Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
Sponsor's Message
|
Can Microsoft succeed where no other company has managed to do so?
I refer of course to the tablet PC -- a device which a number of other
companies have tried to introduce with little success.
On the face of it, a PC that is simply a flat rectangle requiring no
keyboard, mouse or other peripherals sounds attractive doesn't it?
It seems that the boys at Redmond have decided that the time is finally
right for the PC Tablet to hit the big-time -- but are they right?
This isn't the first time that Microsoft have put their weight behind
the computing tablet concept. Back in the 1990s, Microsoft wrote
a special version of Windows which was designed specifically for such
devices. It bombed -- as did a long list of hardware devices that
used it.
Check Out The Aardvark PC-Based Digital
Entertainment Centre Project
Updated 29-Oct-2002
But things have changed a lot in a decade or so.
Since PDAs such as the Palm Pilot appeared on the market and became an essential
piece of "executiveware", users have become familiar with using computing devices
that use a stylus or pen for data entry and program operation.
It's very possible that PDAs have set the stage for the PC tablet to finally
take off and become the success everyone thought it would be all those
years ago.
I'm still not too sure that the tablet PC will fly though.
After all, the PDA succeeded not because it used a stylus and handwriting
recognition -- but in spite of it.
Of course there is a version of the tablet which is little more than a
regular laptop (with keyboard) that has a swiveling screen -- this sounds
good.
However, I have grave concerns that the keyboardless version could see
a dramatic rise in instances of RSI and the return of "writer's cramp"
as a major executive ailment.
The Recording Industry's Last Bullet?
Having demonstrated on numerous occasions that it has far more bullets
than feet, the recording industry has finally stuck the gun to its own
head and is preparing to pull the trigger.
Yes, over in Europe, BMG has announced that it's going to be copy-protecting
all of its CDs and if these disks don't play in your PC, car stereo, whatever --
then it's not their problem.
This announcement was met with scorn by many Net-aware music lovers and the
overwhelming response to date has been "I guess we'll have to download
all our music from the Net and burn it to CDR instead of buying legit CDs now."
Have I missed something here?
How can an industry be so absolutely stupid?
Do they really think that rendering many of all the
CD players out there redundant by introducing incompatible copy protection
schemes is going to boost sales?
And who do they think they're fooling when they claim that copy-protecting
CDs will reduce piracy?
Let's face it -- even a 13-year-old school kid can run a wire from the line-out
on their stereo or CD player to the line input on their PC's sound card and
dub a protected CD onto their computer's hard drive in MP3 format.
Perhaps the record companies think that because this isn't a "digital" copy
then it doesn't count. Do they not realise that most of the music traded
on the Net is already degraded somewhat by the fact it's stored using
lossy compression such as MP3?
I'm sure that some time in the future, probably less than a decade from
now, people will look back at the folly these companies are engaged in
and shudder at the naive stupidity of it all.
Surely it's about time that the shareholders in these companies gave those
at the top a bit of a rocket and told them to focus on reducing piracy
by delivering a quality product at a reasonable price.
In most cases the two or three good tracks on
a pop-CD are usually thrashed to death on FM radio and TV from which people
can record copies that are (given the limitations of MP3 and the material
itself) perfectly adequate.
So is it any wonder that CD sales are plummeting. The value for money
is poor and they're trying to sell stuff that has already been given
away for free by a myriad of broadcasters.
Duh!!
If you want to have your say on the contents
of today's column then please do so.
Only comments marked "For Publication" will (if I have time) be published in the
readers' comments section.
Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or
page?
Just add a
couple of lines of JavaScript
to your pages and you can get
a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated
each and every week-day.
Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using
the RSS format. More details can be found
here.
Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and
have any problems.
Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's
Linking Policy.
|
Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it
now!
|
|
| 
= open in new window