Fully agree, it is nothing more than an expensive toy to browse the Internet and play games.
A proper computer wins hands down for any type of productive work.
I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
41–50 of 115 posts
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#42I have also Asus transformer prime. I use it for reading PDFs; I also have a Kindle app; then there's streaming music, watching movies, and playing games. Also useful for occasional web browsing (e.g., to look up something while reading).
I also had a keyboard, but quickly figured out that it was useless. It transformed the tablet into a laptop that only barely could do things I usually use the laptop for.
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#43I echo the sentiments here that tablets are media consumption devices, because that really is what they're best at. The most productive use I have for my tablet is using it to view a crochet or knitting pattern while I'm working on it or for following a recipe when cooking. My tablet's primary use is for reading, though.
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#44I'd probably agree, if we're being strict about "productive." I still wouldn't give mine up.
I had a smartphone, and I was paying way too much each month to never make a phone call, to check email, navigate the city, and check wikipedia/google for conversational trivia.
I now have a Nexus 7 instead. Chucked the phone completely. I pay about $25 for metered data. GrooveIP would let me make phone calls on it, but I haven't had the need.
I even stopped hunting for apps, I've just settled on this as a great email/wiki/nav device. The bigger screen makes the experience better for all the things I use it for. Larger size means larger battery, it feels like it lasts forever. It's still pocket sized. A 6-inch mini-tablet would probably be my sweet spot, but 7 isn't too shabby.
None of my uses are "productive," but I'm also not usually "producing" anything outside of a fixed workspace. Kudos to those who prefer to write in parks or coffee houses, I prefer my full chair and desk.
Wouldn't give it up; don't see it as a fad.
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#45Tablet is primarily a media consumption device. So - reading/learning. That can be productive. I also reply to emails and schedule calendar events from it. As soon as I need to edit documents, manage servers, or write code - I move to a laptop or desktop, it's just more comfortable. P.S. wrote this on my iPad
I don't think reading/learning are productive use cases. Productivity, IMHO, means you create/produce something that is tangentially different (regardless of how small it is) than what existed before an activity. In the minds of most people, creating new knowledge or acquiring new information does not conform to the above definition.
You could argue though that iPads and other tablets _help_ you stay productive on a broader basis. At least that's how I justify my use of my iPad. They simplify certain aspects of my workflow (like easier/intuitive annotation of PDFs). But I know that simplification is not at a level where I'd like it to be.
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#46As a person who has had an iPad since the first generation (and at times used it as the only device in my apartment), I still think Steve Jobs' 2003 characterization is correct: it is a great device for rich guys who can afford a third computer.
Doesn't the sales numbers basically debunk this notion? The iPad is a mass-market device, and the cheapest computer Apple sells.
I'd love to see good numbers for people who own a tablet and only a tablet (I suppose I'd technically count as one cause my laptop is work provided). I suspect the vivid anecdotes of "my grandmum loves hers and is video chatting for the first time ever!" is overpowering the reality where most of those are sold to people who already have desktops and laptops and smartphones. Could be wrong.
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#47Author likes dual monitors therefore tablets are a fad.
This is nonsense. There will always be powernerds who want expensive keyboards and 15 million pixels of desktop. Tablets are not currently productive... for us
Now watch ordinary people using them and then look at tablet sales. Now tell me they are a fad again :)
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#48Terminal.
Sounds crazy but I do a lot of work in the terminal and the ipad makes a great terminal when paired with a keyboard.
It's akin to the distraction free solutions such as write room or the blocking the Internet hacks out there... With the ipad you can just have a terminal and nothing else fighting for my attention. Especially as the otherwise great Promt app logs you out so quickly so I put off checking my email as long as possible.
In short, I get more work done.
I think two tablets would make a great development environment, one running the terminal and one a browser checking the results... I do mostly web work so this is easy in the current state of affairs.
I guess I'm old school in my thinking that a screen can be totally detached from its server but then again I once admined a few hundred sun rays. The tablet to me is just the end display, if I need a unix environment I login to a unix server and do my work. When I'm at a real computer 95% of my time is spent on the terminal anyways so what is the difference if I run vi locally or if it is running in the cloud?
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#49I would say that it is notable that the author has apparently never used iOS. Setting all subjective judgments of whether iOS or Android is better to the side, what that means is that the author hasn't even tried out what is by far the largest app/developer base available on a tablet. So I don't really think the author's opinion bears much weight, when we have facts staring us in the face such as the near-universal adoption of iPads in Fortune 500 companies, sales figures clearly showing that many users are buying tablets instead of laptops now and apparently are doing just fine, etc.
Re: I Can't Find a Single Productive Use For My Tablet
#50My best use case for iPad has been the ease of showing some paper or draft to my advisor instead of printing it out or sending it over email and hoping he reads it. In general, I find iPad great for sporadic use cases that complement my laptop-based use cases quite well. But often I will lament the fact that I am using a $600 device (32GB) just for sporadic use cases.