“…the TabletPC is one tool that makes you realise you’ve been a slave until now. Suddenly I can just draw anywhere on the PC screen, like on a canvas.” and “I’ve found that the TabletPC is good for writing music, and drawing chord shapes from my Chapman Stick.”
I often think of the Tablet as having one more degree of freedom–like a Robot arm that can flex in one additional direction. It’s a mechanical analogy that illustrates how I can do more with a Tablet, more easily–like Andrew is experiencing.
And partly as a result of breaking away from the structured nature of t-y-p-e-d text, the Tablet PC seems to give my right brain a chance to express itself.
When trying to solve problems, sometimes changing perspective can make the difference. And sometimes switching from textual source code to hand-sketched diagrams in journal can help. It’s just one more tool from which to choose.