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Features sell notebook computers. But an asthma detector? u That winner was dreamed up by Ted Selker, a consummate tinkerer at IBM and inventor of the company's wildly successful TrackPoint cursor-control device for the ThinkPad line. One day last year, Selker walked into the office of Bruce Claflin, general manager of the IBM PC Co., carrying an odd-looking computer. Poking up from the middle of the computer's keyboard-the same spot where the familiar TrackPoint red-rubber tip normally sits-was a small rod protruding from a triangular piece of plastic. u "If you blow on it," Selker explained to his boss, "a 16-bit analog-to-digital sensor in the keyboard detects the force of your breath and can determine if you have asthma. It can also be used to measure wind speed, seismic activity, acceleration and deceleration, that
sort of thing." Though Selker and his 20-person staff had created some of the most lucrative innovations in notebook computing, this one made Claflin laugh. "Get that out of here!" he cried.
As more notebook makers adopt the belief that the way to information systems managers' hearts is through cutting-edge innovation, such setbacks are becoming common in this extremely competitive business. Suppliers point to the success of IBM's TrackPoint and "Butterfly" retractable keyboard, and to Digital Equipment's detachable multimedia bay. Many of the top notebook makers are pushing their labs harder than ever to come up with the Next Big Thing. "Some of the technologies you think will be here in six months take 10 years to develop, and some of the most unusual technologies seem to develop overnight," says Paul Hoedeman, chief information officer of the aerospace division of AlliedSignal in Torrance, Calif., which uses many notebooks. "Who knows, maybe 10 years from now, we'll still be describing voice recognition as 'pretty good technology that isn't quite there.'"
For technology managers, the emphasis on innovation makes choosing a notebook that much harder. "The portable is not a plaything," says Joseph Farrelly, executive VP and CIO at Nabisco in Parsippany, N.J. "It's designed to get the job done better." Adds Sharon Francia, senior business manager for Compaq Computer in Houston: "New technology is really exciting, but the objective will be to introduce technology that's applicable."
At the same time, most...