Entelligence: Why the pen isn't mightier than the keyboard
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted July 13th 2009 1:03PM
posted July 13th 2009 1:03PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
When it comes to futuristic concepts, few ideas have captured the imagination like pen-based computing. The idea of doing away with a cumbersome keyboard for navigating and entering information has been a Holy Grail ever since Captain Kirk signed his first digital clipboard in space, but here in our century the concept has met with little success. Most recently, Microsoft's Tablet PC operating system has failed to take the world by storm, and lots of platforms, from the Momenta PC and Pen Windows, to the Newton and the PalmPilot, have come and gone while failing to shift the masses from their keyboards. Even smart phones, led by the iPhone, have shifted from being poster children for pen-based platforms to adopting finger touch and virtual keyboards for text entry.
Several factors have slowed or doomed pen-based platforms, but perhaps they can be overcome. First, handwriting recognition has never lived up to its hype, nor can it. From the outset, the notion of pen-based systems has been linked with the concept of handwriting recognition, which hasn't served the market well. It's really not the fault of the technology, though. As I've said before, if you can't read your own handwriting, then it isn't reasonable to expect a computer to be able to. The pinnacle of the handwriting-recognition disaster came shortly after the introduction of Apple's Newton, when the device and its handwriting software were ridiculed in the comic strip Doonesbury. The concept never really recovered, although the Palm OS's Graffiti recognition software cleverly shifted the burden of error from the device to the user, a brilliant move that reset expectations.
The key to overcoming the shortcomings of handwriting recognition is to emphasize the other aspects of a pen based user interface, such as electronic ink for note taking, and to use the pen for things like consuming and basic editing of information.
Second, most hardware has been inadequate, even when the software was mostly good enough. Pen computing loses much of its powerful allure when too many trade-offs are needed in order to gain the pen-based functions. This is precisely the problem that has plagued the generations of tablet PCs.
Too often, users are forced to deal with shortcomings when it comes to weight (tablets should be light enough to use comfortably in tablet mode), battery life and keyboards. A good tablet PC would have to be portable enough to deliver a good pen experience while not compromising on screen, keyboard or battery so that it can deliver a good notebook experience as well.
Pen computing isn't totally dead, but it is becoming stagnant. Even Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform looks more and more like it's being optimized for touch and not for pen, which is a little ironic -- for small devices where browsing is more important than content creation, the pen is an ideal navigation tool. The PC is a different riff on the same story. Despite Microsoft's best efforts, tablet PCs haven't really caught on. Still, with vendors like Lenovo still creating some pretty interesting pen based hardware, perhaps we'll see a resurgence of the pen with Windows 7. There are a lot of places where the pen is mightier than the keyboard, but it seems the market is less enamored with pens than fingers.
I personally stopped using a tablet as a daily machine a while ago and switched to a lightweight laptop that gets me close to nine hours of battery life. I tried switching back to a tablet while working on a report about the technology but ultimately gave up again. Here's what I would do if I were Microsoft and trying to jump start the pen once more:
Several factors have slowed or doomed pen-based platforms, but perhaps they can be overcome. First, handwriting recognition has never lived up to its hype, nor can it. From the outset, the notion of pen-based systems has been linked with the concept of handwriting recognition, which hasn't served the market well. It's really not the fault of the technology, though. As I've said before, if you can't read your own handwriting, then it isn't reasonable to expect a computer to be able to. The pinnacle of the handwriting-recognition disaster came shortly after the introduction of Apple's Newton, when the device and its handwriting software were ridiculed in the comic strip Doonesbury. The concept never really recovered, although the Palm OS's Graffiti recognition software cleverly shifted the burden of error from the device to the user, a brilliant move that reset expectations.
"The key to overcoming the shortcomings of handwriting recognition is to emphasize the other aspects of a pen based user interface." |
Second, most hardware has been inadequate, even when the software was mostly good enough. Pen computing loses much of its powerful allure when too many trade-offs are needed in order to gain the pen-based functions. This is precisely the problem that has plagued the generations of tablet PCs.
Too often, users are forced to deal with shortcomings when it comes to weight (tablets should be light enough to use comfortably in tablet mode), battery life and keyboards. A good tablet PC would have to be portable enough to deliver a good pen experience while not compromising on screen, keyboard or battery so that it can deliver a good notebook experience as well.
