This ABC News article talks about some schools not only adopting electronic devices for education, but also doing away with their hardbound libraries.
Replacing libraries is an important trend that the Tablet PC industry needs to be keenly aware of. Why? Because it may prove out to be one of the leading economic incentives for schools migrating to electronic devices. That’s a big deal for Tablets, because up to this point, Tablets have been more about ink than reading device. That needs to adapt on the marketing and engineering side if Tablet PCs want to stay competitive in schools.
My engineering instinct, in particular, tells me that what OEMs, Intel and Microsoft should be doing is working on adding Tablet features, such as ink and the like, to eReaders.
I heard Ray Ozzie in a speech question whether specialized devices like eReaders would win out over general purpose machines. If I understand him correctly Microsoft is taking a wait and see attitude to better understand which platform wins out. I think that’s the wrong approach. Doing nothing is like not being in the game at all. Further, in the electronics world, there is no one device that’s going to win out in the end. Because there is no one end. It’s part of an evolutionary process. And if you want any say in the matter about the role of Office or Windows, you’ve got to join the evolutionary steps and misteps. If you wait for a winner, if you wait for a billion dollar market, you’ll miss all of the opportunities to add your DNA to the market.
Now back to Tablet PCs for a minute. You could argue, like Ray Ozzie does, that since Tablet PCs are general purpose computing devices and support ink as a superset, that they are an ideal device for schools. I agree in the abstract.
However, suspend your enthusiasm for a minute and brainstorm about what an ideal general computing device for an elementary school might be like. Start there. I think you’ll envision a different kind of device. In fact, I think you’ll start seeing a slate-like Tablet PC that’s more eReader than keyboard. That’s right, the keyboard doesn’t have to be the most predominant feature of a useful education computer. I think this is one reason that some schools are even trying out iPod Touches which don’t have any physical keyboard at all.
Like Steve Jobs points out, eReaders up to this point, are a niche market. He’s right. It’s a relatively new market after all. However eReaders have the benefit of focused price points and have the basics for reading. What they are missing is the ink and interactivity of a Tablet. Now whether you start with a Tablet PC and shrink it down to an eReader size or build up from an eReader form factor and add ink, handwriting recognition, and the like, I don’t think it matters too much. (I used to think building down was the way to go, though personally I favor building up now. Better to start with a minimal set and add what’s needed rather than commit to carrying extra weight (in hardware and software) that you may never loose.) Either way it’s probably going to take about the same number of years to evolve into a really great product.
Now there are some significant hardware challenges with eReaders–the battery life and display being front and center. I’d argue that software and content ought to be high up on the list too. However, even trimmed down Tablet PCs are going to have very similar issues. They are both essentially computing devices after all–just tuned for different uses.
I need to build up a prototype or mockup that better illustrates some of what I’m thinking here.