Friday, August 14, 2009
Take two tablets...
My wife keeps wondering why I want a tablet computer, maybe something like the very intriguing Touch Book, or maybe the TouchNote. The former is quite unique, reasonably inexpensive, but it is still "beta", and can't run windows, and--having tried to live in the linux world--I know that there are some things that don't work too well in linux land (I still can't get any of my three wifi cards to do wpa in Ubuntu). The latter is a bit pricey for my mental usage model, and there's some talk about the screen resolution causing headaches, but it seems pretty cool otherwise.
So, why this tablet fascination? I like to write things down. I have notebooks--the paper kind. I have one for work. I have one for my home projects. I have one for meetings with people like our financial planner. I'm pretty good at remembering that I wrote something down, and with enough searching, I generally do find it. But it can be a pain, especially if there are a lot of volumes. (The set of lab notebooks I penned at HP was truly impressive. Not as impressive--or as well organized--as Mark R, but still pretty massive. They were hard to shred...)
I know that some folks have "solved" this by putting everything on a computer, and with netbooks becoming cheaper, lighter, and with all-day battery life, this might almost be an option. Before, carrying a 10 pound notebook--with a 2 hour battery life--was just nuts. Most of the day, you'd be carrying a dead brick...actually, I think bricks are lighter, and they are certainly smaller.
I've gone down that path at bit: I'm using the "ink" feature of the Notes application on my phone to take notes when I'm out somewhere. But the screen is really, really small, and that tends to limit what I can put down, although I am pretty fast, and can usually get the gist. But it is hard to read afterwards, although that's mostly due to Notes being stupid, and moving what you wrote around, ruining your nice neat rows and columns.
In my mental model of what this would look like, my tablet would be lightweight, and compact, easy to carry. It would be inexpensive, so I wouldn't have to worry too much about it getting banged up or lost/stolen (although lost/stolen would be a real bummer, so encryption would be a must). My cell phone wouldn't be that cheap to replace, either, so the device doesn't have to be dirt cheap, but the cell is easier to keep close. I'm thinking that my ideal price point would be in the $200-$300 range. The rumored Apple tablet is also rumored to be $700+, which is just too expensive. And it's Apple, so it is likely to be too fascist for my tastes. But I'll bet it will be pretty. And white.
My tablet would be large enough to draw on, and to write longhand--at least 6"x8", although 8"x10" would be better (Even lined notebook paper isn't 8.5x11 any more. If you don't believe me, go to your nearest office store and try to find some). Ideally, it would do handwriting recognition--the PDA stuff does this pretty well, so that's probably not entirely a stretch. For some things, nothing replaces a real keyboard--even my cell phone has a keyboard--so having the ability do type would be nice. My cell phone also proves that even a tiny keyboard with tactile feedback can be fairly efficient, so some compromise might be possible. One interesting possibility would be to have a virtual keyboard on the tablet, with haptic feedback. This still would likely not replace a real keyboard, which is why the Touch Book is so interesting. Need a keyboard? Hook it up. Going out, going light? Just take the tablet.
Anyway, that's what I'm looking for in a tablet. And, as the song says, "I still haven't found/what I'm looking for". But the Touch Book seems to come pretty close. If I could actually "touch" one--mostly to get a feel for how heavy it is, how the keyboard feels (I've tried out some really, really awful netbook keyboards), and they weren't back-ordered, and beta, and...I might take a chance on one.
So, why this tablet fascination? I like to write things down. I have notebooks--the paper kind. I have one for work. I have one for my home projects. I have one for meetings with people like our financial planner. I'm pretty good at remembering that I wrote something down, and with enough searching, I generally do find it. But it can be a pain, especially if there are a lot of volumes. (The set of lab notebooks I penned at HP was truly impressive. Not as impressive--or as well organized--as Mark R, but still pretty massive. They were hard to shred...)
I know that some folks have "solved" this by putting everything on a computer, and with netbooks becoming cheaper, lighter, and with all-day battery life, this might almost be an option. Before, carrying a 10 pound notebook--with a 2 hour battery life--was just nuts. Most of the day, you'd be carrying a dead brick...actually, I think bricks are lighter, and they are certainly smaller.
I've gone down that path at bit: I'm using the "ink" feature of the Notes application on my phone to take notes when I'm out somewhere. But the screen is really, really small, and that tends to limit what I can put down, although I am pretty fast, and can usually get the gist. But it is hard to read afterwards, although that's mostly due to Notes being stupid, and moving what you wrote around, ruining your nice neat rows and columns.
In my mental model of what this would look like, my tablet would be lightweight, and compact, easy to carry. It would be inexpensive, so I wouldn't have to worry too much about it getting banged up or lost/stolen (although lost/stolen would be a real bummer, so encryption would be a must). My cell phone wouldn't be that cheap to replace, either, so the device doesn't have to be dirt cheap, but the cell is easier to keep close. I'm thinking that my ideal price point would be in the $200-$300 range. The rumored Apple tablet is also rumored to be $700+, which is just too expensive. And it's Apple, so it is likely to be too fascist for my tastes. But I'll bet it will be pretty. And white.
My tablet would be large enough to draw on, and to write longhand--at least 6"x8", although 8"x10" would be better (Even lined notebook paper isn't 8.5x11 any more. If you don't believe me, go to your nearest office store and try to find some). Ideally, it would do handwriting recognition--the PDA stuff does this pretty well, so that's probably not entirely a stretch. For some things, nothing replaces a real keyboard--even my cell phone has a keyboard--so having the ability do type would be nice. My cell phone also proves that even a tiny keyboard with tactile feedback can be fairly efficient, so some compromise might be possible. One interesting possibility would be to have a virtual keyboard on the tablet, with haptic feedback. This still would likely not replace a real keyboard, which is why the Touch Book is so interesting. Need a keyboard? Hook it up. Going out, going light? Just take the tablet.
Anyway, that's what I'm looking for in a tablet. And, as the song says, "I still haven't found/what I'm looking for". But the Touch Book seems to come pretty close. If I could actually "touch" one--mostly to get a feel for how heavy it is, how the keyboard feels (I've tried out some really, really awful netbook keyboards), and they weren't back-ordered, and beta, and...I might take a chance on one.
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