Pen computing isn't totally dead, but it is becoming stagnant. Even Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform looks more and more like it's being optimized for touch and not for pen, which is a little ironic -- for small devices where browsing is more important than content creation, the pen is an ideal navigation tool. The PC is a different riff on the same story. Despite Microsoft's best efforts, tablet PCs haven't really caught on. Still, with vendors like Lenovo still creating some pretty interesting pen based hardware, perhaps we'll see a resurgence of the pen with Windows 7. There are a lot of places where the pen is mightier than the keyboard, but it seems the market is less enamored with pens than fingers.
I personally stopped using a tablet as a daily machine a while ago and switched to a lightweight laptop that gets me close to nine hours of battery life. I tried switching back to a tablet while working on a report about the technology but ultimately gave up again. Here's what I would do if I were Microsoft and trying to jump start the pen once more:
- Raise awareness. Most consumers/end-users simply do not know this thing exists, especially when Apple's message is that pens aren't relevant.. You can't build excitement without awareness. And where there is some excitement around touch screens, it's all related to finger use and not pens. Apple has done a great job changing the conversation from pen to finger. As I've said, even Microsoft's pen-based phones are being re-tooled to optimize for fingers over stylii.
- Evangelize the easiest markets. For me that's not business but education. Students are a great market. They notes in class with pens, can record lectures with software like OneNote, and do research. In short, it's the ideal instrument for a student at a time when more students need a laptop and NEED the features of a tablet. Where's the courseware for educators? How about evangelizing the teachers and principals and getting these devices in their hands?
- Get in the channel. I used to have a few really cool pen devices here here. If you're in the area, come over and I'll show them to you, since you aren't going to see them in a store near you anytime soon. Even the few models that are actually in the retail channel are locked down with the pen removed. This might be a little hard for some folks to believe, but if you can't pick up the computer and use the pen, you might have a hard time convincing people to purchase one.
You're just callow. Signing your name on a Tablet PC is far more fluid and organic than on the UPS driver's device or that credit card machine at Macy's. It's a whole different thing.
According to Celebrity Jeopardy on SNL, the pen IS in fact mightier.
I use a Tablet (HP TC4400) all day long for both work (mapping business processes... actually drawing maps of the process "flow") and as a student. OneNote is assume for taking notes, recording lectures, and working on projects.
My job would be more difficult without a Tablet...
three words: sword based computing
discuss
It would simplify cut and paste.
Would it be so difficult to make the following?
10-12 inch active slate with a nice surface + felt tip wacom pen
Add resistive touch capabilities, or alternately stick an 8 way joystiq + programmable buttons on it
Weight 700-800g, less than an inch thick
Battery life 4-5 hours
Enough processing oomph to run onenote or evernote, ie not much = more battery life, even an atom would do
16gb ssd + shdc slot
2 Gb RAM
HSDPA
Nice stylish dock
The above wouldn't be too expensive
Now, for expensive, yank out the innards of a Toshiba R600 and stick a dual active/resistive screen, getting rid of the keyboard for even more thinness (0.5 inches) and lightness (should be able to get 600g or so with SSD).
Here's the cunning bit, also do what HTC did with the shift and stick an arm chip in there running windows mobile 6.5 or another instant on light mobile OS and entry program with modest formatting for Onenote or Evernote for lots of battery life, access to the mail inboxes etc. Stick a hardware flip switch so the subsystem can use the main battery, HD etc Heck, these days you could even use the snapdragon or tegra chipset to run this (stick a hdmi port on it too in that case).
Anyone else like the above?
I'm in for one.
I'll bet you $5 that you couldn't handwrite as fast as you can type. It might have felt that way as you frantically scribbled on the screen, but your speeds would have come nowhere close to regular typing.
The very one reason why pen computing will never catch on as a common interface platform: you can lose the pen.
It's why Apple has been taking its sweet time with a tablet concept. The iPhone was an experiment and a successful one at that. You could argue that you could have it strapped to your tablet or carry spares, and you would be right about that. Though that won't make the perception of the tablet being cumbersome, because of the stylus, go away.
Microsoft had the right idea with the tablet interface, but they brought on too much, too early. The technology wasn't mature enough and most still perceived Windows Tablet PC as Windows XP.. with tablet functionality. It's going to take an interface that's designed around the idea of touch (or pen) to show why it has a significant advantage over the standard mouse and keyboard format and Apple has presented a fine example of what this entails.
