TechSelect Members: Tablet PC Will Jump-start Spending

"It is awesome," said Arnie Bellini, president of ConnectWise, a TechSelect member in Tampa, Fla. "It is the future of computing. I see all mobile workers walking around with a wireless tablet PC in two to three years."

Bellini said he believes Tablet PCs will spark dramatic productivity gains for knowledge workers. He said current notebooks are too big, PDAs are too small, but the tablet PC format is just right.

"The combination of Tablet PC with software developed for it, is the next huge boost in corporate America productivity," he said. "Our whole business will run off Tablet PCs in no time flat."

ConnectWise is currently developing software for the new tablet PCs, he said.

Craig Morris, director of vendor services at EMS Computing, Gainesville, Fla., agreed. He is set to demonstrate a ViewSonic Tablet PC for one of his clients, HLP, a maker of software for humane societies and animal shelters.

Sam Ruggeri, president of Advanced Vision Technology Group, Hauppauge, N.Y., said he believes the new technology will jump-start technology spending. "It's refreshing to see exciting new technology put into the market," he said. "This is going to conjure up many solutions, particularly in vertical markets in areas such as real estate, legal and medical. This is going to fly."

About 130 solution providers are gathered in Orlando at Tech Data's TechSelect partner conference, the largest in the program's history, along with 80 vendor executives representing 28 different companies. TechSelect members comprise Tech Data's elite partners nationwide.