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Tablets

paulgraham.com

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Re: Tablets

#91

Post by Someone »

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.

I doubt that MS could have created the tablet boom in 2006. Less than two years ago, Steve Jobs said "we don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk." I think he was right; the hardware just wasn't there four years ago to create something enticing enough. An iPad with the technology of the original iPod touch would be too slow, have too short a battery life, would have cost $800 or so, etc.

Re: Tablets

#92

Post by rdl »

daeken wrote: post #86
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."

I know you specifically asked about the YC startup, but there are a few really cool lock-related startups out there. There have been a lot of NFC (near-field communication) startups popping up for the last few years, but those require special hardware in the phone, so a company (I can't recall which one at the moment -- sorry) came up with a novel approach: have an app on the phone that plays a series of tones on the…

I stayed at the airbnb corporate apartment and mentioned a reprogrammable lock as an awesome upgrade to their service back in 2009. I hacked something crappy together with a schlage lockset for my own use, but ended up having to go to Afghanistan a couple weeks later. I actually prefer the usability of what I had to how the lockitron appears to work.

Hotel locks are amazingly lame. Audio is an interesting output from the phone; flashing the display in front of a photosensor in a pattern would be cool too.

Mechanical locks are basically obsolete in the age of digital photographs and rapid prototyping...if you let me look at a mechanical key for a second, I can make you a perfect copy in 15 minutes.

Re: Tablets

#93

Post by nostromo »

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."

My phone's battery died last time I was flying home from a business trip because I was listening to music in-flight. I already freak out a bit when my phone dies -- I can't imagine being locked out and not being able to call anyone.

Re: Tablets

#94

Post by timdellinger »

glhaynes wrote: post #74
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.

I'm saying that many things you own would work better if they had a little computing power in them, or if they had access to a computer. So, for instance, it would be too expensive to put a PID controller in your toaster oven. That's why there's a simple thermostat and a simple timer in there. But imagine if your toaster could send temperature data in a bluetooth-esque way to your tablet. The tablet does the proportional-integral-derivative calculations and sends commands back to the toaster. So you get all of the benefits of PID controlled temperature without the cost of the PID controller.

Another idea (likely in the works somewhere): tablet as guitar effects pedal.

Re: Tablets

#95

Post by rdl »

nostromo wrote: post #93
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."

My phone's battery died last time I was flying home from a business trip because I was listening to music in-flight. I already freak out a bit when my phone dies -- I can't imagine being locked out and not being able to call anyone.

I agree this is a problem. While like the idea of a remote-controlled lock, from what I've read about how lockitron does it, this is a major problem. (Lockitron is basically a sheeva plug with wifi to the Internet talking over zwire to a commodity remote-controlled deadbolt)

Also, it isn't always the case that you have signal in an entryway, especially in weird apartment buildings, basement apartments, etc.

Also, I am not comfortable taking my $800 iPhone out of my pocket in front of a door in a dark alley, whereas a fist full of keys makes a damn fine improvised weapon.

Also, I don't want to do a wan connection, web API call, wan link to home, and low power rf link to the door every time I want to unlock my door. Especially if both of my hands are full of bags.

Re: Tablets

#96

Post by [deleted] »

chaosmachine wrote: post #59
pg wrote: post #34

Incidentally, I know the Wikipedia article has been deleted, but I'm assuming someone will fix that. (Is this the current world record for deletionism, or have there been more egregious examples?)

It looks like there wasn't much of an article to begin with. Here's a mirror: http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Etherealization Edit: Someone has already undeleted it.

[deleted]

Re: Tablets

#97

Post by mortenjorck »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #40

Worth noting here that most analysts feel that the reason the original iPod was successful was that it only did one thing in an extremely friendly format. I think the key question here is whether or not the app-universe grows in size until consumers desire separation of widgets again. I know from my own experience that I found I maximize productivity by having separate devices responsible for separate things. For ins…

This, in my opinion, is the genius of Apple's choice of form factor. By omitting any physical buttons apart from meta-functionality, and allowing only full-screen applications, an iOS device essentially becomes dedicated hardware for whatever it happens to be running.

I remember marveling at the YouTube app the first time I picked up an iPad. It was the best YouTube experience I'd seen; it felt like I was holding a purpose-built device for YouTube viewing. The home button simply prepared it to morph into a different purpose-built device.

Re: Tablets

#98

Post by tokenadult »

pg wrote: post #34

Incidentally, I know the Wikipedia article has been deleted, but I'm assuming someone will fix that. (Is this the current world record for deletionism, or have there been more egregious examples?)

The way to fix that problem is with sources. Wikipedia is becoming more and more aggressive about deleting articles without sources, because it has been enough times already by articles that 1) plagiarize copyrighted materials, or 2) appear to cite sources but actually "fudge" the sources, or 3) blatantly push a point of view by omitting to use sources that are readily available. The quality screen for new articles is slowly becoming more stringent, so, no, that is not at all a record for speed of deletion of a new article. The long-term slog, for which I wish Wikipedia well (as registered Wikipedia editor) but would have to be paid to do in the current contentious editing environment, is to add correctly cited, balanced sources to the existing articles that have the problems just mentioned.

Re: Tablets

#99

Post by ghshephard »

drcode wrote: post #35

> I wouldn't be surprised if by playing some clever tricks with the accelerometer you could even replace the bathroom scale. Galileo might take issue with that: http://www.jimloy.com/physics/galileo.htm

That's going down. What about going up? And yes, it's not straight-forward - like pg said, "clever tricks."

Re: Tablets

#100

Post by bruceboughton »

skalpelis wrote: post #82
cryptoz wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

I believe some Windows 7 tablets might still experience these problems.

Which proves that being a tablet is about more than just form factor.

Something MS either doesn't get or can't admit publicly.

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