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Tablets Sneak Up on LaptopsNew machines offer
flexibility and portability, but they may become popular only in
certain fields
By ANDREA L.
FOSTER
Think of it as an
oversized personal digital assistant. The tablet personal
computer is the latest
gadget to vie for the attention of students, professors, and
administrators.
But is it poised to overtake the
laptop?
Students and professors at three colleges that
received tablets free say the machines make for quick, unobtrusive
note-taking and cooperative design work. But other officials
familiar with tablets say they aren't ready for widespread use on
the campus.
"It's an interesting concept, but it still isn't
the right package," says Gregory A. Jackson, vice president and
chief information officer at the University of Chicago. He says
tablets must be lighter, and their batteries must last
longer.
While different models vary, generally the tablets
look like bulky clipboards. They are designed to combine the
portability of a pad of paper with the computing power and wireless
connectivity of a laptop. A tablet comes with a stylus that's used
to write directly on the screen. Microsoft's Windows Journal
software, which runs on tablets, saves handwritten script and can
convert it, if sometimes awkwardly, into printed text.
Some
tablet models have keyboards that swivel away from their screens,
permitting the devices to be used like laptops. Or a user can rely
on the stylus to pick out letters on a keyboard displayed on the
screen. Many of the machines come with holders that let users prop
them up on desks and attach standard keyboards and
mice.
Prototype tablets were provided at no charge last year
to chosen students and professors at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and the University of Texas at Austin, under agreements
with Microsoft, which created Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
(including the Journal software), the operating system for
tablets.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Microsoft tested the
tablets at academic departments where the machines were likely to be
very useful -- design and mechanical engineering at MIT, and
community planning at Texas. Students and professors in those
programs frequently sketch and discuss designs, and the tablets'
styluses and smooth drawing surfaces facilitate
collaboration.
Marketing students at Bentley College, in
Waltham, Mass., the third group to try tablets, also give the
computers a thumbs-up. They are conducting research this semester
intended to predict whether the machines will be widely embraced by
colleges. Preliminarily, some of them say it may take a while for
the tablets to incorporate many of the amenities that laptops offer,
and to come down in price enough for students to see them as
competitive with laptops. Tablets now range in price from $1,900 to
$2,600 -- considerably more expensive than many
laptops.
"In our class, the tablet would be perfect to go out
and take surveys with," says Redmond E. Rodriguez, a Bentley senior
majoring in marketing. "But would I want to travel with it? Not
really, because my laptop gives me more flexibility." Unlike his
laptop, he explains, none of the tablet models available now has an
internal CD drive that would allow him to play CD's or
DVD's.
"Instant messaging, music, movies, and games are as
important as classroom note-taking and group collaboration in the
24/7 world of college students," says Perry M. Lowe, the
marketing-class instructor. "Any successful personal computer
serving the higher-education market will need to address all of
these needs."
Critics also cite two drawbacks to tablets that
work against portability, their main selling point. At around three
pounds, current models are relatively weighty, and their batteries
usually last only two to four hours.
"If you have to get
weight and short battery life in order to have handwriting
recognition and easy graphical storage, it's not worth the
trade-off," says Mr. Jackson.
Evolving
Designs
Some experts say those problems will be resolved
within a few years. Just as color replaced black and white on
computer screens, today's laptops will evolve to offer tablet
features, says Alexander H. Slocum, a professor of mechanical
engineering at MIT.
"They'll just become one," he says.
"There will no longer be a laptop and a tablet."
An early
test of tablets' popularity is likely to come in several months.
Many students and professors don't buy computers until the late
summer or early fall, and the tablet technology was unveiled only
last November.
John P. Bailey, director of information
technology for the U.S. Department of Education, predicts scattered
usage of tablets on college campuses this fall.
Michael W.
Humke, director of higher education for Hewlett-Packard, says the
company's Compaq TC1000 tablet has prompted "interest and
excitement" among college officials. Though no college has made a
bulk purchase, he says HP has responded to competitive-bid requests
from colleges seeking to buy tablets in quantities ranging from
1,500 to 16,000. He declines to name the colleges.
MIT
participants in an international robot-design competition last
summer were the first college students to test tablets on a
widespread basis, after Microsoft gave them 25 Acer tablets in July.
