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My Tablet Desires

I've got a 12" PowerBook. I've also got a full-powered desktop with a 23" Cinema HD. Sometimes I just wish I could use the PowerBook to "see" the tower. I've tried VNC and it didn't work very well. Apple Remote Desktop is overkill. I just want to view my tower's display, so i can see who IMed me while I'm watching a movie in the living room or to get a quick update on my email from bed. Is that too much to ask? Hrmph. 😐

8 Responses to "My Tablet Desires"

  1. Set up something like Spy or Snapperhead and use it over your local network =]

    That would let you see the other computer, and decide if the IM is important enough to go check.

  2. Snapperhead rocks. I use it all the time.

  3. Tell me about it--this is why I think Microsoft's Miro concepts and such are cool. Interestingly, CPW and I discussed something w/ Jon Rubenstein (sp?) a few WWDCs ago. What if you had a PDA that had a wireless connection to the desktop, so while in range, it was more featured--like a remote--but when out of range, it retained things like addresses and more. Who knows what Apple will bring! 🙂

  4. I'm a regular user of Apple Remote Desktop -- for a two machine set-up it's overkill, but as soon as your talking about 2+ machines, it's great.... screen sharing plus all the other file management hoo-ha.

    I haven't tried VNC on the Mac yet -- how does it blow?

  5. Certainly not too much to ask ... if you use Windows. I do this all the time.

    You mean Mira, Josh, not Miro. Or more properly now, Windows Powered Smart Displays. No matter what you call it, though, probably overkill for what Erik wants. If he was a Windows user, though, this would be a very easy scenario, and has been for some time now. Remote Desktop Connection (a.k.a. RDP or Terminal Services) does exactly this and is built into Windows XP.

    Odd title, though, Erik ... "Tablet Desires" to me suggests TabletPCs, which are another cool technology that I count as an edge in our camp over yours.

    --Nick

  6. And, lest I open a barrel of worms that I don't mean to open, let's not let this turn into a platform war of any sort.

    I just spend enough time reading Apple-users' weblogs that once in a while it's nice to have a chance to point out that we have some advantages, too. No (major) inflammation intended.

    --Nick

  7. Platforms aside, have you used a Tablet PC yet? I set up two of these recently. They struck me as cumbersome, heavy, and slow. Sure you can draw on the screen, but my users (architects; a target market) were asking why they couldn't just use a notebook for the same tasks. Weighs less and is significatly faster. I think until we see some CAD software optimized for onscreen drawing, TabletPC's won't take off in the architectural market.

  8. I have ... certainly first generation and things will improve, but it's great for three things right now, from what I can tell.

    Personal experience tells that it's great for meetings (I'm a developer) ... especially in the design phases of things, it's nice to be able to freeform draw all of the diagramming going on, etc ... you could do this in a notebook, but then it's harder to distribute and easier to lose. I prefer my stuff in electronic form.

    One of the Penny Arcade artists is a big fan for artwork, so I imagine it works pretty well there.

    Finally, if I were still in school, I would think that they'd be perfect for school note taking. Same thing about rather having my notes in computerized form applies.

    As far as architects go ... no idea whether or not it's ready for that, but I'd certainly believe it if you told me that it wasn't.

    --Nick