Tim–a member of the kiosk industry–has some great concerns about kiosk-based marketing efforts for the Tablet PC:
You really do need to have them staffed or at least supervised…Kiosks and devices in public places usually suffer a terrible amount of abuse – both intentional and not – which quickly degrades their appeal.
His comment about staffing really got me thinking. Tim’s onto something here. How knowledgeable of the Tablet PC will these people be? As knowledgeable as the CompUSA salespeople? Let’s hope not. I’m sure all of us have had the pleasure of giving the CompUSA salespeople tips on how to use the Tablet PC. I’m going to guess it’s going to be the same here.
I hope these front-line people are more than watch dogs guarding against damage to the Tablet PC. Can you imagine the effect a ho-hum booth staffer can have on the first impressions that people get of the Tablet PC?
Yeah, the individual staffing the Tablet PC kiosk is going to be critical. In fact, Microsoft, if you want to give the office-building kiosk program a boost, how about having Bill Gates staff the booth for the first hour? That’ll get some attention.
Short of this, I hope they have a coupon or something for everyone. Please, let’s hope the kiosks have something more than a Tablet PC strapped to a box.
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