Apple has realized that the pen type interface will ultimately prove to be cumbersome and aggravating. A person wanting to get something done does not want to be stuck with a useless machine because they lost their pen. That's just not Apple's style. So the prediction that Apple's future tablet will include a stylus is most certainly false. There won't be one because Apple won't feel there's a need for one in the interface design.
There will probably be third party options provided for the use of styllii on the "MacPad", however. Which plays right into Apple's game. Apple wants to design the platform to which all things will revolve around it. That's why "Mac" as a term is still used to this day. When you buy a Mac, you're buying the culture surrounding it as well. In essence, it's all just a big psychological mind warp, albeit a really successful one.
I suppose you could lose the pen. . . it's pretty hard to do though. Most tablets now have pen holsters that are built into the body. The only time I've lost pens (fell into my couch or under the bed), alcohol has been involved.
Why do you and so many others insist I seeing the pen as a *replacement* for keyboard and mouse, rather than an additional mode? It's not like technology has to be a zero sum game.
As for losing the pen, since it's an alternate input method that hardly bothers me. However in 7 years of using Tablet PCs, including travelling around Europe with one for 3yrs, I *never* lost a pen. I am swimming in spare pens.
Perhaps people just aren't using the right tablet. . . or they have magical expectations of how the tablet will revolutionize life.
1. Tablets are not good for programming (unless you're using some graphical gui like with the Lego RCX or NXT) or data analysis.
2. Tablets are ok for web browsing, but not great (unless you have setup a nifty system for accessing most of the webpages you visit daily).
3. Tablets are awesome for notetaking - people who write notes, tablets are great. I write pretty much as fast on the tablet as I do on paper. . .except I don't have to buy notebooks, remember pens/pencils (well, I do for tests). I even do my hw on my tablet and print it out to turn it in. It is much easier to manage a digital collection of notes, than decide when I'm moving or done with a class where exactly I want to keep the notebook. Before, I had to tradeoff ease of access for neatness and space in my work environment.
4. Battery life and Performance? That is a tradeoff everywhere. My current machine is a thinkpad x200 tablet. The extended battery is good for about 4 hours of life (full processor speed, wireless N on, BT off, screen at 80% brightness) - which works fine for my longest classes (3 hours). For the days when I have back to back classes (usually one is ~90 minutes and the other 3 hours), having the regular battery (~2 hours of life) allows me to get away with forgetting the power cord at home (or terribly located outlets in classrooms).
Performance wise, my machine is a core-2 duo. I'm an engineer who does a lot of analysis and robotics related things. Plus I'm a heavy reader and net user. It is quite normal for me to have Chrome open with 10+ tabs, NetBeans, Eclipse, One Note, and from time to time, Matlab running. I have no complaints performance wise. 720p video plays back fine, sometimes I do get hiccups when I'm running all those apps and I start watching a 1080p video on the machine. However, I've noticed some apps handle it more than others and I think it's related to the codec being used (ie VideoLAN vs mpclassic which uses codecs I've installed).
5. Weight for all this? Less than 4lbs with the regular batt, 4.5lbs with the extended - I will admit that when I'm sitting at a desk in class that does not have a proper armrest, I do feel a bit of strain after about an hour, but by the 4th week of the semester, I'm usually used to it.
Overall - Get what works for you. A convertible works best for me, I use the tablet function mainly for note taking or computing on the go, otherwise it's used as a regular laptop for development and analysis work. If you don't do that much note taking, drawing, or usage of GUI intensive apps, I cannot see why you'd want a tablet in the first place.
A nifty system for accessing pages I access daily? I call those "bookmarks".
I was an independent developer on the GO Penpoint OS that MS saw as such a threat they hurriedly rolled out Pen For Windows under the Windows 3.1 platform. This was back in '92 - '94 or so...I'm currently cleaning out my storage unit, and have two NCR3125s, one for each of the two OSs I just mentioned. Any takers. Both work, all software included, both need new CMOS batteries.
PenPoint was great, but as stated, ran into the restrictions of the Pentium (that's P 1, kiddies) platform, which couldn't keep up with the OS's demands. the 3125 wasn't any heavier than a lot of mid-range laptops now, and worked smoothly, with a crisp interface. I got lots of questions when I'd use it on plane trips up and down the west coast when I was a manufacturing consultant...
