Tadpole snubs Windows for Java

NEWS Mobile hardware manufacturer, Tadpole Technology, has rejected traditional Wintel and Unix environments and based its fieldworker workstation technology on Java. Tadpole is renown for its portable workstations used in industries which have large numbers of remote workers. In a video interview with Silicon.com, Tadpole CEO, Bernard Hulme, explained why Java is more suitable than Windows: "If a mobile field worker has a workstation running Windows, he needs to deal with disks, CD Roms, he has to reboot the machine when it goes wrong and then again when it goes wrong again. That's OK when you're in the office with support available easily, but when you're say, 100 feet in the air, it's no good." Hulme said field workers are not expected to have high-level computer skills, which means a Java-based device more suitable. "With Java, you just switch it on", he said. Hulme defended Java against the common criticism that it lacks stability and reliability. "None of these problems have occurred in trials we've carried out," he claimed. The full interview with Bernard Hulme can be seen in Silicon.com's Java/developer Channel.