Again from Loren's Blog:
Larry O'Brien: "The Tablet PC will never go horizontal until people can create the 3 most important document types: email, spreadsheets, and .docs with a speed comparable to composing them with a keyboard."
Loren asks:
What about convertible Tablet PCs? You can sketch or handwrite as well as type. Best of both worlds.
I mostly agree with Loren - except for the convertible limitation. All tablets (which in this case I will define as devices running Windows XP Tablet Edition) allow pen input. In all cases this is an extension to Windows XP Professional.
People often focus so much on what you can do on a tablet that you can't do on a desktop or a laptop that they miss the obvious. There is nothing that you can do on a Windows XP machine that you can't do on a Tablet. What the tablet offers is additional functionality - and therefore choice - and this is what makes it a powerful and compelling solution.
Even with a slate there is choice. If I want to write a document, work on a spreadsheet or fire off lengthy emails I will typically drop my slate into it's docking station to take advantage of the keyboard, mouse and a second monitor. A $3 plastic plate stand and a wireless keyboard and mouse make for a pretty good ad-hoc docking solution if I feel I need to take one with me.
However, if I want to read a document, a few emails, maybe write few a short emails or blog posts, browse the web, create a mind map, read an ebook or review someone else's document then I am likely to stay in my cosy easy chair in the lounge with Archie the cocker spaniel draped across my lap and use the pen.