A Student, Corporate and Medical Tablet PC
Education, Small Business submitted by quintin
07/02/07
A recent video was put on Direct2Dell proposing a new Dell Tablet. It proposed that it should be delivered to student, coroprate and medical markets. My experience as a student, a long time tablet user, a computer store owner and as a marketer (previous job) informs me best as to the student catagory, but i would like to note that ONE SIZE TABLET DOES NOT FIT all the aforementioned markets.
Student needs:
- battery life - unis dont have many powerpoints and students are often there all day
- features - why? Because buzz-word-of-mouth marketing is big on campus and the computer guys really do tell everyone what is best to buy
- style - have a look at the iPhone, its simple, tough, has a long battery life, minimalist, and showy. Students when they see a tablet will all go and have a look 'hey look you can write on this things screen', but if its no good the student who owns it will spread the word. You need to make it so 'cool' people just want to use it like the iphones touch-slide screen...
- build quality - students throw the laptop in their backpack and give it a rough time. If Dell markets a tablet to 'students' and its not rugged evryone on campus who has one will tell everyone on campus who does not very very quickly.
- cheap - students cant afford much! Like Apple one should engage in price discrimination. Even buying an Apple Hi-Fi students can show their student ID and get a big discount. The Result? They buy and they tell. Word of mouth on a campus where everyone swaps classes regularly and everyone looks at the few people who have laptops and asks them about them is extraordinarily important - moreso than any other means of advertising.
- loyalty - many software brands will offer their thousand dollar product for free to unis in the hope they can build loyalty among students who will go 'i used this SW i really liked it and because it fit me so well i will buy another'. The computer market does not have brand loyalty BECAUSE THERE ARE NO BRANDS WITH PERSONALITY AND WHAT'S THERE IS PRETTY HOMOGENOUS, therefore producers compete on price. The same could have easily happened in the portable music market had Apple not done those five things above.
- segment well - sorry i keep apple idolising i dont use a Mac, i own 3 different tablets, and i see in my store how marketers of tablets really miss the mark. Make a laptop specially for the student market, another specifically for the medical market and another for the corporate market. In tablets one size does not fit all. People who buy tablets buy them beacause they need something more customised to their needs than the normal offerings of other computer companies - so why go generic? i dont know. Those who dont suffer the following problem:
the different segments mentioned:
medical
- power points are all aroun so only a normalish battery life is needed of a few hours
- medical people like big screens because they will put the tablet down whilst they are doing somthing else and will want to draw and see what they are doing
- they will need it to be light as they will probably go from meeting to room to meeting with it and charge intermitantly between or at each venue.
- medical people need the computer to easily integrate with their current system.
- medical professionals will learn about things by nature by having pharm. reps and others come out to show them how things work. This is how they like being marketed too, or else colourful and detailed brochures.
student
- unlike medics students need powerpoints because unis currently dont have them in most lecture halls
- students dont need huge screens 14" is fine because their eyes are good, but many do design so they will want to get up a bit close
- students will not need it too light because they are strong 2-2.5kgs is fine but they need it to be rugged because unlike medics they will not have tender loving care in the way they handle things
- students dont need to integrate with existing systems but probably need software to make use of the tablet's functionality - as i said sotware makers should give software away almost for free to this market to get them hooked - lookat mindmap, notetaking and design software here...
- students are marketed to through word-of-mouth and promotions. If they see a promotion they will go ask their friends in IT what they think of what is being promoted and if its a good deal. They will also look at what other students have and ask how they find it.
Corporate/biz
- biz users generally will have the PC docked on their desk with an esternal screen and will take it to meetings for a couple of hours and bring it back for a charge
- therefore biz users dont need huge screens because they will probably use an external one on their desk and a projector in the meeting.
- therefore it will be easy to make it small and light so they can carry it in their crowded briefcase (unlike the students backpack or the medics hand (probably)).
- they, like the medics, need it integrated into their existing systems. They will need onsite support (unlike students who will want a big warranty provided for free TO PROOVE ITS RUGGEDNESS MORE THAN TO GIVE PROTECTION!)
- Biz people are used to being advertised to and they often go for big coroporate deals within their biz or else they buy similar to what their co-workers have which is why the dock makes it more palettable.
Therefore i think the idea should be to cater very specifically to each market.
I am happy for anyone from Dell to contract me if they want anymore detail etc.
