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Just a new form factor [Network World](Network World Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PC. PERSONAL COMPUTER. AS (N a personal computing device. A tablet is both a computing device, and, in most cases, is personal. The newest champion of the so called "post-PC" world is the tablet. Unfortunately, for all the promise it holds for mobile computing, a tablet is simply a computer, albeit mobile. Whenever you see people using tablets, you can separate them into two groups, just as you can "traditional" PC users: entertainment/multimedia consumers, and productivity users. In both cases it is the apps that bring desktop functionality to tablets. You can. for example, edit video on an iPad. What's more, you see productivity users adding wireless keyboards and other peripherals to tablets, unconsciously re-creating laptops! Tablets are PCs. A few months ago, I read a Network World blog where the author took issue with Microsoft's Andy Lees' assertion that Microsoft views tablets, a.k.a. slate-form factor devices, as PCs. The writer made some arguments that, while seemingly on point, don't hold water. Let me point out a few; Network World: "The only tablets on the market today that are full PCs are Windows 7 tablets, and they are failures. Microsoft is adding a new tablet-optimized interface to Windows 8 that will run in addition to the traditional Windows interface, but it doesn't make sense to jam a full PC operating system into a device that is more ideal for consumption, rather than creation of content. HP already realized this when it shifted from Windows tablets to the TouchPad. based on webOS." As noted, the apps make any tablet the equivalent of a PC. Microsoft coming out with an optimized interface for the platform doesn't change that fact; it is simply a reaction to market dynamics. It would be foolish for any player, including Microsoft, to simply ape the iPad. Copying the iPad at this point would force Microsoft to play in Apple's sandbox. By expanding the PC utility of slate devices Microsoft will attempt to redefine the battlefield for tomorrow. And why not Windows on a tablet? I am at a loss as to why it is OK for webOS, a Linux variant, to be an acceptable tablet OS, while Windows is looked at askance. Especially since the user experience on Android-based tablets is crap, from a general consumer's point of view. The contrast in user-friendliness between either Windows Phone 7 devices or the iPhone and any Android phone is telling, a problem that has jumped to tablet devices as well. Into that breach would come Windows 8, with a new, touchenabled interface, and total support for current apps and complete fidelity for users' data. That doesn't mean existing tablets aren't PCs. It means future tablets will be better than those available now. Network World: "Applications Jute QuickOffice, and Bluetooth keyboards let tablet owners do abit of work hi a pinch, when they're not near a full computer. But the appeal of the devices is an easy-to-use operating system combined with apps that let you watch movies, play games and read articles in fancy news aggregators like Pulse and Flipboard. Work on a tablet, or a phone, is usually a quick edit to a document, not creating a complicated spreadsheet." This statement perpetuates the assumption that tablet users only consume content. Not true Even with the iPad, tablets are being used for content creation, and Windows tablets will definitely do more. Here, the writer is conflatingtablet use by outliers with that of businesspeople who purchase slates to be productive. At the recent Microsoft Build conference in Anaheim, Calif., Microsoft put the discussion to rest with Windows 8. Windows 8 spans tablets, notebooks, netbooks and desktops, creating a unified computing experience across all those format genres. They are all PCs, they just come in different form factors. John Obeto is CEO and CTO of Logikworx. Logikworx is a managed services, systems and security solutions provider for SMBs focused on creating 100% Windows-based solutions built around Microsoft technologies for the desktop, server, mobile and cloud infrastructures. Send Debate Suggestions to [email protected] (c) 2011 Network World Inc. |