While General Motors Corp. and other large companies have piloted tablet PCs as a notebook replacement for general-purpose computing, most tablet PCs sold to date have been deployed in forms-based, vertical market applications, where they often replace proprietary systems. Market research company IDC estimates that tablet PC shipments last year totaled 415,000 units, compared with more than 24 million traditional notebooks.
"The first generation really wasn't ready for widespread deployment," says Tony Scott, chief technology officer at GM, citing problems with digitizer resolution, battery life and the maturity of Microsoft Corp.'s Tablet PC software.
A second pilot of HP Compaq Tablet PCs is now under way at GM, and Scott says the hardware has gotten much better. Although pen accuracy and overall system performance have improved, he says, the two-hour battery life is still inadequate.
06-28-2004, 09:57 AM
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