I don't know if you've noticed the new dualdisc and SACD releases that are starting to crop up now and again in cd stores, but it seems like we're going to start seeing a LOT more music releases that take advantage of surround sound, especially since they've finally found a backwards-compatible format...
True, but you still have to avoid the issue that plagues most Bose systems- Too many little speakers plus a subwoofer doesn't equal good sound. You'll still need at least two good, larger speakers to accurately and effectively reproduce the middle range of most sound recordings. Most of the Bose and 'theater-in-a-box' systems have a distinct 'tinny plus thud' sound quality to them, though the surround is very good!
OpenOffice will never be an Office killer PERIOD. Unless it's rewritten so much that it might as well be a new suite, it's just not going to cut it- it's slow, it's bulky, it's not coherent, and it's just plain messy.
It reeks of 'someone's weekend project gone haywire', and that's never going to fly in a corporate environment.
Perhaps a bigger issue is the lack of a true replacement for Access. Filemaker Pro, while not bad, isn't nearly as full-featured as Access (at least last time I looked). Solid database software is critical in more than a few offices, and it's enough of a concern to be a problem.
If we're really so concerned about having students learn concepts, rather than specific tasks, then we should be teaching them on multiple platforms.
Everyone babbles about how we should switch over to a pure open-source setup, and how that'd keep our kids from growing up learning one way of doing things, but the OSS solution is just as much of an issue, it just doesn't have a price tag.
If you spend all of your time learning on an OSS word processor, that's the only one you'll know. Frankly, the source is irrelevant in this case. To do things right, we should be having the kids rotate platforms. For example (albeit a slightly extreme one), force the students to use MS Office one day, then OpenOffice the next, then StarOffice, then something else. At that point, they won't have a choice but to learn how the concept works rather than just memorizing menu options. It also allows students to later pick which suite fits their work style best, rather than having them butt heads with a program they don't like.
Granted, this is a bit of a maintenance nightmare, so administrative work should be standardized, but the educational value is pretty clear.
In my experience, Open Office, while able to do most of the things that people do with office programs, is extremely clunky, slow, and generally not very plesant to use. I find it very frustrating to fight with, and not as clear as it could be. MS Office isn't great, either, but it's light-years ahead of Open Office.
I've just started using Apple's Pages (part of the iWork'05 "suite" of two apps), and while I've been very impressed with it, it doesn't do much good for those who need things like spreadsheets and databases. (Yes, there are both kinds of products available for mac, but not in one package.) Once iWork has gone through a few new versions and fills out the suite, it'll definitely be something to keep an eye on, but it'll be a while before that's the case.
Are there any other commercial suites of note? There's MS Office and StarOffice, but I can't think of anything beyond those two that's still around.
Everyone has been talking about how this is going to lack diversity, but there's another important point to be made here.
I'm a senior Computer Science major at a top-tier liberal arts institution, and have been through almost all of the major, and a lot of other courses in the process of completing my degree. Here's my main comment- I'm getting the broad-based knowledge that I consider to be extremely useful in terms of general employment, but what's notable is what I DON'T have as a result of this education. The ability to program well enough to get a job doing it.
A four-year CS major doesn't necessarily mean you know ANYTHING about proper programming practice, systems organization, or anything even remotely related to the workings of a computer. Virtually all of my knowledge of these things comes from my own efforts either before college or independant of anything curriculum-related.
Hell, most of the CS majors can't even fix their own computers, much less write software that won't break someone else's.
The issue, then, isn't with a shorter or longer curriculum, but with the individual programs... Certification doesn't seem to mean much, as far as I can tell.
My main question is this: Why does this bother Apple? Everything I remember reading said that Apple was either making very little or potentially losing money on the iTunes music store, rather using it as a means to sell more iPods. If this is the case, you'd think that Apple would be thrilled that someone else was giving consumers a reason to buy one of their products...
