Hardware Makers Unhappy With Tablet Sales

rocketjam writes "According to The Register, hardware manufacturers, tired of continued low sales of the much-hyped tablet PC, are beginning to speak out, complaining that Microsoft has not marketed the platform enough and has over-priced licenses for its Windows XP Tablet Edition. The predicted demand for the devices has not materialized; faced with the tablet's premium pricing, consumers have continued to opt for lower-priced notebooks."

Comments

ever tried to use one for serious work....?

[passthecrackpipe]

If you have ever tried to use a tablet, you will probably come to the same conclusion we have. They suck as a form-factor. They are undoubtedly cool, but in the long run, they really don't let you do any serious work.

I have worked with both the Fujitsu-Siemens as well as the Compaq tablets, have run Linux as well as Windows on both, and they simply get in between yourself and serious work.

The interface requires too much attention of the user, and the handwriting recognition, while pretty good on Windows, also requires too much attention. On Linux you would have to use some palm-type strok business, or even better, the excellent Dasher application.

Besides specialist applications, such as in hospitals for example, the form factor only really comes into its own during meetings, but it simply does not (yet) offer the simplicity of the two primary office tools: The humble pen and paper.

This is not a marketing or cost issue, it is a form-factor issue. They are cool, but all our demo and test models have their novelty worn off, and are currently going unused. At least we did not pay for them.....

Re:ever tried to use one for serious work....?

[Davak]

Even in the hospital setting, they are not all that great yet.

Several different physicians I know have tried the tablet form... only to switch back to a PDA or notebook.

The tablet seems perfect; however, the problem in medicine is the problem everywhere else... input. In increasing amounts history/physicals, progress notes, clinic visits, and orders are being inputted directly into the system by typing. The other predominate way is by dictation... which allows somebody else to type it into the system.

Tablet PCs do not speed up this process in any way. It's still quicker to type or dictate, than to use this format.

Many physicians use PDAs for all the same reasons most geeks use PDAs... however, very few of the reasons are related to medicine. Every medical student knows that a PDA allows for a quick reference on rounds to spice up one's knowledge. The tablet would allow the same info... in just a larger format.

Anyway, we docs wanted to love the tablet... it's just not practical enough... yet.

Re:ever tried to use one for serious work....?

[yog]

The tablet as currently conceived by Microsoft and its hardware partners is not much of an innovation. What would be truly innovative would be simply to add touch screens to laptops. I don't know how many times I've watched a computer neophyte look at a dialogue box with a big, fat "OK" button at the bottom and not have the slightest notion what to do.

On the other hand, the Palm, followed by WinCE/PPC clones, achieved tablet PC status years ago and is the true innovator in this area.

Consider how far the laptop/desktop family is from being a true appliance, and how close the Palmtop family is.

To use a laptop, you must do the following steps:

- open the clamshell, locate the little power button and turn it on.

- watch as it comes to life; little LEDs light up, and after a minute or so you see the Windows splash screen.

- Wait until you see either a login screen or the actual desktop (depends on versions of Windows, how configured, etc.)

- Wait another minute or so while all the little proggies in the System Tray initialize and load. Watch Yahoo Messenger announce, irrelevantly, that it is logging you in.

- If you were savvy enough to understand "hybernation", you may have skipped a couple of these steps, but why should a user have to know the difference between hybernating and shutting down?

- Optionally, see one or two "Windows Update" messages pop up that you don't understand and aren't interested in.

- Now, find the application you are seeking--typically, your word processor, spreadsheet, PIM, or browser. It may be represented by a little icon among a sea of icons on the desktop, since you don't know anything about folders and other tricks to keep things clean. Or, it may be hidden somewhere deep in the Start menu; for example, Start->Programs->Adobe->Acrobat->Reade r (or something like that).

- Watch the application's splash screen announce its existence. Then, the application comes up. Now, at last, you can get to work, though you must play by the rules of the application.

- When you are done working, you can't simply close the computer; you must "save your work", a task which neophytes do not understand. You don't need to "save your work" when you turn off your television; it remembers what channel you were on last time. Yet, you must do this mysterious thing with your wordpro/spreadsheet or else you will "lose your work", something your long-suffering computer literate friends will angrily scold you about.

- Now, you shut down the system, either by Start->Shutdown->Turn off Computer, or by pressing power switch (in recent hardware and Windows versions) or by closing the clamshell (in recent hardware).

With the Palm/PPC, your main obstacle is finding your app amongst the icons. Chances are, you're using one of the apps bound to a hardware button anyway; just press Calendar, the thing pops on and poof! you're looking at today's schedule. No fuss, no muss. Just point at the thing you want, start writing on it, etc.

I believe the so-called Tablet PC will go away soon and we will, one hopes, see what little innovations it did possess finding their way into conventional laptops where they belong, minus Microsoft's hefty royalty overhead.

Total cost difference is $200

[leerpm]

It says the total cost difference between a tablet and comparable notebook is about $200. Of that amount only $30-$60 is due to hardware, the rest is the extra software licensing cost. That is a $140-$170 premium for Windows XP Tablet Edition. To me, for a machine that costs a few thousand, even a $200 difference does not seem that much. Or maybe people just haven't gotten used to the technology enough to make it a worthwhile purchase yet?

It is sad, we have arrived in a day and age where it seems as though every new technology that comes around the block needs to make it big in the first couple years , or it is considered a failure. Real improvements in productivity don't happen that way. They can take many years before the returns are actually realized. The people who use the technology don't learn it overnight. In fact, it is only now that many companies are finally starting to see a decent return on their investments in technology in the late 1990's.

I still don't get it.

[Chess_the_cat]

If you want to do serious work, you'd want a notebook. If you just want to jot down some notes or a phone number, you'd want a pen and paper or maybe a PDA. What is the point of this?

Friend: Let me give you my new number. Got a pen?
Me: Uh, hang on a sec. Let me get out my tablet. Just have to boot it up here...just a minute more. Okay. I've got to open Outlook... New contact...new number. Damn, it's not recognizing my handwriting. Wait, wait. Okay. Done. Now let me give you my number.
Friend: *writes it on back of hand with a pen that costs a quarter, never needs to be recharged, and fits in a shirt pocket*