Tiresome Tablets

Maryfran Johnson   Today’s Top Stories    or  Other Mobile and Wireless Stories  

Advance your BlackBerry(R) solution management know-how this July Enhancing Business Mobility with Convertible PCs Seven Steps to Secure and Seamless Field Mobility Managing Mobility: An IT Perspective Demonstrating the Business Value of Mobile Device Management in the Enterprise Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

November 18, 2002 (Computerworld) -- Exactly one year ago at Comdex, the world's richest fan of the Tablet PC was onstage flogging this $2,000 Etch-A-Sketch-like device for the second year in a row. Bill Gates must be hoping that the third time's the charm, because he's back at Comdex this week touting the tablet yet again.
The Microsoft chairman also scored some mass-market product publicity with a recent appearance on NBC's Today show.
He plowed through a demo and droned on about the virtues of transforming handwriting into searchable text, until show host Katie Couric chirped on cue, "Supercool, Bill!"
So, customers must be clamoring for this latest evolution of the PC. This must be the notebook of the future, right?
Don't count on it.
In an exclusive Computerworld.com online survey, 1,150 notebook PC users expressed a collective yawn over the key differentiators of the Tablet PC -- the much-touted handwriting-recognition and noncomputing capabilities such as paging. They scored both of those features at the rock bottom of the wish list. (See the full results of the survey.)
Now, most of us wouldn't admit this, but I'll bet 90% of what we scribble on notebook paper during meetings isn't worth saving. It's just busywork business behavior to sit there nodding thoughtfully and taking a few notes. Makes you look like you're paying attention. Who needs an expensive toy PC to do that?
What users really want from notebook PCs are sharper, brighter displays, longer battery life and processing power on steroids, our survey shows. All of which tells me that the overpriced Tablet PC is destined to join the long list of Inspector Gadget technologies searching in vain for market success.
Oh, it will find some niche markets in a few vertical industries, and even a cadre of devotees. But it's more of a blast from the past than a harbinger of the future. After all, the first commercial tablet computer made its debut in 1989 with the very forgettable GridPad, followed a few years later by Apple's Newton MessagePad.
But if Son of Etch-A-Sketch isn't the future of notebooks, what is? That's where things get interesting, as you'll see in our special report on hardware's future.
In "Future of the Notebook", reporters Gary H. Anthes and Bob Brewin point out that we can count on notebook processor power to double every two years while disks continue to shrink and screens brighten up with the advent of organic LED displays. Mobile-device sizes will be all over the map. And in its research labs, IBM is already playing with materials that within a few years will replace the heavy, inflexible glass substrate in those displays, making screens amazingly bendable.
By 2005, most mobile computers will have wireless LAN access built in. Security protections will keep moving from unreliable software into locked-down hardware, and central IT departments will be able to reach out and destroy stolen information before it does the bad guys any good. All that pointing and clicking we do now with the mouse will give way to touch pads that respond to subtle hand movements. We'll carry the contents of our hard drives in multiple-gigabyte flash memory devices, hanging off key chains or adorning us as jewelry. Supercool, as Katie would say.
In the meantime, I've got another meeting to attend. Better grab that 89-cent pad of paper and take a few notes.
Maryfran Johnson is editor in chief of Computerworld. You can contact her at maryfran_johnson@computerworld.com.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"News around the web is that Apple is planning to reduce its iPhone shipments to Rogers, Canada's lone GSM/EDGE/HSDPA provider...." Read more... Read more Mobile & Wireless posts or See all Blogs

Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner HP eyes move of support facilities out of Colorado Springs Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8 More top stories...

How much is too much? Upgrade your notebook without going over the line French ruling on counterfeit goods could have far-reaching effects for eBay Apple cuts price of high-end SSD MacBook Air by $500

