When I talk to uninitiated people about Tablet PCs (not intelligent people like you), I am truly surprised by the number of people who say:

“I can type way faster than I can write.”

Well, duh!

It seems that some people think that Tablet PC pen input is an exclusive technology that supercedes and overrides all other input methods.

Now, before you decide to throw away your keyboard and mouse because you’re going to buy a Tablet PC… stop and pay attention:

Handwriting recognition and Tablet PCs are not designed to stop you from using a regular keyboard and mouse!

…or touch, or speech, or blink input, or deep brain magnetic resonance commands*, or whatever other new input technology comes out in the next 15 years!

Guess what? I too can type way faster than I can write.

Therefore, because my Tablet PC is my everyday computer, when I’m in the office I use a docking station with a large LCD screen, an external DVD writer and a wireless keyboard and mouse.

I also keep a convertible keyboard in my car for those situations when pen input just won’t do.

Of course, the addition of pen input means that you can use your computer in so many new ways and so many new places.

The fact is, no one is going to stop typing altogether on a keyboard any time soon!

*I haven’t invented deep brain magnetic resonance commands yet, but will keep you posted.

Dealing with email overload is one of the greatest challenges in running a business. Often, many of the emails that flood your inbox are internal communications that need a quick response.

Email - meet Tablet PC

With a Tablet PC and Office 2007 (or Office 2003) you can send email in handwriting. That enables you to send emails from places like:

• An airport lounge
• A doctors waiting room
• A cafe over coffee

Tablet PCs allow you to maximise your working time by enabling you to use a fully functional PC in places where you generally wouldn’t use a laptop.

Brush up your handwriting skills, because you’re going to need them again. Tablet PCs are great productivity tools.

Are you lugging around an A4 notepad and pen in that portfolio of yours?

There are so many places where Tablet PC is practical and a laptop just isn’t. Meetings with your clients are a perfect example.

You wouldn’t generally use a laptop in a round table meeting because the laptop screen creates a barrier between you and the client. Your clients also can’t see the screen, so they will be suspicious about what you’re doing in there…

If you place your Tablet PC flat on the table, there is no screen barrier and your clients can see the notes that you’re taking.

Also, when you get a Tablet PC, you will be showing a more impressive front to your clients. That’s because when you go into any meeting with a Tablet PC you will look more:

• Professional
• Impressive
• Technically superior
• Organised.

But the real kicker is that you can actually be all that!

A Tablet PC will allow you to:

• Never lose a note again
• Search through your handwritten notes
• Email handwritten notes
• Mark and action notes for follow up
• Audio record the conversation in sync with you handwritten notes.

It’s perfect for meetings, especially with clients.

With a Tablet PC you can turn your handwriting into computer text… or not, the choice is yours.

If you’ve ever used handwriting recognition on a PDA or Palm Pilot, you’ll know that it can be a tedious affair. Tablet PCs hare a far superior system of handwriting recognition that takes advantage of their computing power.

The Tablet PC input panel allows you to write multiple lines of text, suggesting and correcting as you go. It is a very quick and accurate input method, and it’s even better now in Windows Vista.

But one of the real beauties of Tablet PC is that you don’t have to bother with handwriting recognition if you don’t want to. Programs like Microsoft OneNote and Journal allow you to leave your notes in handwriting and convert them to text later. In fact, OneNote recognises your handwriting automatically and stores a copy in the background as searchable text.