The Tablet PC Debuts

By Karl Barksdale
Speaking Solutions © 2002

Where were you the day every computer in the world was outdated? Oh, I don't mean unusable, I mean out of date in the way the Apple II became yesterday's news when the Macintosh came out or how DOS fell from grace when Windows hit the scene.

Cindy Agnew knows where she was... at the center of it all... at Microsoft for the big November 7th release. It's fitting that the creator of the DigiTools curriculum would be sitting front and center for the unveiling of the Tablet PC. Here’s an excerpt of what she had to say.

“Oh my goodness, I have never seen so many Tablet PCs in one room! I have to say that the Tablet PC will absolutely change the importance that we put on learning how to keyboard. It is a serious computer that offers more than one way to communicate—handwriting is back and voice recognition is definitely a major player in the new “input” options.”

“This year, it is entirely possible that elementary students will work on their printing and cursive skills by using the digital ink technology. Forget learning keyboarding until 4th or 5th grade. Let kids just learn how to print, write in cursive and practice writing complete sentences.”

“Digital Ink is slick and will be incorporated into all future Microsoft products, (.i.e. the next release of Office 11, and the .NET generation.). It is obvious that Microsoft believes in creativity without being bound to the keyboard.”

For many, the definition of personal computing changed on November 7, 2002. According to Dr. Carl Fielder, President and CEO of Speaking Solutions, "I foresee within the next seven years that the keyboard will virtually disappear for the average person. You'll tap on a spot on your computer screen and the Input Panel will pop up, allowing you to do everything you once accomplished with a keyboard. You'll communicate with the computer using speech and handwriting. Computers as we know them today will be a thing of the past. The entire operating system will be in the monitor along with the CPU, and school computer networks will be wireless. Kids will carry their own tablets from class to class. These tablets will cost well under $1,000 and will host most student texts.”

Microsoft calls the Tablet a "primary business PC" and bills its new innovation as the "evolution of the PC." Providing all of the applications we enjoy on our desktops, Tablets are light and incredibly mobile.

Sydnie Harmon, a professional real estate appraiser and avid Dragon user, attended the big rollout event in Salt Lake City on November 8th. Similar meetings were held throughout the country. Here's what she had to say:

“My new Tablet PC is going to save at least 50% of my time when it comes to writing reports in the field. Currently we do fieldwork on paper and dictate notes into a digital recorder, then we return to the office and transcribe the information into the various report forms we need to complete. The problem is, we often do three or four field visits each day, and by the time we get back to the office the information becomes somewhat fuzzy. Now I can do my drawings, collect my data with digital ink and dictate my reports using Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Microsoft’s speech recognition right on the spot.”

Sydnie made this observation in regard to education’s role.

“As I walked around the booths I was struck by everyone apologizing for their poor penmanship. My generation has horrible handwriting, in part because we depend so much on typing. I think education has a major role to play here. Students must learn to write legibility. They used to give out penmanship awards. We should return to that emphasis. Where students once used ballpoints on paper they will now write on a Tablet PC with a digital pen.

“Training is required if users are to get the most out of the Tablet PC. It was obvious to me that many of the people demonstrating the Tablets hadn’t been trained to use speech recognition – which works extremely well. Being a speech user, I was able to help some of the demonstrators figure out how to demo it. There is an obvious training deficit in regards to speech recognition that schools can fill.”

Cindy Agnew has provided numerous links in an article called “Cool Tablet Links” which can be found at www.speakingsolutions.com/acer. We hope you enjoy the Tablet PC era.

COOL NEW TABLET FEATURES AND A CURRICULUM TO GO WITH IT

With the invaluable support of Acer America, we're releasing the “Nifty Fifty for Tablet PC" training curriculum for Tablet PC instruction. In a few weeks, view www.speakingsolutions.com/acer for our preview lessons. We will start with Writing Pad, since it is the most ubiquitous new tool that every student must learn. Scroll down to the Sample Lessons from the Nifty Fifty for Tablet PC link.

Some of the new tools you can look forward to learning about in the months to come include:

* Input Panel
* Writing Pad for block style or cursive writing
* Ink mode for your own handwriting
* Enhanced anti-aliasing which allows handwriting to look great on the screen.
* Speech Recognition Bar
* Enhanced SAPI support for programs like Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM ViaVoice
* Accurate screen digitizer allowing screen input
* Pen hovering capability for effective digital pen insertion point control
* Microsoft Reader (for use with eBooks and the textbooks of the future)
* Mark up capabilities with digital ink in PowerPoint, Word, and Excel
* Ability to write e-mail in your own handwriting
* Journal for notetaking
* Snip It feature for moving handwritten graphics and text
* Pen gestures to strike out errors or to open input panel
* Sticky Notes
* Longer battery life and better power management
* Quick press buttons for easy scrolling and computer management purposes
* Hot docking and undocking of tablet from docking stations
* Dual monitor support

Tablet PCs are slender, some under 1 inch thick and weighing under 3 pounds. Most have 20 or 30 GB hard drives, 256 MB of RAM, and run Windows XP Professional. They support wireless and traditional networking. Most dock and undock to traditional monitors and support dual monitors. All support speech recognition with either Dragon NaturallySpeaking, IBM ViaVoice, or the endemic Microsoft speech recognition.

For those of us that still wish to type while away from our docking stations, several models, like the Acer TravelMate 100 and the Toshiba model, convert quickly into traditional portable computers. Other models use docking stations like the ViewSonic, Compaq and Fujitsu. The keyboard on the TravelMate is arched at a 5 percent angle in order to accommodate larger hands more comfortably. To get the full specs visit www.speakingsolutions.com/acer.