Word: microsoft
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Among the firms Root surveyed, the usual U.S. suspects--such as Dell Computer, GE, Pfizer, Microsoft and Wal-Mart--beat the index and passed all his tests. But so did some less predictable, smaller multinationals such as footwear and apparel maker Timberland and home builder KB Home. Says Root: "Profitable foreign growers come from all walks of life...
Moore's law holds that computers will continually get faster, but there's no corollary that says users will bother to buy them. Consumers no longer feel the need to upgrade to the latest hardware every time Intel unveils a speedier microprocessor or Microsoft releases a heftier version of Windows. According to the consumer technology-research firm Odyssey, home users nowadays are perfectly willing to go almost five years between PC purchases. Meanwhile, the computer industry, mired in its worst-ever sales slump, is desperate to dream up a compelling innovation that will put the forced back in forced obsolescence...
...that innovation is: pen and virtual paper. At least, that's the new technology the industry is flogging, as embodied in a slew of tablet PCs hitting the market this month. More than 20 manufacturers, including Fujitsu, Compaq and Legend, have joined in a Microsoft-led initiative to produce laptop computers that double as legal pads. What distinguishes tablet PCs from conventional portables is their ability to capture a user's handwriting - either as an exact digital copy, complete with bad penmanship and doodles, or by converting notes into digital text...
...tablet PC also allows text input via the touchscreen's virtual keyboard - a necessary alternative, because Microsoft's handwriting-recognition software remains irritatingly inconsistent. The Acer works better than the Newton, but it interpreted my handwritten phrase "Jack ran down the hill" as "Jade full dam its lull." I may have earned a C- in second-grade penmanship class, but my handwriting isn't that...
...with a stylus instead of a keyboard and mouse only seems to make a simple task unnecessarily cumbersome, not to mention more expensive. Tablet PCs are selling for about $2,000, roughly a $400 premium over comparably equipped conventional laptops. For the extra cash, you do get the new Microsoft Journal program, which allows you to write and organize notes in a spiffy "digital-ink" format that replicates real writing. You can change colors, use a highlighter, doodle, even erase a word by scratching it out. Notes can be archived and searched by keyword, although since hit-and-miss handwriting...