Overview

On Monday, February 11, 2001, in an attempt to boost momentum behind its Tablet PC initiative, Microsoft showcased its 2.5-pound pen-based device and announced that online conferencing vendor, WebEx would support its digital ink capabilities. People will now be able to take something better than a notepad but smaller than a laptop. WebEx says it is working with Microsoft to incorporate support for the display, inking and multimedia capabilities of the Tablet PC.

Because it allows users to enter information by writing on the screen with a pen-like stylus or via voice, the tablet is an ideal device for recording notes in meetings. The announcement is the latest show of support for Microsoft's tablet PC initiative, which at Comdex in November garnered support from computer manufacturers and software vendors, including Compaq, Acer, Fujitsu, Toshiba, NEC, ViewSonic and several Taiwanese vendors.

In addition, Groove Networks says it is building a secure collaboration offering based on the Tablet PC that will allow users to work together on projects in real time, sharing comments in digital ink.

For the second year at Comdex, Microsoft is pushing tablet computing combining the portability of a laptop, the convenience of pen and paper, and Microsoft software. Microsoft expects to release a version of Windows XP for the Tablet PC in the second half of 2002. The hardware and software partnerships illustrate industry support for the unique form factor, according to Microsoft.

The promise of tablet computer systems is simply that they are as easy to use as a pen and piece of paper. You can write directly on the screen and the handwritten notes can be neatly stored as a file. Advocates endorse tablet PCs for use by professionals like doctors or insurance agents, who can fill out forms on the go without reentering data from notes scrawled on pieces of paper.

Covering all bases, Microsoft also is tackling the handwriting recognition challenge. At his Comdex keynote address, Chairman Bill Gates unveiled an application called Journal that turns handwritten cursive or block letters into editable text very efficiently. Microsoft also plans to adapt Office XP to work with Tablet PCs.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition will contain software to support voice recognition, the company says. Vendors may add microphones to their Tablet PC models, or you could plug in an external mike to take advantage of the voice input option. Microsoft's implementation of XP for Tablet PCs will also include hooks to Microsoft's platform of Web-based services.

Tablet PCs are not new. Fujitsu, for example, has been selling tablet PCs for nine years to the medical, insurance, and manufacturing industries. However, Microsoft's support may provide a standard and boost interest. Tablet PC vendors say they hope the design goes mainstream and is eventually commonplace at office meetings, used by workers away from their desktop PCs.

During the Spring of 2001, Dr. Stanley Wearden, Associate Professor of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Roger Fidler, Professor of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University conducted an experiment to determine the potential of magazine-size, pen-based portable reading appliances, called Tablets PCs. The results yielded the following comments from the evaluators, all of whom were college-educated professionals: nearly three-quarters (73%) rated their overall reading experience with the prototype as good or very good. When asked to make a comparison between the tablets and the paper version of the tested business journal, nearly half (47%) said prototype e-newsletter was somewhat better than or much better than the printed issue; 38 per cent said the prototype was comparable to the printed issue. Only five per cent rated their prototype experience as poor, and 15 per cent said their prototype experience was somewhat poorer or much poorer (1 evaluator) than with the printed issue. Women tended to rate their experience better than did men -- 79 per cent vs. 69 per cent as good or very good -- though men and women were nearly identical in their rating of the prototype as somewhat better or much better than the printed issue.

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