ForbesOnTech

It's Time for a Revolution in Notebook Cursor Control Devices--Blindfold and Put the Trackpads Up Against the Wall.

Notebook trackpad cursor controllers may be the single biggest design problems effecting consumer notebook designs. The most important element of the portable computer notebook design is the user experience. And that boils down to how easily someone can unpack their machine, set down in front of a keyboard and productively work. Unfortunately, the performance of most track pads is so erratic that users have to learn how to position their hands and palm on each notebook they use. Most portable computer manufacturers have little control over trackpad design. Track pads are commodity parts most often purchased from the lowest bidding supplier and the resulting user experience suffers from this practice. I believe that the user experience is the single most important element in a successful notebook and I have yet to unpack and test a notebook that didn’t require spending time to adjust a track pad’s sensitivity or other attributes. It shouldn’t be this difficult and I shouldn’t need to carry a mouse-pointer in my notebook bag in order to really be productive with a notebook. My experience with notebooks that use track stick pointers or which have built in mechanical mice is altogether different. I u npack them, turn them, on and work for hours on end, a happy camper. For years, the reason why I recommended business notebook brands such as Toshiba’s Tecras and IBM ( and more recently Lenovo) ThinkPads and handful of others was because they used track stick pointers for cursor control. But my all time favorite notebook—Hewlett Packard’s original Omnibook 300 through 800 line didn’t use a stick pointer at all; it had a small mechanical mouse built into its side. HP’s mechanical mouse was a thing of beauty. It was built like a tank, lived safe from accidental damage in its little mouse house on the side of the Omnibook. But more importantly, in the four years I carried HP Omnibooks, not one ever failed. Not once! My love affair with touch screens has a lot to do with cursor control. If I want the cursor to do something specific, I just use a stylus to place it where its needed and perform a specific operation. Track pads may let me pinch, squat, squeeze and grunt but the result of inadvertently hitting a track pad creates an execrable experience that gets in the way of the user experience. The solution to the problems with track pads won’t come from the lowest bidders of 500,00-part track pad orders, or their software partners. It has to come from notebook designers who have a vested interested in making their products different by optimizing the user experience. Until this happens users will keep accidentally sending their cursors to screen realestate that’s unimagined.—Jim Forbes, 11/25/2009

Hey Microsoft, If You Really Want Win7 to Succeed; Evangelie Touch Interface Technologies

Widespread support of Touch computing technologies in Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 7 operating system has precipitated a flurry of articles on how few touch-enabled computers have been sold to consumers.

A general theme of the articles (which have appeared on CNet’s News.com site and on PCMag.com) is that because touch screens have such a small installed base and carry an above-normal “build” cost of up to $120 for large LCD screen systems (but only about $30 for portables with 13-inch or smaller screens), there’s little hope for the category in the coming months.

What’s intrigued me about the stories is this: Most of the pieces overlook an earlier personal computer phenomenon that in many ways is somewhat similar; specifically Apple’s first versions of the Macintosh.

Let me explain: When the Mac first came out it took a while to catch on. Apple lived with sub-5 percent market share for a long time. Two distinct forces drove the Apple Macintosh’s early adoption: personal desktop publishing (enabled by Apple’s LaserWriter printer and page composition software); as well as hardware and software evangelism programs that set a bar so high it has yet to be breached.

Thus far touch computing enabled desktop and portable computers have yet to be paired with an application or peripheral that’s as intuitive a marriage as the Macintosh and desktop publishing.

This could change, however, in the coming months as next generation tablet notebooks and desktops break out of their profitable verticals (medicine, process control, law enforcement, public utilities and other categories) and begin to appear in college classrooms, college dorms, and homes, while consumers discover new uses for computers that fit in an arm as easily as a paper-based notebook and which also set new benchmarks for usability.

Digital imaging in all its permutations could become one of the applications that drives touch interface computing into consumers’ hands.

Anecdotally, email, task management, and enabling greater access to the Internet applications such as personal banking for consumers with disabilities caused by cerebral vascular accidents are also high on the lists of programs where touch interfaces excel when compared to conventional keyboard/mouse cursor control.

