A Lenovo X Series Convertible Tablet PC

"I won't go so far as to say it's the next mouse, meaning it will be on everything and you have to use it. But it's not going to be like the Tablet PC, where it was truly niche." -- Ray Ozzie, discussing Windows 7's touch features during our interview with him last week in Los Angeles. 

That might seem like an innocuous remark, but those were fightin' words to some Tablet PC enthusiasts. In a series of blog posts this week, the Tablet brigade has expressed disappointment that Microsoft's chief software architect would confine their beloved slates and convertibles to mere niche status.

Of course, Tablet PCs primarily are niche products -- having been embraced in specific industries and among a limited slice of the computing public. The idea of using a computer like a notepad, with a digitized pen, hasn't caught on among mainstream computer users. But it doesn't have to be this way, Loren Heiny writes. Tablet PCs "are not innately niche," he asserts, continuing ...

"What is the case, is that Tablet PCs have been sold like they are niche. The manufacturers have kept the prices high – keeping the volume down and off of store shelves. Even Microsoft itself has relegated the Tablet features to its premium SKUs rather than making them available in low-cost educational PCs where isn’t it obvious that there’s great value and need for them? And feature wise, we keep coming back to Tablets and IT. Yeah, I wonder why that might be? Might it be the niche thinking of some large northwestern company? Huh? RIng a bell?"

Rob Bushway offers similar thoughts. And Warner Crocker adds:

"Forgetting the politics, the technological hurdles, and the obvious total lack of understanding when it comes to marketing Tablet PCs, it just continually strikes me as odd that so few see the simple benefit. So much time and effort is spent on mechanical solutions for inputting data, ignoring the fact that humans still reach for a pen/pencil and paper so many times to record a simple note. I’m dumbfounded by the lack of progress here as well as the seeming lack of desire to capitalize on this."

Ozzie's predecessor, Bill Gates, was a big champion of Tablet PCs, so people aren't accustomed to hearing anything but unabashed optimism on the subject from Microsoft's chief software architect. The reaction to Ozzie's comment is no doubt fueled in part by an element of surprise. Then again, it's possible sometimes to misinterpret or read too much into things. As much as language can reveal a person's true feelings, it did sound like more of an offhanded remark, not some official policy statement.

If anything, it seems like the expanded touch capabilities in Windows 7 could create new opportunities for Tablet PCs in the future.

On a related note, Microsoft opens its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in Los Angeles tomorrow, huddling with hardware and device makers to start getting them ready for Windows 7's scheduled 2010 release. The lack of preparedness among PC and peripheral companies contributed to Windows Vista's stumbling debut, and because of that, the conference will carry extra weight this year. The companies are hoping to avoid that type of mess this time around.

WinHEC also could serve as a litmus test: Will Microsoft show any Tablet PCs on stage?