Dear Steve, let me try to answer your question the best I can.
Why are you guys so worried about defending this platform or that one?
The Q1U is unimpressive; the UMPC is unimpressive.
I'm defending this platform because I believe on it. I have been a Pocket PC owner and developer for the last 4 years and I could not find on that platform what this one is bringing me now.
#1 problem - Windows as an OS. MS needs to tailor an OS specifically to these devices for performance and display.
Sounds good, but... What do you want? Something like Windows CE where you can run only applications converted to this platform. I have been there and I really don't like the idea. One of the reasons why I'm using a UMPC is because it use the same OS that I use in my desktop computer. So what seems to be a problem for you is what I have been looking for since long time ago.
#2 problem - Unix as an OS. The popular apps are windows apps. If unix had windows apps - game over.
But that's not a problem only present in Linux. Like I said before, smartphones and Pocket PCs are suffering in part of the same issue. So this is why I preferred to have a small device capable of using the same OS I use in my Desktop. It's not perfect but features like Hibernation and Standby allows you to have something close to an instant on, one of the features more asked for everybody.
#3 problem - UMPCs need to be able to run Google apps and Skype. The Nokia Internet Table cannot.
What you call Nokia Internet Tablet is not a UMPC is what we call a MID (Mobile Internet Device). And I agree with you, and that's the reason why I'm using a real UMPC, because I can run Google Apps and Skype on it.
#4 problem - Lousy battery life! If you can get a laptop that does 8 to 12 hours what's wrong with the UMPCs?
In one year we have jumped from 2 or less hours to 3 or 3.5 hours. But this battle is not an easy one. Look around and check how many Notebooks currently have more than 4 hours of battery life. You will count them with your fingers and you will have enough of them. So I really don't know about those "laptops" where battery last from 8 to 12 hours. One of the smaller minitablet that I know is the Fujitsu P1610 and it has a battery life of a little more than 2 - 2.5 hours. To have a longer battery life, keep the price low, have a performance of a subnotebook and have a really small size device is not an easy task. Give the platform 2 more years and you will get what you are asking for.
#5 problem - UMPC input may be the most important of these problems in terms of marketability. People want a keyboard - period. They want a real keyboard or something 90% or more of real. The Newton had a wonderful keyboard, Samsung has a beauty too and the NEC MobilePro & Sony PictureBooks were pretty good.
People asked for keyboards and they are getting keyboards. Check the Fujitsu U1010 or you don't know that device? We have at least 3 different kind of keyboards already integrated to UMPCs. Some more efficient than others but they are there.
#6 problem - screens are unusable in bright light/daylight - there's technology to solve this problem.
The screen on the Q1U is a lot brighter than the screen used in previous models. It's not perfect outdoor but it's better than what we have one year ago. The use of an outdoor display will increase the price already high of these devices and at this moment everybody wants to keep that price as low as possible. But to be honest, 80% of users do not work with their UMPCs while they are taking a sun bath in Miami Beach.
Newton, NEC MobilePro, Sony Vaio Picturebook, the Toshiba Libretto and others were all lightyears ahead of the current crop of UMPCs in terms of usability.
Stop defending bad thinking and trying to make a lousy BLOATED OS try to run on these underpowered toys.
You are mixing devices that are in different categories. They were good but in their own way. UMPC is a whole new category smaller than a Subnotebook and bigger and more powerful than a Handheld device. It's a young platform that's getting better every all the time.
Any other question, Dear Steve? And always remember one thing, what looks bad to you could be the best thing for others.
I would take the Windows mobile graphical UI with full XP OS underneath ;) - So put a mobile skin on top of whole XP's UI....
ReplyDeleteI even don´t think that that is a good idea. Windows CE UI works find when you are handling few programs or files but when you have hundred of thousands files and hundred of applications installed that UI is really inefficient.
ReplyDeletehehehehe... No offense Frank, but I've been using small computers since you were in diapers.
ReplyDeleteThe words used to describe the device are pretty much irrelevant but parsing things is essential to job security today; it has very little to do with what the market wants.
The objective is what is important and so far the existing crop of UMPCs do not measure up to the old machines I mentioned in practical terms - much less in terms of productivity. Of course, WIFI was the best we could hope for back in the days of those machines, but the point stands. ...quite frankly, I would have been better off taking my old NEC 790 than my new Sony UX 280 on my recent globe trotting tour.
Less than a year ago bloggers referred to the Nxxx tablet as a UMPC. MID officially became a term with an Intel announcement this year - although a number of bloggers suggested it pre-Intel.
Of course I know about the 1610 and its jury-rigged keyboard - not a keyboard, Frank. I've used my Sony Vaio picturebook for 7+ years now and still have not completely adjusted to its shrunken keyboard. I am a hi-speed touch typist and the old Newton keyboard required no compromise.
As for the screen brightness, you do not need to be at the beach sunbathing for screen brightness to be a problem even with the current crop of UMPCs. They are marginal at best even indoors in bright light. Like I said, there is (an expensive) technology available for the UMPC manufacturers to take advantage of but they have not.
HTC's new product may be on to something...a hybrid using PocketPC with switching to Windows. The question is, can the hybrid feed the Windows OS...and can the Windows OS do a restore to the PocketPC? My guess is that even though PocketPC talks to the HD, the operation is not seamless.
This platform must be a good tool first. If it achieves that the options that seem so essential today will be easy to achieve.
The SSD will help battery life and the potential of the SD cards hasn't been fully explored.
MS still needs to address the issues I mentioned - which you discounted. The MS OS has been flawed since its inception and MS never took the tiger by the tail to fix it...they just stacked work-around on top of work-around. The current crop of MS OSs hit the hard drive far too frequently (no excuses please). That in itself represents a huge cost in battery life and could be resolved - after all the Linux variants do not suffer from this ill.
As a developer, I would expect you to be more honest about the platform to push the design teams in the proper direction. Our developers are much more candid about the faults of our systems than you are toward the UMPC.
I want to see the platform succeed, after all, I've been waiting for a stable, practical UMPC since my first 40 pound portable computer in 1980...or was it '79. We have certainly made progress in the "form factor" but not nearly as much progress in terms of practical usability (within the limits of the state-of-the-art and user expectations).
BTW - I always read your posts and enjoy them. It was fun to have you respond to my comment. I'd just like to to get tough on these platforms and drive the design in the proper direction.
Steve, I'm not alone in this boat. Here you can find the reaction of others to your comments.
ReplyDelete