Working Smart

Why I Ditched My Tablet PC

Several people have posted comments, asking why I ditched my Tablet PC a couple of months ago. They were particularly interested since last June I purchased a tablet and enthusiastically endorsed it. In addition to the comments, several people emailed me about my experience. So, I have decided to address the issue publicly and put it to rest.

First, I am never fully satisfied with my current tools, whatever they are. I have a high need for variety and thrive on change. Initially, I tend to be enthusiastic and hopeful. Then the gadget loses its fascination and I resume my quest for “the holy technology grail.” So, you have to keep this in mind when you read my blog. Consider yourself warned.

Second, the tablet technology was more conspicuous that I had hoped. I am basically an introvert. (I know, that is hard for some people to believe. However, I have the psych tests to prove it!) I don't like a lot of attention. Every time I pulled out my tablet in a meeting, the new people in the room would “oh and ah” and start pummeling me with questions. (Admitedly, this may not be your experience. As the President of my company, I sometimes think that people feel obligated to take an interest in me. Regardless, it was more attention that I wanted.)

Third, I didn’t feel the tablet features were an improvement over traditional note-taking. Yes, I realize you can search your notes with blinding speed using almost any of the major note-taking applications. I tried Microsoft Journal, OneNote, GoBinder, and EverNote. However, I found that I rarely refer back to my notes. Instead, I take notes to focus my attention and organize my thoughts. I derive most of the value of taking notes while I am in the meeting itself. If there are items that need further attention or follow-up, I flag them. After the meeting, I enter those in Entourage. For those few times when I need to refer back to my notes, I can flip through my notebook pretty quickly. Could I do it faster on a tablet? Probably. But, for me, I found the convenience was offset by the investment of time and energy. Your mileage may vary.

Fourth, I just got frustrated with the Windows operating system. This is the crux of the matter. Ditching my tablet was not so much about the tablet as it was the operating system. I just got tired of fighting with Windows. I switched to the Mac. Previously, I wrote:

The best part of the Mac experience so far is that the technology simply works. I have yet to experience software conflicts, viruses and spyware infections, and endless tinkering and tweaking. Installing a printer, an Apple Airport Express, or some other peripheral is easy and painless. The bottom line is that I am simply spending more time getting real work done. And that’s what I was hoping for by making the switch.

Now, six weeks later, this is still my experience.

My intention here is not to disrespect the tablet or start a debate. I realize, my situation is unique. Perhaps even my experience was unique. Certainly you can find plenty of tablet enthusiasts on the Web. Many of them I count as friends. The tablet works for them, and I'm not arguing that they switch.

Technology is a highly personal thing. You need to find what works for you. After months of use, I found the tablet did not meet my needs. I may feel the same way about the Mac in six months, but, for right now, the Mac is still a joy to use and continues to exceed my expectations.

Concept X7: Worse Than I Thought

Believe it or not, my bad experience with Concept X7 got worse. When the software did not work as advertised, I uninstalled it. What I didn’t realize was that this simple action also disabled the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition’s ink capability. According to the TabletPCBuzz forum, several other users had this same experience.

Initially, I didn’t notice this problem. Since I was on vacation, I wasn’t using the ink-enabled applications I normally use when attending meetings at work. However, I tried to load GoBinder this morning to check some notes and got an error message. Thankfully, I had been following the thread on Concept X7 in the TabletPCBuzz forum, otherwise I may have thought the problem was with GoBinder.

I then tried to load OneNote. It flashed the splash screen and then choked my system, forcing a reboot. Once I had Windows loaded, I tried to load Windows Journal, which gave me a message that there was something wrong with Windows’ inking capabilities. That was all the confirmation I needed.

I then did a system restore and now—thank God—everything is back to normal. (I actually had to do this twice, since the first time I didn’t pick a restore point early enough.) All in all, this experience cost me about three hours of frustration.

So what did I learn? Four things:

1. Stay away from the “bleeding edge.” Don’t install every piece of seemingly cool software without checking to see what other users have experienced. The best place to research this is in the many user forums on the Web.
   
   
2. Pay attention to the marketing. If you experience problems with the developer’s Web site and download procedure, it may be a harbinger of things to come. If they are sloppy with the marketing, they may also be sloppy with their code—which was exactly what I experienced with Concept 7.
   
   
3. Create a system restore point. Do this before installing any new software. On most systems, you can find this under Start | Accessories | System Tools. This way you can “roll back” your system to the point before things went awry. Force yourself to get into this habit. (I’m preaching to myself!)
   
