Does anyone remember the UMPC aka the Ultra Mobile PC?

It was only about 3 years ago that the press was all agog with the idea of UMPCs and MIDs (mobile internet devices). Even consumers were excited by the idea: a super small handheld PC that you can use on the go; no keyboard or mouse needed, thank you!

The Asus R2H was one example of a UMPC. It came with a 900MHz Celeron processor and Windows XP Tablet edition. User input/interaction was via a pen/touch screen combo. Versions of this UMPC even included a GPS module.

The resulting product was completely unusable.

The CPU was too slow, the operating system was original intended for a large screen/keyboard/mouse paradigm and everything, from the on-screen keyboard to pop-ups, dialog boxes and application windows got in the way of what you are trying to do.

As part of my work, I actually went through the OOBE (out of box experience) of the R2H and could not even set the screen resolution: the change resolution dialog box was outside of the visible screen area.

Fast forward to today and look at the Apple iPad and Android devices. At the IFA show in Berlin, manufacturers from Archos to ViewSonic will be unveiling a number of Android-based tablets.

Any one of these devices will beat the R2H hands down in performance, size and usability. For a size comparison, just look at the photo comparing the R2H (left) with the Dell Streak (right). Interestingly, both devices have the same screen resolution (800×480):

For the question of performance and usability, the answer has to do with using the right hardware and software.

The Dell Streak, for example, uses an ARM processor. One that is optimized for running at low temperatures, with low power consumption, yet at a 1GHz clock speed that is fast enough for driving a web browser.

The software is also not skin-deep derivative of a desktop operating system. Instead of taking a standard desktop Linux and grafting some “tablet” features onto (as some earlier Linux devices have done), Google made deep enough changes (including branching the Linux kernels) to enable a user experience that was more appropriate for the type of devices that Android was going to run on: small screen sizes, low resolutions, using a touch screen user interaction paradigm.

As a result, you don’t have multiple overlapping windows that get in the way. You have an onscreen keyboard that is not trying to duplicate a real keyboard in functionality (down to that Windows key).

This hardware/software confluence or alignment is what makes a great product.

And all of the above also applies to Apple’s iPad and iPhone products.

As far as the UMPC is concerned, the problem in retrospect, was Intel’s and Microsoft’s obsession with keeping the legacy parts of the company happy. So we had a derivative of a desktop processor and a derivative of a desktop operating system that were both trying to do something they were not designed for.

Intel made a mistake selling off its StrongARM product line. But it is trying to make up with lower power ATOM processors. The launch of the iPad resulted in HP canceling its Windows 7-based slate product and Microsoft is back to the drawing board to develop an operating system more suitable for a tablet device.

The question is whether Intel and Microsoft will be willing to break enough with their legacy businesses to be truly innovative.