So close yet so far away…

July 14, 2010 | By rush24

Today at Microsoft’s WPC In Washington DC, Bill Buxton, a natural user interface expert demoed the Copia ereader which we already saw running on the Hanvon Slate earlier in the week. The difference this time, is that demo was on a touchscreen laptop and it worked in conjunction with the inkseine program to provide a compelling pen and touch solution. As an a side, he made a dig at stylus haters by saying each had their own advantages and that Picasso used a brush instead of his fingers for a reason. The second demo was on a Toshiba Libretto dual screen tablet which brought back memories of the cancelled courier project.

What makes this even more amazing is that the were able to code the ereader in about month using using Expression Studio, the same software family that WP7 is coded in. I would imagine the reader can be easily ported to the phone. Microsoft is so close to producing a compelling solution in the tablet market that uses both pen and touch if they just could create a standard UI and throw in elements of the manual deskterity project, inkseine and Courier. Maybe that is what Steve Ballmer was implying when he said they were going to be competitive in that market come fall. We’ll wait and see. (full length higher quality videos of the keynotes will be available later in the day at the WPC website.)

After the break is a Video of the Copia reader’s official demo.

About Rush24

Rush24 loves everything Microsoft and is fascinated by the influence of technology in everyday life.

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Tagged copia ereader, ereader, tablet, windows 7

http://intensedebate.com/people/kylerush Kyle Rush

I thought the issue with Courier, ultimately, would have been a hardware one in terms of battery life vs 2 screens. But the libretto looks like it is almost exactly the courier form factor! Wow. So really what was the problem? I love the UI and I'm frustrated that MS didn't bust it out for this. And while I understand why some people want Win & on a tablet that's not really what I myself need, I need something lightweight and light on its feet which every Win tablet I've had most certainly is not. The fact that MS seems to insist upon shoehorning a full OS onto things which don't always need them is extremely troubling to me and undoes a lot of the good ("They are getting it finally!") stuff I see in WP7.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

the video is live now. I'm watching it now actually. missed it this morning. the video went on demand pretty fast. I like that, it seemed they somehow streamlined the whole process because the first day, I had to wait almost all the rest of the day to see it.
djguapo

Maybe I'm just too much of a power user, but I really don't see the appeal of a limited-functionality tablet that can only be used for certain things. Keyboardless slates are so gimmicky, even if they are dual-screen.

What I think Microsoft should be doing instead is encouraging OEMs to produce more netvertibles like the Asus T101MT and market the heck out of these. Asus and Gigabyte are right now the only companies with 10-inch convertible tablets at a semi-affordable $500-600 price. Why don't other companies that produce netbooks (HP, Toshiba, Sony) get on the netvertible bandwagon?
poster99000

I understand no getting the tablet if you are a power user but can't do any "power using" of consequence on a netvertible and people simply don't seem to want the form factor. It has been around for years and has never really taken off. Plus the battery life is comparatively poor. I many ways they are as limiting as a slate would be.

IMHO believing that slates are just a gimmick is silly. I hope MS isn't caught believing that. The iPad has more than proven that people will flock to a tablet with long battery life and frankly, it is a better performer than the anything with an Atom chip. The really amazing thing is that there already more apps built directly to take advantage of touch's/the form factor's advantages for it than there are for tablet pc's which have been around for a decade. I've been using tablet pc's since they were introduced and there no more "killer apps" that justify their existence to the average user than there were 5 years ago. That MS is losing this fight is simply shameful and thinking that they have to have windows on everything is a huge part of the problem.

http://intensedebate.com/people/djguapo djguapo

The only reason Apple has been successful with the HypePad is that it has been marketed incessantly; for years it has remained the holy grail of Apple products, and after its introduction in January it has become the media's darling, with everyone from Stephen Colbert to Ellen Degeneres talking about it.

Microsoft has NEVER done anything close to this exposure with its tablet PCs despite their 7+ year life. You're lucky if you see ONE tablet PC at your local Best Buy, and there are certainly very few Windows tablet product placements in the media.

One thing is for sure, though, and I think you'll agree on this because you said you've been a tablet PC user: when "regular people" (aka non-techies) see what you're using they become fascinated and intrigued by it. Clearly there is interest in this; all Microsoft needs to do is tap into this demand.

http://intensedebate.com/people/rush24 rush24

The other thing is is that if all the software is written in Silverlight, it makes it highly portable between Windows 7 and a WinCE7/Windows phone 7 tablet or slate. They could then ostensibly produce tablets running either OS, one for power users who need a full power of Win 7 and one that runs on WinCE7 that is light, fast and has a great battery life for the general public but still use the same apps/marketplace with just minor modifications. I think that would be the best of both worlds.

http://intensedebate.com/people/djguapo djguapo

I agree.

Reminds me of Microsoft's game strategy for WP7: one game, multiple platforms, with only minor code modifications for resolutions, etc.

GAM3R

I aint apple fanboy… So, I've agreed with Steve Job's qoute- 'Desktop OS is not for tablet/ slate' and Nvidia CEO's quote- says 'Windows is too BLOAT and it's too full FEATURED for smartbooks and tablets!'