   
4. Warn other users. Hopefully, you can save other users the pain of wasting their time and potentially damaging their systems. Again, the various user forums are a great place to do this.

TabletPCBuzz Site Down?

What’s up with the TabletPCBuzz site? Is it down? I haven’t been able to get to it for two days. This is one of the sites that I look at twice a day, every day. I depend on it for news about Tablet PCs and interaction with other users. Bummer.

Update: As of 4:05 EST, the site is back up. Cool.

The Concept X7 Sales Prevention Team

I heard about Concept X7 on the TabletPCBuzz forum. It sounded like a cross between MindManager, GoBinder, and OneNote. I visited the Web page to check it out and was impressed, especially by the screen shots. However, I am convinced that the developer must employ a “sales prevention team.” Why? Here are the problems I experienced.

Problem #1: The Price. The program sells for $298. What?! Okay, maybe I’d pay this much for Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop, but few programs are worth this much. GoBinder is only $79.95. OneNote is $99.95. MindManager X5 is $199 (and worth every penny). Well, fortunately, I thought, they offer a trial version of the program.

Problem #2: Download Difficulty. When I clicked on the Trial Version link, the Web page asked me for my e-mail address, promising to send me the download instructions by e-mail. This isn’t that unusual, so I entered my address and clicked on the “Send” button, thinking an autoresponder would automatically send me the information. No such luck. I never received the download instructions. I checked the TabletPCBuzz forum again. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one with this problem. Fortunately, someone posted a link to the download page. I then downloaded the program.

Problem #3: Crippleware. Beware, the trial version is not the full-featured version. It’s crippled. Before the installation started, the program displayed the following dialog box:

Obviously, several features are disabled. So, I wrote to the developers and asked for a full-featured copy of the software. (More about that in a moment.) I went ahead and installed the trial software. The installation went without a hitch—or so I thought.

Problem #4: Deadware. I then tried to run the program. I received the following message (click on the image to see the dialog box in actual size):

Note that the program has died. It’s not responding. I tried rebooting my computer. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Nothing worked. I spent way more time on this that I should have. I went back to the TabletPCBuzz forum and posted my results. I was not the only one who experienced this problem. At least, it’s not my system.

Problem #5: Marketing Stupidity. I was still hopeful that I could get the full-featured version of the program running. Today, I received an e-mail message from Alexandra Han of SoftwareForAll, the site where I downloaded the program. Here’s the text of the message. (I’m not making this up.)

Hello

Sorry, no fully funcitional copy of any softwares available for trial usage, if you want a fully functional copy, you will have to pay the registration fee.

Best regards
Alexandra Han

Softforall Technology
webmaster@softforall.com
http://www.softforall.com

Amazing. Let’s think this through. Granted, I don’t have the most popular blog on the planet. But I get about 2,000 readers a week. That’s a lot of prospects. Wouldn’t it make sense to provide a free copy to me in the hopes that I would write a positive review and influence my readers to buy the software? Instead, Alexandra tells me I have to buy a copy.

This is what you call “pennywise and pound foolish.” I mean, the software doesn’t even have a cost associated with it. News flash: It’s a digital download. It would have cost her company nothing. Instead, she ticked me off enough that I am spending my Thanksgiving morning writing a negative review of the product.

Someone may argue that I can’t hold the developer (WebPlanet) responsible for the lame response of the distributor (SoftForAll). On the contrary. The developer picked this distributor. He also chose not to send me the download instructions. Regardless, I’ve completely lost interest in this software. Rather than making me more productive—as the developer promised—I’ve wasted several hours trying to get it to run. I’ve now uninstalled it. Good riddens!

TabletPCs in the Bible

Christopher Coulter posted a very funny blog about TabletPCs in the Bible. As a Bible publisher myself, I laughed out loud. This appeared today on TabletPCBuzz.com:

Habakkuk 2:2

“Then the LORD answered me and said: Write down the vision. Clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily.” — The New American Bible, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

“Then the LORD answered me and said, "Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.” — New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Isaiah 30:8

“Now come, write it on a tablet they can keep, inscribe it in a record; That it may be in future days an eternal witness.” — The New American Bible, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

“And now, go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness for ever.” — The Revised Standard Version. 1971.

Luke 1:63

“He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed.” — The New American Bible, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

“And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled.” — The New King James Version. 1996, c1982, Thomas Nelson.

