If it is not impossible to miss the promotional blitz, you may be forgiven for not knowing that Microsoft and its friends will change the computing environment again.
But if they are going to do that, they have to do better than tablets.
In the past two years, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has been adding the concept of tablets to his various trade show speeches ---
He may plug in again at Comdex this year.
In general, we appreciate the concept.
But we have tried one and we are not sure if the computing revolution is in the pipeline.
We had it before.
HP's production model
Packard's Compaq tablet TC1000 has been around for weeks.
Like several other tablets, it is designed as three machines in a desktop, laptop and tablet.
If you are not familiar with the idea, the tablet is basically a light tablet
Panel screen, with all the components of the computer built in, where you can use the pen
A shape stylus for entering data directly on the screen.
Handwriting recognition software is the key to the tablet concept, and while some aspects of it work very well, many basic details of the interface still need to be addressed.
Maybe this is a bad stroke for us, but the ability of the Windows Journal software app to recognize certain words and letters seems to be hit or missed at best.
Although it often explains the letters correctly-
This is not an easy software task in itself. -
It is difficult to explain spaces between words.
Converting a pen stroke on the screen to a written script is an awkward process that involves using the lasso tool to wrap around the required pen stroke and then hopefully it will read the stroke correctly.
If it goes wrong when converting to text, usually this means running words together, it's a chore to insert spaces.
We are eager for a simple key to delete.
Using the WordPad tool to enter text through a pen in Microsoft Word, you can get the tool by simply clicking on the bottom of the screen, and it seems more consistent.
The text entered by the pen is almost converted into text as quickly as you write.
Of course it is an impressive feature.
But after almost every line, we all go back and clean up the errors and add the letters that were dropped.
Quote the lyrics of Billy Joel's song (
No obvious reason)
We try to write "it's time to remember because it won't last forever" and come back "it's time to remember it won't last forever.
"Not bad, but as we taught in the first grade, it was at the same time as focusing on writing.
We try to write the same phrase more naturally and then go back to "this instant remake ".
"However, what we like most is HP's attitude towards hardware.
The idea is that the tablet is almost light enough to move around.
It's about 3 pounds in itself--
Although it would be good to drop the weight to two pounds.
The keyboard attachment makes it like a notebook, adding another pound of weight.
But it folds up when you think about it.
In laptop mode, typing is a bit odd as the screen is very close to the Keys.
Using a standard laptop, hands are used to having a place to rest while typing, but here they are forced to pause above the keyboard to restore the vision of a high school typing class.
Display, a 10. 4-
Inch TFT display is great for walking around and reading Word and PDF documents.
If you like e-books, this may be a good way to take advantage of them.
But when you're sitting at your desk, you'll want to connect the machine to a bigger apartment --
Panel or CRT display--
Using a heavy desktop base, it's easy to do this.
This is, after all, a complete
A mature PC running Windows XP, not an early tablet running on Windows CE.
Inside, there's one from mobile-
Chip upstart Transmeta.
It has been struggling recently and will bounce well if the tablet concept turns out to be successful.
Initially, the PC maker's plan was to sell these tablets to businesses with a large number of employees who were not at their desks most of the time.
Like everyone else, they often need to keep in touch with their email
Mail by company intranet or just to facilitate certain key documents.
Companies that have been trying to solve this problem may find that these tablets are useful to people who work in very special jobs.
Consumers are not involved in the business plan for tablets, at least not yet, though nothing can stop you from getting them if you want a tablet.
The starting price is a reasonable $1,700.
There must be a lot of people who scoff at the concept of a tablet.
We're not exactly outside that camp.
Yes, it needs some improvement, but what about the personal computer without improvement?
However, the PC industry should not set too high expectations for the concept of tablets.
It has the potential to become a successful niche product in the business market.
It's not a bad thing to be in such a desperate situation in the PC market.
But for those who expect tablets to be at the heart of the next computing revolution, we regret to say that the revolution has not yet arrived.
Transmeta hangs in balance 11. 05.
Chip makers in trouble need tablets to become a big hit.
Shuguang 07 tablet02.
Will tablets revive the downturn?
Those who hope so include Fujitsu.
HP, team on Transmeta tablet 06. 03.
The tablet boom is coming, HP-
Packard will be one of the first to get out of the door.
Will tablet sales fall behind? 11. 12.
At the Comdex trade show, Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, put his marketing capabilities behind tablets.
Microsoft's tablet is correct. 17.
00 Microsoft's prototype PC is the most promising Web pad at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas this year.