And the Tablet will out....
This is not a call for continuing the tablet vs. anti-tablet 100-years War, but 2002 will be significant for this kind of technology in the home.
Even though the miopic, keyboard-centric, touch-type-blinded troglodytes always disagree, input beyond the keyboard is coming.
In the same edition of MSNBC Home as an article speculating upon Apple's promises for Monday, there is an article about Bill Gates showing off a thin-client device ALSO on Monday.
<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/682362.asp?0dm=T13KT"; target="_blank">http://www.msnbc.com/news/682362.asp?0dm=T13KT</a>;
(It is strange to read an MSNBC article that doesn't have a quote from the Heritage Foundation or involve bashing one or more of the Clintons.)
The rumor threads of course think that Steve moved to Monday to pre-empt Bill's own announcements on Tuesday, but this clearly states that Gates will announce on Monday.
Now Microsoft is rarely innovative and of course here they are not innovative either, but they are pushing a device that not only will have functionality on its own, it will be almost entirely dependent on MS's .Net strategy. That is the innovative part. The next step to total information dependency on Microsoft.
The article makes me very queasy .... to think that MS seems to have no competition in this arena of the home digital hub...yet. I am hoping Apple also has some offering in their "digital hub" universe.
On these boards, many have given ample reasons for a tablet over the last few years, and those reasons are still valid. I just really hope that the non-keyboard digital lifestyle - TV, Movies, Games, Audio and thin-client internet - doesn't just become synonymous with Microsoft-based devices.
It will happen unless Apple gives consumers an alternative. So can we all put aside our differences about how much faster typing is than writing and look at the big picture?
The Tablet and its soon to be multiplying cousins will I feel become more entrenched into the average American's home life than the PC is today. Microsoft to its credit is proposing the only intriguing option for this transition to date. Unless some unknown company comes out of nowhere like Palm to show another way, it will be up to Apple to give consumers a choice.
(Last parenthetical soapbox: Hopefully G.W. will be so busy with foreign affairs that he will let the justice system actually hold MS accountable for any future monopolistic practices.)
Even though the miopic, keyboard-centric, touch-type-blinded troglodytes always disagree, input beyond the keyboard is coming.
In the same edition of MSNBC Home as an article speculating upon Apple's promises for Monday, there is an article about Bill Gates showing off a thin-client device ALSO on Monday.
<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/682362.asp?0dm=T13KT"; target="_blank">http://www.msnbc.com/news/682362.asp?0dm=T13KT</a>;
(It is strange to read an MSNBC article that doesn't have a quote from the Heritage Foundation or involve bashing one or more of the Clintons.)
The rumor threads of course think that Steve moved to Monday to pre-empt Bill's own announcements on Tuesday, but this clearly states that Gates will announce on Monday.
Now Microsoft is rarely innovative and of course here they are not innovative either, but they are pushing a device that not only will have functionality on its own, it will be almost entirely dependent on MS's .Net strategy. That is the innovative part. The next step to total information dependency on Microsoft.
The article makes me very queasy .... to think that MS seems to have no competition in this arena of the home digital hub...yet. I am hoping Apple also has some offering in their "digital hub" universe.
On these boards, many have given ample reasons for a tablet over the last few years, and those reasons are still valid. I just really hope that the non-keyboard digital lifestyle - TV, Movies, Games, Audio and thin-client internet - doesn't just become synonymous with Microsoft-based devices.
It will happen unless Apple gives consumers an alternative. So can we all put aside our differences about how much faster typing is than writing and look at the big picture?
The Tablet and its soon to be multiplying cousins will I feel become more entrenched into the average American's home life than the PC is today. Microsoft to its credit is proposing the only intriguing option for this transition to date. Unless some unknown company comes out of nowhere like Palm to show another way, it will be up to Apple to give consumers a choice.
(Last parenthetical soapbox: Hopefully G.W. will be so busy with foreign affairs that he will let the justice system actually hold MS accountable for any future monopolistic practices.)