Part of the reason the touch interface has yet to take off may also be a lack of evangelism on the part of hardware and software makers. So far, the only touch interface computer manufacturer evangelizing this category is Hewlett Packard.

Whether or not non-Apple touch interface computer makers can grow significant market share for their systems in the months surrounding the launch of Windows 7 could depend on Microsoft’s willingness to promote touch computing for products apart from its Microsoft Surface computing concept. The key is energizing and promoting touch interface use with mainstream such as digital imaging and other applications. Only Microsoft has the ability to pull together a coalition between hardware makers such as Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Toshiba and software makers such as Adobe Systems, and EverNote in  such an alliance.

But the real 2,000 pound gorilla in this space could well be Apple, which early next year is rumored to be launching something reportedly called the iTablet, a touch enabled device for personal entertainment, personal productivity and other applications.

There’s little doubt that just as Apple  drove the demand for the acceptance of graphical user interfaces it can spark touch computing throughout the entire  Personal computing industry.-- Jim Forbes 08/06/2009.

An open Letter to Palm's Roger McNamee, Ed Colligan and David Nagle-- It's Time to Get Back to Fundamentals

Subject: An Open Letter to Palm Inc’s Roger McNamee, Ed Colligan and David Nagle.

Dear Roger, Ed and David;

You’re dangerously close to losing me forever as a user of Palm smart phone products.

I openly confess to having paid a premium to use your products, but guess what? You’re not Apple, but in my world, you’re very close to being grouped in that same category, but for much different reasons.

I’ve bought four Palm smartphones over the last several years and even willingly moved to Centro when that appeared the direction you were headed.

OK, I admit it: for those of us who have big hands the Centro isn’t a good fit.

But you know what? You really should have user tested this with people such as myself. But that’s not what burns my butt with your products today.

Your quality control appears to be slipping, which is why I just bought a used Samsung phone from a Craigslist ad.

Here’s why we’re headed for a divorce:

1. The digitizer/screen on every Palm Smart Phone I’ve owned for the last five years has died prematurely. Guys, this is just not acceptable and you damn well know it.
2. Also I believe you need to immediately evaluate the audio pickup circuitry and device you use in your smartphones. They urgently need to be improved. Just about everyone I call from my Palm smartphone complains about the audio quality. For a long time, I thought my friends were just  sniveling pukes. But, I had a trusted buddy call me using my phone, making sure he spoke in a normal voice. Guess what? His conversation was hard to understand. I suspect it’s a problem of clipping caused by over modulation and I know I’m not the only one who has experienced this.
3. Dealing with your tech support call center is an exercise in futility. Please take note of HP and Lenovo. They have tech support down to a friendly science. I have yet to call their tech support lines and not have an issue successfully resolved. With your tech support I get the same damn rigidly scripted response, and hang up feeling like I accomplished nothing.
4. Twice in as many weeks I’ve received an incoming call and have been unable to answer it because your software is stuck on “synch.” My calls are more important than your software housekeeping routines.
5. The perception is that Palm has all its wood behind the Palm Pre arrow. Yet anyone who follows Palm closely suspects (or intuitively knows) that a consumer version of the Pre will be forthcoming this year.
6. I was a fiercely loyal Palm user and customer for almost two decades. It appears, however that you’re doggedly working to sever this bond.

There was a time when Palm did extensive usability testing and took note of failure rates and problems. In the rush to post numbers, this appears to have changed. It’s sad.

I really hope that Palm doesn’t join Osborne, Grid and a host of other Silicon Valley pioneers on the long list of historical footnotes. There’s just too much at stake for Palm to lose sight of core principles like reliability, and ease of use.

Now go ahead and show me that Palm is still capable of hardware and software innovation and has not deliberately decided to be simply be another producer of Apple-like products. I once recommended your products but my recent experience has changed my view.—Jim Forbes 05/22/2009.

