Inconsistent drag and drop
Microsoft missed other opportunities for integration as well. For example, as the name of TabletPC's Sticky Notes application implies, it pops up a window that looks like a Post-It. My hope was that I could take something that I wrote into a sticky note and add it to a document. After attempting to drag and drop the word "Hello" onto a Word document (View Screen Image), an embedded icon with a cryptic name appears instead. Meanwhile, dragging and dropping the word "Hello" into Microsoft Journal (View Screen Image) worked perfectly.
I could write more about the results of my tests, but I think you get the picture. The true measure of a tablet's usefulness to the masses will be based on whether it can seriously improve our productivity. So far, it can't. If for no other reason than the fact that I can take many more notes and write many more mails using a keyboard than I ever could with a pen, it has been a giant step backwards for me.
Microsoft argues that it's often politically incorrect to be banging away on a keyboard while in meetings and that the virtually soundless operation of taking notes with a tablet will be more acceptable. Tell that to the generation of knowledge workers now coming up through college who think nothing of bringing their notebook computers to classrooms and other meetings. Once they enter the workforce (and eventually manage it), they'll think nothing of that political incorrectness.
Nevertheless, the functionality is both cool and fun as an additional feature to a traditional notebook. It's nice to be able to do things that you couldn't do before, such easily draw a graph or an image next to your notes.
The question at this point comes down to cost. If there's no difference in the cost between owning a convertible and a plain notebook, then I'd say, sure, go for the convertible (once the bugs are worked out of Tablet PC software). But as long as the convertibles cost more (and they currently do), having the functionality built into your notebook isn't worth the added expense. It won't be long before you realise that you're spending most of your time, as I did, in regular notebook mode anyway.
For the vertical crowd, where the tablet form factor is perfect for certain applications (like medical staff or warehouse workers), the Tablet PC will be just what the doctor ordered--a common platform with stylus functionality and a gazillion development tools in place that developers are already using.
What do you think? Is David too much of a curmudgeon about new technologies like TabletPC? Or is productivity the true measure of utility and does Tablet PC come up short? TalkBack below or send your comments to edit@zdnet.com.au.
