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Tablet PCs; Good Investment or Just Hip Hardware?

(archrecord.construction.com - 5/16/03)

By Deborah Snoonian, P.E., and Sam Lubell

Slim, sleek, and stylish, the tablet PC is the supermodel of the computing world. These portable, lightweight machines are built with rugged screens that let users draw directly onto them with a penlike device, rather than using a mouse and keyboard to enter information (although most offer attachable or built-in keyboards for those who prefer to work traditionally from time to time). Software available or under development for the tablet PC includes everything from typical productivity applications like Microsoft Office to design tools. Tablet PC makers and developers are even targeting the AEC market specifically because they know architects are comfortable working with pen in hand. Should firms take the plunge and invest in these techno-tools? And what can they expect to gain by using tablet PCs rather than traditional computers?

Ease of use, new ways to work

As a laptop or as a tablet PC, Acer’s TravelMate offers multiple methods of input.

Among architects, early adopters of tablet PCs include Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), whose associates and partners were pilot users of HP’s tablet PC, with Autodesk’s Architectural Studio (a design tool well suited to pen-based computing that allows users to sketch 3D architectural elements and interact with architectural design information) while the tablet was still in development. Henry King, SOM’s chief information officer, says the firm initially purchased just a few machines for select senior staff to test-drive. Now SOM owns 21 tablet PCs and counting. They are used by people of several ranks, from partners to associate partners to project architects, for dashing off handwritten e-mails, making presentations, sketching preliminary designs using design software like Architectural Studio, viewing Cad files on-site, and running traditional office applications.

Compaq and HP teamed up to develop the Compaq Tablet PC TC 1000.

“Once we got used to not having the keyboard, we really preferred working that way,” says King. “And we find them lighter and more durable than traditional laptops, so they’re very well suited for traveling.” Architects, notes King, use tablet PCs on-site when they want to take compressed Cad files with them, giving them the ability to perform mark-ups straight onto the tablets. Associate partner Jeff Holmes is excited by this new process, especially because of its ability to communicate information. “You can show guys pouring foundations for the project; it gets them more excited,” he says. “It’s not that you couldn’t have done it before, but it’s more convenient. It’s hard to work on a laptop standing in a puddle.” Holmes also finds the tablet to be an excellent new tool for sketching 2D and 3D architectural elements on Architectural Studio. “The format’s just the right thing.

A pad of paper. It feels good.” He adds: “I never use the mouse as a sketching tool. I just can’t do it. It’s either a real pen or the tablet pen.” The tablet aids with his organization, allowing him to keep drawings formerly “littered around his office” digitally arranged and send them directly via e-mail. It even helps him in transit. “Now I can even get work (sketches, mail, etc.) done while I’m standing on the train commuting to my office in the morning,” he says, albeit a bit ruefully.

SOM is ahead of the curve. Due largely to the newness of tablet PCs and the uncertain economic climate, firms have not embraced the concept en masse, nor have they rushed out to buy the machines in even modest numbers.

The Electrovaya Scribbler runs for 8 to 16 hours without interference.

Software developers are working hard to change that, however, particularly for field applications where the tablet PC’s lightness, presentation quality, and portability makes it a natural tool. Currently the major software developers for AEC include Autodesk, Bentley, Nemetschek, and Graphisoft. None have programs specifically dedicated to the tablet PC, but most of their programs still work on Tablet PCs, and less memory intensive programs like Architectural Studio, Bentley View, and Bentley Redline give designers effective ways to draft three-dimensional objects. Most agree that the device has the ability to change the industry. “The whole platform of communications is better,” said Tony Flynn, chief marketing officer for Bentley. “From architect to engineer to contractor. There’s no drop off from digital to paper. You don’t lose that efficiency.” Because the ability to make natural drawings is better than with a mouse, pen-based design software such as Alias Wavefront’s Maya 3D modeling (used by entertainment companies like Disney, Electronic Arts, and Industrial Light & Magic) and Alias Sketchbook Pro (designed specifically for the tablet PC) could pave the way for pen-based three-dimensional architectural rendering software.

Toshiba’s Portégé 3500 boasts a 12-inch screen.

