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Is the tablet craze over?

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  Is the tablet craze over? wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-09 22:45 -0800
    Re: Is the tablet craze over? Oregonian Haruspex <bob_davis_retired@yahoo.com> - 2014-02-10 08:36 +0000
      Re: Is the tablet craze over? Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-10 10:25 -0500
        Re: Is the tablet craze over? wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-10 11:22 -0800
    Re: Is the tablet craze over? ticho <ticho@ticho.info> - 2014-02-10 10:44 +0100
      Re: Is the tablet craze over? gm@stackunderflow.com - 2014-02-10 04:46 -0800
        Re: Is the tablet craze over? 2phar <none@example.com> - 2014-02-10 08:30 -0500
      Re: Is the tablet craze over? JJ <jjdane@nospamgmail.com> - 2014-02-12 09:21 +0100
        Re: Is the tablet craze over? Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-12 08:56 -0500
          Re: Is the tablet craze over? wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-12 08:03 -0800
    Re: Is the tablet craze over? wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-10 10:47 -0800
      Re: Is the tablet craze over? Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> - 2014-02-10 15:37 -0500
        Re: Is the tablet craze over? RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-02-11 08:56 +0000
    Re: Is the tablet craze over? "q.kontinuum" <achsis_of_elvis@yahoo.com> - 2014-02-11 08:14 +0000
    Re: Is the tablet craze over? cykros <cykros@devio.us> - 2014-02-12 00:17 -0500

#178 — Is the tablet craze over?

Will tablets continue to increase in popularity, or have we reached a level of saturation? Or is the tide already turning towards smaller devices? An opinion piece at re/code suggests that this has happened, just a few short years into the tablet craze... and as for why:

"The tablet couldn't possibly shoulder all the expectations people had for it. Not a replacement for your laptop or phone -- but kinda. Something you kick back with in the living room, fire up at work and also carry with you everywhere -- sort of. Yes, tablets have sold in large numbers, but rather than being a constant companion, like we envisioned, most tablets today sit idle on coffee tables and nightstands. Simply put, our love for them is dying."

http://recode.net/2014/02/06/our-love-affair-with-the-tablet-is-over/

So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now, and what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to avoid the tablet craze up to this point?

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#179

wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> wrote:
> Will tablets continue to increase in popularity, or have we reached a
> level of saturation? Or is the tide already turning towards smaller
> devices? An opinion piece at re/code suggests that this has happened,
> just a few short years into the tablet craze... and as for why:
> 
> "The tablet couldn't possibly shoulder all the expectations people had
> for it. Not a replacement for your laptop or phone -- but kinda.
> Something you kick back with in the living room, fire up at work and also
> carry with you everywhere -- sort of. Yes, tablets have sold in large
> numbers, but rather than being a constant companion, like we envisioned,
> most tablets today sit idle on coffee tables and nightstands. Simply put,
> our love for them is dying."
> 
> http://recode.net/2014/02/06/our-love-affair-with-the-tablet-is-over/
> 
> So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now, and
> what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to
> avoid the tablet craze up to this point?

I must confess to really liking my iPad.  I'm writing this reply while
laying in bed with it.  I use it to read PDFs and web sites, get my email,
IRC, and now Usenet as well as as a terminal for my Unix boxes and Macs.  I
also use it to watch NHK which only seems to work on computers with Adobe
Flash (I no longer use Adobe products).  It also finds use as a panadapter
for my Elecraft KX3 transceiver (ie a spectrum display for my ham radio). 
I no longer use a laptop - if I can't do it on the iPad I can probably do
it using the iPad as a terminal.

The main draws are of course, the size and battery life.

But I have always been a bit of a geek with the gadgets.  I extensively
used my Apple Newton 110, Palm Pilot Professional, and Zaurus 5500 machines
probably way more than most people would have.

