I have a tablet PC, and the “wow” factor is gone. Nothing about it impresses me anymore.

That said, the next laptop I buy will also be a tablet. I like being able to tap the screen with my stylus. A lot. I’m never going to use a trackpad and I don’t want to have to sit at a desk just to keep a mouse handy.

It’s nice to be able to download PDF forms and mark them up on my screen, and print them out later. I can even sign them.

It’s nice to be able to doodle in class and take notes while the prof is droning on about something or other. If I want to draw a diagram in my notes, I can.

It’s nice to be able to read a textbook and handwrite notes at the same time.

It’s nice to be able to physically reach out, click on the scrollbar, and drag it while I’m reading a long article online. The feeling of precise control is much nicer than tapping the keyboard to advance. Or to physically reach out and close a window. Using a tablet PC is much more natural, even when you’re not drawing on the screen or cradling it like a clipboard.

Now that I’m used to my tablet, when I use any other computer, I feel slightly alienated from it.

Kip,

can you share name/contact info of the reseller?

Thanks,
Bruno

Where do I get my tablet pcs? From a leading UK reseller of refurbished/ex-demo machines. I’ve picked up several at (ridiculous) prices lower than the refurbished mid-range laptops/pcs they’re selling, replete with exec leather cases and peripherals. It is odd to see how long the tablets stay on the shelves. Generally if I wait a while, it’s not unusual for a further £100 to be knocked off in an effort to shift them. Most of the tablets are (as far as I can determine) as good as brand new. O happy me.

Just a comment – I think Tablet PC’s haven’t gotten into the mainstream so much because not many people feel the need to have pen-based input…I mean, if pen-based computing was compelling to the mainstream, then wacom tablets would be as common as computer mice, or keyboards. Similarly, though its true that Tablet PCs are technically supersets of normal laptops, I think its fair to say that most people don’t understand why they would want to pay for the premium in order to write on their screens.

I think this where UMPCs come in; once the price is right, it’ll introduce a new generation of people to ‘inking’, and educate people of the whole tablet pc platform. I think Vista’s built-in tablet functionality was a genius move by Microsoft, because OEMs have an opportunity to experiment with laptop designs/implementations(such as the tx1000) without the cost of having to provide a specialised operating system to take advantage of it.

I was recently in the market for a new PC to replace my laptop, and I strongly considered a UMPC/Tablet PC. However, in the end, the low processing power for the price made me decide to go for a regular laptop instead. Having said that, I do have a wacom tablet, and was impressed with the tablet functions of Vista. ‘m hoping that eventually the prices on UMPCs would have gone down enough to warrant buy one as a secondary computer.

ps: I also agree with Stephen that there just aren’t enough programs that take advantage of pen-input.

Well, I’ll speak as someone who purchases for an enterprise level organization (7000+ employees) and I do purchase some Tablet PC hardware. While I agree that there is always the need for greater innovation in the hardware space; let me be tell you, that’s not the reason there’s no pickup in the enterprise arena. It’s really simple. It’s all about the software. Hardware changes constantly. When you are working on a large project that involves mobile technology, by the time you get from start to finish on the application, a new hardware product comes out. Application development cycles are much longer that hardware development cycles. I am always telling people to NOT focus on the hardware. The hardware is only one part of the equation. But people are tactile, they like what they touch. The eye-candy factor is huge. But in the end, what is a Tablet PC? It’s a laptop with one extra input mechanism (the digitizer) and it relies on software to take advantage of it.

If you really look at the software that is available, it’s very, very thin. Most business are using customized applications. As good as OneNote is (and it is REALLY good), businesses are not focusing on that. They’re focusing on their core business applications. Additionally, the use of the digitizer can significantly change the user interface (that’s a good thing), but it’s not as simple as using the TIP to enter your data. Application needs to be made ink aware and that is a very time consuming effort if you are a corporation seeking to modify your applications.

I could go on and on about this issue. Like Rob, I too want to see continued innovation. I want to see even lighter units with greater battery life at a lower cost. I love the Fujitsu P1610 (bought 14 this week). But I bought them for their light weight and battery. The digitizer was a secondary benefit. I don’t have the apps that can truely take advantage of it.

Don’t get me wrong, people are programming to take advantage of the digitizer, but not a lot of them. The devleopment environments are out there. Active Ink is one that quickly comes to mind. But there are many development environments other than .NET and there’s not a lot out there.

In the enterprise, when they say, “build it and they will come”, they’re not talking about the hardware, they’re talking about the software.