Phoenix Office 2003 launch event

The Phoenix Office 2003 launch event was packed with freebies, including a coupon for a free version of Office 2003 Professional and OneNote. Cool. Who needs to win the Toshiba Tablet PC that they were giving away anyway?

I spent the whole day in the development track so I didn’t get around much, but I did see one other Tablet PC–a Toshiba used by one of the Microsoft employees. Who knows, there could have been more. I wonder if the “Using OneNote” breakout session exploited Tablet PCs for their demos?

Tablet PCs got mentioned a few times throughout the day and in a video at the keynote presentation, although none were used in the keynote nor were there any Tablet PCs in the vendor booths. A missed opportunity. It would have been interesting if the Messenger demo in the keynote used a Tablet PC, for instance, to ink a message in response. Or how about this: What if the script had been modified so that a person on stage fills out a form to get approval from their manager in the back of the room, who just so happens to have a Tablet PC running? Maybe utilizing some kind of WiFi projector technology people could watch as the “manager” walks towards the stage, tapping their OK on a form or jotting down a note in response. Something like this would be a great way to illustrate the “on the go” utility of the Windows applications. I’m sure this kind of presentation doesn’t fit well into the virtual machine “all-in-one-box” style of presentations, but doesn’t it illustrate Office better? Am I missing something?

There weren’t very many vendors at the show. That’s unfortunate. But here again, the booth vacancies leave room for some creative promotion. Why not give a booth to some Tablet PCers? Maybe liability is a problem. Nonetheless it seems like two or three Tablet PCs equipped with OneNote would have been a natural. I passed my Tablet PC around the table at lunch, but I quickly realized I wasn’t prepared (with batteries and applications). I should have kept it out more throughout the event.

One vendor that caught my eye the most was HP. Interestingly, HP didn’t have any Tablet PCs in its booth again. (At the Server 2003 launch event HP didn’t have any Tablet PCs either, but their booth partner Ikon did–and received some of the greatest attention because of them.) I asked the HP representative if they had any Tablet PCs and she said that because the Tablet PCs are in such high demand that there are only three demo units available in all of North America. The one she usually uses was at the LA launch event. Yeah, I can see where the LA event would probably be a better place to put your resources.

One last tidbit: I missed my WiFi. I noticed that Microsoft had its own private wireless LAN. It sure would have been nice to have it available for the conference goers. I’d like to be able to blast off a quick instant message or check my emails or who knows–someday actually be able to follow along with the slide show on my computer rather than try to squint to read the itsy bitsy type on the big screen projectors. Streaming over the internet (which can’t come cheap can it?) is a standard for Microsoft events, but why not stream over the LAN? Someday conference-supplied WiFi is going to become as necessary as restrooms.

Overall, Microsoft does a great job putting on events such as this one. I get a little tech, a few freebies, a chance to win some droolable prizes and get to meet some interesting people along the way.