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No One's Buying Tablet Computers
from the because-it's-not-a-computer,-it's-a-feature dept
No surprise here, but the massively overhyped "tablet PCs" are not selling very well. I never understood the hype. Microsoft made a big push for them, when every other attempt at similar products had failed dismally. The problem isn't that the tablet PC isn't useful. In some instances, it's very useful. The problem is that it's not a separate category by any means. The "tablet" part - basically, making the screen a touchscreen - is just a feature of a laptop. It's not an entirely separate category of computers. By making it so, Microsoft confused customers quite a bit. If, instead, they had pitched it as a feature that made laptops more usable, they might have discovered more people were buying laptops with such touchscreens, instead of wondering whether they needed a "tablet" or a "laptop".
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You know, there was an article a few weeks ago in one of the trades about how Microsoft has failed in almost everything they've ever done. It was great, illustrating things like Microsoft Bob, and the ActiveMates. This is just another example of that.
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More failures
Don't forget to include Microsoft's attempts at other hardware - the entire line of Sidewinder game accessories have been discontinued, Microsofts 900 MHz phon has been discontinued, etc.
Microsoft should stick to what they do best - make under-powered, under-secured, crash-prone operating systems and charge too much for them instead of trying to take over every single aspect of the IT industry.
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grrrr
Tablets are a step backwards. I'd buy one in a heartbeat if ANY of them had a built in DVD/CDRW drive. I'd love to watch a movie on the train ride to work on a flat panel medium.
Did BG impose design retrictions on tablets like he did with Pocket PC's of late?
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Price is the issue
I would consider buying one if pricing was more affordable. The low-end notebooks with variety of features sell for $700-800 on Dell.com today. We add a touchscreen and suddenly the price for the same spec skyrockets into the $1500 and over range. That tablet functionality has to matter to you if you're willing to fork out that much cash for it. Ideally the tablet PCs should be marginally more expensive than notebooks with the same config.
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More importantly, Microsoft, and others, are failing to realize that most people are more comfortable with key board and mouse entry than they are with writing. Hell, some folks, myself included, can't write very legibly (or spell) anymore because we've been behind a keyboard for 20+ years.
They(whoever) need to come up with the 'next' form of input. Not think we users want to go back to one we've given up on.
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Re: Price is the issue
i completly agree i think the only thing wrong with the tablet pc's is the astronomical price i routinely see what was last years tech being peddled at this years hot rod prices just becase it's in a tablet. i work in an art field that is pretty non digital but it would make my life considerably less difficult. however i just can't justify the convenience with the price they're charging I'D RATHER GET A LAPTOP and i think that sentiment is echoed by the mojority of people who actually have a work related use for these things
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