Incremental Blogger

What I find so fascinating about the discussion around the recently released Amazon Kindle book reader and devices like the iPhone is that people are generally open to the slate form factor….and touch.

This is a trend that I hope Tablet designers are paying attention to. Why? Because for the most part over the last couple years it appears that the Tablet PC designers and marketers have resolved that the slate form factor (for the most part) wasn’t where the majority of the market potential was and “convertibles” were the “right” form factor, I think they got it wrong and these new devices are going to be teaching them a lesson.

Microsoft had it right with its prototype orange Tablet PC and better yet with its Haiku UMPC design. Even NEC’s LitePad was a smart design–among others. Generally, the thinner, the better. The easier to use, the better. I’d also add the cheaper, the better. To me the OEMs and Tablet PC marketing has lead the Tablet PC to a nameless, homogeneous, fairly uninspired collection of notebooks.

I don’t simply want a better 1997 notebook. I want a better device for 2007. I want to be connected. I want to have instant access. I want to be able to share. I want to be able to interact. I want to be learn, express, explore, inspire, be inspired, make money, purchase things, and above all enjoy my life a little bit more, wherever I am.

Maybe I have to wait until 2017. We’ll see. But I’m confident that one day, we’ll look back and realize that this is exactly what technology has given us–or should I say we have given each other.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 25th, 2007 at 8:35 pm and is filed under EBook Reader, Kindle, Tablet PC, UMPC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.