The real issue is that the stage 3 tarball only contains the basics of a linux system. A system that just has the programs included in the stage3 tarball isn't what I'd call a production machine. In order to have a really full-functioned machine, you're going to have to at least install a few things.
As for the average user, stage3 indeed does not include X support, restricting you to a command prompt, rather than a GUI. Great for servers, not so hot for most people's desktops.
What you've described is almost verbatim what you can do using the optional package CD during the Gentoo installation process.
I recently installed Gentoo onto a 1.8GHz P4-M laptop after a hard drive crash obliterated the Debian system I'd cloned from a Knoppix CD. It's quite fast, but not fast enough that I could sit around waiting for X to compile (which is an AMAZINGLY long process, even on a machine like the one I'm using) when I've got coursework to do and no extra computer to work with. As such, the packages cd was a real life-saver.
In addition to the install cd, Gentoo offers a variety of package cds, containing prebuilt packages for a wide variety of applications with common compiler optimizations for different architectures. Using the P4-optimized cd, I was able to get the entire system up and running properly (including X, KDE 3.2, Rhythmbox, OpenOffice.org, Evolution, and a substantial set of other apps) in about 4 hours, which is a heck of a lot faster than the 2 days that people mention as the standard install time.
As for the post-install updating, the best bet is to set PORTAGE_NICENESS=19, as per the AC comment to your post, then run an update world. Voila- quickly full-functioned system, with updates to bleeding edge trickling in as CPU time permits.
The main thing that I can see Firebird still needing development work on is in the configuration/option dialogs. They're a lot better in.7 than they were in.5 and.6 (which is a good thing, since they were absolutely horrid for a while there), but there's a good ways to go before the config settings are really complete.
Rotring's Core fountain pen is one of the best I've ever used- great for everyday use. They're extremely durable (I've carried one in my pocket for upwards of 4 years without ever having a problem with it, and it's still going strong), have a wonderfully smooth feel to them, and they're about a third of the price of anything remotely comparable (the Core fountain pen runs Levenger is the best place I've found for pens and ink thus far in the states (good customer service, quick response, etc), but they can be pricy, so it never hurts to shop around a bit.
Here's something to take a look at- OpenAFS is an interesting filesystem that my school uses on its linux machines to allow for distributed and redundant file storage. This seems like it could be a good option for the distribution and replication of data.
Ok, I'm all for gadgets, fun electronics, and stuff like that, but really, what's the point? Having tables every other row so you can eat is kinda cool, and I can see why that'd be nice, but why the 802.11b access points? Isn't the point of going to the movies generally to watch the movie, not browse the web?
I'm not sure quite where your interests lie, but I've been pretty much predicting the same frustrations for myself in a few years, which is why I'm planning on going to grad school to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. My thoughts are this: CS covers software, while EE deals primarily with hardware and implementation, among other things.
It doesn't seem to me that software and the like has changed a lot over the last few decades; aside from the languages used and the hardware they run on, programmers are still doing primarily the same thing they've always done (this is an unsubstantiated opinion drawn from my observations and conversations... I haven't been programming but for a few years). Consequently, the stuff that really interests me is hardware. New hardware is very definitely different from the older stuff, and there are a lot of interesting developments out there.
My personal suggestion is to take a look at the fields in which the logic, processes, and potentially even the programming from CS applies and see what else is out there that's of interest. Don't limit yourself to just tech stuff, either. Look around, and see what interests you. If possible, see if you can find some alumni from your school that majored in CS but went on to do other things; they may be able to provide some good insights into life after CS.
Granted, this is coming from a freshman CS major at a liberal arts university, so YMMV, but regardless, good luck!
... doesn't mean it has to be awkward or difficult to learn.
I've been using MetaTools' Bryce (now owned by Corel... official site here.) for a good 5 years now, and I have to say that I consider it to be an excellent example of how a UI can look nice, be immersive, and still be extremely functional. All of the buttons and tools are easily accessible, have fairly self-explanatory icons, and look cool on the side.