In a few years, I am hoping that either Intel can get its shit together and
make a low-power SoC and sell it to Apple so I can get a MacBook Air with a
20+ hour battery life, or that they use an ARM and achieve the same thing. 
But I will likely still have this iPad - being the first generation one,
the battery is not glued in and is quite easily replaced and if it ever
starts to crap out on me I will indeed replace it.

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#199

On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:36:06 +0000 (UTC), Oregonian Haruspex
<bob_davis_retired@yahoo.com> wrote:

>wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Will tablets continue to increase in popularity, or have we reached a
>> level of saturation? Or is the tide already turning towards smaller
>> devices? An opinion piece at re/code suggests that this has happened,
>> just a few short years into the tablet craze... and as for why:
>> 
>> "The tablet couldn't possibly shoulder all the expectations people had
>> for it. Not a replacement for your laptop or phone -- but kinda.
>> Something you kick back with in the living room, fire up at work and also
>> carry with you everywhere -- sort of. Yes, tablets have sold in large
>> numbers, but rather than being a constant companion, like we envisioned,
>> most tablets today sit idle on coffee tables and nightstands. Simply put,
>> our love for them is dying."
>> 
>> http://recode.net/2014/02/06/our-love-affair-with-the-tablet-is-over/
>> 
>> So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now, and
>> what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to
>> avoid the tablet craze up to this point?
>
>I must confess to really liking my iPad.  I'm writing this reply while
>laying in bed with it.  I use it to read PDFs and web sites, get my email,
>IRC, and now Usenet as well as as a terminal for my Unix boxes and Macs.  I
>also use it to watch NHK which only seems to work on computers with Adobe
>Flash (I no longer use Adobe products).  It also finds use as a panadapter
>for my Elecraft KX3 transceiver (ie a spectrum display for my ham radio). 
>I no longer use a laptop - if I can't do it on the iPad I can probably do
>it using the iPad as a terminal.

I have four iPads (the original, iPad 2, 3 and 4). They are marvels of
engineering; compact, functional, and even look nice (the "closed
garden" thing is less a limitation forced upon it by engineering than
by marketing). Toss one in the bag and you have a computer at your
fingertips wherever you go. It boots almost instantly and has a huge
variety of apps. Its battery life is impressive. It is an amazing
device.

Nonetheless, I switched back to my netbook (until recently, an aging
and dog-slow Atom-powered Dell Inspiron Mini) six months ago.

Why? Because much as I love the iPad (and other tablets), they suck
for productivity. Even when I carried around the Bluetooth keyboard,
the interface and design work against extended periods of doing actual
work. For short tasks - a quick email, jotting down some notes, minor
diagnostic lookups of servers - it's okay but beyond that you quickly
start banging against the device's limitations. For media consumption
(be that browsing the web, reading mail, watching a movie or playing a
game) it's excellent, but it's a horrible experience if you want to do
any work.

Not that laptops are without limitations either, of course. But when
it comes right down to it, I found typing out a document far more
comfortable on my little netbook, and the mouse a far more accurate
(and convenient) pointer than reaching out to smear up my display with
my fingers. The software was more powerful on the laptop too (Adobe
Photoshop Touch for the iPad is amazing for an app but doesn't hold a
candle to its bigger brothers in the CS line). 

Still, is my usage typical enough to imply the impending death of
tablets? Of course not. 

On the other hand, I think we are achieving a new balance. In the late
'90s/early 2000s, *everybody* was rushing out to buy a computer. It
was the hot new thing, the wave of the future and not having one meant
you were hopelessly outdated and out of touch. So millions of people
purchased PCs that they didn't really need and couldn't really
understand. Billions of megahertz of computing power sat unused
because these people only used their computers for the most basic of
tasks (email, solitaire, visiting CNN.Com); they had neither the
desire nor the ability to use these machines to their full potential. 