Students in the community- and regional-planning department of
Texas' architecture school received 20 Compaq tablets last
fall.
Microsoft also lent tablets to students in Mr. Slocum's
mechanical-engineering design course, who like the machines enough
that they're reluctant to return them for others to use, says John
R. Williams, a professor of civil and environmental engineering who
is director of the Intelligent Engineering Systems Laboratory.
"We're trying to buy 60 more now."
He is impressed by the
tablets' processing speed, which rivals that of desktop computers
-- from 800 megahertz for the Acer TravelMate C100 to 1.3
gigahertz for the Toshiba Portégé 3500. "These are supercomputers,"
Mr. Williams says. "If you went back five years, these were
top-of-the-line workstations."
One of his students, Abel
Sanchez, a Ph.D. candidate in information technology, used to step
away from his computer to make sketches on paper, but now he draws
them on the tablet. "The 'Aha!' moments I had while waiting for the
bus, and other odd times during the day, are now captured
electronically," he says.
Tarik A. Ward, a senior majoring in
aeronautics and astronautics, uses his tablet's stylus to mark up
problem sets, Web pages, class notes, and PowerPoint
presentations.
One problem he notes is that the stylus is
most effective on a tablet that is laid flat. That makes it awkward
to alternate between typing on the keys, which is done while the
tablet is upright, and using the stylus. What's more, he reports,
the stylus has to be recalibrated often, the eraser function doesn't
work well, and the computer freezes and crashes frequently. In
addition, the latches and buttons are flimsy, Mr. Ward adds, which
is particularly troublesome in a machine that people carry around a
lot -- and drop occasionally.
Mr. Slocum, who helped
organize the robot-design competition at MIT, says the tablets
helped students work together. One would start a drawing on the
machine, and then several others would make additions, each using a
different color.
Students who are in different locations can
use the tablets to cooperate, he adds, since they can electronically
send their sketches to classmates' machines. "When you work with
paper, you can only collaboratively scribble when you're all in the
same place," he says. "Everyone's scribbling with a black or a blue
pen, and now you've got this spaghetti mess."
Second-year
graduate students in Texas' community- and regional-planning program
took Compaq tablets loaded with mapping and architectural software
to a neighborhood on the Mexican border, where they worked from
September to December to design a park. They say the tablets are
convenient to use on the go. "I couldn't believe I was standing in
the middle of a field ... in a place without many of the basic
necessities, and there I was writing, actually digitizing notes on
my tablet," says Marilyn Shashoua. "It is as if you are carrying a
clipboard."
A classmate, Melissa Handley, says the machine is
too heavy to carry around for a long time. But she suffers from
carpel-tunnel syndrome, and using the tablet's stylus instead of a
keyboard gave her wrists a break. "I was able to use the tablet pen
for many hours at a time without any problems," she
says.
Mark S. Mazzola, another student in the planning
program, doesn't own a laptop, but after trying out a tablet, he
says his next computer purchase will be a tablet.
Some of
the Texas students complain that the tablets' screens -- like
those of laptops -- are hard to read outdoors. "Whatever you do
to the settings and however much shade or cover you provide, it's
very difficult to see things," says Anuradha Parma.
Others
who've tried tablet models say the software that converts
handwriting into printed text doesn't easily recognize styles of
handwriting or distinguish between lowercase and uppercase letters.
As a result, the screen's printed text is often filled with errors.
"It was tedious to correct the mistakes," says Ms. Shashoua. Mr.
Slocum and Mr. Williams say many of their students don't rely on the
handwriting-conversion tool, preferring to save their notes as image
files.
The option to work with handwriting and sketches gives
tablets an advantage over the laptops, says Mr. Slocum. "Very rarely
do you draw with just words. Maybe in an English class, but even
then, sometimes you want to quickly highlight what you took a note
on, or you want to circle something or draw an arrow and tie things
together. Communication is not just in words."
Comparing
Models
At Bentley, the marketing students tested models
during presentations by representatives of Acer, Fujitsu, Motion,
and Toshiba. Those manufacturers, along with NEC and ViewSonic, are
also lending students tablets for their research outside of class.
