3 ms·

My prediction is that the hardware will be pretty spot on, but the software execution will kill this.

by elblanco 17y ago

tfh 17y ago
The software is where (most of) iPad's superioriy lies.
- jacquesm 17y ago
  I think that 'superiority' requires a comparison between equally aimed devices, and I don't think this is the case here. The one is a universal tablet format computer the other is a media consumption device.
stcredzero 17y ago
Agreed. Their tc1100 is still slick and usable after all this time. (tc1000 came out in 2001!) But little details in the execution of the pen tablet software are infuriating. Example: I can't count all the times while posting on HN when I wrote a line and pressed insert, only to have it disappear into nowhere. But physically, that hardware still holds it's own. You can hot swap the battery. There are very well thought out buttons. No accelerometer, but you can switch orientation easily. Someone at HP is working on a par with Apple in terms of industrial design. Steve got it wrong, BTW. Having a SDHC slot on the device is more minimal than having to attach a dongle. The iPad has only given me a few annoyances so far. I miss resizable textareas.
- glhaynes 17y ago
  Resizable text areas would be great! Safari on the desktop has them, where it's a "nice to have" but they'd be far more useful on MobileSafari... on the desktop, I almost always resize textareas UP whereas on mobile devices I'm always wanting to resize them down to make them fit the screen better.
MichaelGG 17y ago
Unless Microsoft has some secret tricks, the software execution is going to be the as any Windows software. So unless they really get ISVs onboard and making touch-optimized apps, you're back to pecking away trying to use a UI not designed for touchscreens.
- thwarted 17y ago
  That's because people expect non-Apple products to be much more compatible with Windows than they expect Apple products to be compatible with anything (independent of if Apple's stuff is actually compatible, which it often is). Apple is more often able to completely ignore expectations when their goal is to make something better. Everyone else makes non-Apple stuff, which 90% of the time means Windows compatible. "A non-Apple tablet where I can't run Quickbooks, Minesweeper and Notepad?! Blasphemous! I mean, this thing has an (HP|Dell|Lenovo) logo, that means Windows, so where's the fricken Start Menu?" This is why people complain that their PC running Linux doesn't run <insert random Windows software>, but few complain that their Mac running OSX doesn't. This is why Microsoft's Courier tablet concept seems so odd when you watch the video.

My prediction is that the hardware will be pretty spot on, but the software execution will kill this.

tfh 17y ago

The software is where (most of) iPad's superioriy lies.

jacquesm 17y ago
I think that 'superiority' requires a comparison between equally aimed devices, and I don't think this is the case here. The one is a universal tablet format computer the other is a media consumption device.

stcredzero 17y ago

Agreed. Their tc1100 is still slick and usable after all this time. (tc1000 came out in 2001!) But little details in the execution of the pen tablet software are infuriating. Example: I can't count all the times while posting on HN when I wrote a line and pressed insert, only to have it disappear into nowhere. But physically, that hardware still holds it's own. You can hot swap the battery. There are very well thought out buttons. No accelerometer, but you can switch orientation easily. Someone at HP is working on a par with Apple in terms of industrial design. Steve got it wrong, BTW. Having a SDHC slot on the device is more minimal than having to attach a dongle. The iPad has only given me a few annoyances so far. I miss resizable textareas.

glhaynes 17y ago
Resizable text areas would be great! Safari on the desktop has them, where it's a "nice to have" but they'd be far more useful on MobileSafari... on the desktop, I almost always resize textareas UP whereas on mobile devices I'm always wanting to resize them down to make them fit the screen better.

MichaelGG 17y ago

Unless Microsoft has some secret tricks, the software execution is going to be the as any Windows software. So unless they really get ISVs onboard and making touch-optimized apps, you're back to pecking away trying to use a UI not designed for touchscreens.

thwarted 17y ago
That's because people expect non-Apple products to be much more compatible with Windows than they expect Apple products to be compatible with anything (independent of if Apple's stuff is actually compatible, which it often is). Apple is more often able to completely ignore expectations when their goal is to make something better. Everyone else makes non-Apple stuff, which 90% of the time means Windows compatible. "A non-Apple tablet where I can't run Quickbooks, Minesweeper and Notepad?! Blasphemous! I mean, this thing has an (HP|Dell|Lenovo) logo, that means Windows, so where's the fricken Start Menu?" This is why people complain that their PC running Linux doesn't run <insert random Windows software>, but few complain that their Mac running OSX doesn't. This is why Microsoft's Courier tablet concept seems so odd when you watch the video.