I missed this CNet on-location video of a doctors office that’s using Tablet PCs.
What surprised me is that the doctor in the video is using his Tablet in clamshelll mode–even when he’s walking around with the Tablet and talking with patients. These were supposed to be two areas where the folded, “Tablet mode” is supposed to be superior. Evidently for him, the Tablet mode isn’t compelling enough.
I can guess why. It takes time to twist the display around, and once you do you can’t get to the keyboard, and moreover with the display down the processor often heats up more–particularly on older models. I’m guessing he can’t do everything he wants quickly without a keyboard.
Better app design could alleviate the need for a keyboard, but this will take time and so for now it looks like it’s just easier to carry around the Tablet like a notebook and leverage it’s stylus for pointing.
The issue is you need to be able to do everything with the stylus–quickly.
I’d still also like to see some type of thumb keyboard or attachable custom keyboards for Tablets. Just makes sense–especially when you want to write out an email or something like this blog post. You don’t want to have to deal with recognition issues or pecking at an onscreen keyboard. You just want to write in plain text because that’s what you need.