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MICROSOFT’S NEW TOY IMPACTS COMPUTER
ERA
By Victoria Wancel
You won’t find irritating clicking sounds and time-consuming typo mistakes with this computer.
The Tablet PC by Microsoft makes life more convenient for mobile workers who find using a mouse and keyboard frustrating. It’s built with an electromagnetic screen that allows users to write or draw with a digital pen.
Pen-based computing becomes a reality when combining handwritten input and digital processing.
Donna DeStefano, a Verizon technician, said the Tablet PC is just another gimmick for people to waste their money on.
“It sounds nice, but is it something we really need,” said DeStefano. “I can get the same result by writing on paper. I don’t think it will become a trend.”
The screen digitizes the pen movements and displays them as handwritten or drawn ink, and makes the hand-scripted text available to a handwriting recognizer, which translates the handwritten words into standard text in typeface. This text can then be pasted into Microsoft Outlook e-mails, Excel spreadsheets, or Word documents and sent to other Windows-based platforms and devices.
Kerry Sullivan, junior at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., said the Tablet PC could make the rest of her college days a lot easier.
“If I had a Tablet PC I would bring it to every class with me so I can write my class notes straight onto my computer and save it,” said Sullivan. “ I usually type up my handwritten class notes before tests, so this would make life more convenient for me.”
According to Alex Loeb, corporate vice president of the Tablet PC division at Microsoft, Tablet PC’s are a major milestone in mobile computing, bringing more versatility and computing power to more places than ever before.
A Tablet PC user can also employ or attach more traditional input mechanisms, such as a keyboard or mouse, to operate the computer. The Tablet PC also includes voice-recognition software that enables the use of voice to command and control applications as well as input text.
Donald Sweigert, a Horizon engineer, said he has no need for high-tech computers.“All I need is a computer that can store input,” said Sweigert. “Writing and speaking inputs for a computer are something I don’t need to spend more money on.”
According to Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, the Tablet PC is a great example of how computers are adapting to how people really work, whether they're taking notes in a meeting, collaborating wirelessly with colleagues or reading on screen. We're just scratching the surface of what is possible.
Tablet PCs are available in two primary designs: One features an attached keyboard and can be configured in the traditional laptop clamshell mode, and the other uses a variety of detachable keyboard designs in a slate form factor.
All Tablet PCs are designed to be a user's primary business PC, recognizing input from a keyboard, mouse or pen.