Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

recode.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 201 posts

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#31

Post by zipperhead »

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…

Yes, and the superior battery life of a tablet enables this casual consumption very nicely.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#32

Post by bcbrown »

BlackDeath3 wrote: post #22
geuis wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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"?

I would venture to say that the average consumer doesn't take part in online discussions about the behaviors of average consumers.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#33

Post by gress »

This seems like a weirdly narrow experience to base writing off tablets in general on. It also is contradicted by the massive volume of android tablets being specifically sold as tv replacements.

Seems like he's been deluded by taking numbers out of context.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#35

Post by Zancarius »

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...

> Have you ever seen a child use a tablet?

Or your mother?

Seriously. It's actually kind of amazing.

I got my mum one a couple of years ago and she's hooked. She literally doesn't leave the house without it if she's going anywhere that involves some manner of waiting. Touch input is something far more intuitive to someone in her generation (so it seems with my meager sample size of one) than mouse/menu-driven input. Granted, I still have to occasionally show her how to perform certain actions on the device, but save for the first few weeks, that's now quite rare.

I think the thing with tablets is that they function for some adults as a replacement for casual use--browsing, e-mail, videos, etc; a consumption device, as you stated--but not for content creation. My mum still uses her computer to send e-mail, for instance, but everything else she does on her tablet. Maybe it's because she's a touch typist, but I suspect there's something about a keyboard that's a very difficult thing to replace.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#36

Post by NathanKP »

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…

This is exactly how I use my tablet too. I use my computer all day writing code, so when its time to relax with some Netflix, or an ebook I grab my tablet instead. Its perfect for laying on the couch or in bed.

A phone definitely works in that case as well, but the tiny screen isn't as nice for reading and watching video. Not to mention by the end of the day my phone is usually mostly dead and its time to put it on the charger for tomorrow. So trying to use my phone in bed while its attached to a charger is annoying. The tablet meanwhile is charged up (and usually lasts a full week for me between charges, even during heavy Netflix usage).

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#37

Post by taopao »

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…

?

Sitting upright at a desk with a reasonably sized monitor placed at arm's length is much more ergonomic than curling over a tiny glossy screen.

Re: Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

#39

Post by fidotron »

The more subtle point here about phablets being the death of tablets is, in my experience, dead on. People still addicted to their 7inch+ tablets simply haven't used a phablet.

I spent last year being much more impressed by single purpose devices anyway. Stuff like the latest eink Kindles, the Chromecast and so on. Curiously they all follow the same push style of content delivery, where it is pushed from the network to the device for focused consumption, and I can't help thinking this is the future.

Post reply on HN