“Will your next portable computer be a tablet PC? Microsoft hopes so, and it has lined up a handful of partners that are showing prototype models of its reference design and plan to ship the real thing in mid-2002. For the second year here at Comdex, the software behemoth is pushing tablet computing that combines the portability of a laptop, the convenience of pen and paper, and of course Microsoft software.” Read the rest of the news report at PCWorld.
Prototype Tablet PCs Take Spotlight
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Didn’t apple propose this 2 years ago? Most people said it was stupid b/c they could type faster than they could write anyway. Apple wanted to get rid of keyboard, though. I don’t think that MS would suggest that. Most people will stick w/ keyboard. I could see a future gen writing only if they learned that way as a kid. They could pick stuff from a menu as well. I don’t know how well this would do low level stuff (how many of us do that here anyway) as well as the keyboard, but maybe I’m just old and the next gen will take computing to the next level. Or maybe they’ll sit around watching a wintendo set. Go for it gen nexters!
Ahh, I seem to remember a device called the ‘Newton’ quite some time ago. Also, if I remember correctly, NeXT was the first to widely deploy CD-ROMs (what a crazy concept!) with their machines. AirPort, DVD-Burning, …
IMO Apple has got some fantastic engineers. It is just too bad that the marketing folks don’t perform on quite as stelar a level.
[Sales gets Kudos though, I’m a big fan of Apple adds.]
People can type faster than they can write. Maybe a few people out there, that or there’s a lot of people who write real slow. Anyways if it is set up where I can write and it makes into text, and at the same time can draw pictures in there to it will be good, I want such a devise for school. I sit in classes and my notes are a mess and i don’t like carrying lots fo not books. If i could store them in one device that would be great. There is not Key on a keyboard to make a T-s diagram. I hope someone finaly gets a webpad type thing out there. And be one that takes of so i don’t have a devise that only a few people have.
ahh but can you type faster than you can scribble?
this is the question…
when a hand writing reconition app can work out my scribbling, i’d be impressed.
You’d be suprised what the Tablet can recognize… they’re pretty cool. The big plus is that they run a fully functional OS though. They actually run WindowsXP. Imagine having a laptop where you could write on the screen with a pen, only when you want to use the keyboard, you have to dock the device. You can even format your own scribbles (B, I, U, Cut, Copy, Paste, Highlight, …) w/o converting it to text first
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