Disclosure: In the last century I served on Palm’s advisory council. I also was an unpaid memory of IBM’s mobile Advisory Council. I am an independent reviewer but prior to retirement had been a Senior Editor with PCWeek, InfoWorld and Windows Magazine. I was also  producer of Demo events and focused on mobile and emerging technologies.

Wait Long Enough and Dreams of Persistent and touch Computing Come True-- Damn It, Santa, Where's My Personal Jet Pack

I  willingly support  great technologies with money from my personal checking and savings accounts. And nothing illustrates this more than two concepts I’ve written about in this blog:

Persistent Connectivity; and touch interface technologies.

First up, persistent connectivity: When I travel it’s often to places where there’s either restricted or no connectivity (When I’m stalking wily trout in the Sierra)or where there I need to charge my computer or phone from my car’s electrical system.  Nevertheless, my lifestyle, which includes caring for the emotional and other needs of my 90 year old mother, and being the president of the First National Bank of Dad, requires that I maintain a connectivity link back to the world.

The best solution for my persistent connectivity needs is Verizon’s EvDo network, which I access using a $15 for 24-hour “Day Pass.” I have had extraordinary good luck with Verizon’s national Broadband Network and recommend it highly. I’ve been able to connect from extremely remote locations such as Fuller Lake in the western Sierras  and from   Rescue, California, a tiny berg that’s not really near any major city, but which has acceptable Verizon network connectivity.

Persistent connectivity drains notebook batteries. So long battery life is an absolute must for me. My current war horse notebook is a Lenovo ThinkPad X300 with a built in Sierra mobile broadband network adapter and a just- added optional battery .  It’s light enough that I can throw it in my back pack and schlep it around all day without needing to take Advil in the evening and I don’t ever worry about running out of battery power or not being able to connect to the Internet.

Flying North to San Francisco yesterday morning I accidentally exposed my X300 to a horrific, benchmark; I spilled a half glass of Coca Cola on it somewhere over Fresno. Thank God for a quick thinking Virgin America Attendant who whipped out a handful of paper towels and plopped them on the fast flowing sticky mess. As quickly, the flight attendant was back again with damp paper towels.  I mopped up  the mess, closed my eyes and lifted my computer off the seat back tray table. 

“Bummer Dude!”  I said looking at  the small brown sticky pool that made it through the system case and puddled on my tray table. Silently praying to the sundry Gods of portable computing,, I rebooted the machine and began blogging without any sticky keys, fatal errors or smells of  sizzling Coca Cola.

“Amen,”I thought adding  “I promise to sin no more.”

I’ve only had to deal with two minor problems on the X300 and both were resolved in less than 5 minutes. The first one gets debited  to Verizon;  the second one was my decision to disable my X300’s track pad—which took one promptly answered phone call and a two minute reboot.

                To summarize ,the Lenovo X300, is the best notebook I’ve ever used. It has the battery life to make transcontinental flights productive and with support of 802.11 n as well as options like the 64GB SSD,a broadband wireless modem and a USB phone modem. It’s the only notebook I’ve ever used that fulfills both my dreams of persistent connectivity and 9-11 hour battery life. And, it’s incredibly rugged.,

Touch Computing

If you want an experience that changes how you view personal or corporate computing, plop yourself down in front of a computer such as HP’s TouchSmart IQ 500 Series.    

Touch interface technology (which HP introduced with its Touch PC in the mid 80’s) makes tasks such as arranging graphics images or using VOIP or video conferencing programs or even online banking so intuitive even my 90-year old-mother can do it within minutes of her first-ever computing experience.

I’ve watched touch computing evolve from it’s earliest appearances in hand helds like the Apple Newton and Sharp Zaurus,followed by various Palm Computing and Handspring Inc. hand helds as well as the first commonly available tablet PCS like the Momenta 240. Although they’re far  from being ubiquitous, convertible tablet notebooks can be found in many colleges, and among  PC users of forms-based, graphics intensive such as medicine, law enforcement and other classes of portable computer users.

