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Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

arstechnica.com

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Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#111

Post by Derbasti »

ugh wrote: post #53
jules wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is the ipad on the eyes? My eyes get tired from reading from a laptop screen at night. Is the ipad better?

It obviously is exactly the same because the iPad uses a laptop screen. (It has a higher quality IPS and not the usual TN panel [1] but I don’t think that matters a great deal. IPS panels have better color reproduction and better viewing angles, that’s the only difference to lower quality LCD panels.) The iPad screen has even a similar number of pixels per inch compared to current laptops. (A 15" laptop with a resolu…

Note that the iPad screen brightness can be turned down very far. Note that most reading software even includes some option to additionally turn the brightness down by basically putting a grey filter of the screen. Note that most reading software (not iBooks) includes a white-on-black mode. With all that you can turn down the brightness to absurdly low levels that are not achievable with laptop software.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#112

Post by EnderMB »

angstrom wrote: post #65
cletus wrote: post #21

> Don't get me wrong: I'll always have a tablet in my life... And how is this not a game changer? Would the author have said the before the iPad? The iPad has replaced a laptop or desktop for all casual browsing (I typed this comment on mine) and a lot of media consumption. It's great for technical books. And I play games on it. It is easily the most cost effective tech purchase I have ever made in terms of how much…

I think for certain use cases it will still be a game changer. It fills the role of a 'more mobile' laptop. The form is not offensive. If someone handed you a tablet to: Fill out a form in a waiting room. Select your order at a restaurant. Go over your vitals in a hospital. Track incoming/outgoing inventory in a warehouse or somewhere else in the field where a desk may not be at hand. Businesses can see how this lead…

For the vast majority of those uses I would say that an iPad is overkill, although in a warehouse where a friend of mind works they use Android phones for inventory tracking.

Don't get me wrong, I think that given time tablet computers will be the future. My problem is that the iPad doesn't offer even half of the experience I was expecting; the hardware is "okay" but at the moment it feels like a large iPhone and the apps available on the market don't utilise the unique experience that tablet computing should be for it to establish itself.

As in the past, I cannot help but feel that the iPad will eventually lose out, as many others have.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#113

Post by dagw »

joe_the_user wrote: post #43
Kylekramer wrote: post #4

I got to agree. I got caught up in the tablet fever like everyone last year, but in practice all the complaints that people had with the iPad release panned out. Tablets across the board are jacks of few trades, master of none. Terrible input, only so-so for web browsing/reading, and basically on par with a laptop for video and portability. To quote a very smart man in 2003 [1], tablets are still only good for "a bun…

In my unscientific survey, netbook usage far outstrips tablet usage in cafes. Moreover, the people who bring tablets don't seem to really use them, they just glance at them occasionally. An iPad just seems like a very expensive Kindle. If Tablet prices get down to say, $50, they'd be great to hang in the kitchen and get weather and recipes from!

In my unscientific survey, netbook usage far outstrips tablet usage in cafes. Moreover, the people who bring tablets don't seem to really use them, they just glance at them occasionally.

In my equally unscientific survey tablets far outstrip netbook usage on public transport. As to your second point I think most people consider that an overwhelming positive for tablets. You don't have to "use" them like you do with a real computer. You can just glance at them occasionally and very quickly do whatever it was you wanted to do and then get back to doing whatever you where at the cafe to do, like eat food or talk to friends.

An iPad just seems like a very expensive Kindle.

But it is a Kindle you can comfortably browse the web, check your mail, twitter and facebook and play Angry Bird on. Reading e-books is relatively low on the list of things most people I know use their iPad for.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#114

Post by [deleted] »

EnderMB wrote: post #108
ladon86 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which city? I've seen a whole bunch of people in London standing on street corners using their iPads. Granted they do look pretty silly... But I would certainly not say that the iPad has been a 'huge disappointment'; not for Apple, and not for the consumer. Or did you mean for you personally?

Bristol, although I do travel to Birmingham and Manchester quite a bit. I've not seen a single iPad in any of those places (except at the Apple Stores). I think the iPad was always going to struggle because when compared to the iPhone it is less likely for someone to be seen using a tablet than a mobile phone. As I said, the figures may be impressive, but I'd lump this in with Apple TV as being a good idea that will…

[deleted]

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#115

Post by bruceboughton »

EnderMB wrote: post #108
ladon86 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which city? I've seen a whole bunch of people in London standing on street corners using their iPads. Granted they do look pretty silly... But I would certainly not say that the iPad has been a 'huge disappointment'; not for Apple, and not for the consumer. Or did you mean for you personally?