290
This is exactly the form factor I want in a home PC:
Desktops, New Product Ideas submitted by jmxz
06/30/07
This is exactly the form factor I want in a PC for most rooms (my living room, my home office, terminals for all the non-computer intensive users at work). It's fanless, and takes no unnecessary space in a room since it fits totally in (yes, in) the wall socket..
 http://parthsuthar.com/derive/2007/06/20/a-computer-so-small-it-fits-in-a-wal...
http://www.jadeintegration.com/prinfo.php?i=efi6700 U.K. firm Jade Integration has unveiled a computer so small, it fits into a wall socket and is powered via Ethernet. The Jack PC, a rival to the smallest PC in the world, can hook up to a standard monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and runs Windows CE, the stripped-down version of Windows often used in portable devices. It comes with up to 64 MB of flash memory and 128 megs of RAM, so don't expect to play Half-Life 2 on it, but it should be able to handle basic Internet functions decently. With my home directory (and media files, etc) on file server in my garage anyway - and at work all compute intensive stuff is done on servers anyway, I don't need hard disks or fans or large boxes in most of the computers I use. It seems for everything except laptops (which need to be self contained) and gaming machines (where obviously you need bigger chips, more memories, and big graphics cards) I think this form factor computer would meet most needs. Update: Better information from the company that makes it here: http://www.jadeintegration.com/prinfo.php?i=efi6700
320
Create and market a Dell HTPC (Home Theater PC)
New Product Ideas submitted by hephaestus
07/05/07
Dell should create and market a Home Theater PC. There are a lot of HTPC offerings out there from other vendors and Dell already pushes Windows Media Center Edition pretty hard, why not design a small and sleek (read low-profile, small footprint) PC for the living room entertainment center. It'd be a great tie-in for the Dell HDTV line-up. And don't just make a little PC, make it cool, stylish and smart. Make sure it has all the competitive features: bluetooth, 802.11n wireless, full-feature remote, slot-loading DVD player, external power brick to keep the size down, etc... Don't just offer it with Windows MCE, try marketing it with MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/) or some other open-source derivative.
460
Dell true mini-sized desktop
Desktops submitted by jerbl
02/17/07
I suggest that Dell design and sell a true mini-sized desktop CPU.
It would be similiar in size, weight and power to the Apple Mac Mini, but with Windows software.
Customers who buy a LCD or Plasma TV also prefer a CPU with a small footprint.
1779
No Extra Software Option
Software submitted by ootleman
02/16/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**
Would love the ability to have a clean Vista install. No AOL software, no earthlink software, no google software - just a clean, original OS.
Check out jeremy_f's update on our current software options.
120904
Electronic paper displays
Monitors and Displays submitted by endolith
06/10/07
Invest in companies designing smartpaper displays, so that they can develop really high-quality and fast color versions like LCDs, and then use them in laptops, tablets, and standalone displays.
It's energy efficient (longer battery life), lightweight, and doesn't strain the eyes as much as an LCD; like staring into a light bulb all day.
420
Child Lock on Power Switch
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Desktops submitted by steve.au
06/21/07 **NOT NOW**
Don't know about anyone else but I've got a two year old child that loves playing with the power button on my desktop.
Thats when I'm using it & not.
Gee I would love for there to be a simple child lock on the power switch. I can think of a couple of different options;
* A button at the top & bottom of the desktop.
* You press both simultaneously for 2-3 seconds to power on or off
* A setting in the bios allows you to turn the feature off & then either or button works
* There still needs to be a hard switch at the back to avoid having to yank the power cord out
This could also be an option for the child notebook posting http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/67728
250
Dual Sided LCD with view protection software
Monitors and Displays, New Product Ideas submitted by c4smok
06/19/07
As a web developer I would love to have a laptop to where I could have a screen just for my client to view while I am showing him things I want him to see. Also doing this without showing all of the other things I am doing on the computer. Setting it up to where you can have your full desktop shown or just programs you would like the client to see would be amazing. I am sure people have thought of this before but I was looking for something like this for the past 5 years. A dual LCD setup would be the next generation for development for biz and web people. If Dell does not do this somebody else will, do not wait Dell…
Quick Photoshop... sorry its not level on the screenshot..
440
Use OLEDs in Dell monitors
Monitors and Displays submitted by doomlord52
07/04/07
OLEDs are much more effieient, brighter, offer higher contrast ratio's AND are much smaller. for example, SONY is currently developing a 27" HD TV with OLED technology. It has a contrast ratio of 1 million to 1, and has a response time of 0.01 MILLISECONDS. Samsung is making an 80" HD TV that is less than 2cm thick. There IS a computer monitor 19" thats only 2.1mm thick. With that kind of tech, you could make a laptop a lot thinner. OLEDs are also much more energy efficient efficient, and can save up to 30% more energy than an LCD of the same size. You can also BEND OLED monitors, because the screen is like a film.
This picture will give you an idea of the flexablility and size of OLED screens.
http://media.teamxbox.com/dailyposts/hardware/display/oled_01.jpg< just Copy paste the link into another tab)
1010
ProLaptop
Accessories (Keyboards, etc.), Monitors and Displays, Laptops submitted by emran
07/05/07
Please excuse me if this idea already in progress or thought of - The idea is to have a projector on a laptop. I do understand one of the main issue will be production of heat from running the projector. I am working on the idea for cooling process. But having a small laptop with a projector will make it a "huge" laptop with a huge screen. It will be perfect for entertainment and business presentations.
0
 track my votes
|
|