                During the 2007 firestorm in San Diego County I noted several  tablet PCs in use at some of the largest facilities  where some of the more than  500,000 county residents sought temporary shelter after being ordered to evacuate their homes.  And many of the touch-enabled tablet PCs I noticed were equipped with PCMCIA cell modems.

Microsoft’s pushto make touch interface technology part of the mainstream computing experience, I expect we’ll see a lot more computer users tapping and jotting notes on screens in the months to come.

I guess, if you live long enough, you do see dreams come true. But damn it, where’s my personal jet pack and that pony I requested from Santa 50 years ago?—a hopeful Jim Forbes on 08/19/2008.

When Analyst Firms Get it Wrong-- Egg on the Face of the SJ Mercury News' Business Summary

I Just finished scanning Wednesday’s San Jose Mercury News daily business  summary when a piece on Hewlett Packard’s future use of the touch interface on forthcoming products caught my eye and jumped my blood pressure five points.

            Specifically what raised my hackles and blood pressure was an incorrect credit to Apple for its use of a touch interface. Hereto is what the Merc said:

            Because the finger-tapping interface used by Apple's iPhone has become so popular, Palo Alto-based HP is developing an array of touch-screen products of its own, including notebooks, which it hopes to get on the market within the next 18 months.

HP is chasing a trend. The number of touch-screen devices, including PCs, should more than double to 800 million by 2013, according to industry tracker iSuppli. Spending on touch-screen components likely will reach $6.4 billion, up 33 percent from $4.8 billion, over the same period, iSuppli said.

            It’s too bad the Merc’s Steve Johnson (who edits the summaries and its quoted analysts sources (at iSuppli) didn’t dig a little deeper. If they had they would have correctly credited Handspring Inc. (now part of Palm Computing) and Palm for pioneering touch interfaces on its aging Treo line nearly one-half to a full decade and half decade before Apple launched its touch enabled iPhone.

Furthermore, back in the days when Apple was still struggling with its first Macintosh, Hewlett Packard was manufacturing and marketing a line of PC monitors that incorporated touch technology.

I don’t begrudge Apple it’s successes with the iPhone and other products, but for an analyst firm such as iSuppli that’s quoted by any Silicon Valley publication to incorrectly claim companies such as HP, Fujitsu, Lenovo, or any of the other PC and PDA manufacturers are capitalizing on the success of Apple’s touch interface, is patently false.

But wait there’s more.  Microsoft, which makes a pen/touch interface for its Windows Vista, XP and Pocket PC operating systems has said that touch computing interface technology will become a standard feature in many of it future products.

I really hope the Merc corrects the item  and revaluates whether it should use market analyst firms that provide incorrect information.--Jim Forbes,08/06/2008.

 

 

Touch Computing Steam Roller Approaches--Microsoft says Touch Drivers to be in Windows 7

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer unveiled the iPhone-like touch-screen feature at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference, calling it "just the smallest snippet" of the Windows 7 operating system slated for release in late 2009.more  here

 

When it comes to not quite nascent interface technologies, touch is something that’s overdue in mainstream computing. So far it’s been limited to convertible notebooks like those made by Acer\Gateway, Fujutsu, HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Toshiba and others. And on Palm handelds and those that run the Windows mobile operating system as well as all-in-one desktop computers ;like the HP TouchSmart IQ line.

 

Incorporating touch drivers in Windows could create hockey stick like growth in convertible notebooks and desktop computers alike. With current screen pricing, the price delta associated with digitizer screens could make touch-computing a mainstay feature. Touch computing interface technology could also drive innovation among software developers, making complex or feature-laden applications like image editing software much easier to use and perhaps cutting down on expensive customer service calls from users anxious to master such programs.

 

Touch computing (along with voice interface) is a technology that’s been percolating at Microsoft since the late Eighties. It’s about time that it came out of the shadows of research and development and was exposed to the bright light of mainstream personal computing. —Jim Forbes 05/28/2008.

 

 

Touch Computing Ready to Be Mainstreamed

    For the last 16 months, I've been deeply immersed and influenced by the concept of touch computing as a big part of my everyday computing experience.