Take a look at this tutorial (http://www.petersharpe.com/Tutorial14.htm) to get an idea of what the interface looks like. It's clean, uncluttered, and extremely usable.
By comparison, I've found programs like 3D Studio Max (which use a more traditional interface) to be far less intuitive and easy-to-use. (at least in older versions... I haven't used 3DSMax for a while) Granted, 3DSMax is (was?) notably more powerful than Bryce (Inverse Kinematics, metaballs (which are just now being added to Bryce for the first time in version 5), and other such things), but it's still a lot harder to use.
Another piece of equipment that may be worth examining is the Linksys BEFW11S4 (AKA EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router 4port Switch). It basically takes the WAP11 and adds DHCP, firewall, and routing capabilities, as well as functioning as a 4 port 10/100 switch. I haven't used one of these, but the reviews are quite promising, and the current street cost is only about $20-30 over the price of the WAP11.
An interesting review of the BEFW11S4 can be found here.
I'm not sure as to what kinds of devices like this are available from other vendors (this is the one I stumbled over when looking at networking hardware for my dorm room, and I haven't had time for further research), but the integration of so many features into one unit is very nice for situations where space is an issue.
It seems that the biggest concern (for me, at least) is that Microsoft is trying to switch the average consumer over to an audio format that is only supported in the latest, greatest, (and most bloated, slowest, etc.) version of Windows (and maybe an older version or two, but how long until they drop support for 98, for example? 95 support is already gone for a lot of things, especially Office XP).
Is it just me, or is it obvious that Microsoft has no intention of releasing anything capable of playing Windows Media Audio files (and other similar MS-controlled codecs) for Linux? While the integrated encoder for Windows XP will suck (and the fact that they're 'integrating' (read: bundling) an encoder with the OS seems suspiciously similar to the whole 'IE is a part of Windows. Really!' thing from a few years back), it bothers me more that those of us that use linux will be unable to use any of the media released in these Microsoft formats.
As usual, Microsoft seems to almost try to make it impossible for anyone to use anything other than Windows if they want to do virtually anything new.
I'm aware of the Ogg Vorbis codec, tools, players, etc, and while that format may be great for home use with ripped cds and the like, it's effectively worthless in terms of being able to purchase and/or download a song from a record label or artist web site.
However, it seems that there will be an impass if anyone ever tries to implement something even remotely similar to SAP in Linux, because no one is willing to accept that someone else will have more control over what we do with our computers than we do. RIAA wants things one way, while users want it another way. In the Linux world, what the RIAA wants doesn't mean a thing. Let's face it- a lot of Linux users are control freaks (at least as far as computers are concerned). Heck, I paid for it, I want it to work the way I say.
Here's something I've been eyeing for a while that just may be the perfect solution to your problem- The Lunchbox PC.
Anyone remember how back in the old days (haha) a lot of consumer-level systems were single-piece units with detachable keyboards? Good old luggables, like the Kaypro II and the slightly more recent Compaq Portable 386 are still around, albeit substantially updated and, if you're willing to pay for them, loaded to the hilt.
BSI Computer makes an entire line of fairly impressive luggables, ranging from older, AT-based systems to dual processor P3-933 or single P4-1.5GHz machines. And for those AMD nuts (such as myself), they also offer Athlon machines.
Probably the best-suited LAN party machine I've seen is the N9 ATX, which allows for standard PCI and/or ISA expansion cards (depending on the motherboard you choose), 3.5" IDE or SCSI hard disks (they currently offer drives ranging up to 75GB). My only concern would be the LCD screen, though the 1024x768 max resolution should be good enough for all but the most demanding gamers, and 15.1" isn't more than an inch smaller than virtually every 17" monitor. Besides, the whole machine's still going to substantially outperform any laptop you can come up with, and it's fully upgradeable.
This has (almost) been done before...
on
Digital Doodling
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· Score: 3
I don't know if too many of you have heard of them, but a moderate number of tablet (pen-based) notebooks have been available for nearly a decade. While they didn't use the pad/digitizer tablet method that IBM is presenting, they were a very usable solution in a large number of circumstances.
