To the Editor:

I was very pleased to see your article, “An Introduction to Tablet PCs” [October 2004, page 36]. I have been using them in my office for the past two years. Your article didn’t mention what is in my opinion their most useful feature: The pen is much faster than a mouse or touch pad. I mainly use convertible tablets with keyboards. I type while holding the pen under my index finger and over my thumb and middle finger, with the tip pointed at the screen. This way it is very easy to move the pointer/cursor to the exact spot I need to select or type in. I also use the button on the pen to right-click, which especially helps with cutting and pasting. I have even gotten pretty good at pointing and selecting with my right hand while using my left hand to type short numbers or letters or to erase with the backspace key. The pen is much faster than any other pointing device, especially with software optimized for its use. If we really want more physicians to use electronic medical records, both they and the vendors need to know about this new technology.