Bill Gates is a true innovator. He dropped out of Harvard to start a company that posted more than $28 billion in revenue last year. His operating system and Internet browser dominate the market, and Gates is one of the richest men of the world. He still creates, researches, and takes an active role in his company.
It began in 1981 when Gates purchased, rewrote, and made available PC DOS. This operating system became standard in most personal computers, and IBM, the leading computer maker at that time, bought licenses to use PC DOS in its computers. In 1983, IBM sold over 1 million computers with PC DOS.
Gates also brought the Microsoft Windows suite to the masses. In 1983, he announced Graphic User Interface will revolutionize PCs, and four years later Windows was released. Internet Explorer, part of that suite, made and cost Microsoft millions of dollars. The Internet browser overtook Netscape in the market but cost Microsoft millions in court costs for charges on monopolistic practices.
Gates has found his next passion: the Tablet PC. Microsoft has pumped $400 million into the development and launch of what Gates is calling "A great example of how computers are adapting to how people really work, whether they're taking notes in a meeting, collaborating wirelessly with colleagues or reading on screen. We're just scratching the surface of what is possible," according to information posted on the company's Web site.
The Tablet PC is a marriage between a personal computer and a PDA. The larger LCD screen is easier to read than a PDA screen. The "keyboard" is a digital ink system where a stylist, the little pen-like stick used to write information in a PDA, allows the user to write instead of type. Written information is converted into typed documents. Drawings with the digital pen can also be stored.
The Tablet PC uses the latest Windows XP operating system, and it includes the task wizard and hardware wizards that are so popular with the Windows operating systems.
The basic idea is users can be more comfortable with a Tablet PC because writing is more natural than typing. It lets users customize the settings and install applications just like a laptop, but the Tablet PC inputs data like a PDA.
Anyone who knows my writing in any capacity knows I am an adamant supporter of technology and integrating everyday life and technology, but Gates may have wasted those millions of dollars on releasing the Microsoft Tablet PC.
I understand the basic premise, but I question if demand will ever raise enough money to compensate development costs and turn a profit. People who would be willing to use the Tablet PC already have a couple thousand dollars invested in laptops. Typing is less of an annoyance or discomfort and more a skill of necessity - a skill Tablet PC won't replace.
It's great that a Tablet PC can run presentations and make reading e-books easier, but it combines tools many people are too comfortable with to give up, and the benefits don't seem new or amazing enough for people to embrace a different portable computer.
Write to Liz at eabaker@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
