Ten years ago, we were not allowed to rename our seminar presentations. The rules in the academic world do not change that often, so, I assume that even now students are not allowed to rename their presentations. If you are randomly chosen to present a seminar on the “talk of the town”, revolutionary Tablet PC, and suppose you are allowed to name it, I would recommend you to call it: “The Good Doctor Prescribes You a Tablet”. 

So, what next? You have a couple of weeks to prepare for the presentation on Tablet PC. You rush to the library, and try to find as much materials as possible to read about the given subject. As you read them, you start preparing a document. Then, you create a PowerPoint presentation (a slide show in olden days), and maybe rehearse it a couple of times with your friends, and you are good to go.

I hear you. The preparation for the seminar hardly goes as described above. You get only a couple of books or magazines that talk about Tablet PC and then start to jot down what you think is important. When you spend two weeks of sleepless nights on a single subject (that is related to your studies), and present it with great pride, your Professor more than likely to say that you did not cover all the bases. I remember setting my questions up for my presentation on C++. I designed my presentation in such way that I would pause at the right moment to give enough room for my friends to ask the (previously assigned) questions in the most natural way. Then, I would answer those questions, and give a one-eyed look at the Professor to see if he was “impressed” with my presentation and Q&A skills. I advise you to follow me on this—not on the one-eyed look part, teachers hate such gestures). But when you set things up, remember to take special care of that guy who always has a question or two for anyone and anything. If you don’t supply him with a question that you want to be asked, he’d come up with his own.

With these in mind, let’s try to get the presentation on Tablet PC going.

Introduction

You know about first impressions. Remember those nights you wished you’d have had better “first impressions”? —I know the feeling! So, make sure your opening lines get attention from everyone. Your introduction could go like this: Nobody wants to carry around a desktop computer. So the laptop was created. Unlike others, some people used laptops extensively. Then came studies and research about laptops and their usage. In one of those research papers published in 1999, there was an interesting finding: over 50% of people get irritated by the noise their colleagues make when typing on their laptops at meetings. Microsoft research took special interest in this finding. The Tablet PC was born. In Comdex 2000, Bill Gates noted: “the PC took computing out of the back office and into everyone’s office. The Tablet takes cutting-edge PC technology and makes it available wherever you want it. It’s a PC that is virtually without limits—and within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America.” 

What’s Tablet PC?

Yea, right. Now that you got the attention, you may as well tell what the Tablet PC is. Remember, too much suspense is not good, especially for a presentation. A Tablet PC is a full-scale computer that has an electronic touch screen. The main method of input is through a digital pen. The Tablet PC is unique in its support for ink notes and voice recognition. Users can also attach to the Tablet PC other input mechanisms, such as a keyboard or mouse, or make use of the voice-recognition software that enables the use of voice to command and control applications as well as input text.

Laptop vs. Tablet PC

Just when you think that you’ve got the undivided attention of the complete audience, think about what may be going on their mind. Trust me, most of them will have a burning “but why?” question in their mind. Chances are that they may be asking themselves “why and how is this different from a laptop anyway!” As a prepared presenter, you are ready with the answer. The use of a laptop is inappropriate, inconvenient or even prohibited in a meeting with the VC of your University or with the CEO of your company, in a classroom where constant typing from a group of over enthusiastic students will drive the teacher nuts, or in a courtroom where “your owner” shouts “Silence!” The Tablet PC integrates pen and speech input capabilities with state-of-the-art laptop capabilities and that’s why many view the Tablet PC as the next step in the evolution of the PC. In short, you categorically declare that the Tablet PC is a reinvention of the laptop as a more portable (mobile), touch screen device. Make sure that you declare it categorically (just forget for a moment that you are taking a presentation on Tablet PC, pretend that you are a Tablet PC evangelist).

PDA vs. Tablet PC

There is no comparison, but to make your presentation a bit more complete, talk a word or two about PDAs as well. I hope I don’t need to elaborate the importance of humor in seminars. So, you may include this joke: “PDAs are in no way comparable with Tablet PCs. By PDA, I mean Personal Digital Assistant and not Personal Display of Affection”. And when the laughter subsides a bit, go on to state that a major difference between the Tablet PC and prior stylus-based products is that the Tablet PC is an unlimited source of “notepaper”. Using Tablet PC, we can “leave ink as ink”, and most of the tablet devices now available will translate your handwriting into text even when you want it to leave ink as ink. This also means that the Tablet PC is far more than a handwriting recognition device. This is the time you keep the interest alive by saying that “you will surely agree with me as we go over the feature set of this amazing innovation”.

Features

When you are talking about the features of a new product, start with some of the audience’s favorites even if they aren’t the most important features of the product. Since you are aware of this, you usually put up a slide that reads active digitizer touch screen, digital Ink for on-screen writing and drawing, handwriting & speech recognition, integrated wireless function such as built-in 802.11b WLAN card, and landscape or portrait viewing as bulleted items. (Some say that it is just to trick the Professor who assesses your presentation, but I would say that it is much more important than just to make your mark sheet look better.) Microsoft has, however, only three words to say about the features of Tablet PC: powerful, mobile, and versatile. You can’t ignore these buzzwords as you are going to hear these all along. We have to devote fresh new slides for each of these three words, and we are going to spend some time examining each one of them.