When tablets came out, these are the people who flocked to the new
platform; although less powerful and less functional, they were easy
to use, portable, low maintenance and performed the minimum of tasks
that these users found necessary. Why bother with a clunky, difficult
to understand PC when you have a digital slate that turns on
immediately and lets you perform almost any task in two or three
button presses? 

Of course, this movement of an entire demographic to tablets wreaked
havoc with the PC industry, which had come to expect the bubble of the
early 2000s as the standard  on which all future growth would be
compared. Instead, it contracted to its core users - businesses and
people who actually needed the power and extra functionality that a PC
offers. 

I think where we are now is that the industry is trying to find a new
balance between the various demographics; the basic users who are fine
with the limited capabilities (limited in expandability and interface
more than raw processing power) of a tablet, versus those who actually
need what laptops and desktops provide. The PCs makers have lost the
Grandma and Little Timmy market. But businesses and workers will
continue to be a solid core for them, as will many (but not all)
students.  Similarly, once the excitement over these wonderful new
tablets die down, we'll see businesses and schools investing less in
tablets once they realize the devices aren't a panacea to productivity
as was claimed.

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#216

On Monday, February 10, 2014 10:25:37 AM UTC-5, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> I think where we are now is that the industry is trying to find a new balance between the various demographics; the basic users who are fine with the limited capabilities (limited in expandability and interface more than raw processing power) of a tablet, versus those who actually need what laptops and desktops provide. The PCs makers have lost the Grandma and Little Timmy market. But businesses and workers will continue to be a solid core for them, as will many (but not all) students. Similarly, once the excitement over these wonderful new tablets die down, we'll see businesses and schools investing less in tablets once they realize the devices aren't a panacea to productivity as was claimed.

Mod +1 (Insightful)

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#180

On Sun, 9 Feb 2014 22:45:59 -0800 (PST)
wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> wrote:

> So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now,
> and what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you
> managed to avoid the tablet craze up to this point?

I got myself a cheap tablet few months ago, just to give the craze a
try, but I find myself using it less and less. The awkward text input
(in comparison to regular keyboard), and the short battery life is just
killing me. Turns out I prefer to kick back sitting in front of my
desktop computer.

Meanwhile, the tablet is gathering dust somewhere (I think it's still
under my bed somewhere).

--
t

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#188

I bought a Nexus 7 in order to play Ingress with, as it was selling for ~$150 and was an entire order of magnitude better than what you'd get in a phone for that money. I've found it useful for browsing the web when mobile, it's a lot easier than a laptop for that.

But in general, I'm not even thinking of getting rid of the laptop yet - tablets are only good for consuming content, never producing it.

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#192

On 2/10/2014 7:46 AM, gm@stackunderflow.com wrote:
> I bought a Nexus 7 in order to play Ingress with, as it was selling for ~$150 and was an entire order of magnitude better than what you'd get in a phone for that money. I've found it useful for browsing the web when mobile, it's a lot easier than a laptop for that.
>
> But in general, I'm not even thinking of getting rid of the laptop yet - tablets are only good for consuming content, never producing it.
>

The tablet experience very much depends on whether the application was 
designed for it, thus whether the kind of stuff you want to do has 
appropriate apps designed for small form factor and touchscreens. 
Certain games seem like they'd be naturally better on a touch 
interface.. web browsing works if the site suits a tablet, etc.

Personally I find most things I do involve a lot of interacting, so I 
find a decent keyboard is still king.

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#287

On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:44:59 +0100, ticho <ticho@ticho.info> wrote:

>On Sun, 9 Feb 2014 22:45:59 -0800 (PST)
>wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now,
>> and what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you
>> managed to avoid the tablet craze up to this point?
>
>I got myself a cheap tablet few months ago, just to give the craze a
>try, but I find myself using it less and less. The awkward text input
>(in comparison to regular keyboard), and the short battery life is just
>killing me. Turns out I prefer to kick back sitting in front of my
>desktop computer.
>
>Meanwhile, the tablet is gathering dust somewhere (I think it's still
>under my bed somewhere).

