An interesting take on the development that netbooks are becoming featured with tablet like features. The small convertible tablet netbooks have limitations that make it hardly impossible for it to be used as a note taking, inking or other handwriting type of device. They work great when using the touch functionality with hands and fingertips but it becomes cumbersome when using it to write notes.

The reason for this according to jkOnTheRun is that most professional tablets use active digitzers. You might know these from your typical standalone Wacom tablet designers and artists use. The digitzers connect to the pen by radio and detect only the touches made with the pen but not touches by fingers or other objects. This immediately is also their advantage. Leaning on the screen with your hand palm or wrists will not create a touch.

However, the Asus Eee PC T91 uses passive digitzers. Just like the upcoming Asus Eee PC T101H and other upcoming netbook tablet offerings by MSI and Gigabyte. The reason? Cost ofcourse. And because the target demographics for netbook buyers is not design professionals but consumers with a low-budget. They don’t care. The touch idea seems to be a great selling point but it is good to see the critical side of it in terms of actual touch functionality when you go passed the ‘gimmick’ phase. The GUI video played by AsusTablet.com before did show some note taking though, it did not look all too bad. But the video is made by ASUS in a set up environment, thus possibly not being a very realistic perspective.

Still, even without note taking and inking the T91 is useful. Imagine students quickly sliding through Powerpoint slides while having the T91 next to their notebook. Or your parents using it because the touch interface feels so much more natural to them than a keyboard. Or media consuming young people who dislike the idea of working with a keyboard when playing their music and watching videos on YouTube. Apart from being the first, the T91 still has enough selling points even if it does not take notes best.

We also need to consider the relative age of this new market of netbook tablets. ASUS again pretty much single-handedly created a new market segment (just as they did with the netbooks). This is the first model in that market. There will be kinks in the cable and they will be resolved in future models. The costs of touch screens are rapidly decreasing and the quality of them is increasing. In any way, it is good that it happens eventhough there is criticism to be made on the first few models. It will change the way users interface with their computers forever.