A company currently creating field-based applications is Kelar, based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which has developed front-end software, called Onsite, for airport facility managers that works with Autodesk’s GIS applications. The software lets people in airfield and terminal operations view color-coded maps, floor plans, and exteriors of an airport to enable the development of emergency procedures and evacuation scenarios. “These maps give people a clear ‘situational awareness’ when they’re walking around the terminal, so that they can see where trouble spots are—where crowds might get too thick or equipment might hamper an evacuation procedure,” says Ed Maghboul, vice president of Kelar. He continued, “We gave the operations managers both handheld organizers and tablet PCs to do this work as they walked around the airport. The tablet PCs were much more popular because of their larger screen size and crisp presentation. People found them much easier to use.” It’s not difficult to imagine the various ways tablet PCs could streamline work for designers involved in construction administration by, for instance, allowing for faster data capture of changes and field or as-built conditions.

Sorting out the differences

PaceBlade’s Tablet PC has a Tripod Hole that allows the tablet to be mounted anywhere.

Although tablet PCs have been introduced steadily for consumer use since fall 2002, those with long memories will recall that this is not the first attempt at promoting keyboard-free, pen-based devices. A decade ago, in 1992, Microsoft hedged into this arena with an ill-fated effort called Windows for Pen Computing, an operating system and interface designed specifically for handwriting recognition on tablet devices. Industry experts say the demise of this effort was largely due to a clunky operating system, and units that had poor battery life, fuzzy screens, and poor character recognition. Today’s machines are technically superior and designed to work with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, an enhanced version of Windows XP. Because users are much more familiar and comfortable with the Windows environment compared to a decade ago, learning the subtle differences in how to use the applications is not as difficult.

Motion Computing’s tablet features “grab and go” docking for quick use with a keyboard.

Tablet PC makers include Acer, HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Siemens. Compaq’s use of SOM in its tablet pilot program, and its donation of 19 tablets to the University of Texas at Austin, demonstrates the company’s interest in architectural usage, but no company has yet clearly positioned itself as a leader in the field. There are two different designs: the “slab,” a stand-alone monitor that can connect to a keyboard and desktop mount, and the “clamshell,” which has an attached keyboard but can be detached if required. For those who tool around on Macs, Apple has not released its own version of the tablet PC, and the company said it would not disclose what it had planned in the future.

Questions and answers

ViewSonic’s ViewPad 1000.

With the market already cluttered with portable computing products, from PDAs to laptops to cell phone/ PDAs, it still remains to be seen if tablet PCs will make their mark in architects’ offices. “It could just be a fad,” said Al Moulton, president of Graphisoft U.S. “They haven’t quite hit. I’ve seen these things come and go.”

First, the problems have to be sorted out. “Eventually it could change the way we do business,” said Brad Holtz, director of Cyon Research. But first, he says, several issues have to be fixed. Possible improvements include lower prices (tablet PCs are still almost 10 percent more expensive than laptops), lighter weight (most are two to four pounds), and increased ruggedness. “In order for this to really work, I need to be able to plop it down on a couple of two by fours with a lot of sawdust around,” he says. Bentley’s Flynn adds that the machines need to have longer battery life (most have only two to four hours) and improved brightness for outdoor use.

In its carrying case, the ViewPad is camouflaged as a notebook.

For now, the tablets’ biggest strengths revolve around office connectivity, on-site reviews, systems management, and sketching. Good portability gives them a leg up on laptops, while an excellent sketching surface gives them an advantage over PDAs. (Moulton notes, “Palm pilots are meant for people with stubby little fingers.

Pen tablets are made for an artist. It gives them a smooth flow to their ideas.”) But tablets’ limited computing power, small screen size, and less accurate control keeps them, for now, from being used to make important architectural renderings. SOM says it is not ready to venture beyond Architectural Studio because of the limited processing power and memory of the machines, which pale in comparison to most desktop computers.

“For now, drafting is still going to take place using a mouse and a keyboard,” says Holmes. Architectural software specifically designed for tablet PCs remains elusive. “If the demand is there, then we’ll do it,” says Moulton.