Alice and Bill really got into it last night and are urging the destruction of the Tablet PC.
To see where they’re coming from, you’ve got to check out their “Favorite Things Page.” Sure enough, there’s a paper notepad. The argument goes that it’s highly dependable and crash proof. True, but even more so is a rock etching.
So let’s agree that it’s a matter of degrees. We make tradeoffs with tools. For the ability to search all my notes on a Tablet I give up battery-free paper. And for the ability to carry my Tablet around I give up a 21″ display. And when I’m walking around the house talking with my nieces and nephews using the Tablet PC and Skype I’m giving up the phone standard. It all depends on what you’re doing.
Alice’s other justification for killing off Tablets is that she hasn’t seen any…uh, that is if you count only adults and only adults in the “real world.” I’m not sure what this means. Are Tablets failing because people aren’t walking around with them in the malls? Or at a carwash? Nah, I’m guessing she’s meaning she hasn’t seen anyone use them in her 89,000 miles of air travel. Funny, I’ve flown only a few times this past year and I’ve seen several. When someone is typing on a convertible Tablet PC it’s hard to tell if it’s a Tablet or not. Toshiba Tablet PCs, like the one I’m using now to type this, look just like any other notebook–until I flip the screen around.
From what I understand there are about one million Tablet users out and about. Not bad for coming up on the Tablet PC’s second birthday. To put this in perspective, the popular iPod sold it’s one millionth unit as it approached it’s second birthday too.
Do I wish Tablets had more software? Yes. Do I wish Tablets were less expensive? Yes. Do I wish they were faster, did more, lighter, had longer battery life, faster network connections, etc, etc, etc. Yes. Yes. Yes. Keep in mind, though, I’d think all these things with any notebook. And that’s a key point: A Tablet PC is just a notebook with additional flexibilty. If you don’t want the added mobility or the ability to hand sketch your ideas, take notes, or handwrite personal thank you cards and email them, then that’s fine. Some of us do.