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GBM Podcast #62: An Inventory of the Tablet PC Space
What’s going on of late in the Tabletscape? Rob and Warner take an inventory of what we’ve seen lately (or not) from the various Tablet PC OEMs, and also discuss what we might or might not see coming up in the month’s ahead. They also spend some time talking about Rob’s issues with Dell and the N-Trig Digitizer. Where that is going no one really knows, but with multi-touch in Windows 7 about to debut is there really a reliable device out there to test it on? In addition to welcoming Rob back to the podcast, they also welcome back the Nothing But Net segment as they talk about what’s going on in the still wacky world of Netbooks these days. And make sure you check out the latest GBM Contest and win yourself an I’m A PC t-shirt.
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Download GBMPodcast #62 here. (51.5.7MB 56.20 minutes)
- Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout
- Lenovo/Dell Tablet PC Shootout
- GBM Contest: Are You a PC?
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davidm
10/23/2008 at 12:50 pm
Wow, I am really struck by the lack of follow through by Microsoft in regards to tablet innovation, compared to Apple’s ability to come out with successful innovation. Rob’s long pause when trying to answer his own question about what they are doing says it all, and saying something “almost looks mac-like” as the greatest compliment…
At the same time, I think the hype over multi-touch is overblown, it’s hilarious to think about all these people pulling their hair out about not being able to do pinch gestures. I squish you! I squish you! (kids in the hall reference). Today’s computers are stuck on a plateau.
The real innovation in computers will be consistent resolution free desktops (and apps), full internet integration, and a backing away from glorifying the legacy underpinnings of a computer OS and moving toward something that is a lot simpler to work with. Microsoft is going to keep building up the Windows brand, and with clearly commoditized OSs they could easily lose it, except for a few die hards who buy their computer for Windows itself. Judging by how many enthusiast sites have switched to Mac/iPhone, it’s not going to be pretty. (I just hope for some Linux breakthroughs, open source is something really new).
I am a tablet PC enthusiast, but there is nothing really compelling out there now, they all tend to be one feature short of what I want. (The 2730p just doesn’t have the battery life compared to a t2020 (which has an inferior keyboard), and anything with ‘Elite’ in it makes me retch), the x200t, Darth Vader’s tablet PC, is overpriced).
Maybe Gigabyte will come out with a slightly better version of their Netbook tablet, it’s really interesting. But you said it at the end, it’s all about the keyboard.
Vyk
10/24/2008 at 1:43 am
Thank you for another excellent Podcast!
Always enjoy these. =)
Btw, the iTunes podcast subscription link is that of the Zune.
Lawrence
10/24/2008 at 2:40 am
An excellent podcast, indeed :)
I agree that multi-touch has a lot of potential but I think that Tablets have one potentially big challenge: when you’re walking around with a slate you only have one hand to use for multi-touching (is that a word?)
Will a lot of the software produced work wonderfully well for use with two hands but turn out to be impossible for single-handed use?
Warner Crocker
10/24/2008 at 6:18 am
Thanks, Vyk. We’ll get it fixed.