, the amount of rabid, anti-MS garbage on this thread is quite staggering. As is the amount of moderation points that have been spent on making "I bet it crashes! LOL" posts +5 Funny.

- Chris

Re:Wondering what's a Tablet PC?

[GlenRaphael]

Microsoft is allowing people to use digital ink as a first class citizen in the computing world. It's a whole new way of looking at computing.

Bill Gates rolls out the "Tablet PC" concept every few years at his CES presentations, and it's always been a minor reinvention of the Apple Newton presented as if Microsoft had thought of it on their own. Reflowable "ink text" could be used almost everywhere on the Newton that you could use printed text. There are a few fun new features in Tablet PC but nothing I've seen justifies the "whole new way of looking at computing" rhetoric. However, even if the core ideas aren't original, they are still important. I'm glad somebody with deep pockets is reinventing the Newton Notepad concept because it was a really great way to take notes and Apple seems to have abandoned the technology.

Oh, and about that electromagnetic sensor: Early researchers in pen computing noticed that when peaple write on a large pad of paper they tend to rest the heel of their hand on it. This interferes with accurate touch-screen input and is why the AT&T Eo and the tablet-sized prototype Newton called "Bic" and other early attempts at large-screen recognition used electromagnetic input.