Gartner Podcast – Common Barriers in the Tablet PC Market

This podcast is worth listening to!  The Gartner Group does some pretty detailed research into topics when they do a report.  As I listened to analyst Leslie Fireing, I was definitely struck by her overall knowledge of Tablet PC’s, their strengths and weaknesses, and the history and potential future of the platform.  I at times cringed a bit by some of the examples of successful use of a tablet (as a clipboard replacement in the office supply closet?), but overall have to say that I think Leslie gets it pretty well.  As a bit of a Tablet evangelist myself, I did not necessarily agree with some of her points, but have to respect her opinion, since she obviously has done her research and used it to draw her conclusions.  One thing that did strike me as annoying was her continual reference to the $50-$100 price difference for tablet functionality, and that needing to go away.  Although I realize her comments are made mostly to large scale deployment customers (where $100 times X does add up);  c’mon Leslie, $100 is pretty cheap for such great ability.  Overall though, her research indicates good progress for this market!

At any rate, this is a must hear if you are into the tablet market.  Listen to the whole podcast here.  Here is the page blurb.

“The sale of tablet PCs has grown twenty-five percent each year since their introduction in 2002, but their adoption remains largely for vertical applications. Find out if they are appropriate for your workforce.”

(Thanks to Jesse Kelly of CreativeArts.com for the tip to this podcast!)