The problem with tablets is that nobody takes the time to learn to me them as tablets. They are used as laptops that have an extra gimmick. As I sit here I have four other people with tablets arrayed around me and I am the only one that is using the pen, in fact that never uses the keyboard!

Part of this is down to the convertible form factor that allows the manufactures to take less risk. People think to use it as a notebook till they get time to get used to inking and in todays world there is never time!

The tablet is a whole new Way of computing, but you have to embrace it to get Value from it sadly four people are Willing to make this Shift. My hope is that multi touch and the iPhones popularity will breed more people willing to work in a tablet fashion.

We have sold UMPCs to some companies who have a single, specific, low requirement application (moving company for recording furniture items and as a front end for a medical device requiring touch screen input). The biggest reason people don’t choose a UMPC is the screen size. If you are using a form, or a customer needs to read terms & conditions before they sign, or if you are sketching a house, the 7″ screen size just isn’t enough space to get the job done. That is why I’m not sure the mini-notebooks are going to be such a disruption to tablet PC sales. Will all the time people spend in front of the screen reading, watching video and recording their thoughts, the screen size is very important. We continue to sell 12″ tablets instead of 10.4″ at a much higher rate for this same reason.

I’m curious as to why vertical markets haven’t picked up UMPCs more. Just about every UMPC is cheaper than almost every Tablet PC, and mostly lighter and more portable, while in some cases offering even more functionality – thank you, Vista, for a change. Is it just that no one markets UMPCs to the verticals?

Despite my obvious personal affinity for the handwriting aspect, I firmly agree Tablet PCs are about mobility. Handwriting is critical because it enables that mobility, but it is a means to that end, not the end itself.

I am in education. Many of us use tablets for teaching-annotating powerpoint presentations or PDF presentations in class. It is great to use a computer like a blackboard in class since you can post the marked up slides for the students after class.

Handwriting recognition is irrelevant doe most of us. If apple ever gets a solution to markup presentations in class we will all switch.

Tax Man, no, not at all. As I mentioned handwriting is VERY important to me and my work but what it means is that for many it’s not so important, I guess.

James, does this mean that you aren’t inking on your p1620 or 2710 as much as you used to? Spending time on gottabemobile.com was getting me to start lusting after a Tablet PC and then I read your post. you give me pause.

I disagree. I think it is about mobility and handwriting (recognition). I think this is the strength of a tablet pc. Especially when it comes to medical staff. Doctors are known not to have the best handwriting. Reconizable inking to text is an unimaginable vital and useful tool in the medical staff. It has come a long way, but could still have much more research and development put into improving this tool (both faster and better multilingual recognition!).