My inability to notate text is my reason for not buying into Kindle-ness.
Pen-to-paper presents several friendliness factors: People understand a cop or census taker at the door, taking notes on a clipboard, but the screen of a laptop is a wall between them, and requires at least one person be seated.
Keyboards are noisy, especially when 30 students are trying to use them to take notes in a class.
Voice recognition still sucks as badly as handwriting recog, but if you gave the 21st century version of the chalk slate to kids off to their first day of preschool, and they had one everty day of class until they left school, their handwriting would never become unreadable.
Granted, handwriting analysis as a 'science' might finally meet the demise it deserves, but since most people only write for themselves anymore, this uniformity might eliminate the need for handwriting recognition software also, at least for the writing to be human-readable.
Again, these NCR 3125s are free to a good home.
I'll take you up! Follow me on twitter I'm @Dpmt I'll Message/email you an email/street address.
I'd love to see a tablet "appliance" that was capable of syncing to Evernote/Onenote/Outlook/"Choose your flavor" format that was standardized across platfors (yeah..like THAT'LL happen). Instead of being a full fledged PC/MAC it would be more of a color "Kindle on steroids" where you could read like you would on an ereader and then draw or take notes like you would on a tablet. You'd, of course, have to sync it back to the master computer. That could be enhanced though by allowing a remote (cloud) syncing capability.
Deeeeeeerrr Santa....
Just wait....color e-ink screens that allow for pen input.. That's the ticket!!!!
This kind of input needs to become standard on all touch and pen input devices:
http://www.shapewriter.com/
I use my Tablet PC every day but since I use a computer for more uses than being a 21st century typewriter I don’t use the pen for inputting massive amounts of ascii text (which it wasn’t designed for). Those who want to forget the keyboard for that exercise suffer from the hammer/nail problem.
The form factor of a portable flat screen (in folded or slate mode, I’ve owned both) and the ability to draw and make ink notes, along with direct manipulation of objects on the screen is vastly more important to me and makes my Tablet useful in many more places than at a desk.
I would argue that many home or creative uses are more compelling than the business niche that it has been driven into by Microsoft (and web-pundits). I use mine at the piano (for reading, annotating and writing music), for sketching, for mapping, for reading on the sofa, for making ink-notes that integrate text and images.
Wow, thanks for the piano idea, that'll be great when i get my new touchbook. I'm always typing up lyrics or scribbling down chords, this will help a ton.
There's a whole lot of ways a tablet can be used with a musical instrument.
1. I have thousands of pieces in PDF format that I can read from. If I use a program like PDF annotator then I can make my own notes on the page, any of which can be subsequently revised or erased. My tablet will quite comfortably sit on my piano's sheetmusic rest, and I can use the edge buttons to change pages. I can use transparent ink highlighting on some difficult passages.
2. Plug a MIDI keyboard into your tablet (USB connection or possibly MIDI-Serial-USB for older devices) and use a program like Finale or Sibelius as you work.
3. Play with the free Tablet PC music composition tool (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx) for gesture-based ink input of music notation.
Newer version of the Composition Powertoy:
http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/research/music/tpc.html
Learn how to type type. ok ok?
"Tablet PCs never really took off"? Could it have something to do with the price being twice as much as a regular laptop?
I agree that there are not many students knows about tablets. I have a Lenovo x61 and I'm a college student. When I use my tablet in class, there would me people asking me about it. They would want how I am taking note by writing on the screen of my laptop. I even had a friend that already know about using the Wacom pen tablet interface, but didn't know about tablets pc.
I also prefer using my tablet for note taking then using a paper notebook. There's less paper and I can have OneNote search through my notes for me so i don't have to go though page after page to find the topic that I am looking for. And since I have a convertible tablet, I have the choice of writing or just typing the note.
The best way to get these touchscreen tablets in to greater use would be:
1. Make better looking, efficient tablets and make it cheaper - Most touch tablets I've seen are pretty boring and ugly looking. A lot of people care about how their computer looks, and most tablets won't fit the bill. They're also generally expensive.
2. Get more developers to make touch-based applications for Windows. With Windows 7 supporting multi-touch, this should get ever better. Most programs don't really aren't touch-friendly.
