Distributors Spring To The Defence Of Pen-based Machines
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday March 15, 1993
SOME Australian distributors of pen-based computers have complained that a recent report in this section headed, "Back to the drawing board" presented an unrealistically grim picture of pen-based computer technology.
The story described a research project conducted last year by the NRMA on the performance of pen-based computers. Two mobile workers used an NCR 3125 pen-based computer - chosen as representative of the "current generation of machines" at the time of the study - to carry out hotel and motel inspections for an NRMA travel publication.
The workers reported deficiencies in the PC's battery life (a fully-charged battery lasted an average of about 1 1/2 hours), weight, durability and processing power. Overall, the NRMA concluded pen-based computer technology had immense potential but needed considerable development.
TCG, the distributor of GRiD System pen-based computers, says its range of machines address many of the problems the NRMA experienced.
TCG says there are already 600 Australian users of GRiD pen-based computers and about 50,000 worldwide. Heavy Australian users include Sterling Pharmaceuticals, Arnotts and WD & HO Wills.
The mistake many people make when buying a pen-based computer, says TCG's general manager, Bonnie Sundberg, is choosing a machine based on power, such as insisting on a 386. She says functionality and convenience should be the most important factors.
"A lot of manufacturers are making the mistake of treating pen-based computing as a horizontal market, meaning the computer is to be used for spreadsheets, word processing and a diary," she says. "But pen-based computers fulfil a vertical market, meaning they are specifically designed for one company's applications.
"Some pen-based computers are used to replace a paper form, and for that you don't need a 386 running Windows. The user interface must be simple, so that you've essentially got an automated form."
Sundberg says the NRMA's recommendations of features for future pen-based computing have already been incorporated into one GRiD unit or another.
Battery life is about eight hours, she says, and GRiD owners are advised to always carry one spare battery pack.
The NRMA study recommended pen-based PCs should weigh well under two kilograms. GRiD's lightest machine, the PalmPAD, weighs 1.27 kilograms and is a few hundred grams lighter if you carry the battery separately. It costs$5,240 ex tax.
Sundberg said GRiD's priority was on continuing to improve the battery life and reducing machine weight.
Also chiming in to say advances have been made since the NRMA study was the managing director of Melbourne-based Scribasoft, David Wynter. He says the NRMA used the "worst, first generation pen-based computer" on the market, the only one available in Australia at the time: "We use the NCR 3125 for testing our product; I wouldn't let an end-user near one."
Wynter says extensively testing one make of pen-based computer, then drawing conclusions about the power of the technology is "like driving a Leyland P76 on ice and deciding all cars are bad".
Scribasoft has been involved in pen-based computer developments for two years and is creating a relational database for Penpoint, one of the major pen-based computer operating systems.
Wynter explained the relational database would allow companies to easily take data from a client/server computer, transfer it to a pen-based computer running Penpoint for use in the field, then synchronise the new data with the data already in the client/server computer.
Wynter is excited about overseas pen-based computing developments. AT&T in the United States is developing a new breed of RISC (reduced instruction set computing) processor, the Hobbit, that is as powerful as a 486 PC but consumes one quarter the battery power. In many ways the processor is similar to that being used by Apple in their soon-to-be-released personal digital assistant, the Newton.
On the battery side of developments, Kent State University of Ohio is heavily involved in LCD technology research. It has come up with an LCD running on a new zinc air battery that is not as expensive or battery-draining as an ordinary backlit display.
AT&T expect 12 to 15 hours' battery life for Hobbit-based machines using this technology.
© 1993 Sydney Morning Herald