In 1992/1993, IBM produced the Thinkpad 730T, an industrial strength tablet notebook designed mainly for applications in real estate (easy access to databases and listing information), medical (convenient access to patient records and other such data), and other purposes. This thing is still impressive today, and was even more amazing back when it was released.
The machine was incredibly well designed, employing a fairly small footprint, pcmcia hard disks (so that your work doesn't require you to use a specific notebook. If your workplace owns a number of 730Ts, just pop your personal hard disk into any of the notebooks and you're set to go), rubberized magnesium-alloy casing (extremely strong, light, and water-resistant), and an extremely cool dual-battery system. Rather than having one massive battery, the 730T used two smaller batteries, set up so that batteries can be hot-swapped by simply replacing one battery, then the other, leading to effectively unlimited uptime without plugging in or shutting down. The average battery life runs into the 3-5 hour range.
The digitizer tablet was integrated with the display, allowing a true point-and-click environment (to use marketing jargon), and wasn't too shabby, especially since the display was a backlit 9.5" greyscale lcd.
The reason I mention this macine at such length is this: Tablet machines have been done before. Even by the same manufacturer. The only thing that has been lacking has been OS support. PenPoint was apparently good, but had limited application support. Windows for Pen Computing is long outdated, and Pen Services has pathetic handwriting recognition, and it doesn't work with Windows 98 (I don't think). IBM seems to be acting as though this machine is a major innovation, even though this isn't a new thing. Even Microsoft is acting like their new version of Windows for use with tablet machines is a big deal. They've already done os work for pen-based systems.
I wish these people wouldn't act like everything they do is so incredibly innovative.
-Orbix
Note: Compaq also made a tablet machine, being the Concerto. The Concerto wasn't ruggedized or anything, but it did have a removable keyboard, making it one of the most versatile machines made, and that it surpasses this new IBM machine by miles.
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I don't know if you've noticed the new dualdisc and SACD releases that are starting to crop up now and again in cd stores, but it seems like we're going to start seeing a LOT more music releases that take advantage of surround sound, especially since they've finally found a backwards-compatible format...
True, but you still have to avoid the issue that plagues most Bose systems- Too many little speakers plus a subwoofer doesn't equal good sound. You'll still need at least two good, larger speakers to accurately and effectively reproduce the middle range of most sound recordings. Most of the Bose and 'theater-in-a-box' systems have a distinct 'tinny plus thud' sound quality to them, though the surround is very good!
OpenOffice will never be an Office killer PERIOD. Unless it's rewritten so much that it might as well be a new suite, it's just not going to cut it- it's slow, it's bulky, it's not coherent, and it's just plain messy.
It reeks of 'someone's weekend project gone haywire', and that's never going to fly in a corporate environment.
Perhaps a bigger issue is the lack of a true replacement for Access. Filemaker Pro, while not bad, isn't nearly as full-featured as Access (at least last time I looked). Solid database software is critical in more than a few offices, and it's enough of a concern to be a problem.
If we're really so concerned about having students learn concepts, rather than specific tasks, then we should be teaching them on multiple platforms.
Everyone babbles about how we should switch over to a pure open-source setup, and how that'd keep our kids from growing up learning one way of doing things, but the OSS solution is just as much of an issue, it just doesn't have a price tag.
If you spend all of your time learning on an OSS word processor, that's the only one you'll know. Frankly, the source is irrelevant in this case. To do things right, we should be having the kids rotate platforms. For example (albeit a slightly extreme one), force the students to use MS Office one day, then OpenOffice the next, then StarOffice, then something else. At that point, they won't have a choice but to learn how the concept works rather than just memorizing menu options. It also allows students to later pick which suite fits their work style best, rather than having them butt heads with a program they don't like.
Granted, this is a bit of a maintenance nightmare, so administrative work should be standardized, but the educational value is pretty clear.
