Hewlett-Packard’s tablet aspirations might be in very, very big trouble – and along with it, Microsoft’s hopes for making a dent in the tablet market.
Take a look at the following YouTube video, which comes courtesy of the curiously named “x313xkillax.”
If that’s really a prototype of the upcoming HP Slate running Windows 7, and if it’s anything close to the finished product, then they might as well stamp “R.M.S. Titanic” on the side. Why include a “CTRL-ALT-DEL” button on the device’s chassis unless you expect the software to crash on a regular basis? What’s with having a mechanical button to activate a virtual onscreen keyboard? And yes, the device seems to web-surf pretty quickly, but an unmodified version of Windows 7 on a small touch screen translates into icons roughly the size of theoretical particles: You better have a stylus or small fingers.
We’re not even going to talk about how it takes 25 seconds to boot.
During July’s Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, HP’s Todd Bradley was quoted as saying, “Our focus is working with our still largest software partner, Microsoft, to create a tablet for the enterprise business.” This was relatively soon after HP acquired Palm, whose WebOS is widely expected to appear on the company’s consumer-oriented tablets.
If this video actually shows a near-final HP Slate in action, then I can only assume that HP is pouring resources into the WebOS version of the tablet, and neglecting the development of the Windows 7 counterpart – leaving it to die, in other words, while they leverage their Palm acquisition to its fullest extent. Either that, or else HP assumes that businesses will simply buy anything, provided there’s enough sales muscle behind it.
Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said repeatedly that his company intends to triumph in the tablet arena, it’s been an open question whether Windows will be modified to run on the form factor. Some might argue that Windows 7 came with touchscreen capabilities baked into the code, and that all Microsoft needs to do is find a manufacturing partner willing to design a truly kick-ass piece of hardware.
But Google Android and Apple’s iOS4 have both demonstrated the better utility of a smartphone-like OS on a tablet; if I were Microsoft, I’d give serious thought to importing Windows Phone 7’s user interface onto the form factor, and discarding entirely this albatross of an idea that Windows 7 can run perfectly on anything with a processor and a screen. It can’t.
And if this supposed HP prototype is the shape of things to come, everybody’s going to learn that the hard way.
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If this device is going to be used in a business environment(which will most likely have a GPO requiring the use of CTRL-ALT-DEL to login), then you'll definitely want the CTRL-ALT-DEL buttons.
With your albatross reference, I'm assuming that you're referring to the poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In the poem, the albatross brings good luck, and the shit doesn't hit the fan until the mariner kills it.
I'd suggest getting a little schooling and maybe some professional experience before trying your hand as an editor, who should be trying to show an objective view instead of just regurgitating the opinions of others.
A famous person once suggested that one should remove the timber from one's eye, before removing the sliver from their neighbor's.
MT, in their attempt to appear erudite, has apparently not realized that the word 'albatross' has escaped his narrow, literal understanding (regurgitation, perhaps?) of Coleridge's poem, and has come to mean, among other things, 'a wearisome burden' or 'an obstacle to success'.
MT: What do you think of the new CEO at your company?
@MT I suggest you do some research:
"In the poem, an albatross starts to follow a ship — being followed by an albatross was generally considered an omen of good luck. However, the titular mariner shoots the albatross with a crossbow, which is regarded as an act that will curse the ship (which indeed suffers terrible mishaps). To punish him, his companions induce him to wear the dead albatross around his neck indefinitely (until they all die from the curse, as it happens). Thus the albatross can be both an omen of good or bad luck, as well as a metaphor for a burden to be carried (as penance)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross_%28metaphor%29
So in this instance the use of albatross means bad luck.
Microsoft has nothing to offer in the tablet arena but vapor ware. Meanwhile Apple and Google continue to pull away with their offerings.
How's that Zune working out for you?
@MT: Perhaps you might want to inspect your glass house before throwing stones at others. Even if you didn't learn the alternate meanings of albatross in the third grade like the rest of us, it takes approximately 5 seconds to Google the definition.
Here, I'll help you out:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/albatross
Notice entry two. Something that causes persistent deep concern or anxiety. An encumbrance.
On the bright side, your astroturfing skills do appear to slightly higher than your vocabulary skills.
Cum on Jesus' beard
"This video has been removed by the user."
So... how about those albatrosses?
Everything HP makes is a trainwreck, I know this from experience. My employer recently moved to HP notebooks and they've been dying faster than our IT department can keep up. I've purchased two HP machines over the last two years, a notebook and a slimline desktop, and both had catastrophic hardware failures shortly after the warranty expired.
If Microsoft wants to build a decent tablet they need to partner with a better company, it's not too late.
I sure wish Bill Gates @ Steve Jobswould ream up and make the Wapple or Appdows. With Jobs in charge of hardware and Gates in charge of software they could take over the world lol
Nicholas Kolakowski your an idiot. Why don't you go take a computer course before talking about computers. Ctr Alt Del for crashing! lol Your incredible.