Some interesting happenings in the Tabletscape lately regarding INK apps.
I’ve been privileged to be alpha testing Craig Pringle’s BlogPad, an app I’ve blogged about before. It’s not ready yet, but it is a great app that lets you blog using the pen, converting your ink into text. Craig, I’m sure, will get the bugs out, and when he does this little app will be a big hit.
I’ve also recently taken a fresh look at Firefox using two of Ian Weiner’s two extensions, the GeckoTIP and GrabandDrag. While, I’m still not sure if I’m a Firefoxer or not, being able to use the pen with these two extensions is sure making me think about the issue more than it did before.
And last, but certainly not least by a long shot, is the beta release of Loren Heiny’s InkGestures add-in. I’ve been working with this for a day now and yes, it does have some beta issues, but let me tell you this changes the Tablet PC experience for me. For the better. Being able to edit documents in Word using this add-in is nothing short of a marvel. This kind of functionality should have been included in the Tablet OS or at least the Office inking features from the get go. Had it been so, I’ll hazard a statement here that the Tablet PC platform would not have experienced the bumps and grinds it has with general market acceptance. InkGestures is that good and transforms how you work with the pen on a Tablet PC. At least it does for me.
Here’s the key and Marc Orchant deserves the credit for helping me pull this into focus through all my excitement. He says this:
Ink Gestures has increased my "Tablet Time" significantly. I've remarked on any number of occasions that I continue to favor the convertible form factor for Tablet PCs because of the amount of writing and editing I do every day. In the short time I've had to experiment with Ink Gestures, I've found that I can now spend a much greater amount of time in slate mode using the pen than has ever been possible before.
If you follow this blog you know how much of a Tablet PC fan and advocate I am. (Some might say fanatic.) Marc is right about InkGestures. It does increase “Tablet Time”. These three developers have not only increased my “Tablet Time” but I’m feeling a fresh and renewed excitement every time I pick up the pen. No, scratch that (boy it would be great if InkGestures could let me do that on BlogPad.) The advent (or near advent) of these Ink-Enabled apps, extensions, and add-ins has increased my level of joy to a point that equals that first WOW factor I experienced when I first picked up a Tablet PC in the first place.
I’ve said for sometime (as have others) that Microsoft should stroke the check to Josh Einstein for another excellent INK app, TEO. InkGestures and BlogPad would be excellent additions to the fold as well. Together they would be transformative. Scoble, quit celebrating your Birthday (Happy B-Day!) and tell the folks to get out the checkbook when you get back from Pittsburgh. Go Steelers.