The Tablet PC
An Introduction
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The Tablet PC is a revolutionary computing device, one of the best-kept secrets in the mobile computing world. Only it isn't actually meant to be a secret... They've been on the market for over two years, but most people still haven't heard of them. The idea is only beginning to take off now. One of the main reasons for this is that, though the Tablet is a great concept, current hardware is only barely sufficient to realize it. Tablets that begin to fulfill its promise are appearing now, but they push what can currently be achieved to its extremes. ConceptThe concept in deceptively simple: If you take the laptop and give it a digitizing screen and handwriting recognition software, you have a computer you can treat like a pad of paper - it doesn't even need to have a keyboard. To me, as an artist and writer, that is a dream come true. Previously my life revolved around paper. I took notes and made sketches all the time, I was slowly being squeezed out of my home by it. Yet everything I sketched and scrawled needed to be redrawn or rewritten on a computer before it could be emailed to the client. With a Tablet PC, I write longhand into my 'notebook', but what comes out is not pages of scribble but a Word document. My drawing pad now runs Adobe Photoshop. It's portable enough to take everywhere and powerful enough for all my computing needs, even complex image creation. I no longer use paper. HardwareWhy aren't all laptops like that? Well one day they might be, but at the moment this is really pushing the envelope of what a laptop can be. It's not the digitizing screen that's the problem, or even the handwriting recognition - these are essentially solved problems. The big one is the portability. If this thing is to really replace the pen and paper in your life, it has to be available instantly, all the time. What's more, you need to be able to use it not just on a desk, but while standing and even walking. A laptop is really not a computer you can use on the move, it's a computer you can transport from A to B. The battery life is usually only sufficient for a domestic flight or a train commute. They're really designed to be used on desks - many these days actually run too hot to be left on your lap. Furthermore, as any user knows, a laptop is at its most vulnerable when it's in transit. A Tablet, held in your hands like a pad of paper, is essentially in transit all the time it's in use. If you drop a clipboard, you can pick it up again. It isn't suddenly worth $1,000 less. To really fulfill its promise, a Tablet needs phenomenal battery life compared to a laptop, and the durability of a brick. Few models on the market are either, almost none both. One major exception though is the Panasonic Toughbook CF-18. Panasonic specialise in rugged outdoor laptops - they don't make 'soft' computers at all. Further, they have really thought the Tablet concept through and designed a machine that delivers on the concept. It really can take the place of paper, both inside and outside the office. Indeed, it could take the place of paper while escaping on jetski under enemy fire. The CF-18 is not just tough, it's virtually bomb-and-bullet proof. While that's great, it is sheer overkill - and the price reflects it. There are also other toughened Tablets on the market. A few are cheaper, but only at the sacrifice of power, and so I don't regard them as effective Tablets. Your mileage may vary though; Tablet guru Linda Epstein provides a comprehensive round-up. I look forward though to models that are merely tough enough, while being significantly lighter and cheaper. The latest from Motion[link] and IBM/Lenovo[link] look like serious steps in the right direction, and the Otterbox[link] external case can make a Fujitsu[link] Tablet reasonably tough for a lot less. I'll be looking at these, and at future developments of Tablet platform, under Tablet PC Evolution. Software
LinksInternalClose-up on the Panasonic CF-18 External
Tablet PC Buzz
Tablet PC 2
The Tablet PC
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