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by Nik Pakvasa | 25 Jan 2010

Most of us lug around on our travels multiple gadgets, Blackberry Phone, Laptop, mp3 music player, e-reader and probably a note book for taking notes.

Wouldn’t it be cool if a new device could combine all these into a single hybrid device so I can listen to music, surf the web anywhere anytime, read books and news papers, watch movies, take notes, jot down ideas and observations, work on my presentations and even make phone calls? And to top it off it would have multi-touch interface that goes beyond iPhone i.e., I could flip a page as I do with normal books, or I could drop & drag objects with touch, or I could draw, sketch, write, etc with my fingers!

Apple is rumored to introduce a new “tablet" gizmo this week.The hype and mystery surrounding has created tremendous buzz. There are many unconfirmed reports about what it is, its capabilities and specifications.

Apple has always been able to take dots – technologies- and connect them. iPod was not the first MP3 player but what iPod did was to connect hardware and software to deliver a compelling user experience. Can Apple connect multi-touch user interface, personal computing, phone, e-reader, smart phone, video games, cloud computing and streaming, etc to deliver a compelling new computing experience? Will this revolutionize our computing, surfing, reading, audio and video experiences? Will Apple make “tablet” main stream? Will Apple “tablet” change our concept of computing?

Tablet computers are already here, having been launched as long ago as November 2001 by none other than Jobs's arch-¬rival, Bill Gates. "I'm already using a [Microsoft] Tablet as my everyday computer," Gates told his audience at the Comdex show in Las Vegas back then. "It's a PC that is virtually without limits…Within five years, I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America." So in some sense we have been waiting for the perfect “tablet” since 2001.

Mr. Jobs, we are ready. Surprise us. Call it what you want. I want two of this “tablet”.

 

 

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Jerry Sarfati

25 Jan 2010

Nik,

No matter what happens this week, it’s good to know that companies are still innovating.

A few weeks ago, Lenovo showed off the U1, Dell & HP recently showed us their latest generation Slates. E-book readers are becoming more and more common.

Our job is going to see how PLM can take advantage of this new technology.

Jerry

 

 

Oleg Shilovitsky

25 Jan 2010

Nik, Agree, some interesting development can come together with this tablet - new user experience, use cases etc. Some of my thoughts are here - http://plmtwine.com/2010/01/12/things-are-getting-touchy-plm-tablet-user-experience-thoughts/. Best, Oleg

 

 

Nik Pakvasa

25 Jan 2010

Jerry,

Yes…you are right. It is exciting to see that these companies are innovating - connecting dots - to deliver compelling new user experiences.

As for how PLM can take advantage of see Oleg’s comment. He has defined some very interesting use cases.

Thanks

Nik

 

 

Nik Pakvasa

25 Jan 2010

Oleg,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Agree with the use cases - sales, design review and manufacturing shop-floor mobility - you have outlined in your blog.

A tablet would be very handy also for service organization. They would be able access the right product configuration of the installation, read product and installation document (with e-reader), repair history, review drawings and 3D model and collaborate with the design and manufacturing team.
These use cases are low hanging fruits, and can be implemented quickly.

However, leveraging new user interaction paradigms in CAD/PLM software could be a game changer. This will take time and investment.

Regards

Nik

 

 

Oleg Shilovitsky

25 Jan 2010

Jerry, You are absolutely right about ebook readers. I thought about it last year (http://plmtwine.com/2009/06/15/plm-prompt-kindle-dx-for-plm-downstream-applications/). The cost is also very important. If they can take such devices down to 200$ it can be cool… Best, Oleg