Stu Downes

There was a lot of interests sparked late last week on a Forrester report relating to the future of end user computing. In a blog post relating to the research the author, Frank Gillett, tells CIOs that the future of end user computing being dominated by tablets:

…tablets are very good for information consumption, an activity that many of us do a lot of. Content creation apps are appearing on tablets. They’ll get a lot better as developers get used to building for touch-first interfaces, taking advantage of voice input, and adding motion gestures.

They’re even better for sharing and working in groups. There’s no barrier of a vertical screen, no distracting keyboard clatter, and it just feels natural to pass over a tablet, like a piece of paper, compared to spinning around a laptop.

All these reasons add up to our prediction that tablets will become the preferred, primary device for millions of people around the world, which is in the just-published report “Tablets Will Rule The Future Personal Computing Landscape.” Note that there will still be lots of personal computers sold and in use — in fact our casual estimate is that there will be 2 billion PCs in use by 2016, despite growing tablet sales. That’s because tablets only partially cannibalize PCs. Eventually tablets will slow laptop sales but increase sales of desktop PCs. That’s because many people, especially information workers, will still need conventional PCs for any intensely creative work at a desk that requires a large display or significant processing power.

Frank also mentions in his report the concept of a new form factor for personal computing called a Frame.  This was picked up in a little more detail by Matt Hamblen in this post on ComputerWorld:

Gillett also wrote a 17-page report with other Forrester analysts for clients that described ways tablets and smartphones will fit into a new form of PC. Called “frames,” these new PCs will essentially be displays that have sensors, processing power and wireless docking to work with handheld devices of all types.

Frames will be stationed in meeting rooms, coffee shops and more, Forrester said. Tablets used with frames will substitute for laptops in significant volume, the report said.

I have to say the idea of frames resonates well with my, and many other knowledge worker use cases.  I’m more questioning of the Frame use case when we consider task based workers and I have a concern that those work styles are increasingly forgotten, yet they will always be a significant portion, albeit a minority of the future of our workplace.  In terms of the way we think about desktop at CSC our strategy for delivering efficiently to mixed work styles within the enterprise remains sound, some of the end points and infrastructure may change with time but our conceptual architectures remain valid.  That’s a relief!  That last comment was a little flippant as we have to be preparing now for significant changes in the way workers interact with technology especially as it relates to applications and data.  The challenge of managing information in the cloud and the blend of information in enterprise and personal cloud services will be an increasing focus for CIOs.

Disclosure: Stu Downes is employed by CSC and is the global portfolio executive for desktop services but the views in this article don’t necessarily reflect those of CSC.

 

As far as our senses go we take them for granted in everyday life.  Touch is something that tells us an amazing amount of information – and generally we take it for granted when we consider heat, texture, shape and relating those to “simple tasks”.

I’ve had a tablet for a number of yeas and have found it great for presentations/ webcasts / diagrams / mind mapping / note taking. Recently I upgrading a tablet (x61) to Windows 7.  I have been mightily impressed with the improvements for tablet uses. Pen recognition is much better (even with my scrawl) and Office 2010 pen features are also much improved.

what I am really looking forward to is the adoption of touch based technology (and more impotantly software for touch screen technologies). Take the use case away from just mobile workers and industrial control situations and place it into the home/office.

Is it there yet?  Well not quite.   Up to the end of the last paragraph I had used only a pen with handwriting recognition in windows 7 doing the rest.  Amazingly quick, probably 70% of the speed I’m managing with the keyboard which is pretty good.  Gesture and touch will be important and a whole new user experience construct may be required (flicking documents to colleagues or team rooms with angle of flick defining where it goes).

Recently making the news at CES – suppose you’d call it a re-launch.  Looking forward to seeing where it goes and hoping it doesn’t remain a niche.  Hopefully the tablet PC blog at MS will see new impetus.  We will see!  I’m hoping smart phone advances driven by the iPhone will really help here!