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Tablet PCs are set to hit the market this November, along with a special version of the Windows XP operating system to support their pen-driven functions. This new style of device is a Microsoft initiative, and Bill Gates says he expects Tablet PCs to be the biggest-selling PC design within five years.
Having tried a demonstration Tablet PC for myself, I must admit to being rather underwhelmed by the new features, but I am willing to be swayed if the shipping units offer a much better experience.
The Tablet PC is expected to do everything a standard laptop can, but will allow new methods of input. This mainly consists of writing with a stylus on the screen, like a conventional notepad. However, it is notable that of the vendors I have spoken to, none intends to produce a device without a keyboard. This is a giveaway sign that handwriting recognition just isn't good enough to serve as the main user interface.
Having said that, the handwriting recognition technology is actually quite impressive. Out of the box, with no training, the writing pad that lets you scribble text for entry into standard applications such as Word managed to cope with my barely legible scrawls. That is a major achievement - as anyone who has seen my writing will testify. Sadly, other members of the IT Week team had less success.
Microsoft's concept is that staff will be able to carry a Tablet PC and use it in situations where a standard notebook PC would be impractical.
Typing notes in a meeting would probably produce too much intrusive noise from a clacking keyboard, for example, so employees typically jot down notes on a pad and enter any important information into their PC afterwards.
Tablet PC devices will come with an application called Journal, designed to transfer this process to a screen. It looks like an ordinary notepad with ruled lines, and the idea is that you scribble notes onto it, then selectively convert the important parts into text later.
Where I can see this falling down is that most people taking notes during meetings have to scrawl things in a hurry in order to keep up with the speaker or presentation. Once you start doing this, of course, the accuracy of the handwriting recognition declines.
Perhaps a more fundamental issue is whether people will want to use a Tablet PC in this way. I find that writing on a screen just doesn't feel right compared with pen and paper. The screen surface is smooth and slippery, and doesn't "give" like paper does under pressure from a pen nib, so the experience is more akin to writing on wet glass with a poker. My feeling is that people won't take to writing on the screen unless this is improved, but on the other hand, I can see them taking to the stylus as a mouse substitute.
Tablet PCs are also expected to cost more than a laptop of the same spec.
In the current economic climate this, more than anything else, will slow adoption by firms.
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