A Wider Net

Having just written about clever input devices in my Gesturetek entry, I figured this was a good time to mention the revolutionary Cintiq tablet from Wacom. It’s a stylus-based wireless graphics tablet interactive pen display that has a monitor built in so you can draw right on the screen. Apparently Wacom (pronounced “Waw-com”, which you can repeat four times fast for that tell-tale Pac-Man sound) creates the input technology for most if not all of the tablet PC’s out there. This, therefore, is a tablet computer with higher precision, and less… computer. It will be at Innovation Day, so I look forward to trying it out - it looks like a graphics designer’s dream.
They even have a payback calculator that lets you figure out how quickly this little productivity booster will pay off in productivity gains.

This device is also being marketed as an interactive input device. As a tablet device, it is sleek, light, and wireless. Because the computer is not part of the device, you can upgrade the PC any time. This may be a better choice for doctor’s offices and trade show exhibits than tablet computers. I’m not sure, but I imagine it is considerably more theft-resistant as well. If you’ve tried one of these, let me know. Otherwise, I will share our findings.