XP is the Secret of My Energy (“Our Energy”)

Get this: The Tablet PC is powerful. The power starts from the Operating System (OS). The Tablet PC uses Windows XP Professional Tablet PC version. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition expands the Windows XP Professional platform to include software and utilities that capitalize on the tablet pen and speech capabilities of the Tablet PC. Existing applications that are compatible with Windows XP will run on the Tablet PC. The OS also offers all of the protection features of Windows XP Professional, including the Encrypting File System (EFS) security feature and the access control feature. Tablet PC also supports secure log on to a network using a single Ctrl+Alt+Del hardware button. In addition, The Tablet PC has automated installation aids for peripheral hardware devices, improved file association, task-enabled file and folders that associates tasks with your files and folders, a network wizard that automatically identifies the network type and configuration of computers for a home or small business network.

You can take all (I mean, all) your notes electronically. The handwriting recognition works based on natural writing and can be done after you have entered the notes (it does not have to be done in real time). Windows XP Tablet PC Edition comes with note-taking utility Microsoft Windows Journal. Windows Journal captures text, diagrams, and pictures that users would typically handwrite on pads of paper. You can search through your own “hand-written” notes for key words, and create and save drawings or graphics. 

With Tablet PC speech recognition technology, you can use your voice to control applications. Speech can be combined with other input methods, such as handwriting, for a more natural computing experience. Voice commands can be used to correct errors, format text, or control programs. For some of you speech, I guess, will be an easier and a quicker method of input than entering text with the digital pen.

You can use ink with core Office XP applications if you download the Office XP Pack for Tablet PC. You can add ink comments in Word 2002 documents, and write and send ink e-mail with Outlook 2002—all in your own handwriting. A downloadable software development kit (SDK) for the Tablet PC platform is available in Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). The SDK also includes the Ink Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Speech APIs (SAPI). These APIs allow software developers to extend existing applications with pen and ink capabilities and to develop new applications using this technology. Microsoft .NET Framework, of course, is included with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. 

You can customize your Tablet PC: calibrate the digital pen, calibrate the display based on how you hold the digital pen, optimize the Tablet PC for left- or right-handed operation, and program the hardware buttons of your Tablet PC to perform specific actions, such as opening an application or changing screen orientation from landscape to portrait.

Going Mobile

The Tablet PC provides everything you expect in a mobile PC. It supports “grab-and-go” removal from a docking station and surprise hot docking and has a fast resume-from-standby time as short as five seconds. The fast docking and undocking capabilities, combined with wireless network support, give greater mobility and immediate access to the full power of the PC, anytime, anywhere. The specifically designed powerful, low-voltage processor keeps the Tablet PC very cool (literally!). Most Tablet PCs support 802.11 capabilities, with optional support for other wireless protocols such as Bluetooth. Get more information on this before you pause too long here when you do the presentation. I am not a big fan of networking, so, I am leaving this as an exercise to you. (If you still have a course on Computer Networks in your curriculum, don’t pay a great deal of attention, after ten years or so, you can give exercises on the subject.)

Neighbor’s Envy, Owner’s Pride: the Versatile Tablet

This is a good time to actually communicate with your audience. So, talk to them: “if you have paid attention to what I have been talking about, you’d agree with Microsoft and with me that Tablet PC is versatile because Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines versatile as embracing a variety of subjects, fields, or skills”. (Don’t wait for anyone to say yes or no, go ahead with your presentation.) 

Here are a few reasons why Tablet PC is versatile. You can write the way you want, and enter data in multiple ways. You can input text using the tablet pen, your voice, an on-screen keyboard, or a standard keyboard. Use Windows Journal for note taking, Input Panel for voice input, and Sticky Notes for, well, as exactly as it is: sticky notes! The Input Panel also comes with an on-screen keyboard you can use to enter text. It looks and acts like a standard keyboard, except you tap the keys with your tablet pen to enter text. 

The Write Anywhere feature of the active digitizer touch screen lets you use the entire Tablet PC screen as a writing surface. You can move your cursor to any place on the screen and start typing. The screen takes into consideration the pressure you applied on the pen, and it can lighten or darken the text or drawing accordingly. 

As we have seen, the Tablet PC introduces “ink as ink” technology. The good thing is that you can share documents that have digital ink with other PC users, regardless of whether they have a Tablet PC or not.

Tablet PC has the ability to easily orient the screen in either landscape or portrait mode to give you more options for comfortably reading text on the screen. When you are taking notes on a meeting, you’d be comfortable with the portrait orientation that gives you the look and feel of an actual notebook. But when you browse the web, you’d prefer the more traditional landscape orientation.

Conclusion

You hardly get 30 minutes for your presentation. The professor has indicated that you have only a couple of more minutes to conclude. Without further delay, go ahead and wrap up the presentation (if you have time, you can mention that healthcare, education, insurance, hospitality, military, architecture, mining and natural resource exploration as few examples where Tablet PC finds immediate practical use). A well-prepared summary of what we have discussed so far should make a good conclusion to the talk that leaves a lasting impression not only about the Tablet PC but also about you with the audience (and especially with the Professor). Oh, I almost forgot: the last sentence in your presentation should be a shout to the audience: “any questions?”

In Microsoft, usually presentations end with a slide which just has one line: the company slogan, “Where do you want to go today?” You can use your own punch lines such as “You gotta do what you gotta do!” or if you can get hold of a Tablet PC while doing your presentation, you can forget about the punch lines, and fire up Microsoft InkBall either as a fun game or as a practice to use your tablet pen. Either way, just have fun.

Read my other published works:
Are You A Better Software Engineer?
Enterprise Computing with Microsoft’s .NET Framework
Bill Gates has Become Rich, But My Windows Crashed Again!
Try My Colored Glass