Microsoft Tablet PC isn't the big seller some had expected
By A.S. Berman
Gannett News Service
When Microsoft introduced the Tablet PC operating system last year — software that allows users to write on the screens of mobile computers — it was touted as the technology that would replace laptops and desktops.
And while some users are pleased with the system, sales aren't as projected.
About 72,000 Tablet PCs were sold in the last quarter of 2002, according to Alan Promisel, an analyst at Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC. In the first two quarters of 2003, only about another 200,000 were sold. The firm projected sales of 500,000 by year's end.
Some users claim that the Tablet PC s, currently made by Acer, Fujitsu, Toshiba and others, would fly off store shelves if people tried them.
"I absolutely love it," says Cheryl Wester, a teacher in Lake Matthews, Calif., about her Acer TravelMate C100 model, which she won in a contest.
"What I really like is its small form factor ... it's a complete computer," says Wester.
At just 3.2 pounds, Wester's model is easy for her to take to the high school algebra and geometry classes she teaches. And at staff meetings, her ability to write directly on the computer's screen means she can take notes quietly.
Frits van der Klooster, too, praises the digital-ink technology of the Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC he bought earlier this year.
"I've been amazed at how accurate it takes my sloppy handwriting," says van der Klooster. The Compaq device, which sells for about $1,700, accurately transcribes his handwritten notes about 90 percent of the time, he estimates.
Though his Tablet PC spends much of the time hooked up to a full-size monitor and keyboard via a docking station at his Findlay, Ohio, office, he finds the three-pound computer's near-flawless handwriting-recognition, 2.5-hour battery life and built-in Wi-Fi Internet capabilities allow him to get more work done on the road and at home.
Wester says the Acer's speech software types out the words she speaks with a level of accuracy approaching 98 percent.
But Wester and van der Klooster say the tablets need improvements — particularly with memory and speed.
Wester's Acer cannot be upgraded beyond 256MB of memory, which makes applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint "a little sluggish." Newer Tablet PCs can accept more RAM. And 1GHz isn't fast enough for van der Klooster — he'd like something faster.
Wester maintains that much of the Tablet PC's future will depend on applications that take advantage of the computer's unique abilities.
She cites the new Microsoft Office 2003 as a good example.
Using the Tablet PC's handwriting — or "digital ink" — features, "I can have students' papers on my (computer), circle the errors right on their papers and send it back to them" — all electronically.
Especially helpful to van der Klooster is the Tablet PC's "extended view" mode when in its docking station, which lets him use the Compaq's screen and the full-size external monitor simultaneously.
"There are units coming out ... that are more about digital ink features and less about being able to carry it around with you all day long," says Yardena Arar, a senior editor at PC World magazine. Such models are being sold more as replacements for desktop machines and less for portability.
