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Re: Is the tablet craze over?

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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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Thread

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

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