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Ubuntu on tablets

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Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#111

Post by donniezazen »

fusiongyro wrote: post #98
donniezazen wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been picked by all major media outlets. Canonical is trying to create a buzz so major vendors start paying attention to it. I think they have been really successful in doing that. If Ubuntu comes with 10 basic apps that I use let's say Chrome browser and an ePUB reader. I would totally switch.

Why should major vendors take this more seriously than consumers? It's not like they can buy the product either. If I were Google or Apple, I'd be a lot more worried about a cool Kickstarter than a vaporous brochure site. Three kids with passion trying to get funding are worth more to me than a dozen graphic artists at Canonical with no idea how electricity works. I'm happy for them to prove me wrong, but this is wha…

Major vendors have capability to make hardware and not consumers. Consumers are end goal but not where it begins.

How preposterous of you! They are going to release images in 2 days. What do you expect them to do come to your house and give you a lecture on electricity. You seem to know everything about manufacturers and Canonical and their internal communication. Of course Canonical is talking to all parties. Do you want them to include you in the discussion? I like your negative attitude.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#112

Post by aerique »

freehunter wrote: post #84
bitsoda wrote: post #42

I still don't understand the tablet form factor. I concluded that it's not for me some time ago, but am waiting for the general population to come around to one glaring flaw: you have to hold it. For me, it doesn't matter how light a tablet is. A five pound laptop will always feel lighter since it will effectively weigh nothing because it's always on some kind of platform during use, either my lap or a flat desk/tabl…

>you have to hold it The general population already has a solution for this. It's rare that I see an iPad without some sort of cover that also can act as a stand. While you're sitting on the couch, this isn't as big of a problem because you can rest your arm(s) on your lap. But stand/cases are the answer people have come up with.

Tablets are devices to consume content and for that I find them ideal. They are also good enough for writing short replies on forums or to e-mails.

At this moment I'm consuming HN sitting on the couch with an iPad on my thigh and using one finger.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#113

Post by MatthewPhillips »

JosephRedfern wrote: post #63
andmarios wrote: post #51

I am a bit tired of how much Ubuntu gets promoted compared to other Linux based solutions. Here is a video of KDE's Plasma Active running on a Nexus 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7isMAmwW0 It is a real use video, there aren't any fancy photos, there isn't any CG in the video in contrast with Canonical's page. Plasma Active is being actively developed for about 2 years now and KDE 4 was developed from the ground…

It doesn't seem anywhere near as slick as Ubuntu's offerings, though - and I think for a portable device like a tablet, that is very important.

To be fair, that video is showing Plasma on a working device, where as the Ubuntu videos are professionally done advertisements. We don't know how smooth Ubuntu on tablets or phones is actually going to be.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#114

Post by firefoxman1 »

riffraff wrote: post #80
firefoxman1 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right now they're pretty useless, I agree. But watch a couple clips for me: http://youtu.be/Jx7VNP5UO2k?t=5m9s (at 5:09) http://youtu.be/5jzAAPccBaU?t=2m27s (at 2:27) That's the future. That's when the tablet becomes extremely useful. Productive-yet-portable in a way a laptop can't be. What I think the Microsoft guys really nailed is that the tablet is ultimately just another tool . The "post-pc" era still has plenty…

I'm not sure what is supposed to be noticed in the second video, but the first one is basically already possible with current tablets, other than the "everything is transparent". I mean, there is no deep conceptual difference between something like leafsnap and what is shown there. But even looking at that, it still doesn't show why a tablet form factor (thinking >9" diagonal) is better for this things than something…

The main difference I was getting at is thickness/weight. Tablets now are too heavy to carry around like a legal pad for long periods of time. When they become paper thin and aerogel-light, they'll be killer.

