Software Everywhere — David Beers on Mobile Computing

And it's the 7-pound Gateway monster with the 14" WXGA screen! Am I stupid or what? I don't think anyone could sum up the folly of this device more aptly than Marc Orchant who described this device as a "desktop replacement Tablet PC." Makes about as much sense as a family-sized wristwatch, right?

Yeah, well, let me tell you: I love it. It's not a mobile device by any means, by which I mean that I'm not about to carry it around on my arm like a clipboard as normal human beings who buy tablets presumably want to do. If I were, I would have bought the IBM/Lenovo X41 that weighs scarcely a third of what the CX200 tips the scale at.

No, what I wanted was something that would be a no-compromise, high-power laptop first (for software development) and a tablet second (for all the times when it's nice to have a slate configuration and touchscreen). That would be mainly for web browsing or ebook reading on the couch or in bed and for free-form sketching and brainstorming. The Gateway fits the bill on both accounts. The screen on this baby is big and sharp, the mobo is a screamer yet runs surprisingly cool and quiet, and the build quality is impressive. I don't know how they make money off of these for the $1250 they ask at Best Buy, but it's exciting to see the quality device you can get for this money today. It's not just silicon that gets cheaper and better over time.

Another reason I wanted a Tablet PC is that I wanted to start experimenting with digital ink and to find out just how far it has come along. I've long found Graffiti handwriting recognition on Palm OS to be a natural and quick way to enter a few sentences of text but I realize that I may have more patience with this kind of thing than most people. Ink is quite a different thing from handwriting recognition, even though it involves handwriting recognition, and I was hopeful that we were getting close to combining the best things about handwriting--it's infinite flexibility and naturalness--with the best things about digital text: searchability and portability being among them.

I'm giving myself a little time with the tablet before I make a judgment on that. My initial reaction to the inking I've done in Windows Journal and OneNote 2003 has been mixed. The experience of writing on the screen is very natural and satisfying--only slightly different from what it feels like to write on real paper. There is an ever so slight delay between when you begin a stroke and it appears on the screen that is slightly disconcerting at first. But with experience this actually becomes a pleasant, flowing sensation like having a miniscule kite-tail following off the end of your pen. I say "sensation" because so small is the lag that it really is more felt than seen.

Unfortunately editing your digital ink is more awkward than I hoped, at least that's my first reaction. Window Journal is a bit better in this regard than OneNote, but OneNote makes up for this in other ways that I'll discuss later. All I want to note now is that there is a learning curve, and that you need to be prepared for the idea that ink will have different uses for you from text: it's better for some things and worse for others.

There are a couple of things about the Gateway hardware that are disappointments. First is the fact that the stylus does not function as an eraser when you flip it around as with some other tablets. Instead you use a scratching out gesture with the stylus point. It's a natural one to make--at least in theory--but in practice it seems to be difficult to execute successfully in Tablet PC. I guess if Microsoft tunes this I'll be content not to have the eraser on the end of my stylus.

The other qualm is with the digitizer, which seems impossible to calibrate perfectly, especially near the edge of the screen. It's not a problem while writing, but it makes tapping small buttons like those on a scrollbar difficult, sometimes almost impossible.

For great insider thoughts on Tablet PC technology and insights into where the next version of OneNote is headed you won't want to miss Chris Pratley's OneNote blog. Loren Heiny is a very good read with his tablet-focused blog, too.