It’s been a busy week, and pretty much all my attention was focused on the ASHP Midyear event in Anaheim, California. Of course as a pharmacist that’s where my focus should have been, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the world stopped moving. Here are some of the things I found interesting this week:
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“What’d I miss?” – The week of December 5
First Impressions – Lenovo X201 Tablet PC
My Lenovo X201 Tablet finally arrived and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a nice tablet PC, and I’m more convinced than ever before that I made the right decision by going with Lenovo.
I’ve used several different laptops and tablet PCs and can honestly say that I’ve never been more impressed with a machine, not HP, not Dell. I’m sure there are fans of both manufacturers, but that’s my personal opinion. Take it for what it’s worth.
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“What’d I miss?” – Week of November 14, 2010
It’s been a weird week for me, people. I haven’t had much time to blog as things have been whirling past me at lightning speed. As with all things in this life some of it is good, while some of it is bad. The short of it is that I’ve left my post as IT Pharmacist at the hospital and am trying something a little bit new. Wish me luck.
On with the things that I found interesting this week.
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“What’d I miss?” – Week of October 24, 2010
As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting.
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Will the new crop of slate tablets be good for healthcare?
I recently read an article in Laptop Magazine about the most anticipated tablets scheduled to hit the market over the next several months. Some things caught my attention.
First, all the tablets listed were slate models and offered a variety of screen sizes. The smallest screen listed was 7 inches, while the largest was listed at 12 inches. Screen size is important to me so I was glad to see that the idea of larger devices wasn’t completely dead. The second thing was the variety of operating systems offered. Windows 7 and Android were prominent, but a couple of the tablet descriptions didn’t include an operating system. Based on the screen shots and a little web surging it appears that some of the devices may use proprietary operating systems. We’ll have to wait and see. And finally, almost all the tablets listed were clearly aimed at the consumer. In fact the only “enterprise” tablet that made the list was the Cisco Cius. The Cius is an interesting device as it will use the Android OS, a smaller 7 inch screen, 802.11n, 3G and 4G, and Bluetooth. I’m sure the company is hoping to leverage its VoIP and data systems against the needs of business users. In my opinion the Cius would provide significant functionality and potential for increased productivity to those businesses that already employ Cisco phone or data services. It makes sense to integrate tablets into a system that already uses the same infrastructure.
The two tablets that were conspicuously absent from the list were the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HP Slate which are both being marketed as enterprise devices. I love the idea of the PlayBook because it offers real-time video conferencing like the Cius and the ability to pair it with a BlackBerry smartphone to access online content. The potential to tether a smartphone to a tablet is quite appealing to me.
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“What’s I miss?” – Week of October 10, 2010
As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting. And yes, this is for the week of 10-10-10. Cool!
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“What’d I miss?” – Week of October 3, 2010
As usual there were a lot of things that happened during the week, and not all of it was pharmacy or technology related. Here’s a quick look at some of the stuff I found interesting.
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Conference note taking with a tablet PC
I took a trip to San Diego last Friday to visit with some colleagues. During one interesting conversation the subject of me using a tablet PC in place of almost any other type of computer came up. One of the things that has drawn me to tablet PCs is their functionality. They offer nearly everything I get from a laptop plus the added benefits of a touch screen and inking. While the touch screen is useful for navigating the web and playing with photos I find it most useful for taking notes, i.e. inking. I no longer carry one of those yellow legal pads that I see everyone writing on at meetings. What do people do with those legal pads when they’re full?
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Don’t miniaturize your application, redesign it instead
Anyone that’s read this blog knows that I am a fan of mobile devices and touchscreen technology; from the smartphone to tablet PCs and the iPad. My love affair with mobile technology actually began with the HP 200LX palmtop computer when I was in Pharmacy School. I couldn’t believe that something so small could have so much power; funny now, but a marvel at the time. Now fast forward to early 2000 when I purchased a TRGpro, my first Palm OS device, and never looked back.
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Lots of Interest for the Samsung Galaxy Tablet
A small video showcasing some of the features of the Samsung Galaxy Tablet made its way around the internet this week. The slate tablet includes a 7 inch screen, Android 2.2, video calling – which I think will become more important as we move forward in healthcare – plus other features. The device is scheduled to make its official appearance on September 2, 2010 at the IFA in Berlin, Germany. Boy, would I like to attend that event.
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I like the look of the device, but only official reviews will tell me if the it’s any good. I’m concerned that the 7 inch screen might be too small, but this is consistent with recent tablet designs like the Cisco Cius and rumors of a new 7 inch Apple iPad. For me it makes more sense to design a tablet about the size of a standard legal pad, but there must be something to this 7 inch design as I assume manufacturers don’t waste their time and money on baseless design. I would really like to get my hands on this device.