In my experience, Open Office, while able to do most of the things that people do with office programs, is extremely clunky, slow, and generally not very plesant to use. I find it very frustrating to fight with, and not as clear as it could be. MS Office isn't great, either, but it's light-years ahead of Open Office.
I've just started using Apple's Pages (part of the iWork'05 "suite" of two apps), and while I've been very impressed with it, it doesn't do much good for those who need things like spreadsheets and databases. (Yes, there are both kinds of products available for mac, but not in one package.) Once iWork has gone through a few new versions and fills out the suite, it'll definitely be something to keep an eye on, but it'll be a while before that's the case.
Are there any other commercial suites of note? There's MS Office and StarOffice, but I can't think of anything beyond those two that's still around.
Yes, there's a substantial amount of backstory in some of the books as well.
Everyone has been talking about how this is going to lack diversity, but there's another important point to be made here.
I'm a senior Computer Science major at a top-tier liberal arts institution, and have been through almost all of the major, and a lot of other courses in the process of completing my degree. Here's my main comment- I'm getting the broad-based knowledge that I consider to be extremely useful in terms of general employment, but what's notable is what I DON'T have as a result of this education. The ability to program well enough to get a job doing it.
A four-year CS major doesn't necessarily mean you know ANYTHING about proper programming practice, systems organization, or anything even remotely related to the workings of a computer. Virtually all of my knowledge of these things comes from my own efforts either before college or independant of anything curriculum-related.
Hell, most of the CS majors can't even fix their own computers, much less write software that won't break someone else's.
The issue, then, isn't with a shorter or longer curriculum, but with the individual programs... Certification doesn't seem to mean much, as far as I can tell.
My main question is this: Why does this bother Apple? Everything I remember reading said that Apple was either making very little or potentially losing money on the iTunes music store, rather using it as a means to sell more iPods. If this is the case, you'd think that Apple would be thrilled that someone else was giving consumers a reason to buy one of their products...
The real issue is that the stage 3 tarball only contains the basics of a linux system. A system that just has the programs included in the stage3 tarball isn't what I'd call a production machine. In order to have a really full-functioned machine, you're going to have to at least install a few things.
As for the average user, stage3 indeed does not include X support, restricting you to a command prompt, rather than a GUI. Great for servers, not so hot for most people's desktops.
What you've described is almost verbatim what you can do using the optional package CD during the Gentoo installation process.
I recently installed Gentoo onto a 1.8GHz P4-M laptop after a hard drive crash obliterated the Debian system I'd cloned from a Knoppix CD. It's quite fast, but not fast enough that I could sit around waiting for X to compile (which is an AMAZINGLY long process, even on a machine like the one I'm using) when I've got coursework to do and no extra computer to work with. As such, the packages cd was a real life-saver.
In addition to the install cd, Gentoo offers a variety of package cds, containing prebuilt packages for a wide variety of applications with common compiler optimizations for different architectures. Using the P4-optimized cd, I was able to get the entire system up and running properly (including X, KDE 3.2, Rhythmbox, OpenOffice.org, Evolution, and a substantial set of other apps) in about 4 hours, which is a heck of a lot faster than the 2 days that people mention as the standard install time.
As for the post-install updating, the best bet is to set PORTAGE_NICENESS=19, as per the AC comment to your post, then run an update world. Voila- quickly full-functioned system, with updates to bleeding edge trickling in as CPU time permits.
The main thing that I can see Firebird still needing development work on is in the configuration/option dialogs. They're a lot better in .7 than they were in .5 and .6 (which is a good thing, since they were absolutely horrid for a while there), but there's a good ways to go before the config settings are really complete.
Rotring's Core fountain pen is one of the best I've ever used- great for everyday use. They're extremely durable (I've carried one in my pocket for upwards of 4 years without ever having a problem with it, and it's still going strong), have a wonderfully smooth feel to them, and they're about a third of the price of anything remotely comparable (the Core fountain pen runs Levenger is the best place I've found for pens and ink thus far in the states (good customer service, quick response, etc), but they can be pricy, so it never hurts to shop around a bit.
