It's not alone in its reticence. Acer, one of Microsoft's staunchest allies in the great tablet adventure, has gone on record as saying that the format has been consistently disappointing. The company had hoped that by the end of last year, 20 percent of its notebook sales would be swallowed up by Tablet PCs. As of this month, it's still less than 10 percent. The product has been selling well into vertical markets -- doctors, warehouse controllers, maintenance engineers -- but not very well into corporates and not at all to consumers.
Ah, say the Tablet PC diehards. That's because the extra circuitry to do the pen-sensitive screen costs a lot, and when it's cheaper the advantages of pen computing will make the product unbeatable. Yet even here the signs aren't encouraging. One of the most exciting products at the recent CeBIT show in the US was the OQO -- a full XP computer that's not much bigger than the chunkier breed of PDA. This is an expensive yet very attractive device that has all the attributes of a laptop in a much smaller box, and also includes a pen and a pen-sensitive screen. Yet the manufacturers have chosen to use plain XP, almost as if calling it a tablet would be a poison pill.
The fact is that the effect of Tablet PC extensions on ordinary notebook technology is pretty similar to that of an effervescent vitamin pill on a glass of water. Wait for the fizz to die down, and you're left with a glass of water. True, it might taste a bit funny. It may or may not be good for you in some circumstances. Mostly, though, it's still a glass of water.
Those who've actually used Tablet PCs are enthusiastic. There are many classes of consumer who aren't at ease with keyboards, and the Tablet PC's handwriting recognition is good enough to keep them happy. The next generation of operating system extensions will be even easier to use -- when Microsoft manages to ship them: the company's seeming inability to produce new software has spilled over into Lonestar, the long-promised update. And nobody doubts that the ideal domestic tablet that's slim, light, long-lived, cheap and delivers high quality media over wireless networking will walk off the shelves.
Talkback
The main problem with Tablet PC's at the moment is they are not powerful enough.
My car has a touchscreen system for the nav syste/radio/air con and it is simple to use. It is much more intuitive to point at the screen than to roll a mouse around the desk.
I am looking at a replacement for my laptop, it is getting old and a little bit slow, so I am looking for something new, around 2,8-3,0Ghz or an AMD64 at a stretch. Also, the screen resolution of the old notebook isn't good enough, it is only 1024x768.
I am not too worried about battery life, I need a machine that is portable, will work for a few minutes without the mains, but spends 99.9% of its time plugged in.
A "convertible" (wasn't that what IBM called their first portables?) would be, for me, the best solution, I can type much faster than I can write, but would like the ability to point at things on the screen.
Show me an AMD64 3000+ convertible with a 1600x900 display, 512Mb RAM and a DVD drive and I'll buy it...
Having just recently bought (last month) a Toshiba M205 Tablet/Convertable, I agree with the content (if not the title) of this article. When Windows first came out, not everyone had a mouse. They could have put out a special version called "Windows Mouse Edition" which would basically be what they've done with the Tablet PCs. It wouldn't be a bad thing at all to bring the Tablet features into the core OS (especially when you consider service packs, which they have thankfully synchronized between different editions). The author's mention of Windows for Workgroups is spot-on. It was only when it was added to the core OS that workgroups became common-place. That same thing will be true with pen interface.
There are MANY things I would not do without now that I've used them. The ability to brainstorm in an organized way (One Note) and the ability to mark up Word documents (or for that matter, ANY document - you can print from any program inot the built-in Journal, then draw on the result on-screen). This is also the first form-factor (tablet mode) that MSReader is actually a viable alternative to a paperback book (and the ability to look up word definitions is a very nice feature).
In all, it's a notebook with a lot of very nice features that notebooks without touch screens can't offer. You may not want to use every feature I do, and you may use others that I don't. Having the features is worth (to me) the extra $200-$300 you'll spend to get them.
BTW: The exact model I bought is the Toshiba M205-S810.
I have recently purchased a Toshiba M205-S810 and have found it very useful. I especially like the convertable aspect of its design, allowing me to work as a laptop or tablet as my needs require. Furthermore, with the new features that are being rolled out to the Tablet PC OS and individual applications, such as OneNote, a number of my coworkers are looking at getting tablet pc's also.
My PDA does everything I need, cost $300 (US), has a built-in camera, Bluetooth, MP3 player, etc.
What would I want a Tablet PC for?
OQO 's product doesn't have the technology to use Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Their device doesn't use a digitizer - like all tablets that run Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. I doubt their choice of OS had anything to do with Tablet PC's apparent, "dissolving" image.
A Very Useful Tool
I've owned an electrovaya scribbler for 6 months now, and it has changed the way I do things.
I take notes in meetings in my own handwriting and I can search them later (no need to convert to text).
There is a lot less paper in my life. Notes, articles and software documentation gets saved and marked up on the tablet...they are with me at home or in the office and they are easy to search.
No more deep stacks of paper on the desk, no more notebooks to thumb through saying "I know it must be in here somewhere".
The laptop simply doesn't fill this nitch...and neither does my pda (which I love, but not for taking extended notes or reading and marking up pdfs).
Just like any technology, it isn't for everyone...but it doesn't need to have the power or screen size of a desktop to serve a VERY valuable and unique role in my life.