PCWorld: Microsoft Ponders Tablet Computer Interfaces: Pen Or Finger, Or Both?
A show of Microsoft research projects makes clear that Gates & Co. still believe pen-based computing has a place on tablet PCs, despite the acclaim for Apple’s finger-powered touch interface.
“If the marketplace is your yardstick, the machine Bill Gates once predicted would become the world’s dominant computing device by 2006 definitively flopped years ago. But a few days ago during a Fox Business News interview, Gates said that Microsoft hadn’t given up on Tablet PCs and stylus-based input. Yesterday, I attended TechFair, a event the company held at its Silicon Valley campus to show off lab projects from Microsoft Research, which employees 850 researchers in eight locations around the world. Among the demos I saw was proof that it’s still investing in the idea.
A sign next to the demes carried the tagline: ‘Everything, including TOUCH, is best for something and WORST for something else.’ Very true. Rightly or wrongly, I got somewhat defensive vibes from the statement given that Microsoft has invested so hugely in pen-based computing, but it’s touch–largely associated with Apple–that’s caught on.”