3. Market better - Like the author says, these machines aren't well marketed to consumers. Of course the main target would be college students (who stupidly request Macs way too often), engineers, managers, educators, etc. These would be great for jotting down notes, and sending messages and such on the go.
4. Give them a better name - Like PenPCs, or Penbooks, ComPENters, or something like that..
I am a student and I find it better taking notes with pen and paper because it forces me to go back at the end of the day and summarize and type it up. When I toke notes on my netbook they just sat there until the end of the semester and I never really learnt them. I know that this is just my way of learning but that is also my point everyone has different ways of learning so pen computing may not work for everyone even if the technology works.
Have been using handwriting recognition for at least 6 years. First Clie (Palm OS) and WM6.5. Works like a charm. People are still amazed. They would be even more amazed if they knew how easy it was to learn it.
"Then pen is dead.. long live capacitive touch"
For the love of God, why?
Can you write with your finger? Can you draw with it? Sure, fingers are fine for navigating (though making buttons 'n stuff big enough to hit with a finger causes a pretty big loss of screen real-estate) and multi-touch is great, but they SUCK for data input. Even on-screen keyboards are much better with a pen, in my limited (smartphone) experience.
I don't see it as that, that was my entire point. Many others want to see it as that, however. This article is outlining the pen interface as a form of primary interface for tablets, which I think is destined to fail. However, I did point out that it's most likely that alternatives will crop up that provide the use of a pen for interaction on a tablet that complements touch, as it does keyboard and mouse on windows tablets. However, that's not the same as an interface designed entirely around pen and pad.
You're one out of some umpteen millions that would have to be assured that they wouldn't lose their pen if a pen interface was the primary one. What I was pointing out is that it's not feasible to create a pen interface when the psychology of the assumption of a pen interface is that it will be very possible, even probable, that the pen will be lost. Good for you for not losing any pens and being extra prepared, there will be a market for you that helps you fulfill your needs, but not at the cost of designing an entire interface around the pen.
I agree with you that technology doesn't have to be a zero sum game, but that some people think the pen is going to be the game killer when the right combination of technology and design meets up, and I want to argue that it isn't the case that this will happen. It will remain a niche market, but a very useful and successful one for those that need it. The primary interface in the future will be touch based, but even then I don't see that replacing the mouse and keyboard (or at least the keyboard) for a long time, let alone the pen.
The flaw in your reasoning is that there has existed plenty of pen based devices. . . and the loss of the pen (or stylus) has not been a killer.
What currently hamstrings tablets is available software, UI, and work flow. The first two are easy enough to understand, the third refers to a method of doing work. Most of our ways of doing things on a computer are keyboard centric. If you changed all of that to be pen centric or touch centric, we'd be having a discussion about the death of the keyboard.
People still buy cars and houses even though there exists a possibility they could lose a key.
If you ever wrote on a Newton 2100 you would not have written that article. The handwriting recognition is fantastic. Like the whole concept of the maschine. I still have standby times over 2 weeks including a lot a use.. And all data is stored forever. Had it not in use for 3 years.. after that period i switched it on: everything still in place. Newton rules.
A few of my thoughts:
I pretty much agree that tablet PCs have not caught on due to marketing which creates customer interest which increases the number and variety of products in the market. The variety so far is limited to products like the HP TC1100 which catches a lot of good ideas.
I disagree with the take on handwriting recognition, I have found it to be excellent in the Windows Tablet (admittedly I have decent handwriting) and it even recognized my friend's chicken scratch which I can't read.
I think that if there is anyone can do it right, it's Apple. Their products have that want factor that is hard to quantify. If all else fails, successful marketing and industrial design will make it popular. I would just hate to see Apple gimp their tablet with the iPod software, please just tweak the UI as marginally as possible,
Windows 7 has seriously done wonders to handwriting recognition.
And I speak not just from a few test runs, but continiously using the tablet at customer warehouses, factories, trains, buses, etc.
Windows 7 with a pen-enabled laptop works wonders!
I think you said it all when you mentioned that Palm brilliantly came up with graffiti years ago! I don't need fancy handwriting-to-text conversion, just a fast, efficient way to take notes on a digital organizer or tablet-like pc!
It's not going to be of any use to any one.....not when it's running Windows Vista.
XD
Very interesting, this must be a cool device.
ToddDiroberto
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