By Lara Updike
Smaller than a laptop, Microsoft''s new Tablet PC converts voice and handwriting into text, in addition to providing the capabilities of an office computer that runs on Windows XP. It may revolutionize computing, experts say, but BYU students haven''t bought into the new technology - not yet.
'Writing with your own hand can''t be replaced by writing with a computer,' said Todd Wheeler, 24, a senior from Centennial, Colo., studying economics. Wheeler said he owns a laptop but still uses paper notepads. 'There''s something about hands-on that can''t be replaced by technology.'
But Wheeler said he might buy a Tablet - priced between $2,000 and $3,000 - at some point in his life: when he has more money.
Will McKelson, 23, a senior from Chino, Calif., also said he won''t be buying a tablet any time soon.
'I wouldn''t get much use out of it,' McKelson said. A mechanical engineering student, he has worked for more than a year as a stockroom specialist at Cougar Computer in the campus bookstore.
'I prefer the pen and paper,' he said after demonstrating the Tablet''s ability to read a student''s chicken scratch or sloppy cursive. 'Just in my classes, this would be a little clumsy.'
The BYU Bookstore has sold three Tablet PCs since receiving them in mid-October. McKelson said more students would have bought the Tablet PC if it were released before the back-to-school season. If students are going to spend money on new computers, they usually do it before the beginning of fall term, he said. He said sales should go up during the Christmas season and again next August and September.
Clayton Johnson owns Tenami, an American Fork consulting firm that helps clients implement handheld technologies. Johnson said people have to be sold on the idea of the Tablet PC before they''ll buy one.
'If you were to walk into the store, and you were just browsing yourself, you might look at it and say, ''Well, that''s neat.'' But if you were to have someone show you how it works and how you can use it for your specific applications and needs, you''d be excited,' Johnson said. 'Of all the people I''ve shown it to, if you weren''t excited, you''d be the first.'
The Tablet can be used to take notes in places and positions where keyboards aren''t convenient. Its screen responds only to an electromagnetic stylus, not the accidental bump of your hand - nor a fork handle that might fool a palmtop in emergencies. The Tablet can store the notes as handwriting or convert them to text with minimal errors.
The voice-to-text function of the Tablet PC has an advantage over similar, older software because the program was written for specific hardware. Still, users must wear a headset, enter in names and slang, and train their Tablet to recognize their voice.
Several different companies manufacture the Tablet in different forms, each model having pros and cons. Some have made the tablet double as a laptop screen; it swivels 180 degrees so it will close down on the keyboard with the screen on the outside.
Most models weigh about three pounds, and are meant to be carried virtually anywhere. Some that dock onto desk terminals can be whisked away without shutting down.
The mobility and versatility of the Tablet will change the workplace, Johnson said. Instead of asking co-workers to come look at their screen, or else sending them a file via e-mail, Tablet users can carry the computer with them to the meetings, even chance meetings in the hall.
The word Johnson used to describe Tablets is 'natural.'
'To me, it breaks down a lot of the barriers that a quote unquote computer has,' he said. 'I was telling my sister about this cabinet we''re making. It was so easy to sketch the cabinet and throw that into the e-mail.'
Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft, said at the Tablet''s unveiling ceremony last week, 'The launch of the Tablet PC marks an exciting new era of mobile computing.'
Echoing Gates'' statement, Johnson said, 'This will change computing more than anything since computers were introduced.'
The Tablet was made available to non-university retailers only last Thursday, but already market analysts are reporting that because of the current economy, the Tablet''s price and the time needed to educate consumers, this new era of mobile computing may be slow in coming.
One New York Times reporter wrote that this new era might not come at all.
'For everything else, writing on the screen is primarily a novelty, an expensive piece of demo ware that introduces pointless barriers to many tasks that would be swift and simple on a traditional laptop,' wrote reporter David Pogue in his article published Nov 7. 'Especially in this economy, it doesn''t seem likely that the masses will beat a path to Microsoft''s door, grateful to pay a $500 premium for the opportunity.'
Johnson hopes Pogue is wrong.
'I want to see this technology succeed because as it succeeds in the university and in my business, my business succeeds,' he said.