Tablets Aren't Just Stone Anymore

By Alan

It used to be that when you talked about Tablets, you would capitalize the word from respect, and you meant the rock tablets that held the Ten Commandments (and we don't mean the movie). It was some hunk of stone or wood that carried an inscription. It was the best method for having an enduring message. Paper or parchment wouldn't really last years, much less centuries.

Then, the word tablet (or tablette) showed up to mean something pressed together into a small package (like a tablette of soap) which eventually came to mean a small pressed package of powder into a medicinal dose. That became the primary use of the word in the 20th century.

Enter computers. Tablet computing became a popular definition. But, Tablet Computing has come and gone as possible items in "the next big thing," but the sales never went anywhere, and the companies that made tablets found only a couple niche markets that could support any users of tablets.

In January 2009, Microsoft launched Windows 7 tablets to typically Microsoft geeky fanfare, where Steve Ballmer announced several lines of tablet computers that supported multi-touch, which allows multiple fingers or pointers to touch the screen at the same time. Tablet computers got to be more in the news.

Early hardware developers  tried straight tablet computers, convertible laptops that have screens that kind of do a pirouette with a half gainer twist to fold the screen back down on the keyboard. Those are still the most common tablet computer.

Now in the past few weeks, "tablet" has typically meant the Apple iPad (which officially went on sale in pre-order last week). In typical Apple marketing fashion, they have dominated the news and media outlets with the announcements. Everyone forgets about the past attempts and quiet failures of similar products.

Why didn't past tablets really work in the past? Is tablet computing really worth it?

Consider what makes a tablet computer:

• touch screen, either with finger or stylus entry
• No keyboard, or a detachable one
• portable
• wireless connectivity
• typically a flat form factor

However, some of those very attributes also make them less useful for general computer:

Input - Older "tablets" figured that you made the computer learn how to read handwriting. If you consider that the typical handwriting only runs about 20-30 words per minute, that's normally considered a poor to average typist speed. We have yet to be able to measure good multi-touch keyboard entry from a device like the iPad.

Portable - In the past, portable meant disconnected, which really meant crippled. Now, we expect that portable devices will have at least WiFi access for the house, office, airport, or local coffee shop. Most devices will have a cellular connection, so they'll work in any major city that has a cell phone signal.

Flat - Okay, this makes things interesting. Why do Laptops fold up flat, but work with the display screen at an angle to the keyboard. God didn't put our hands in a position to readily type on a surface that is at right angles to our eyes and head. So if you are using the tablet while sitting down, you have to position yourself such that the head and the hands are both comfortable. This might cause some people to wonder if the tablet makes any sense for use in normal conditions.

Think about it. When was the last time you saw someone standing while typing on a laptop? It doesn't really happen. However, also, think about the last time you saw someone handwriting something while standing. If they had a clipboard, they did an awkward hold-the-board-with-one-hand-while-writing-with-the-other dance. They can't really use two hands to input the data. (Okay, some really weird ideas start to happen when you consider the skin as the input surface.)

So touch typing is out while standing. Tough while sitting, and tough while standing.

However, I doubt anyone is really considering that the tablet is going to be the hardcore mainstream device for inputting large amounts of data, such as a journalist or author would do. It's going to rely on the concept that users of the device are going to be consumers of data, rather than producers of it.

If the main purpose of the device is going to be the "casual" user, or someone who is typically using it just as a media device, then it's going to have some competition from several places, who will challenge the iPad just like the iPhone is getting challenged in the smart phone market.

We'll have to wait and see if the iPad is going to be the device that succeeds because its design or features will set it apart from all the others.