Just the type
Let’s assume the rumor about Steve Jobs being “extremely happy” with the tablet is true. This could be for one of two reasons:
- He’s happy because the tablet is awesome, or
- He’s happy because he got it his way.
…
…isn’t Steve Jobs just the type to walk out on stage this month, show a beautiful new handheld computer, and then go something like,
“So, how do you type on it?”
*beat*
“You don’t. Nobody types anymore! So we thought, what if you could talk to your computer.”
Like I said, the tablet’s got to be a great note–taker. And for that to happen, I definitely don’t want speech to be the only way to do text input. Imagine a lecture hall full of people yelling and trying to be louder than their neighbours just so their tablet can hear them.
All joking aside, it must do pen/pencil/stylus/wooden stick/any–pen–shaped–writing–instrument–based handwriting recognition, because nobody can write scribble properly with fingertips. You just can’t get the same sort of accuracy and precision you get with the tip of a pen/pencil/stylus/wooden stick/any–pen–shaped–writing–instrument. Remember, we’re not just talking about writing out in prose, but freeform note–taking, where you might want to underline stuff, highlight stuff, jot down what the lecturer just said in the margins and then point little arrows towards the relevant bit in the notes etc.
I’ve never used it, but doesn’t this sound horribly like what Windows tablet PCs and Microsoft’s OneNote are supposed to solve? The biggest hurdle — I suspect — is that most tablet PCs on the market today are too heavy and bulky. After all, one of the greatest, most immediate benefits of going digital, nay paperless, is that you can basically have near–infinite amounts of information without the physical burden.
