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What happened to tablet sales?

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Re: What happened to tablet sales?

#81

Post by grzm »

bangonkeyboard wrote: post #16
grzm wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As counterpoint, I used my first generation iPad until I broke the screen last year. (It withstood more than a few drops as the corners attested before finally succumbing.) Granted, my use case wasn't overly intensive: mostly just web browsing and video viewing (Netflix, HBO Now, iTunes). My primary gripes are with iTunes and video storage management, and while that was more acute with the limited storage of the firs…

> But that first generation iPad worked well for me, even with iOS 9. The first-generation iPad did not support past iOS 5.1.1.

Thanks for the correction. I know I always upgraded the OS when prompted, which is why I (mistakenly) assumed it was running the latest version.

Re: What happened to tablet sales?

#82

Post by Arizhel »

DigitalSea wrote: post #10

The problem with tablets is they're incredibly limited. The hardware seems to improve with every generation, but specifically in the instance of iOS: the software seems to be stagnate. What's the point in having super fast storage, quad core processors and fast memory if the software is so limiting and horrible it doesn't let you take advantage of it? As a developer, I find iOS to be a horrible operating system and v…

They're not good for surfing the web either, they're just better than phones, purely because of the larger screen. They still have all the same limitations, especially with the lack of a keyboard. I could browse Reddit or HN on a tablet, but there's no way to write my own comments longer than maybe one sentence because there's no keyboard. So it's fine for reading news stories, but that's about it; anything that involves interaction is just too cumbersome to bother. And if you suggest hauling around a separate keyboard, now you've made it so I might as well just bring my laptop.

Re: What happened to tablet sales?

#83

Post by digi_owl »

DigitalSea wrote: post #10

The problem with tablets is they're incredibly limited. The hardware seems to improve with every generation, but specifically in the instance of iOS: the software seems to be stagnate. What's the point in having super fast storage, quad core processors and fast memory if the software is so limiting and horrible it doesn't let you take advantage of it? As a developer, I find iOS to be a horrible operating system and v…

Sad part is that Android could have been there, except that Google got into a civil war between Android and ChromeOS, with the latter winning. Thus Android as anything more than a glorified media player OS sat stagnant for 5 years.

Re: What happened to tablet sales?

#84

Post by digi_owl »

bostand wrote: post #26
DigitalSea wrote: post #10

The problem with tablets is they're incredibly limited. The hardware seems to improve with every generation, but specifically in the instance of iOS: the software seems to be stagnate. What's the point in having super fast storage, quad core processors and fast memory if the software is so limiting and horrible it doesn't let you take advantage of it? As a developer, I find iOS to be a horrible operating system and v…

What do you think of the recent windows 10 tablets?

Ugh. While i have not tried MS own Surface line, i have a 8" Windows tablet here, and it is basically a mess.

MS has basically taken their Phone patform and bolted it onto desktop Windows. Thus you either have painfully limited phone apps (that you need a MS account just to download even when free) or you have the Win32 UI stuff that is a mess on touch screens (small widgets, easy to accidentally drag-n-drop, ever-present close button near the screen edge, etc etc etc).

The Surface line may work a bit better because they have a pen to use, but at that point you are basically emulating a mouse via different means to get around the worst of the Win32 UI issues.

Re: What happened to tablet sales?

#85

Post by tannhaeuser »

mercer wrote: post #74
alanfalcon wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smartphones got much larger. I think if it were just Apple, we'd still have tiny screens on our phones and iPads for general purpose computing at home. Thankfully there is competition and people voted for larger phones with their wallets, so now our phones are as large as we "need" them to be.

I'm sure that played a role. Personally I hate big phones, which is why I have the smallest iPhone (thankfully they keep that option, at least) and an iPad Mini. But many people around me are perfectly happy to use a big ass-phone for most of what they do. Good for them :-).

I, too, dislike big honking 5+" smartphones, and while I could see how they replace mini tablets, I don't think they can be used as general-purpose computing device in the way a tablet can.

Re: What happened to tablet sales?

#86

Post by hackits »

bostand wrote: post #31
hkmurakami wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the same boat not upgrading OS version, but it does limit your app choices significantly.

With the CIA ios exploits out in the wild now, how can you really be comfortable using such an insecure version?

If you're that worried you should just simply stop using the internet. People downloading the facebook or messenger app kind gives a clear message they don't care about their privacy or their data.
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