Here's something to take a look at- OpenAFS is an interesting filesystem that my school uses on its linux machines to allow for distributed and redundant file storage. This seems like it could be a good option for the distribution and replication of data.
More information is available at http://www.openafs.org
Ok, I'm all for gadgets, fun electronics, and stuff like that, but really, what's the point? Having tables every other row so you can eat is kinda cool, and I can see why that'd be nice, but why the 802.11b access points? Isn't the point of going to the movies generally to watch the movie, not browse the web?
I'm not sure quite where your interests lie, but I've been pretty much predicting the same frustrations for myself in a few years, which is why I'm planning on going to grad school to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. My thoughts are this: CS covers software, while EE deals primarily with hardware and implementation, among other things.
It doesn't seem to me that software and the like has changed a lot over the last few decades; aside from the languages used and the hardware they run on, programmers are still doing primarily the same thing they've always done (this is an unsubstantiated opinion drawn from my observations and conversations... I haven't been programming but for a few years). Consequently, the stuff that really interests me is hardware. New hardware is very definitely different from the older stuff, and there are a lot of interesting developments out there.
My personal suggestion is to take a look at the fields in which the logic, processes, and potentially even the programming from CS applies and see what else is out there that's of interest. Don't limit yourself to just tech stuff, either. Look around, and see what interests you. If possible, see if you can find some alumni from your school that majored in CS but went on to do other things; they may be able to provide some good insights into life after CS.
Granted, this is coming from a freshman CS major at a liberal arts university, so YMMV, but regardless, good luck!
-Orbix
... doesn't mean it has to be awkward or difficult to learn.
I've been using MetaTools' Bryce (now owned by Corel... official site here.) for a good 5 years now, and I have to say that I consider it to be an excellent example of how a UI can look nice, be immersive, and still be extremely functional. All of the buttons and tools are easily accessible, have fairly self-explanatory icons, and look cool on the side.
Take a look at this tutorial (http://www.petersharpe.com/Tutorial14.htm) to get an idea of what the interface looks like. It's clean, uncluttered, and extremely usable.
By comparison, I've found programs like 3D Studio Max (which use a more traditional interface) to be far less intuitive and easy-to-use. (at least in older versions... I haven't used 3DSMax for a while) Granted, 3DSMax is (was?) notably more powerful than Bryce (Inverse Kinematics, metaballs (which are just now being added to Bryce for the first time in version 5), and other such things), but it's still a lot harder to use.
-Orbix
ratheras@crosswinds.net
Another piece of equipment that may be worth examining is the Linksys BEFW11S4 (AKA EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router 4port Switch). It basically takes the WAP11 and adds DHCP, firewall, and routing capabilities, as well as functioning as a 4 port 10/100 switch. I haven't used one of these, but the reviews are quite promising, and the current street cost is only about $20-30 over the price of the WAP11.
An interesting review of the BEFW11S4 can be found here.
I'm not sure as to what kinds of devices like this are available from other vendors (this is the one I stumbled over when looking at networking hardware for my dorm room, and I haven't had time for further research), but the integration of so many features into one unit is very nice for situations where space is an issue.
It seems that the biggest concern (for me, at least) is that Microsoft is trying to switch the average consumer over to an audio format that is only supported in the latest, greatest, (and most bloated, slowest, etc.) version of Windows (and maybe an older version or two, but how long until they drop support for 98, for example? 95 support is already gone for a lot of things, especially Office XP).
Is it just me, or is it obvious that Microsoft has no intention of releasing anything capable of playing Windows Media Audio files (and other similar MS-controlled codecs) for Linux? While the integrated encoder for Windows XP will suck (and the fact that they're 'integrating' (read: bundling) an encoder with the OS seems suspiciously similar to the whole 'IE is a part of Windows. Really!' thing from a few years back), it bothers me more that those of us that use linux will be unable to use any of the media released in these Microsoft formats.