This old laptop: Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap All it takes is a couple hours and about $125 to breathe new life into an old laptop. Here's how. Bill Gates moves on Is Microsoft's Golden Age over? What are Gates' most memorable quotes? Find out in Computerworld's complete coverage of the end of the Bill Gates era at Microsoft. Five things you should never tell your boss There are some things your CIO definitely doesn't want to hear. Also don't miss the flipside, Five things you should always tell your boss. Hands-On: Firefox 3 fixes what's broke and keeps what's right With its latest version, Mozilla's browser continues to raise the bar for what Web browsers should be. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland SecurityAsk a Premier 100 IT LeaderBlackBerry Legal BattleData Security BreachesElectronic VotingFirefoxH-1B VisasHP's Boardroom ScandalHandheld DevicesHurricane Katrina AftermathMicrosoft Legal IssuesMicrosoft's VistaOpen SourceRFID TechnologySCO's Linux FightSarbanes-Oxley ActSpamVoice Over IPWi-FiWindows Meta File VulnerabilityWindows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders2006 Salary Survey2007 Best Places to Work in IT2007 IT Forecast2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders40 Years of ComputerworldASPs, Take TwoBest Places to Work in IT 2003Best Places to Work in IT 2004Best Places to Work in IT 2005Best Places to Work in IT 2006Business Intelligence Home RunsBusiness Intelligence: Smarter BIBusiness Intelligence: The Future of BICRM Goes VerticalCRM: Sober CRMCareer Planning Guide 2005Careers: IT Profession 2010Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005Data Management: Mining for GemsData Management: Taming Data ChaosDevelopment: Hard-Workin' Web SitesDevelopment: New Tools New ChoicesDevelopment: The New World of Application DevelopmentDevelopment: The Web Services TsunamiDevelopment: Web Services HurdlesDisaster Recovery: Preparing for the WorstE-commerce Grows UpE-mail/Groupware: Big DecisionsFaces of Mobile ITForecast 2006Global MobileHardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple ChallengesHardware: On-Demand Un-HypedHardware: The Shape of Things to ComeHorizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge TechnologiesIT Management: Guide to Managing VendorsIT Management: Navigating Global ITIT Management: Recovery AheadIT Management: The Future of ITIT Management: The Resourceful Project ManagerInnovative Technology Awards 2004Management: Reinventing ITMicrosoft in TransitionMobile/Wireless Leaders and LaggardsMobile/Wireless: The Untethered WorkerMobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge CostsNetwork Management: Taking ControlNetworking: Turbulence Ahead!Networking: VoIP Goes MainstreamOperating Systems: In the Slow LaneOperating Systems: Linux Goes GlobalOperating Systems: Should You Nix Unix?Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's GuideOutsourcing: Outsourcing DangersPremier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in ClassPremier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in ClassROI: Do the Math!Salary Survey 2003Salary Survey 2004Salary Survey 2005Security Action PlanSecurity: Compliance HeadachesSecurity: Proactive SecuritySecurity: Risk and RewardSecurity: Tips From Security ProsSouped-up SecurityStorage: Battling ComplexityStorage: Cheap & Secure Data StoresStorage: Stretching Your Storage DollarsStorage: The Lean Storage MachineStorage: The New Rules of StorageStorage: The Ultimate Backup GuideSupply Chain: Missing LinksSupply Chain: RFID Reality CheckThe Business of SecurityWeb 2.0 SecurityWireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone See your link here

The Untethered Worker (Source: Computerworld) Today's roaming employees expect to be able to work in a conference room, airport, customer site or coffee shop. This report - covering wireless LANs, mobile applications and cellular networks - tells you how to get the job done, avoid chaos and maintain security! Download this executive briefing  Virtualization Everywhere Download this white paper, free, compliments of Citrix. (Source: Citrix) Adoption of virtualization is concentrated among large enterprises, while adoption by mid-sized companies has been much slower. For these companies, the cost and complexity of server virtualization solutions has been a barrier. In this paper, we'll discuss how Citrix XenServer" provides simple, economical server virtualization for any size company. Download now! Download this white paper  Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? Long Tail Supplier Collaboration - What's In It For You? Download this webcast, free, compliments of Sterling Commerce Go to the webcast  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Deploying Virtualized NetWare on Linux Whitepaper Toward More Flexible, Next-Generation Collaboration Solutions Driving Business Success Through Workgroup Choice and Flexibility View more whitepapers

• Google gives away home-cooked Web application security scanner
• HP eyes move of support facilities out of Colorado Springs
• Microsoft trumpets security additions in upcoming IE8
• More top stories 

Computerworld Executive Briefing: Automating Network Management IThis briefing looks at the basics of network management, which tend to get lost in the dizzying array of products and processes. It also examines new tools that are on the way to help IT executives deal with management in the new era of automation. Download this Executive Briefing now (a $195.00 value), compliments of ProCurve Networking by HP.