‘Where’s the keyboard?’ questions, answers and reactions
I was on the run this weekend with the kids activities and toted Samantha, the Samsung Q1P everywhere I went. The mobility of the UMPC along with a wireless connection allowed me to attend the kids events but still get some work done when there was a lull in the action. For some reason, I had more questions about my device setup than I normally do. In just three short hours, I had seven folks come up and ask me about the small slate device and of course, I never mind sharing my thoughts on the subject. 
Everyone asked "where is the keyboard?", which I’ve come to expect as one of the first few questions on any slate Tablet PC…..
My typical response to that question is: "You don’t need a keyboard because this is a Tablet PC." Before that really sinks even, I immediately follow up with, "There are many ways to input text right on the screen, but if you really need a keyboard, you can add a USB or Bluetooth keyboard." I’ve found that if I don’t say that, people tend to get turned off from a Tablet PC way too early because handwriting recognition is a relatively foreign concept to them. They simply think it can’t work or won’t work for them and they walk away thinking that’s their only option.
Before I go further, I’d never say that direct screen input is THE best solution for EVERYONE. As we try to repeat here at jkOTR: you have to use the right tool for the task. Can you write a novel on a Tablet PC by handwriting it? Of course you can, provided you enjoy writing manually and are proficient at it. If you’re more comfortable with a keyboard, so be it: that’s likely the right tool for you. I find that I move back and forth between various input methods as needed. It’s not just the task either; it’s the context and physical situation. If I’m briefly replying to a few e-mails while at the kid’s events, for example, I don’t have the space nor the need to break out a keyboard and in fact, I didn’t over the weekend.
Once I gave my two stock answers to folks, that generated more questions:
- How does it work?
- Is it easy?
- Can I ink in any application?
- What’s the advantage?
I fielded the questions as best I could and believe that most folks walked away with a new perspective and respect for an ink-input system. They all seemed genuinely interested, especially when I started showing them some of the advantages of having your ink searchable, which is one of the biggest advantages in my opinion. Every one of these folks told me that they attend meetings and take notes, but they always find it difficult to go back and find specifics in their notes. A few minutes showing them Microsoft OneNote definitely had them hooked.
The most interesting reaction I received was from one gentleman who thought that the Tablet PC was better than sliced bread. He said, "This is fantastic because I really can’t type." He told me that if he could eliminate a keyboard from his life, he’d do it in a heartbeat; something I don’t hear too often and that got me thinking about others who might be on the fence about Tablet PC adoption.
From the time we start school, we lean how to write. It’s a basic, required skill in today’s world. I value my typing skills; don’t misunderstand me, but take a moment and think about how often you’ve used the written word in your life. Have you written a check recently? Did you make a shopping list on a small piece of paper? Did you jot a phone number or address down? You couldn’t do those actions without the basic skill of writing.
Make no mistake: touch-typing is a valuable skill to have and I’m glad I have it. The more I use that skill, the better I hone it. I’m thinking I need to hone my ink skills as well. Yes, practice. I’m thinking that in some personal-use situations where I would normally type something out in Word, for example, I actually sit down and handwrite it on paper; something I haven’t done in some time. Now I could really do this on a Tablet PC, but if you don’t have one and you’re considering one, think about handwriting a few items that you’d normally type. C’mon, you remember how to do that, right?
Once you’ve done that for a few "exercises", think about how useful it would be to have those strokes captured digitally in a searchable format. Sound appealing? Don’t be daunted by the task of inking in lieu of typing: you’ve likely done this all of your life as a natural skill. If anything: typing is less natural than writing when you really think about it. Based on the reaction over the weekend, I plan to practice the natural skill as much as I can.
Sure! I am the point of attraction during the first five minutes of every meeting. People just don’t know what the heck I have in my hands and despite of explanations, people still look confused
Well, my wife doesn’t understand what is the Q1 for as well, LOL
I had a similar experience this week re: pen input, but this time it centred around my Toshiba M205. I was using it in tablet mode and was asked by a friend about the handwriting recognition. They were very impressed when I explained that I can minute meetings and have OneNote convert my handwriting into text for distribution to attendees. Their interest really peaked when I explained that the ink in OneNote was searchable. We all agreed that these two features of a tablet pc can be huge time savers as well as excellent organisational tools. Who knows perhaps their next laptop might be a convertible, maybe even a slate.
Writing? What’s that? Nobody writes, anymore — that’s what keyboards are for.
My handwriting sucks. I almost never write anything, anymore, except for short little notes to myself that I’ll scratch out now and then — and that I won’t have to try to figure out in the distant future (distant, as in more than a few hours). Even the IRS doesn’t require me to write anything. On those very rare occasions when I do have to write something to give to someone else (you know, like my signature, for example), I have to really concentrate to get it right (and not make it look like Grafitti 1).
I can’t remember the last time I wrote a check. Do people still use those?
I’m being facetious, of course — I know they do because those are the folks always holding up the checkout line fumbling with their checkbooks. The only thing worse are the folks who hold up the line trying to dig actual *money* out of their wallets or pockets (“Let’s see…fifty-one cents…fifty-two cents…how much was it, again?…fifty-seven cents?…oops, I dropped a penny…fifty-six cents…let me check my other pocket…hmmm, I’m a penny short, here’s a dollar.).
I had an interesting experince this weekend. I went to my brothers house and showed he, his wife and 4 daughters my Q1P.
He is a network professional working for a Fortune 500 company. Although his division makes big use of mobile technology in the form of laptops and Blackberrys he could not see the usefulness of it in his environment. He could not get over the lack of a keyboard, even after I showed him my Sierra Stowaway bluetooth unit. He considered the touch screen a novelty item.
The eldest daughter is 20, is in school in Manhattan and works as an intern at a very chique New York marketing firm. She is also a pretty run of the mill computer user; she knows how to do what she needs to do but is scared to install software herself. She loved it instantly and thought her father was an idiot for not seeing immediately the possibilites. She was also surprised that her nerdy uncle would have anything so cool before all her terminally hip co-workers did. I am sure she told them all about it on Monday and they are no doubt scrambling to find designer versions of UMPCs I write this.
The 18 year old was too busy on the phone with her new boyfriend to be bothered with any other electronic device.
The 13 year old took to the UMPC like a duck to water. She used the handwriting recognition of ritePen to search Google and Wikipedia for answers to her homework for about 40 minutes. She then demanded one for her birthday.
My brother’s luddite wife’s eyes glazed over at the discussion of anything technical. I pointed out that as a hospital nurse she would probabably have to use one of these pretty soon. She liked the idea of making her paperwork chores quicker and easier but was not interested in any of the tech.
All I do is push x and right when I push xxxxxx
it does that and I push sxxxxxxxxxxxx
wxhxxxxxxxxxxxaxxtsxxxxx ronxxxx.xxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ggggggggg wxxixxxxxth thisxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx. pleasxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxppppppppppppxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
hexlxxxxxxxxxp.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I rock up to meetings and take notes on my pda – its not converted text, just inked. Having it in that form alone is valuable because I don’t have to fiddle around with little pieces of paper swimming around my pockets, and its date stamped and can be synched back to my computer for safe keeping/later reference. I also have a foldable keyboard for it, but you know what? Keyboard taps are distracting in a meeting, and absolutely useless for drawing diagrams on the fly…also, there are times when you need to input data, but have nowhere to sit down. For now, the pda is ok for this, but its the possiblity of doing things like using onenote and having searchable ‘ink’ that’s drawing me more towards the UMPC/tablet pc realm…the prices are becoming more reasonable, but still a big barrier for me unfortunately.