A while back I wrote (with some great suggestions from others) and posted The Stages of Tablet PC Ownership on TabletPCBuzz. Given the spate of new Tablet PC announcements and the imminent delivery of new Tablets, I thought I would do a few updates. Enjoy.
Thanks to all who contributed some of the fun here. Hope you enjoy.
Stage 1: Initial Awareness
Usually characterized by the following type of questions:
-What is a Tablet PC and if I take one (a Tablet), will I be better equipped to digest my problems?
-What IS that? Why is the person using it looking smugly contented while doing things that I can't?
-Why is that person writing on his/her laptop?
Stage 2: Indecision
Usually characterized by the nagging question:
-Should I or shouldn't I buy one of these things?
-and-
-TabletPCBuzz is bookmarked in your favorites.
Stage 3: Higher Awareness
Usually characterized by the question:
-They cost what?
REPEAT STAGE TWO
Stage 4: Pre-acquisition rumination Phase A.
Usually characterized by the following:
-Can someone tell me what Tablet PC is best for me?
-Should I wait until the next generation of Tablet PCs comes out?
-What’s a slate?
-TabletPCBuzz becomes a link in your browser.
Stage 4: Pre-acquisition rumination Phase B.
-All the answers to your questions begin and end with how personal a decision your purchase will be; forcing you to really examine what the hell you are going to do with this expensive tool/toy.
-You use WNewquay's Mighty Morphin' Tablet Rationalizer to figure out your options.
-TabletPCPost is added to your bookmarks.
-As you lay awake counting sheep at night they all have names. Tecra, Averetec, Portege, HP, Satellite, Motion, Gateway, Acer, Electrovya…
Stage 5: Decision Made
Usually characterized by the following question:
-Now, where the hell can I get one!
Stage 6: High Anxiety
(Assuming you order on-line, if not skip to Stage 7)
Usually characterized by:
-It takes how long to deliver?
-An increasing familiarity with manufacturer’s website order tracking procedures, order numbers, tracking numbers, and shipping companies tracking sites.
-Just what does Pending Credit Card Verification mean anyway?
-Secondary symptoms of devouring every single word written about Tablet PC's on every website and blog on the entire internet (Of which this site is the best!), and envisioning countless scenarios of mobile utopia.
-TabletPCBuzz forum RSS feeds are added to your RSS reader.
-You download everything on TabletPCPost.
Stage 7: Bliss!
Usually characterized by:
-It's Here!
-That feeling of finding first love.
-WOW!
-and-
-How do you load software without a CD drive?
Stage 8: Network and Sharing Awareness
Usually follows this scenario(unless Network and Sharing Awareness preceded Tablet Awareness):
-Decide its now time to create a home network and buy a wireless router.
-Panic on realization that you know nothing about home networks, and decide its better to go cable ethernet.
-Realize that it’s actually not that hard and despite all the techno gibberish, decide to go wireless.
-Thrill as you send your first document wirelessly across the network from your easy chair to the printer upstairs. Magic.
-Explain to girlfriend/wife/significant other how a wireless network actually works (draw lots of pictures, the female way).
-Realize that you have forgotten all about wireless security and stare aimlessly out of window. Grab Tablet and doodle, in thought mode.
Stage 9: Higher Awareness Still
Usually characterized by the following:
-Why am I not getting enough sleep? Why is my spouse not speaking to me?
-TabletPCBuzz is always open and running.
-How many posts does it take before I get a second star on the TabletPCBuzz forums?
-Should I remove the factory installed screen protector on my M200?
-WN helped me with a problem!
-What’s the little metal ring that came with my pen?
Stage 10: Complete Obsession
Usually characterized by the following statements and questions:
-I want to do more with this Tablet PC than I originally thought.
-Cool!
-Which case is best?
-What's a screen protector?
-Do I need a screen protector?
-Which screen protector?
-Can I burn DVD's to my hardrive?
-and-
-You scan the TabletPCBuzz forums trying to figure out the number of posts you need before your reach the Philosopher Level.
-Black Viper is bookmarked.
-You know the differences between note taking in OneNote, GoBinder, Journal, TwoNote, MindManger and Tablet Planner.
-You download and listen to all of The Tablet PC Show podcasts in one night.
-You realize your handwriting is awful.
Stage 11: Self Awareness and Ego Gratification
Usually characterized by:
-You use your Tablet PC in a meeting, presentation, work environment and feel pride, justification, a new sense of purpose, as all around you oooh and aaaah at your technical superiority.
-You provide a helpful answer to a new poster on TabletPCBuzz.
-You begin to tell time using Pacific Standard or Daylight Time no matter where you live.
-Why is my wife/husband serving me with legal papers?
-After reading Tracy’s review on The Student Tablet PC Site of Orange Guava you download it and give it a try.
-You post in the Orange Guava forum and ask Tom Clarkson, “What happened to my desktop?”
-The name Jim Artis and the words Disaster Recovery always seem to crop up in your thinking.
Stage 12: Upgrade Anxiety
Usually characterized by the following:
-Frantic googling in search of the lowest prices on...
-Memory
-Internal Hard Drives
-USB External Hard Drives
-Extra Batteries
-Extra Pens
-Docking Solutions
-802.11g wireless cards
-Your rise to the status of TabletPCBuzz Intellectual seems to increase your upgrade anxiety.
Stage 13: Buyer’s Remorse
Usually characterized by the following:
-Oh, wait... IBM is releasing a Tablet PC! Apple has a Mac Tablet Patent?... did I purchase too early... oh, ummm.....
-What's a Dothan? What’s Sonoma?
-You mean there's such a thing as a better viewing angle?
-Does size really matter?
Stage 14: ZEN or ABSOLUTE OBSESSION
Usually characterized by the following:
-I can sell this one on EBay and upgrade!
-You mean I have 30 days to get an RMA?
-On your trips to Costco, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA you always cruise by the laptop section hoping to spot a Tablet PC.
-If you do spot one you look in vain for the pen. On your return home you post this info on TabletPCBuzz.
-You spend way too much time on the TabletPCBuzz forums and try to figure out how many posts it takes to advance to the Guru level.
-You know the subtle changes between the last two builds of XPS2.
-You follow closely the thread about changing the processor from Banias to Dothan.
-You know that Lonestar and Longhorn are not just the names of a brand of beer and a breed of cattle.
-What’s a SKYPE?
Stage 15: You Admit Tablet PC Addiction
-You start a blog covering Tablet PC’s.
-You’ve changed your signature on the TabletPCBuzz forums at least twice.
-You know that a Ruby isn’t always red.
-You know that VA is not just the abbreviation for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
-You look forward to April Fools Day with the same zeal as you do Christmas.
-The Experience Pack for Tablet PC is here! It’s here! It’s here!
-You think, if not type “search is your friend” at least once a visit to TabletPCBuzz.
-You start thinking about how to get that new Tablet PC package in the door and in the closet without your spouse seeing. Then you start planning on how to transition it in so it seems like you've always had it.
And if you're interested here's a link to the original.