I bought a 1st gen Surface RT when it came out...I mainly use it for
checking mails and headlines before getting out of bed, and for
reading my Zinio subscriptions.

I'd call it nice to have but hardly essential...

-- 
Jayjay

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#297

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 09:21:02 +0100, JJ <jjdane@nospamgmail.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:44:59 +0100, ticho <ticho@ticho.info> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 9 Feb 2014 22:45:59 -0800 (PST)
>>wjwlsn <ibillwilson@gmail.com> wrote:

>I bought a 1st gen Surface RT when it came out...I mainly use it for
>checking mails and headlines before getting out of bed, and for
>reading my Zinio subscriptions.

>I'd call it nice to have but hardly essential...

The main use I get out of my iPad these days is using it to log onto
my desktops and shut them down if I forgot to do so before going to
bed. 

Which makes it a $600 equivalent of "the clapper" for geeks.

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#310

On Wednesday, February 12, 2014 8:56:05 AM UTC-5, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> ..."the clapper" for geeks.

Now that sounds like a good Arduino project!

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#212

On Monday, February 10, 2014 1:45:59 AM UTC-5, I wrote:
> What kinds of devices are you using now, and what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to avoid the tablet craze up to this point?

I guess I can go ahead and reply to my own posting. Does that make me a karma-whore? :)

Anyway, there are several different tablet/slate form-factor devices in my house: my daughter's iPad 2, my wife's 2nd generation Kindle, and my Dell Venue 8 Pro (which recently replaced a Blackberry Playbook that still sees occasional use). We all still have our own laptops and cellphones, and I have a netbook that gets used occasionally for light productivity work and a desktop machine that gets used for casual programming, video editing, writing, etc. Our slates/tablets never really became productivity devices, and I don't think we ever really expected that they would replace our other computers.

What they have done is provided a better, more convenient way to do many other things, more often and in more places: read books, browse the web, watch videos, keep in touch with friends, play games, etc. The devices are still less portable than our cell phones (especially the iPad), but often portable enough to go many places, while providing display and interaction that is far superior to what is possible with smaller devices.

In the end, I think the use case for tablets was just overblown from the beginning. They're great as portable entertainment and communication devices, and that's about it... but it just so happens that this probably covers most of what 90% of the population wants from a computer.

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#223

On Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:47:54 -0800 (PST), wjwlsn
<ibillwilson@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Monday, February 10, 2014 1:45:59 AM UTC-5, I wrote:
>> What kinds of devices are you using now, and what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to avoid the tablet craze up to this point?
>
>I guess I can go ahead and reply to my own posting. Does that make me a karma-whore? :)

>
>In the end, I think the use case for tablets was just overblown from the beginning. They're great as portable entertainment and communication devices, and that's about it... but it just so happens that this probably covers most of what 90% of the population wants from a computer.

I always likened tablets to portable TVs (like the one pictured here
http://unigami.deviantart.com/art/Zenith-Portable-TV-352904768, not
the svellete handhelds you can get today). Technically you could do
work (video-editing?) on one of them, but you're better off with a
dedicated device. Hell, even if all you want to do is consume media, a
big-screen device is probably better. But if your needs are simple or
you value portability, a tablet (or portable TV) - despite all its
shortcomings - might well suit you.

But its invention doesn't ring the deathbell for dedicated machines
either. They are an enhancement, a complement to the existing
infrastructure. Tablets aren't going to go away anytime soon, and
neither will desktops.

Having said that...

Imagine a tablet with a dedicated dock. You pop the tablet in the dock
at home so it connects to your local files, printer, big-screen
monitor or TV, keyboard and mouse and - for gamers - possibly also
faster CPU/GPU. When you travel you pop it out and it seamlessly
reconfigures into "travel" mode and operates as a normal tablet.