"I like the feel of the Toshiba," says Peter Bonneau, a
senior majoring in management. "The pen was really fluid, as opposed
to the Acer and Fujitsu."
He's not convinced that students
would use tablets to take notes in class, however. The company
representatives pointed out the advantage of quiet note-taking on
tablets, compared with the tap-tapping on a laptop's keyboard. But
Mr. Bonneau says most students don't take notes with their laptops
anyway.
Mr. Rodriguez, another senior, says he likes the
simplicity of the tablet from Motion Computing. A slate without an
attached keyboard, it weighs about three pounds, while the screen
measures 12 inches diagonally, bigger than the 10-inch screens on
many other models.
The Bentley students also are organizing
focus groups and conducting surveys as they attempt to forecast
whether other students will want tablets. In the meantime, many
experts say that tablets, perhaps as an evolved form of laptops,
will surely take hold on college campuses.
"Why wouldn't
people want the opportunity to at least have a touch screen?" asks
Geoffrey M. Palmer, president of InfoCater, a technology consulting
company and tablet vendor in Newton, Mass., who has been a resource
for the Bentley students as they conduct their market research.
"Just being able to point to something on the screen is easier than
using a mouse."
Most of the tablets that InfoCater has begun
to sell to colleges are purchased by teaching hospitals and other
medical facilities. Health-care workers, constantly on the go, find
the tablets convenient for both jotting down and retrieving patient
data. Mr. Palmer says that he hasn't sold tablets to a college for
widespread use, but that some students are buying the machines on
their own. Many of those early adopters, he says, favor the Toshiba
model, which sells for about $2,500 and features a 12-inch screen
and the speedy processor.
Michael P. Pickett, deputy chief
information officer at Duke University, says tablets have benefits
for administrators and faculty members. After meetings, trying to
organize notes scribbled on yellow paper, he would have trouble
finding specific information, he says. Now using a tablet, he can
search his handwritten notes electronically, using key
words.
And because he travels frequently, like other college
administrators, he likes the portability of tablets. He has tried
out models from Toshiba, Compaq, Acer, and NEC. "The odds are pretty
good that I'll buy one," he says, adding that he prefers the NEC
Versa LitePad because it is light and has a relatively large
screen.
Tablets will take a few years to catch on with
students, Mr. Pickett believes. Freshmen, in particular, seem less
interested in a lightweight computer than in having a machine that
allows them to play movies, songs, and games, he says.
But
Mr. Jackson, of Chicago, is sticking with his laptop.
"If
they come out with a computer that's thin like a piece of paper,
that you can roll up and put in your pocket," he says, "that would
be a breakthrough."
| COMPUTERS THAT
MIMIC PEN AND PAPER |
| Tablets, a recent innovation in
computer technology, are attracting the attention of many
students, professors, and administrators. In "slate" models, a
user can write and draw on the letter-sized computer with an
electronic stylus. Other tablets are called "convertible"
models because they are connected to keyboards and can double
as laptops. Here are descriptions of eight tablets on the
market: |
| |
Format: |
Cost: |
Monitor: |
Weight: |
Acer TravelMate
TMC104CTi |
convertible |
$2,099 |
10.4 in. |
3.2 lbs. |
| Compaq TC1000 |
convertible |
$2,098 |
10.4 in. |
3 lbs. |
| Fujitsu ST4110 |
slate |
$2,599 |
10.4 in. |
3.2 lbs. |
| Motion M1200 |
slate |
$2,599 |
12 in. |
3 lbs. |
NEC Versa
LitePad |
slate |
$2,399 |
10.4 in. |
2.2 lbs. |
Panasonic
Toughbook 18 |
convertible |
$3,200 |
10.4 in. |
4.4 lbs. |
Toshiba
Portégé 3500 |
convertible |
$2,499 |
12 in. |
4.1 lbs. |
ViewSonic
ViewPad V1100 |
slate |
$1,999 |
10.4 in. |
3.4 lbs. |
| Note: Prices are from http://www.infocater.com/,
Compaq Corp, and Matsushita Electric Corp of America. Monitor
size refers to diagonal length; figures for weight exclude
accessories. |
| SOURCE:
Chronicle reporting |
http://chronicle.com
Section: Information Technology
Volume
49, Issue 30, Page A33
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