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Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

recode.net

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Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#21

Post by geuis »

grecy wrote: post #12
mjt0229 wrote: post #7

I never really got tablets - too big to be portable and crippled by the lack of usable input devices. My 11" Macbook Air is just about as portable as an iPad, but is way easier to use, not just for streaming, but even for coding, etc. Of course, I've been wrong about things before and I'm not really a typical consumer user, but I just can't imagine a future for tablets with phones getting as good as they are, and sma…

Have you ever seen a child use a tablet? It's mind-blowing to see a 3 year old use one better than their parents. I don't think tablets will ever replace laptops, but that's not the point of consumption is it. They'd rather you buy a laptop for "work" a tablet for "consumption" and a phone, and...

Yes it is, but as you said, a 3 year old isn't trying to get work done. What we need to see is how the kids first using phones from 7 years ago are doing with tablets and their ilk now in school. That's your earliest cohort of 10 year olds first exposed to the iPhone.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#22

Post by BlackDeath3 »

geuis wrote: post #16
mjt0229 wrote: post #7

I never really got tablets - too big to be portable and crippled by the lack of usable input devices. My 11" Macbook Air is just about as portable as an iPad, but is way easier to use, not just for streaming, but even for coding, etc. Of course, I've been wrong about things before and I'm not really a typical consumer user, but I just can't imagine a future for tablets with phones getting as good as they are, and sma…

You know, that's all people say is that "I'm not an average consumer". If everyone isn't, then who is? Averages lie. Show me a bell curve any day.

How many people make a point of saying "yes, I am indeed your average consumer"?

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#23

Post by bnolsen »

I like tablets, but for very limited uses. They excel, especially for casual puzzle type games that respond very well to touch. For light reading they work fine as well.

Browsing the internet? Well not so great. Mobile versions of websites seem to be always wanting and a lot of web pages are too target rich making it way too easy to accidentally click on something like an advertisement or side bar thingy. And I spend too much time zooming pages and waiting for reflows as well. Overall a pretty irritating experience.

Data input? hehe, yeah right.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#24

Post by dictum »

My love affair with the tablet isn't over: I love how it lets me browse the web, read books and magazines, and watch videos in bed after a long day. That's probably how most people use their tablets — secondary devices, mainly for entertainment. After a working day, I don't want to use a PC, and the tablet lets me use the web and other media comfortably, but I wouldn't try to actually use it for work beyond initially planning projects.

It's much more human, for lack of a better word — more intimate, more ergonomic — than a PC for (browsing the web|reading ebooks or PDFs|watching videos|making video calls).

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#25

Post by BlackDeath3 »

0xdeadbeefbabe wrote: post #6

My love affair with touch screens is over. What a coincidence.

I have to agree with that. We pretty much all grew up before touchscreens were widely available as they are now, and as such I think the allure of them was in their novelty. The more I use touchscreens, the more I realize how inefficient and inconsistent they tend to be (at least, the ones I've used).

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#26

Post by api »

I am not surprised at all: a crippled, jailed, feudalized device that is too large to be carried in your pocket like a phone but far too limited to replace a laptop.

I don't think they'll go away. They're an acceptable "portable dumb terminal" for certain kinds of work or for people who only want web and e-mail and a few apps. They also really kick butt for point of sale terminals and similar kiosk applications.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#27

Post by zacinbusiness »

I use my iPad all the time. From writing documentation to taking notes on projects I'm working on. I also use it for wire framing designs and for editing and passing on documents when I get an email and am away from my computer. I also do these things with my iPhone, but the iPad makes it a little easier with the larger screen.

So, some folks use them for one thing, and some folks use them for another thing (or not at all).

That's the story for basically every product that exists....so....

In other words, re/code is trying to build up their content by using fluff stuff like this - polarizing and gets page views by inciting flame wars.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#28

Post by sjs382 »

dictum wrote: post #24

My love affair with the tablet isn't over: I love how it lets me browse the web, read books and magazines, and watch videos in bed after a long day. That's probably how most people use their tablets — secondary devices, mainly for entertainment. After a working day, I don't want to use a PC, and the tablet lets me use the web and other media comfortably, but I wouldn't try to actually use it for work beyond initially…

Agreed. I'll even go as far as saying that away from work, my Nexus 7 quickly became my primary device. I dread sitting down at the laptop if I'm away form the office.

The existence of the tablet has (indirectly) made me more productive at work, too: Rather than reading articles that come through my RSS feed when I'm working (which is a vice of mine), I just add any interesting items to my Pocket queue, and read it that night (or later in the week) when relaxing at home. Not because I don't want to read the article right away (I usually want to)—but because I actually prefer to read on the tablet.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#30

Post by taopao »

Why do things have to be boiled down into winner-take-all narratives? I feel that the public has no capacity for nuance anymore.

Look, the tablet has its place - usually situations that don't require high-bandwidth HIDs such as keyboards. The computer user of the future will have many devices spanning many different form factors. It's OK.

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