John Hill

I was reading some information on the Gartner website and I have to say that while I find the sales and revenue predictions from these research firms to be wildly inflated, this commentary on the use of tablets in the enterprise appears to be spot on. Here is an excerpt:

10-inch media tablets to play a role as companion devices in the enterprise market
In the enterprise space, for the immediate future, the main use of media tablets is as a notebook companion or as a secondary device to take on the road or use for fast access to e-mail, calendaring, interrogating Web applications and information sources, and showing PowerPoint presentations.

The majority of knowledge workers cannot use media tablets to replace their notebooks. Since these workers usually also have smartphones, media tablets become their third device. Most organizations will not buy that third device. Because of the convenience factor for travel and an "instant on" for quick look-up functions, many users are paying for the media tablets with their own money to use both for work and pleasure.

As media tablets move from early adopters to mainstream, media tablets will become a family purchase as well as a personal one. The touch user interface, the applications available on the different operating systems and the simpler set up compared to a full-fledged computer make media tablets ideal for a range of consumers: from power users to techno-phobics. As costs decrease, media tablets will be added to the list of the devices lying around the house that are shared by the family.

“Communication service providers (CSPs) who have so far subsidized mini-notebooks to drive mobile broadband uptake will shift their marketing spend to media tablets. Such subsidies will help drive adoption among those consumers who see the initial hardware cost as a hurdle,” Ms. Milanesi said. “For the rest, the freedom of paying for cellular only if and when needed, and not having to add another contract to the one a user might already have on his or her phone, is a great advantage and has so far proved successful for Apple.”

A detailed statistical outlook for media tablets is available in the Gartner report "Forecast: Connected Mobile Consumer Electronics, Worldwide, 2008-2014." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1451714.

Ms. Milanesi provides additional commentary in her blog post on the Gartner Blog Network at http://blogs.gartner.com/carolina-mi...-the-kool-aid/

Tags: tablets in the enterprise

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You can't go into a hospital or doctor's office without seeing the ubiquitous disinfecting gel dispensers. The reason is that caregiver to patient transmission of viruses and bacterium is a widely recognized problem. Stethoscopes, hospital beds, blood pressure cuffs and other equipment need to be disinfected between each patient use to prevent this transmission. The same thing needs to happen with mobile computing equipment and the only major manufacturers producing tablet PCs that can be disinfected are Motion Computing, Panasonic and Durabook.

If you add other features desired by healthcare, including built-in barcode readers, Intel vPro for management and security, and easy ways to dock multiple units you are left with only the Motion Computing C5v or F5v. It seems strange that only one Tablet manufacturers has recognized that the hospital market has such huge potential.

I was planning on attending the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) Summit in Redmond, WA last year. It was my first year as an MVP for Touch & Tablet PCs and although I wasn't sure exactly what I would get out of the event, I thought it would be fun to attend. At the last minute, however, Microsoft announced that the Touch and Tablet PC track was going to be cancelled. I guess there wasn't enough interest on the part of Microsoft to make this a separate section.

Hello iPad. Bye bye Microsoft Courier.

I just received my invitation to the 2011 MVP Global Summit being held February 28 - March 2. Let me see.....drat, getting my hair done.

In Windows 7, Microsoft has added new features that make it easier to see the display. This can be especially helpful as display sizes shrink, especially for users with poor eyesight. Here are some tips:

1. Change the size of text and icons. This option allows you to make text and other items on your screen appear larger, so they're easier to see. For more information, see Make the text on your screen larger or smaller.

2. Turn on Magnifier. This option sets Magnifier to run when you log on to your computer. Magnifier enlarges the part of the screen where the mouse is pointing and can be especially useful for viewing objects that are difficult to see. For more information about using Magnifier, see Make items on the screen appear bigger (Magnifier).

3. Turn on or off High Contrast when Left Alt+Left Shift+Print Screen is pressed. This option allows you to toggle a high-contrast theme on or off by pressing the Left Alt+Left Shift+Print Screen keys.

To learn about additional features, visit the Microsoft website and check out all the accessibility tips and tricks.

Tags: accessibility, magnifier, windows 7

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Early in my Tablet PC selling career, I learned that the best prospective customer for a tablet was one who already owned a Palm Pilot or Pocket PC. Why? These folks were willing to spend money on mobile technology that would help them get their job done. They were looking for a tool to help their business.

So, why did I see $$$ when they pulled out their PDA? Inevitably, they would complain about the screen size. While the device was a very mobile way to carry their information and it made an incremental improvement in their workflow, the difficulty in reading the display or the inability to see all their information was a major frustration. I think we will see the same thing with all these 7" tablets.

No one wants to carry around three mobile devices. A cell phone or smart phone is a necessity. You can already get your contacts and email this way very efficiently. A second device, whether it is a tablet or laptop, needs to have greater capabilities to display spreadsheets, documents, drawings, web pages and other data that are needed. A device with a 7" display just doesn't work very well. Reading spreadsheets and documents requires scrolling. Looking at information on a drawing or webpage that was designed to be viewed on a larger screen is darn near impossible. It would be great if all field workers were 20 years old with 20/20 vision, but that isn't the case. People doing the best work are those with 10-20 years experience in their field, whether that is inspection, project management, healthcare provider or service technician.

When I go on a sales call, I always bring a device with a 7" display. I bring it because people always want to see the small, convenient, pocket-sized computer. Then I put a PDF or web page on the 7" device and a 10" or 12" tablet. Without fail, the first comment on the small device is "Oh, that's too small, I can't read that."

Size matters.

Tags: 7" display, palm pilot, pda, pocket pc, size matters, tablet computer

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