Tablet Family Portrait

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If you have been around very long in Tablet PC’s, you know that the first family of Tablet is of course the Heiny clan. I would not attempt to challenge that, but did want to share with you the impact Tablet PC have had on my family. I came across this picture (click to enlarge) today as I was looking for something and thought I would share it. I took this a while back, but it shows how much influence Tablet PC’s have had in my family’s life. That’s 6 – yes 6 Tablet PC’s. Here is the quick rundown on who’s there:

1. Dennis – My faithful tablet is a Toshiba M200. I have used a lot of Tablets, and I still like this one. I have resisted replacing it until I see one that flies so far above that it merits spending the money!! As a network engineer, I use it (including Tablet functionality) on a daily basis!
2. Sandra – My lovely wife Sandra is a pharmacist by trade, and does NOT use her Acer C102Ti at work (not allowed). She does however, uses this thing a lot at home. She uses it as a small laptop for email, etc., but really enjoys reading the New York Times every day in tablet mode. She loves playing Inkrabble, Bridge, Bookworm, etc. on it as a diversion as well. Every long car trip we take, she spends a lot of time with her tablet!
3. Andy – Andy is in his 3rd year at the University of Georgia (go Dawgs!). He has had his Motion M1300 since his first day of college, and has used it well. It is starting to look a little rough around the edges, but has been his mainstay since day one. It is used like the typical laptop, but he takes a ton of notes on it as well. Lately though, as his writing tasks for class has increased, he has begun to wish for a better keyboard so will soon need a convertible. Handwritten notes are great, but they won’t let him turn those in!
4. Lisa – Lisa is 17 years old and in her junior year of high school. Like every other high school student, she does email, etc., but she does not take her Fujitsu ST4000 tablet to school. It stays in her dock at home. She can definitely be found sitting up in bed with it in her lap in tablet mode though, surfing the internet, gaming, etc. Lots of drawing on this one!
5. Erin – One of my first tablet PC’s was a Compaq TC1000, and personally still my favorite form factor. I gave this one to Erin when I got my Toshiba, just to initiate her into the Tablet world. Erin is a 3rd year Accounting major at Virginia Tech (go Hokies!), and has used this machine for a couple of years now. One of her biggest influences was her boyfriend Dave, who got bitten by the tablet bug after playing with Erin’s!
6. Dave – Dave is also in his 3rd year at Virginia Tech. As I mentioned, after he used Erin’s TC1000 he had to have one. He took his time, shopped around, and ended up with a Motion M1400, which he has utilized well ever since.

So, as you see, quite a mix of tablet PC’s. Escpecially interesting to me is that these are all models that are a couple of years old at least. None of us have felt the need to move on to a newer, bigger, better one, and these have all be reliable and trustworthy pieces of equipment. This little family portait shows use of Tablet PC’s all across the scale, at all ages. The latest interest is from my mother. As my parents travel in their retired years, it will probably not be long until I have to get her a tablet with an EVDO card to carry in that motor home as they move slowly about the country!

So…, to those who said 3 years ago that the tablet PC was a fad, that it would not prove useful for the long run, I submit to you that you were wrong. Period.