Alternately, instead of carrying around a laptop for work, you use a
similar device. Normally it sits in a dock and is hooked up to the
office resources (monitor, keyboard, network file-servers, Exchange,
printers, etc). But when you need to go visit a client, just pop the
thing into your bag and you have a tablet again.

You'd still use dedicated desktops for the average drones who don't
need the portability (if only because they are cheaper) but a rig like
that might replace laptops, assuming they can get the price and
convenience factor down to managable levels. That's why I think it is
laptops, not computers in general, which are threatened by tablets.

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#239

>
You'd still use dedicated desktops for the average drones who don't
>need the portability (if only because they are cheaper) but a rig like
>that might replace laptops, assuming they can get the price and
>convenience factor down to managable levels. That's why I think it is
>laptops, not computers in general, which are threatened by tablets.
>
>

I'd expected to not like tablets, and resisted them at first.  But I got a
 Nexus 7 and I really saw the light, and bought a 3rd gen. Ipad for the
 missus, and she likes it too.  The others have already made points I agree
 with, so I'd just add two things:

First, last night I enjoyed for the first time a project I'd been working on
 for a while: a NAS in the basement (FreeNAS, which is FreeBSD and filled
 with awesomeness) serving up movies, and me watching them using the Plex
 app on my Nexus in my bed.  That's pretty amazing and useful and I love it.

But secondly, if I were getting pushed out of an airplane onto a deserted
 island (with wifi, apparently) and had to choose one device, I'd still
 choose the netbook.  Tablets are good for watching, playing, or a short
 response on email, but I mostly use computers to get stuff done and I need
 a keyboard to do that effectively.  So the tablet remains in second place.

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#236

The craze may be over, but tablets will keep a good marked share.

On Sun, 09 Feb 2014 22:45:59 -0800, wjwlsn wrote:

> "The tablet couldn't possibly shoulder all the expectations people had
> for it.

Not yet, but it still might in the future. Tablets are not powerful 
enough. An ideal tablet should be as powerful as a grown PC, have a 
similar drive capacity, and via docking station it should work seamlessly 
as a PC (Keyboard, maybe extended storage via e-sata, HDMI for bigger 
screen)

> So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now, and
> what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to
> avoid the tablet craze up to this point?

In the mid-term future I would hope to use a more powerful tablet with 
Fedora Linux. Longer term I want to have my brain socket.



-- 
Trolling is a art

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#282

On 02/10/2014 01:45 AM, wjwlsn wrote:
> Will tablets continue to increase in popularity, or have we reached a level of saturation? Or is the tide already turning towards smaller devices? An opinion piece at re/code suggests that this has happened, just a few short years into the tablet craze... and as for why:
> 
> "The tablet couldn't possibly shoulder all the expectations people had for it. Not a replacement for your laptop or phone -- but kinda. Something you kick back with in the living room, fire up at work and also carry with you everywhere -- sort of. Yes, tablets have sold in large numbers, but rather than being a constant companion, like we envisioned, most tablets today sit idle on coffee tables and nightstands. Simply put, our love for them is dying."
> 
> http://recode.net/2014/02/06/our-love-affair-with-the-tablet-is-over/
> 
> So, what do you all think? What kinds of devices are you using now, and what do you think you'll be using in a few years? Or have you managed to avoid the tablet craze up to this point?
> 

I personally make heavy use out of my tablet, but then, I also don't
have a smartphone.  Most of what I do with it involves playing Ingress,
but I definitely use it a bit for irc or reading books.  But then, I'm
not the majority of folks.  A) I've got no problem with having enough
pocket space for a 7" tablet in the cargo pants I generally prefer
wearing, and B) I've got no problem wearing the 21st century equivalent
of a fanny pack -- a waterproof tablet case with a neck lanyard.  My
tablet is, in effect, a very large necklace.  Fashionable, it isn't, but
certainly helps avoid the arm cramps that a few hours of holding a
tablet while playing Ingress can lead to.

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