I made "touch computing" part of my life in a big way when I began using a ThinkPad X41 Convertible portable and then stayed with it when I upgraded to a ThinkPad X60 -- which is among the finest portables ever made.

    A big part of my experience with touch computing has to do with the fact that in mid-life I became handicapped and lost fine motor control in my dominant left hand. In other words, at the age of 52 a stroke kicked my ass and ended a great career in journalism. That damn stroke closed one door but opened another. After moping around for more months than I care remember, I found my interest in touch interface technology and pen-computing was heightened.This happened because I was using a Palm Treo as a cellphone. I distinctly remember the day when the light bulb turned on. I had pulled over to the side of the road to take a phone call and needed to note a phone number. I my pulled out my pen stylus and wrote the number down on my Treo's notes screen. I then cut and pasted the information into my appointments file and continued on to a local college where I was going to speak to some fourth-year marketing students.

     That was my Aha! moment. I realized that although it was difficult to read my writing, I could use touch computing to enter data on my screen and then cu about t and paste that information into an appropriate program. And the company that enabled initial he discovery was Palm, the grandfather of touch/stylus-based computing.

     Portable computing technology and my interest in touch-based computing merged at roughly the same time. Lenovo let me review an X41 tablet computer and I was soon completely immersed in tablet computing, relying more and more on entering manipulating data using a stylus or even my finger and touching my notebook's digitizer screen.

     All that of that is to be expected from touch interfaces but I soon discovered another advantage that dovetailed with my life but more importantly helped me improve a skill lost to a stroke --but which as a reporter/writer I view as a defining skill that defines me-- the physical act of writing. Every morning for the first three years post stroke. I would practice writing on notepads designed for elementary school children. So, when I unpacked my first convertible notebook and booted it up, I found myself in a well designed application that helped train my notebook to recognize my hand writing.

     Voila! The bond between me and my pen-based, touch interface notebook  became cement strong. And, like good cement,this bond has become stronger over the last year and a half.

     My handwriting still sucks, and I've come to accept that I'll have this disability for the remainder of my life. but touch computing has become so important to me, that I think it should be a part of desktop computing as well. Enter the HP Touch Smart IQ all-in-one desktop. Paired with a fully functional all-in-one Touch computing is so compelling that my 90 year old mother, now a resident of my household is playing solitaire, after avoiding computers for the last 20 years.

     Touch computing is about to go mainstream, a leap that's long overdue. So far, this key interface technology has been limited to Apple, Compaq, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Palm and Toshiba.  I suspect that is about to change in the immediate future as Microsoft supercharges its R&D efforts into mainstream computing and other PC makers increase the bond between consumers and their brands with touch computing.

     And all of this comes at a time when computing technology is increasing rapidly and the price of such technology (including digitizer screens and memory) is plummeting. It's the beginning of a new era in personal computing and I'm glad I made it to the point where personal computing is indeed "personal"-- Jim Forbes 05/21/2008.

 

HP's TouchSmart All in One-- Upping the Ante for a Category

Building a great all-in-one computer is a much more difficult process than simply repackaging a notebook hull with a large screen and then stuffing every “wouldn’t it be nice” feature into the resulting desktop box.  The really good news is this: the all in one form factor is undergoing a renaissance now and hardware makers are paying close attention to what people want to and can do with new technologies.

            Apple has had the lead in this desktop category since it launched its new line of iMacs several years ago. But more recently the high flying iMac (which is available with screens as large as 24 inches) faces stiff competition from companies like Gateway and Dell, which are launching new all-in-ones which offer equivalent functionality but which also support integrated Personal Video Recording (PVR), a feature that an expensive option on Apple’s iMac line.

            But the latest entrant in this field, Hewlett Packard’s IQ775 TouchSmart PC fires a shot across Apple’s bow, while raising the table stakes needed to stay competitive in the all in one category.

            The “all-in” feature that wins the pot for IQ775 TouchSmart PC is its unique “touch interface” that lets you control programs and perform most features using your finger or the stylus that rests conveniently in its holder on top of the machine’s 19-inch screen.

