It doesn’t seem like that long ago, certainly not a year, since I bought my first Mac. Two months later, in December, I bought my first Tablet PC. Here it is, some 300+ days later and I’m reporting and reflecting on what I’m currently using the tablet for in business and home.

Before getting into what I’m using the tablet for these days, I want to congratulate the hard working Warner Crocker who was recently appointed the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional accreditation. Warner has linked to blog entries here which have at times been very critical of the Tablet PC. I respect his balanced coverage.

Some of these Microsoft MVPs I’ve seen on the web only seem to focus on glass half full and positive perspectives, seemingly shrugging off or ignoring legitimate points that happen to be negative towards their area of expertise/focus.

Being all rosey doesn’t help when thorns are sticking customers.

The platform as a whole suffers if problems are not discussed, debated and solved and I don’t think Microsoft surrounding themselves with butt kissers like that is doing them any favors. IMO, the truly Most Valuable Professional is somebody who is willing and able to look at, consider and present all sides of an issue — good and bad — weighing against the grain when it is bad for customers and the platform as a whole.

I believe Warner is one of these type people and I don’t know him personally. We’ve never met or spoken outside of blog entries. I’ve never even exchanged an email with the guy or had an IM conversation, at least from what I can remember, anyway. Warner is the kind of hard working person and good writer that I like to promote just because so I’m putting up a link to his Life on the Wicked Stage blog on the blogroll on the front page.. Nothing is permanent of course, so he better stay on his toes (that’s a joke).

Keep up the good work, Warner!

Business
Most days the tablet sits in landscape orientation propped on a 99 cent china plate that has replaced the broken plastic stand that came with the M1400. This orientation is a change from the first nine months of usage where I greatly preferred and used portrait mode. I still primarily use portrait mode for reading digital magazines via Zinio, but almost all other uses are now in portrait mode. I’ve been converted!

I have a wireless mouse and USB keyboard hooked up and use that to maintain a presence in our online IRC chatroom. It sits beside my desk being the five minute email collector while I work and I’ll occasionally drop into the IRC to see who stopped by and talk shop. 300+ days and still getting daily online use in business (mostly our online business).

In terms of stability, the M1400 has been very solid. I have to reboot my main desktop a couple times a week but the Tablet runs and runs without reboot. I will reboot it more as a conservation of power issue than because it needs to be rebooted. Nice.

For our offline business, I used the tablet to make a drawings with building measurements in the field recently. It continues to be a valuable tool in the field.

One area which will I hope to improve over the next 302 days is my use of the tablet as a developement environment for tablet PC apps. I have done a little bit of coding for the Tablet, but my list of to-do items code-wise remains long and greatly unfulfilled to date.

Home
The M1400 has become the Reel Deal Vegas Casino [review]. There is something about playing a virtual slot machine on a slate tablet which is attractive. Perhaps more like playing an authentic machine. I’m sure this gaming phase will pass once I get tired/bored of the MMOCG.

We’ve taken the tablet to the Y for workout sessions a couple times, using it as sort of a giant iPod. With a Y-stereo adapter, my son and I could both rock out while walking the treadmill or riding the bikes.

In summary, the slate tablet remains an intregal piece of our daily work and personal computing lives, particularly for mobility. I’m satisfied that I bought one and overall have been happy with the quality of the workmanship of the M1400.

My only significant disappointment, as I’ve written about several times now, is Motion’s decision to discontinue manufacturing accessories/batteries after December 31, 2007. With as fast as the last year has gone by, I suspect that date will come much too fast. Yes, by then I’m sure that I’ll be in the shopping mode for another portable computer, but why should the M1400 have to be chained to an outlet?

Will my next portable computer be a tablet too? If I had to give a yes or no right now it would be a definite yes. I know there are a lot of people out there that think Tablet PCs are just overpriced laptops — and I was among that group of naysayers at one time — but there are clear niche markets where the tablet is a valuable and useful tool.

History of Tablet PC Ownership posts
December 19, 2004: First full week of ownership complete
February 13, 2005: 60 days after buying a Tablet PC, was it worth it?
March 3, 2005: Day 78 bought external CD-RW drive
May 3, 2005: Day 140
June 27, 2005: Day 196 incompatibility of EVDO Kyocera cards
August 12, 2005: 241 days of Tablet PC Ownership
September 1, 2005: Day 261: Tablet PC sales projections being downshifted by market researchers
September 15, 2005: Day 276 Current office main configuration includes Tablet PC, 3 PCs, Mac

• Day 78 Tablet PC slate ownership: bought external CD-RW
• Inking on the Channel 9 messageboard
• 241 days of Tablet PC ownership
• Oooo that wire smell, the smell of tablet burning
• Day 405: Dual monitor on Tablet PC alert!
• Day 508: 10% broken and easy to forget about Bluetooth