Wed 21 Sep 2005
Tablet PC: Love it, hate it (Prologue)
Posted by Jonathan under hardware, tools, writing[4] Comments
I love my Tablet PC.
I hate my Tablet PC.
I’m about five seconds from buying a Powerbook.
First, some background.
Rewind to early 2002, when I started a contract job doing Windows development. After working in the server room for a few days (no empty desks in the office), I realized I’d need a laptop so I could work in the relative comfort of the conference room. I had seen and drooled over Apple’s Titanium Powerbooks for awhile. I’d also heard of this little application called Virtual PC, which would let you run Windows applications on a Mac. Time for an experiment. I bought a lovely TiBook from a nice fellow on eBay, grabbed a copy of Virtual PC, and installed a few small apps: Windows 2000 Advanced Server, SQL Server, and Visual Studio. I proceeded to work on a large web project in Virtual PC on my Powerbook.
It was a miracle (or at least a testament to Apple and/or Connectix) that this worked at all. I was debugging an IIS application in Visual Studio, running on Windows Server, in a little window on an Apple laptop. It was also like working on a 286. It took Studio ten minutes to compile the app and another ten minutes to attach the debugger. It would be tough to justify my $90-per-hour paycheck at this rate. With a heavy heart I sold the masterpiece that was the TiBook, and picked up a Sony Vaio. A little bit of color left my world that day.
(to be continued)
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I Love My Tablet, I Hate My Tablet
I Love My Tablet, I Hate My Tablet This entry is only the prologue to what points to an interesting series of blog posts over at Stark Raving Calm.
Hey Jonathon! Michele sent me this time.
It sounds like that Tablet PC is perfect for meetings–and classes too for anyone in school. I bet it was expensive though. I’m curious to see what is on your list of peeves about the computer.
Hi Jonathan. I saw your link on Michele’s site and thought I’d drop in and say hi. I’m glad I did: your descriptions of your hardware and how you use it are great reading. I’m a technology journalist, so this stuff really jazzes me.
Looking forward to your next entry on this.
Carmi: Thanks! That’s a high compliment, coming from someone who does what I’d really love to be doing.
If you haven’t already, skip back a ways and read this series of posts.
Intro
Motive
Means
Opportunity