            HP’s IQ775 come to the gaming table with a very robust configuration:  an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual core processor zipping along at a respectable 1.90 GHz, 2Gb of PC2-4200 of memory (but expandable to 4 GB of memory), a fast 7200 RPM 500GB hard disk drive, and a Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card to that drives a crisp 19-inch display.

            A 1.3Mpixel camera and array stereo microphones are built into the screen’s bezel. The audio on the IQ775 is first rate and this system comes with two 12-watt speakers but it will support six-speaker configurations such as those used in high end home theater applications.

            I really like how uniquely useable this system is. Setting it up and attaching to my home wireless network and cable TV took under five minutes. Once unpacked and plugged in I set about adjusting everything –including the viewing angle of this system’s 19-inch screen--so that it fits its my requirements precisely. The ability to position the components—system case, display and stowage tray for the keyboard enhances the IQ 775 TouchSmart’s functionality and ability to fit easily into any home, college dorm, or office.

            The use of a touch interface makes this one of the easiest to use systems I’ve ever seen. It’s so simple that I let my 90-year-old mother lose on the systems and grinned as she began playing solitaire. Eventually I got the system away from her long enough to finish testing it.  But not before I heard her asking me from her new quarters in the MaForbes addition to my house, “how do I record Gone With the Wind on this computer.”

            There are two approaches to PVR technology in desktop computers: it’s either built-in or the tuner can be added through the use of a separate controller. Of the two approaches, I prefer the one HP uses on it’s IQ775 TouchSmart PC—it’s built into the system.

            Although Apple gets the lion’s share of attention for gesture (read touch-based interfaces) it’s actually a relative newcomer to this interface technology, since HP has offered it since the days of its Touch monitors. Furthermore, gesture-based computing is sat the base of the Palm computing platform.

If you decide to buy this Windows Vista-based all in one, there is one addition I strongly recommend; the adding enough memory to bring the system up to at least 3GB (which improves both the performance of the operating system and the system’s overall performance.  Other than that, I can almost guarantee that if you buy n HP TouchSmart IQ 775, you’ll have a first tier computing experience.

            Now if I could just get this machine away from my Solitaire 90 year old mother.  –Jim Forbes m04/23/2008

Microsoft Expands DreamSpark Academic Evangelism Program--Wouldn't it be Nice if Others Joined In

Microsoft pulled another of its feet onto the academic computing bandwagon with the announcement this week of DreamSpark, a philanthropy program aimed initially at college students but which will eventually include high schoolers as well, according to the online version of PC Magazine.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates announced new details of the program during a speech at Leland Stanford Jr. University on the San Francisco Peninsula earlier this week. DreamSpark has already provided software to about 35 million students worldwide, Gates said, adding that the program will be enhanced to include more college and some high school students in the future.

click here for PC Mag's original story.

Some of the titles that will be given to students free of charge include the 2005 and 2008 editions of Visual Studio, 2005 Developer’s Edition of SQL Server and the Standard Edition of Windows Server, according to PC Mag. Students will also be given access to Microsoft X-box development tools and the company’s game developmenyt community, the magazine says.

While much of Microsoft’s philanthropic efforts have been aimed at individual colleges and universities, the company has a long history of academic evangelism and has been a co-sponsor with hardware maker Hewlett Packard of large academic computing grants in the past.

DreamSpark’s sheer size-- more than 35 million students have benefited from the program-- is astounding.

Academic evangelism isn’t limited to immediate gratification. In decades past, companies such as Hewlitt Packard and Techtronic helped create entire generations of equipment buyers and brand specifiers by exposing young students to professional-level test and measurement systems through academic evangelism programs. In the 1980’s Apple made significant inroads into academic computing through its conspicuous evangelism.

The two companies in today’s market that have active and high profile academic evangelism programs are Hewlett Packard and Microsoft. Both companies have dedicated staff members who run their companies programs in this category.

