A compendium of original and borrowed content regarding Tablet PCs and fun Technologies

Monday, March 31, 2008

Tablet PC Conversation in the Most Unlikely of Places... With the Most Unlikely of Audiences

On Saturday morning, I saw my first Amazon Kindle at the most unlikely of places at a Weight Watchers meeting (I'm happy to say I lost 2 lbs this week - gold star for me).

The Kindle owner was a woman several year older than I. It surprised me to learn that she was the owner of an HP tx2000, she used inking and she was well versed in mobile technology.

When I asked to see the Kindle, I introduced myself as an employee in the Tablet industry and we began an animated conversation about tablets, mobile readers and Bill Gates' vision. People around us were listening to us and started asking questions. And the conversation grew from there... I just wish I had my Sahara Tablet PC with me to show the people who had no idea what the heck we were talking about.

Since I joined TabletKiosk over 2 years ago, most of my technology conversations have been with industry professionals, work contacts and journalists/ bloggers. What made this conversation so remarkable was that it took place in such an unexpected location and involved 3 generations of women.

These women are not our target demographic and will probably never be. In fact, I would describe this group as the exact opposite of the demographic we target. However it is very interesting to note they were genuinely intrigued by the new technology and I was happy to share information with them. Who knows, maybe there's an untapped market here...

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved your post. I am a woman in my 50s and I use a Motion Computing LS800. (Sorry... I love the look of the Tablet Kiosk computers, but I was unaware of Tablet Kiosk's existence when I bought mine.)

I had seen someone using the Motion tablet at a car wash and I wanted one as soon as I saw it. Since there were no retail outlets selling slate tablets, it took some research for me to find and buy one, but I am so happy that I did. I got rid of my desktop and my PDA because I can do everything with my 8" tablet. I take it everywhere in my purse. Everyone that sees it wants one. I feel like an ambassador for the tablet pc. Several times a week, people ask me what kind of "toy" is that? when they see me writing or working. After I show them exactly how powerful and useful my 60GB, VISTA Ultimate, tablet pc is, they want one. BAD! They all ask "what store can they go to to get one?" Of course, no retail store (at least none of the big box stores) has any idea what a slate tablet is.

A few stores now have UMPCs. Recently, I went to Fry's and they had the Samsung Q1 buried in a corner, but they had lost the stylus and had the UMPC so bolted down you couldn't use it at all, but that was OK since the battery was dead. The manager of the department had no clue what a slate tablet was.

Several of my workmates have purchased slates and tablet pcs because they see me using mine all the time. Of course, I always tell them to check out TabletKiosk too. I convinced my brother's company to go with the slate format for their new medical device and the company I currently work for is testing the slate for application with our products.

I wish my LS800 had a faster graphics chip and a cool backlit screen that was at least 1024x768, but I LOVE the 8" form factor. It goes everywhere inobtrusively, and therefore is very, very practical since I can take it any and everywhere. Now that Motion has discontinued the LS800 form factor there is a huge gap in the current market for an active digitizer in the 8" size. Plus, for all the people like me in the retail market, there is huge, untapped potential. I know TabletKiosk and Motion like to market to businesses and that the retail market is difficult for tablet pcs & especially the slate tablet, but believe me, many, many people would love to use a slate if they could only get their hands on one and use it for a while. I always let them use mine and they go crazy for the slate. Maybe you should have parties like Tupperware parties for the slates. Don't laugh. First you could do it for the sales staff at retail stores like Fry's and BestBuy to show them how cool the slate experience is, then maybe in-store demos, then who knows?

Well, anyway,I just wanted you to know how much regular consumers would enjoy the slate if they only knew it existed. Plus, I wanted to encourage Tablet Kiosk to make an 8" slate with an active digitizer since Motion is dropping the ball here. Best wishes to you. Keep up the good work, Let me know if you need a Tablet Kiosk ambassador, Cathy
cbritvich@sbcglobal.net

Gail Levy said...

Thanks Cathy,
we have definitely been discussing the idea of an 8" solution, but I can't say for sure if it's happening or not.

I LOVE the fact that you're out promoting the tablet lifestyle in these untapped markets. You've inspired me to get out of the office today {it's after all, Tablet Tuesday) to see what type of interest I can drum up from ordinary folks as I get my work done away from the office.

Have a great day!