Here's what's wrong with the Tablet PC

I have read numerous Tablet PC evangelists wondering why the Tablet PC has not taken off as many had hoped. Here now, finally, is the answer:

Tablet PCs are just too slow.

None of the current implementations have fast enough processors to be usable. Mind you, I am in love with the idea of Tablet PCs. In the healthcare world, they have great potential to make things both easier for the provider and more accessible. I read white papers and testimonials from healthcare professionals and organizations saying how they have been used or how promising the idea is.

But, as I play with the three that we have purchased in our organization (healthcare), I am frustrated that the mouse cursor cannot keep up with normal handwriting or pen movement. It's yet another case of the human having to make too much of a concession to the machine to get something done.

As a programmer, I make concessions all the time. I devise workarounds for tools that misbehave. I translate data from one program's format to another format because the receiver or sender cannot accomodate the other. All of us live with quirky operating systems that require special care and feeding. I am willing to do these things because I like technology and enjoy making it work.

My end users, on the other hand, have much less interest in fiddling with bits or pieces of hardware. They could care less that they hold a wonderful but nascent technology in their hands. They only know that "this thing doesn't work!". When I create a solution for them, I try as much as possible to look at it from that viewpoint. And when I pick up a Tablet and use it from that perspective, it just doesn't hold up.

I bet if we could go somewhere over the 2Ghz range, the O/S could be responsive enough to make it truly what it was intended to be. We're just so close, and I really want us to get there.

Tabbed browsing

What in the world is all the fuss about Firefox's tabbed browsing? It's mystifying, as if nobody ever used Mozilla in the old days. The tabbed browser extension in Mozilla (was it Tabbrowser Preferences back then?) was so far and away better than it is in Firefox. Of course, Firefox's tabbed browsing support by itself is so pitiful as to be enxt to useless compared to other options.

I finally had to quit using Mozilla when there were too many important web sites I was required to visit that would not display properly. I looked around in the IE wrapper world and came up with Avant Browser. I have not looked back since. All the tabbed goodness of the old Mozilla with the (for better or worse) engine of IE. And the feature set of these wrapper apps (Maxthon is another) has not stagnated.

How about being able to drag a new tab near other related tabs? How about being able to duplicate a tab with or without its current history of pages? What if you like multiple rows of tabs rather than one long one. Firefox, even with Tabbrowser Preferences installed, keeps squeezing the width of the tabs until they are unreadable. How unusable.

Do yourself a favor. Try Maxthon or Avant Browser (my choice). Pick one. Don't look back.

Notes from the firehose

It's not just me - there are more and more things going on these days in the universe of computing. A couple of years ago, I thought about diving into Java, and I did so for a couple of months. However, .NET has captured my fancy. And I do not think you can do both. There are simply too many options popping up to be knowledgeable, much less expert, on everything.

Even in one arena, there are things happening on multiple fronts. I feel like a beleaguered general with too few troops caught in an open plain with armies closing in on all sides.

But, one must press on. I already try to keep up with far too many technical blogs. Every so often, I have to narrow my focus, weed out what's not of immediate value, and soldier on. It's fun, isn't it? :-)

This corner of blogdom will report on my sips from the firehose.