Bristol, although I do travel to Birmingham and Manchester quite a bit. I've not seen a single iPad in any of those places (except at the Apple Stores). I think the iPad was always going to struggle because when compared to the iPhone it is less likely for someone to be seen using a tablet than a mobile phone. As I said, the figures may be impressive, but I'd lump this in with Apple TV as being a good idea that will…

So the iPad is struggling because you're less likely to see other people using it? And your evidence for it struggling is that you've not seen people using it outside? …

BTW, come to London and look on any commuter train or tube. You're right that the iPad is more of an inside device. But I see enough of them outside to extrapolate that they must be selling pretty well.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#116

Post by EnderMB »

danudey wrote: post #96
EnderMB wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The iPad has replaced a laptop or desktop for all casual browsing (I typed this comment on mine) and a lot of media consumption. It's great for technical books. And I play games on it. I live in a large city in the UK, and throughout the past year I've only seen two iPad's. I wouldn't even remotely say that the iPad has "replaced the laptop" in any way, shape or form. When the iPhone was released it was near imposs…

I live in Vancouver, BC and I've seen tons of people using them. If you hit a few Starbucks in a day (as I tend to do) chances are that you'll see at least one or two people using them there. Saw one girl yesterday that seemed to be reading a book; another one today was writing something. They're not ubiquitous, but I get the sense that a lot of people buy them and use them at home instead of dragging them around tow…

I go to Starbucks at least twice a week, and I've yet to see one there. The only places I've seen them is at a graduation party and a few days ago at Wagamama (asian restaurant). In contrast I see a Kindle nearly every single day on the bus or in Starbucks.

I can imagine them selling quite well now, but I can't help but feel that people are buying them because they're a shiny, new Apple product, rather than because they're the future. I'd love for the iPad to do well because it would push innovation in an area of computing that greatly interests me, but I cannot help but feel that the current experience the iPad offers will only corner it into being a novelty product that won't last. I'm also willing to accept that the reason they don't seem as popular in the UK is because they're far too expensive.

Until the iPad can offer a day-to-day experience that offers something a laptop cannot I really cannot see it keeping its success going for more than three or four years.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#117

Post by othermaciej »

sliverstorm wrote: post #9
6ren wrote: post #5

Convenience and price is how disruption starts. Why did anyone buy a cell phone if they had a landline? It was worse in every way, except portability.

Yeah, but what one way are tablets better than other things? You get to use your fingers? I'm still wholly unconvinced that is 'better'.

One way: you can use it standing up. (There are other ways, but I hope this one is enough to satisfy your request and clear enough to not need a lot of debate.)

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#118

Post by barista »

EnderMB wrote: post #112
angstrom wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think for certain use cases it will still be a game changer. It fills the role of a 'more mobile' laptop. The form is not offensive. If someone handed you a tablet to: Fill out a form in a waiting room. Select your order at a restaurant. Go over your vitals in a hospital. Track incoming/outgoing inventory in a warehouse or somewhere else in the field where a desk may not be at hand. Businesses can see how this lead…

For the vast majority of those uses I would say that an iPad is overkill, although in a warehouse where a friend of mind works they use Android phones for inventory tracking. Don't get me wrong, I think that given time tablet computers will be the future. My problem is that the iPad doesn't offer even half of the experience I was expecting; the hardware is "okay" but at the moment it feels like a large iPhone and the…

The author is not a general representation of people for whom tablet is appealing. Whenever there is large amount of user created content a tablet will run intoi its limitations. But that's by design. A tablet is a consumption device as against to a production/consumption device like a laptop or a desktop. And many people are fine with it.

My parent for example hate typing. The just forwad me emails or read stuff on the internet. Tablet is perfectly fine for people like them.

As for android tablets, GOOG really needs to do something with their inconsistent UI. It somehow feels cheap. Be it the tablet or the phones. Both AAPL and MSFT offferings look much classier compared to theirs.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#119

Post by barista »

ladon86 wrote: post #61
EnderMB wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The iPad has replaced a laptop or desktop for all casual browsing (I typed this comment on mine) and a lot of media consumption. It's great for technical books. And I play games on it. I live in a large city in the UK, and throughout the past year I've only seen two iPad's. I wouldn't even remotely say that the iPad has "replaced the laptop" in any way, shape or form. When the iPhone was released it was near imposs…

Which city? I've seen a whole bunch of people in London standing on street corners using their iPads. Granted they do look pretty silly... But I would certainly not say that the iPad has been a 'huge disappointment'; not for Apple, and not for the consumer. Or did you mean for you personally?

No point debating if the iPad is a hit or not. Just see their annual report and you'd know that its a big hit. It doesn't matter if you see them on the streets or not. AAPL sells them and its makes them money which means that it is a hit.

Re: Why I don't care very much about tablets anymore

#120

Post by soulclap »

Lost_BiomedE wrote: post #100
soulclap wrote: post #66

I don't own a tablet, saw one in action for the first time a week ago and the owner and I basically came up with the same reasons why it's rather useless as the ones mentioned in the article. It's definitely nice to have for reading in bed or keeping up 'on the road' but overall it seems to be pretty reduced to 'consuming' instead of 'producing'. One thing I like about tablets is that they made publishers reconsider…

'you could do so much more' Could you elaborate on this? It is not immediately obvious to me.

Sure. When you look at a 'proper magazine' there is a lot more work regarding to the layouts, additional info graphics and such. And I guess the iPad app versions of current magazines have got all these plus animated graphics, timelines, better integration of video and all that.

I am not saying a daily news site really needs this but even in articles that are not time-critical you usually only see large chunks of text or paginated slideshows. Considering that you can basically do 'everything' on the web, it would be nice to see sites with a focus on content really take advantage of this.

I could also imagine today's sites 'borrowing' some stylistic devices from TV documentaries and the like. Sure, all of this needs some more work. But it seems to be possible on tablets, so why not on the web? I don't get that.

I hope it's a bit more clear now.

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