Other than that, it's not so much the form factor that's different from now, it's the software. As awesome as Ubuntu Tablet is, I think all of our tablet OSes carry too many PC relics with them. The OS in those videos looks nothing like software now.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#115

Post by Buzaga »

All I want is a 8-10 hour battery life tablet that I can install a development environment and plug a keyboard

I know Ubuntu won't be narrowing down to developers but if Ubuntu Tablets solve this I'll get in line to get the one as fast as possible

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#116

Post by Cederfjard »

potatolicious wrote: post #43
chx wrote: post #25

I still don't get it. This emphasises on "productivity". Tablets, lacking any efficient ways of input are not productivity devices. They are great at consuming content, of course. There is a reason the iPad and the Kindle Fire rules the field.

There is more to productivity than fast, accurate text input. Touch is inferior for text input, but superior for other types of input. I know many designers who are salivating at the prospect of being able to do their work with a stylus that's also a screen (as opposed to the Wacom way of doing it).

Wacom has had its Cintiq line for a few years now, although they are quite a bit more expensive than the pure tablets.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#117

Post by xradionut »

andmarios wrote: post #51

I am a bit tired of how much Ubuntu gets promoted compared to other Linux based solutions. Here is a video of KDE's Plasma Active running on a Nexus 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7isMAmwW0 It is a real use video, there aren't any fancy photos, there isn't any CG in the video in contrast with Canonical's page. Plasma Active is being actively developed for about 2 years now and KDE 4 was developed from the ground…

"I am a bit tired of how much Ubuntu gets promoted compared to other Linux based solutions."

I find Ubuntu, (at least the LTS releases), to be the best supported distro for major third party applications and the easist for novices to use. I'm using it as development platform and as a VMware host for my Windows OS images. It has supports my Dell hardware better than Dell's Windows drivers. In time, I'll probably migrate to a different distro, but I don't have the cycles to spend on tweaking Linux, I just want a distro that works with what I need now.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#118

Post by simonh »

azakai wrote: post #94
sultezdukes wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you think that Ubuntu on mobile devices is going to do any better? Nokia screwed up, but diverting resources to an even more miniscule market is even crazier.

It is not miniscule, it is 0% right now ;) But again, the question is of putting all the eggs in one basket or not. Ubuntu and other non-windows mobile OSes each have different approaches, hard to say which will succeed. It's foolish to bet on just one if you are as big as Nokia.

That's true up to a point, but even Nokia has limited resources and developing, launching and marketing a tablet computer at Nokia's scale is not cheap.

So given that, if they were going to put some eggs in another basket, why would they choose Ubuntu over Android, which has an existing application base and at least some user awareness?

It seems like we're at the same stage right now in the mobile OS world as we were in the personal computer market back in the 80s, with multiple competing platforms such as the Amiga, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, PC, Mac, etc. Each had it's advantages, and each had significant success, but there's actually only room in the market for two or three of them long term.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#119

Post by potatolicious »

Cederfjard wrote: post #116
potatolicious wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is more to productivity than fast, accurate text input. Touch is inferior for text input, but superior for other types of input. I know many designers who are salivating at the prospect of being able to do their work with a stylus that's also a screen (as opposed to the Wacom way of doing it).

Wacom has had its Cintiq line for a few years now, although they are quite a bit more expensive than the pure tablets.

Indeed - the Cintiq has never really been affordable in the vast majority of cases. We have a whole team of designers here at the office and lots of Wacom tablets - and not a single Cintiq.

The digitizer-on-a-screen idea isn't new, but its affordability is definitely unprecedented. The Surface Pro (for all its faults) is a high-res IPS display with a Wacom digitizer and some pretty respectable specs for <$1K.

Re: Ubuntu on tablets

#120

Post by rdouble »

potatolicious wrote: post #119
Cederfjard wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wacom has had its Cintiq line for a few years now, although they are quite a bit more expensive than the pure tablets.

Indeed - the Cintiq has never really been affordable in the vast majority of cases. We have a whole team of designers here at the office and lots of Wacom tablets - and not a single Cintiq. The digitizer-on-a-screen idea isn't new, but its affordability is definitely unprecedented. The Surface Pro (for all its faults) is a high-res IPS display with a Wacom digitizer and some pretty respectable specs for <$1K.

Random, but maybe useful... There are off-brand cintiq alternatives that get great reviews.

http://frenden.tumblr.com/post/38693256477/yiynovamsp19u

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