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Tablets

paulgraham.com

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Re: Tablets

#71

Post by patrickk »

roc wrote: post #51
patrickk wrote: post #25

Other stuff being replaced by smart devices: watches, alarm clocks, portable radios, cheap digital cameras, spirit levels, dictionaries and perhaps soon your wallet and physical mass-produced books. Looking at some of the creative stuff people do with mounting their iPad in vehicles, perhaps iPad-like devices will replace traditional dials in cars in the near future. The only reason we even consider calling them "mob…

> "perhaps iPad-like devices will replace traditional dials in cars in the near future." The dashboards of the near future are going to start piping a lot of control over to paired devices, but I think they'll maintain their current level of sophistication in and of themselves. But those paired devices will be a huge opportunity. And in the same arena: automotive diagnostic machines are going to be replaced. (e.g. OB…

I'm actually working on a college project getting OBD-II diagnostics to your i-device. Some amazing stuff avaliable already e.g: http://www.devtoaster.com/products/rev/

Re: Tablets

#72

Post by acgourley »

cryptoz wrote: post #53
chr15 wrote: post #30

In 2001, Bill Gates said that by 2006 tablets would be the most popular form factor for PCs. They obviously weren't back then. It's funny how Apple changes ecosystems. http://gizmodo.com/5324866/vintage-bill-gates-predicts-table...

I think MS could have delivered on the prediction if they had changed their software to match the form factor. All Windows tablets run a (basically) stock Windows XP / Windows 7. If the iPad used a (basically) stock OS X, it would not have sold! Too many small buttons, mouse-centered experience, etc. Apple's key was realizing that the software had to change, too.

This is key. Another interesting observation is that in 2006 tablet manufacturers probably thought it vitally important that users could print

Re: Tablets

#73

Post by daralthus »

roadnottaken wrote: post #27

Tablets are obviously great, but does anyone think they'll really replace cameras or GPSes? It seems to me that tablets will cut the bottom out of these markets (those with casual interest in photography or GPS or computing won't need to buy a dedicated device) but they'll never approach the quality of an SLR or a dedicated GPS. Or am I just being short-sighted?

It's not just about replacing the functionality, it is more about combining the functionality with some other in a clever way that the dedicated hardware could hardly do. For example: gps + web -> checkins Another important thing is the form that allows me to have a camera everywhere with me. Reaching better quality is only a matter of time.

Re: Tablets

#74

Post by glhaynes »

timdellinger wrote: post #33

In general, the tablet enables all the ideas that people have had over the years that were perfect "except you'd have to carry around a computer to run the thing". I'd love to see communications protocols and hardware (next gen bluetooth?) developed to allow devices that need a computer to wirelessly use the one in my pocket. I'd also like to see more innovation in the space where users hold tablets while they're fac…

I'm trying to think of something where I'd need more computing power in my pocket - most apps seem to either have enough power in the device itself or draw the extra needed compute/storage from the cloud... just wondering what you have in mind.

Re: Tablets

#75

Post by rdl »

rdl wrote: post #24

What's the YC funded startup which is a replacement for keys? As in "We funded one startup that's replacing keys."

Quora advises that it is lockitron.com.

Re: Tablets

#76

Post by Vivtek »

pg wrote: post #47
Vivtek wrote: post #21

What blows my mind is that I might have been able to see this coming in the 80's - but Buckminster Fuller saw it coming in 19 fricking 38 . That man was incredible.

It was already happening then. It's older than computers. In his day it meant e.g. replacing cams with variable speed motors.

Or, I suppose, Jacquard cards replacing cams in the 1800's. There's a lot more history to this than it's easy to see today. But Fuller's insight, Good God.

Re: Tablets

#77

Post by patrickk »

archangel_one wrote: post #70
patrickk wrote: post #25

Other stuff being replaced by smart devices: watches, alarm clocks, portable radios, cheap digital cameras, spirit levels, dictionaries and perhaps soon your wallet and physical mass-produced books. Looking at some of the creative stuff people do with mounting their iPad in vehicles, perhaps iPad-like devices will replace traditional dials in cars in the near future. The only reason we even consider calling them "mob…

I think there's already been some slow moves in that direction - I recall the presenters on Top Gear playing with a couple of vaguely similar things, eg. a Lamborghini where you could cycle the appearance of the dials (so you could make it look like a "jet fighter" or whatever) and a Skyline that had a screen with heaps of different displays (g-force meter and what have you). Those aren't near a fully programmable ta…

"Lamborghini where you could cycle the appearance of the dials (so you could make it look like a "jet fighter" or whatever)"

Lamborghini Reventon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBOPwHgpkFk (skip to about a minute in)

" Skyline that had a screen with heaps of different displays (g-force meter and what have you)"

You're thinking of the Nissan GTR:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXFSVoVqhYw

Re: Tablets

#78

Post by whatusername »

cryptoz wrote: post #20
luigi wrote: post #15

I think they're still just computers, and will be thought of as such. Sure, they're computers you hold in your hand, not the kind that sit on your desk. Gaming consoles and set top boxes are morphing into general purpose computers too. Those are computers that sit on a table near the TV. But they're all computers the same. http://luigimontanez.com/2010/the-computer-for-the-room/

"Computers" still get viruses, require backups done by the user to be safe from data loss, have out-of-date software packages (each with its own broken update mechanism), take ages to boot up, are clunky and slow...the list goes on. Sure, none of those are specific to the "computer" form factor. But they are all things that people think of when they think about their desktop computer (some mac and linux users exclude…

iPhones: * Have the potential for Viruses (don't call it an exploit it's a jailbreak is not great security reporting) * Reqquire backups done by the user to be safe from data loss * Since I'm currently rocking a 3G running IOS4 -- are "clunky and slow"

Of your 5 points - boot up and software update are reasonable. The other 3 can be absolutely issues.

Re: Tablets

#79

Post by devindotcom »

Haven't we been calling them tablets for ages? People have been designing around the idea of tablets for decades. They had the ideas for the applications of tablets fifty years ago. I'm not sure I understand what this article says that is in any way original.

Re: Tablets

#80

Post by prakash »

Here's another good example of etherealization: With Skype one can get a US (and a few other countries) number that gets routed to my skype id.
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