Notes: Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with Tablets, per Exodus and Deuteronomy (4:13 or 5:22) doesn't really fit per se. And Isaiah 8:1, sorta, but that was really stretching things; works best here with the Darby Translation. And the Proverbial (Proverbs 3:3) “Write them on the tablet of your heart” doesn't really work either. ;)

Eight Things You Can Do in a Meeting with a TabletPC

As I wrote this past weekend, my TabletPC has enabled me to become far more productive in meetings. This is critical since I spend so much time in meetings—usually 30 hours or so per week. The last two days have been particularly intense.

Once a month, we take two full days to review each of our company’s publishing divisions and market channels. For me this means (gulp) eighteen 45-minute meetings in a row!

In the past, I would leave these kinds of meetings with a pile of notes and a plethora of action items. I would then have to spend two evenings going back through my notes, entering the action items into Outlook (as tasks), and then personally following-up on or delegating each of them.

By contrast, I left the meeting today with my notes filed and all my work done. Man, does that feel great! Here’s are eight things I was able to do in the meeting as a result of having a TabletPC:

1. Take notes. I wrote directly on my PC screen in my own handwriting. No, I didn’t convert it into text, nor do I have any intention to do so. My handwriting contains many nuances that are impossible to convert to text. Besides, the software converts my handwriting in the background, making it fully searchable should I need to find something later.
   
   
2. Enter tasks. As tasks were assigned, I entered them directly into Outlook. I entered assignments to my staff as "@WaitingFor" tasks, following David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) model. I also entered tasks for myself into Outook, using the appropriate GTD category.
   
   
3. Ask questions via e-mail. Occasionally, questions came up that we couldn’t answer in the meeting. Instead of waiting for a break or scheduling a follow-up for later, I just sent an e-mail to the appropriate person in the company. (Fortunately, we have wireless networking throughout the building.) I usually had the answer a few minutes later.
   
   
4. Make assignments via e-mail. If I needed to make an assignment to someone not present in the meeting, I simply sent an e-mail. If it was important enough to track, I used the GTD add-in to “send and delegate” the task.
   
   
5. Look up information in computer files. Following Michael Linenberg’s recommendation in Seize the Work Day, I have put together a collection of “Power Documents.” These are the documents that I find myself referring to again and again. When I need to refer to one of these, I could get to it instantly. Via the TabletPC, the most up-to-date documents were at my fingertips. And, because I was running wireless, I also had access to any files on the entire network.
   
   
6. Look up information on the Web. A couple of times, I needed to look up information on a Web site. Again, I didn’t have to send someone out for the information or wait until a later time. It was instantly available. (I must also confess: I was able to check our company’s stock price through the day.)
   
   
7. Respond to urgent messages. Naturally, while I am stuck in meetings, life goes on. People are calling, e-mailing, and even dropping by to see me. Fortunately, I could periodically scan my inbox to see if there was something that was urgent. If so, I could discretely reply. Everyone else thought I was simply taking notes. ;-)
   
   
8. Keep my staff moving forward. In the past, work would often come to a stand still because my staff couldn’t get to me. I was locked up in meetings and until I came up for air, they were stuck. Not any more. Now they just e-mail me. I’m about to take this to the next level and have everyone start using MSN Messenger.

I’m sure there are other things you can do in meetings with a TabletPC. These are my top ones. If you have others, I’d love to here from you.

Why I Bought a TabletPC

About three weeks ago, I bought a Toshiba M205-S810 TabletPC. I’ve always thought it would be a big boost to my productivity if I could actually take my computer with me to meetings. Then I would have access to everything I need—my calendar, e-mail messages, documents, spreadsheets, etc. I tried using a PDA, but that didn't really cut it. The interface was too primitive and scrolling documents was a drag.

Then I tried a ThinkPad X31 laptop. This is a great computer. Powerful, light, and elegant. In my opinion, it’s still the best looking laptop on the market. However, laptops in meetings are a problem. Michael Linenberger stated it succinctly in his excellent book, Seize the Work Day: Using the Tablet PC to Take Total Control of Your Work and Meeting Day. He writes:

Using a Tablet PC during a typical management meeting is totally different from using a laptop. It’s the difference between night and day. The difference between success and failure. Here’s why.