As usual, Microsoft seems to almost try to make it impossible for anyone to use anything other than Windows if they want to do virtually anything new.
I'm aware of the Ogg Vorbis codec, tools, players, etc, and while that format may be great for home use with ripped cds and the like, it's effectively worthless in terms of being able to purchase and/or download a song from a record label or artist web site.
However, it seems that there will be an impass if anyone ever tries to implement something even remotely similar to SAP in Linux, because no one is willing to accept that someone else will have more control over what we do with our computers than we do. RIAA wants things one way, while users want it another way. In the Linux world, what the RIAA wants doesn't mean a thing. Let's face it- a lot of Linux users are control freaks (at least as far as computers are concerned). Heck, I paid for it, I want it to work the way I say.
Here's something I've been eyeing for a while that just may be the perfect solution to your problem- The Lunchbox PC.
Anyone remember how back in the old days (haha) a lot of consumer-level systems were single-piece units with detachable keyboards? Good old luggables, like the Kaypro II and the slightly more recent Compaq Portable 386 are still around, albeit substantially updated and, if you're willing to pay for them, loaded to the hilt.
BSI Computer makes an entire line of fairly impressive luggables, ranging from older, AT-based systems to dual processor P3-933 or single P4-1.5GHz machines. And for those AMD nuts (such as myself), they also offer Athlon machines.
Probably the best-suited LAN party machine I've seen is the N9 ATX, which allows for standard PCI and/or ISA expansion cards (depending on the motherboard you choose), 3.5" IDE or SCSI hard disks (they currently offer drives ranging up to 75GB). My only concern would be the LCD screen, though the 1024x768 max resolution should be good enough for all but the most demanding gamers, and 15.1" isn't more than an inch smaller than virtually every 17" monitor. Besides, the whole machine's still going to substantially outperform any laptop you can come up with, and it's fully upgradeable.
I don't know if too many of you have heard of them, but a moderate number of tablet (pen-based) notebooks have been available for nearly a decade. While they didn't use the pad/digitizer tablet method that IBM is presenting, they were a very usable solution in a large number of circumstances.
In 1992/1993, IBM produced the Thinkpad 730T, an industrial strength tablet notebook designed mainly for applications in real estate (easy access to databases and listing information), medical (convenient access to patient records and other such data), and other purposes. This thing is still impressive today, and was even more amazing back when it was released.
The machine was incredibly well designed, employing a fairly small footprint, pcmcia hard disks (so that your work doesn't require you to use a specific notebook. If your workplace owns a number of 730Ts, just pop your personal hard disk into any of the notebooks and you're set to go), rubberized magnesium-alloy casing (extremely strong, light, and water-resistant), and an extremely cool dual-battery system. Rather than having one massive battery, the 730T used two smaller batteries, set up so that batteries can be hot-swapped by simply replacing one battery, then the other, leading to effectively unlimited uptime without plugging in or shutting down. The average battery life runs into the 3-5 hour range.
The digitizer tablet was integrated with the display, allowing a true point-and-click environment (to use marketing jargon), and wasn't too shabby, especially since the display was a backlit 9.5" greyscale lcd.
The reason I mention this macine at such length is this: Tablet machines have been done before. Even by the same manufacturer. The only thing that has been lacking has been OS support. PenPoint was apparently good, but had limited application support. Windows for Pen Computing is long outdated, and Pen Services has pathetic handwriting recognition, and it doesn't work with Windows 98 (I don't think). IBM seems to be acting as though this machine is a major innovation, even though this isn't a new thing. Even Microsoft is acting like their new version of Windows for use with tablet machines is a big deal. They've already done os work for pen-based systems.
I wish these people wouldn't act like everything they do is so incredibly innovative.
-Orbix
Note: Compaq also made a tablet machine, being the Concerto. The Concerto wasn't ruggedized or anything, but it did have a removable keyboard, making it one of the most versatile machines made, and that it surpasses this new IBM machine by miles.