The pay-off associated with academic evangelism isn’t immediate. Rather it happens years later when former students enter the job market and begin buying IT or engineering test equipment on behalf of their employers.

However, I believe there is at least one category of computer technology that could reap an immediate benefit from academic computing evangelism. That category is pen-based computing. And, looking out over today’s landscape the one company I hope jumps directly or indirectly on this bandwagon is Demo 2008 standout Live Scribe,

here

makers of the Pulse Smart Pen. -- Jim Forbes 02/19/2008

Technologies To Help Prevent Remodel Madness-- What Really Works

The best use of a technology comes about as the result of unintended consequences. At least that’s been my experience in trying to manage a large remodel project that’s now about 50 percent complete here at my house on a small mountaintop in rural northern San Diego.

            The purpose of the remodel/addition is to provide housing for my 89-year old mother. She’s lived virtually all of her life in the tiny town of Azusa, CA, and for the last 30 years, she’s lived alone. I’m somewhat handicapped and I knew I had either the time, patience or ability to undertake the addition/remodel on my own. I spent about one-half of last summer planning MaForbes’ new space and compiling rough checklists of tasks that needed to be completed before the end of the Summer of 2007.

Some additional background: My specific handicaps are the permanent effects of a stroke I had six years ago this week. I am left-handed and the stroke wiped out the fine muscle control needed to write legibly. Another lasting effect of my stroke has to do with my abilities to stay on subject for extended periods.

Mid-summer  last year, I started using a Lenovo ThinkPad X60 tablet computer to keep track of the myriad details associated with my remodel project. I couldn’t have picked a better machine for the job. The X60 is lightweight, very rugged, has above average battery life, and most importantly supports pen-based computing and has a screen that can be swiveled around.

One of the big factors continuously reinforcing my decision to use a tablet computer for this project id the widespread adoption and use of the .PDF format by municipal building and planning departments. The first time you pull up and navigate a .PDF file using a pen/stylus you will immediately grock how important a convertible computer can be to a complex remodeling project in a city with burgeoning building codes. Moreover, watching an inspector or department supervisor pick up a pen, scroll over to a relevant .PDF page and highlight a section is absolute proof of the importance of tablet computing for applications such as the building trades. And the ability to swivel the screen so that someone else can see the display is icing on the cake.

The one downside to .PDF is that many contractors and design firms still want home owners to print out and sign plans and then return the signed files to their offices.  Try as I may, I’ve not been able to get my design firm to accept my electronic signature on an approved .PDF file.

Another technology that’s been a Godsend in my remodeling project has been USB flash drives. My plans, correspondence and other files are carried on a series of 2GB flash drives that I keep on a sturdy beaded chain. Each of my several flash drives are numbered and I maintain an index of their contents. The use of flash drives cuts down “waiting” time to locate and pull up a required file.

I also bought and installed an external hard disk for my home network. I use it to back up my remodeling related files every day. Because it’s eliminated my worrryies about lost files, it may be one of the most important technology assets I’ve acquired specifically for my home remodel.

Skype is one of the most important programs that I’ve loaded on my X60 tablet. I keep a headset in my notebook bag and use Skype on a daily basis when I’m working with the contractors working on the addition.

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I am absolutely convinced that the best-designed notebook computers are those that integrate Bluetooth, high speed 802.11 WiFi and integrated cell data modems. I’ve also upgraded my home WiFi network to 802.11 (n) technology. I bought a new wireless router and a dongle for my X60 because 802.11 (n) has the extended range, signal saturation and big bandwidth I need to stay connected and reliably transmit large files across my network in the blink of an eye.

My one technological disappointment in the remodel has been finding an appropriate project management program. As of today, project management software for home remodelers doesn’t really exist, although some is under development now.

Home remodeling doesn’t need to be exercise leading to insanity and some of the current technologies go a long way to tame this complex process. And besides, I’ve only had two major meltdowns requiring personal timeouts since I started my remodel last summer. And very soon, I’ll get my bedroom back. That will be a very good thing indeed—Jim Forbes 02/13/2008