1- If 2 people are using your product, and one of them sends a twitter message to the other, is there an infinite loop because they automatically answer each other's messages?

2- The problem I see is how the engine parse the tweets. Is the user expected to hard-code messages, or is there a natural language processing algorithm that parses the messages in a smart way? It's extremly hard to think about each and every line someone might say - that's the main reason why expert systems fails in most cases. Examples like "hi" are extremly easy to program, and are not really usefull. It might help some people that got too many comments / tweets... but then again, some Twitter client that filter the messages received can do that to, and they can have SPAM filters too.

2. True and yes, there's some NLP user-friendliness baked in. It's case-insensitive, not whitespace sensitive, and it knows that "it's" == "it is". Give it a try?

My question would then be, what would be realistically considered useful to you? Obviously I'm no AI Ph.D claiming that it will pass the Turing test; but I just thought maybe something "good enough" will be helpful to at least a small subset of people. Saying "hello" is kinda pointless, but say if you got a lot of repeat questions over Twitter (because you're a business or something), this will help you auto respond to them.

As for not using notes, it can be hard but possible. If you practice enough to master your speech, then yes you can go without notes. Anyway, it's no big deal when you speak about something you are passionnate about! You just need to speak at a correct speed (as for me, I need to slow down! a lot!).

Check on the microsoft website : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262...

Maybe it would be great to collect information in a specialized case, but to make an article out of it? It's a whole different story!

It works on Windows 7 with 3 USB ports. It's the same price as the ipad, but it's more geared as an netbook killer than a bigger iPod touch. They waited untile the iPad launch to commercialize the device. I think they already are using the device in some coffee shops in Rimouski, Québec.

The UI and methods of interaction are what make the iPad different from almost every other tablet released to date. Without an OS tailored for it, a tablet is just a watered down notebook.

There's actually a lot of very good, very useful Windows software out there. Here's what I have on my tc1100 slate PC:

    - Skype
    - Chrome
    - Firefox
    - Kindle for PC
    - FBReader
    - VLC
    - Picasa
    - KeePass
    - Widcomm Bluetooth 
    - Dropbox
    - Google Earth
    - Pencil
    - Evernote
    - Squeak

I own a new Macbook and just sold a 24" iMac. Still have a PowerPC 15" Aluminum Powerbook. Mac vs. PC is what Noam Chomsky calls "irrational jingoism." It's a marketing manipulation ploy. If you are for Linux because of FOSS philosophy, then good for you. If you are part of marketdroid-created jingoism, then I think that's a waste of time.

Me, I just run useful software on good hardware.

Without an OS tailored for it, a tablet is just a watered down notebook.

Not true at all. Have you actually owned and really used a good slate PC? I can use this thing in situations I can't use a laptop or even a netbook. Just this afternoon I was talking with a coworker on Skype while lounging around and surfing on the couch and we were showing each other our projects with the webcam. The form factor is key, and Windows XP Tablet is brilliantly executed, even if it is designed for propeller-heads and not ordinary mortals. (Styluses are for propeller-heads like me.) It's not an OS tailored for a tablet so much as Windows XP with tablet support features bolted on. It still works well if you are savvy.

I can do everything that the iPad is supposed to be able to do now, with hardware and software from 3 or 4 years ago. Granted, the tc1100's industrial design is phenomenal, which is why this machine has basically attained cult status. But I can also see the cracks in the execution that would have alienated it from the general public. Also, the ecosystem has to be there for the platform to really work.

In the end, I'm bullish on the iPad, which I've preordered.

I guess if the software you use works well with a touch screen then that's fine. I far prefer my iPhone to any Windows Mobile device I've owned. You can't just shoehorn a desktop UI into a touch-screen device without a keyboard or mouse without the experience being subpar.

I have not used a good tablet PC, maybe I should try one out but none have been that compelling to me. I'll probably get an iPad eventually, to develop for it if nothing else. It's too much like my iPhone and not enough like my notebook for me to jump at the 1st revision of a 1st gen product. In a year or two I'll get one when the kinks are worked out and the feature set has been fleshed out.

edit: While the exo pc and tc1100 look pretty nice I don't imagine many developers tailor anything for them. That will be the biggest strength of the iPad (at first anyway).

I think you hit it spot-on there! The way iPhone OS and its ecosystem is set up, developers must tailor their software to the device to succeed. This was the big weakness of the Tablet PC initiative: that such fine tuning was considered optional.

However, Windows has multitouch with the newer versions of .NET. You can also run Flash / Flex. I think a Windows alternative would fit enterprises that mostly run on Windows software for paticular uses (which is what I intend to build apps for). However, I got no idea if it work on the exo pc tough.

On a hardware note, I bet Apple is extremely happy not to have to support x86 legacy cruft.

X seems to be pretty dependent on its pointer though, there would be quite a bit of work in there to make a platform that you can develop applications for.