• Discretion: Nothing is more distracting than, during a management-style meeting, having a meeting participant typing away on a laptop. In contrast, working with a Tablet PC in your lap appears no different from what you would be doing with a pen and notepad in your lap. This is particularly true if you use, as recommended later in this book, an executive-style portfolio case that makes your Tablet PC resemble an executive notepad portfolio.
  
  
• Communication barriers: Placing a laptop with the screen flipped up in front of you on a conference room table creates a physical barrier between you and others in the room. This is literally a barrier to communication. The Tablet PC is normally on your lap, and out of sight. Or it is flat on the desk like a writing pad.
  
  
• Personal effectiveness: Research shows that if you use both hands to accomplish a task, a much larger percentage of your brain becomes engaged in that operation. Typing with both hands tends to totally engage your brain in the typing activity and makes you visibly less tuned-in to the meeting. In contrast, writing with one hand during a meeting is second nature to most of us. The brain stays mostly engaged in the meeting activities. We all can take notes and participate in a meeting at the same time. Using a Tablet PC in a meeting is little different from this.
  
  
• Eye contact: Related to the above point, and for the same reasons, many users have reported that it is much easier to maintain periodic and consistent eye contact with others in a meeting when using a Tablet PC versus using a laptop. This has a dramatic affect on the perception of others that you are engaged and personable. Lack of eye contact also limits your ability to read body language of others, adding to your distance from the meeting (pp. 15, 16)

So, based on Marc Orchant’s recommendation, I bought the Toshiba. The nice thing about this unit is that it’s a “convertible.” This means that the screen swings around so that you can use it as either a regular laptop or a TabletPC.

So far, I have been very pleased. The biggest problem has been getting used to the Toshiba keyboard. I’ve used ThinkPads for years, and many of the keys are just in different places. Also, I'm not crazy about the touchpad as a mouse pointing device. I still prefer IBM’s “trackpoint” technology (i.e., the red eraser head in the middle of the keyboard). I think it’s more accurate. But, over time, I’m sure I’ll get used to both.

The cool thing has been taking the machine into meetings. Like Lineberger suggests, I bought the leather portfolio that Toshiba makes for it. (This also is very cool and only $39.00.) However, this still didn't camouflage it enough. The first time I pulled it out and started writing, one of my colleagues exclaimed, “Whoa! Is that a TabletPC?” My cover was blown. Regardless, I like carrying the machine in the case. At the very least, it protects it between meetings.

When I demonstrate the computer, as I inevitably do, I usually do so by handwriting some text in Microsoft OneNote. Immediately, people ask, “So, does it automatically convert your handwriting to text?” Well, yes, it can ... if I want. But, 90% of the time I just leave my handwriting “as is.” Here’s why ... to quote Linenberger again:

Taking notes in ink:

• facilitates creativity in your note taking
  
  
• communicates more about the meaning of your notes
  
  
• integrates better with sketches and expressive marks on the note-taking page
  
  
• is a better way to represent information copied from whiteboards and presentations
  
  
• is a faster way to record notes, faster than even the most speedy and accurate handwriting recognition.

I can virtually guarantee that after a few days or weeks of taking notes primarily in ink, you too will be convinced that this is a highly effective and preferable method of note taking on the Tablet PC (Linenberger, p. 237)

I concur. They key is knowing when to use ink and when to use the keyboard. This is where Linenberger's advice has been invaluable.

When I am at my desk, I plug the Toshiba into its docking station and use an external keyboard and monitor. This is the same keyboard and monitor I used with my ThinkPad, so it is very familiar.

When I’m at home or on the road, processing e-mails or writing reports, I use the computer in laptop mode, just like my ThinkPad. Again, this is very familiar, except for the Toshiba keyboard and touchpad, which I am still getting used to.

When I leave for a meeting—and most of my life is spent attending meetings—everything changes. Before, I would have grabbed a legal pad, a folder, and perhaps even a binder or two. Now, I just pull the Toshiba out of the docking station, whirl the screen around so that it’s in tablet mode, insert it into my leather portfolio, and off I go. This takes about 5 seconds. Here's what the Toshiba looks like in tablet mode:

Now I have all my files with me. In fact, I have set up my “Power Documents” (another Linenberger idea) in OneNote for instant reference. (I plan to blog more about these later.) Since our office is wireless, I can quickly look up something on the Web if needed in the meeting. I can also make assignments or solicit information via e-mail. Much of the assignments I receive in meetings can be done right there in the meeting. You have to experience this to believe it, but it's already been a great boon to my productivity.