More tablets, less people reading, less eink devices long run: Forbes

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Silly Wife.

Not at all. She is probably the most rational user of technology that I know. She doesn't do much technology, but when she does, she wants it to just work. She has an iPhone 4S, and a 13 inch Airbook, and she will keep them as long as they work together, which in my experience with Apple products, will be damn near forever.

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by david_e

And how does this differ from what you wrote?

It differs in several ways, the primary one being that I didn't publish an ill considered article, I responded to one. There is absolutely no legitimate research or study to support the OP's hypothesis, and opinion within the publishing industry is effectively the opposite of his. (I work in this industry.)

Unless they reach the stage of having an active (light emitting) screen not create eyestrain then ePaper will trump any tablet for dedicated reading. Tablets will become increasingly popular as prices drop and power increases, but they will never supplant computers in the workplace or gaming community simply because in both those areas screen size is a primary issue. I work with two or three screens as a rule, more and more professionals work with at least two. All twenty-four to thirty-two inch. Gamers drool over triple thirty plus inch screen setups. Gamers are what drive computer power increases, far more than conventional business use. Frame rates are the main criterion for most - something a pad will not provide.

What is interesting is that I am seeing more and more people who use an iPad as an extended screen for a laptop when someone is working portable. There are several apps that provide this functionality. I walked into a coffee shop yesterday and saw three of the dozen or so "cafe-workers" using such a set-up.

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by jabberwock_11

I run a medical clinic and use my tablet quite well as a replacement for my laptop. My tablet is an Asus Transformer, it has a keyboard dock which not only gives it usb ports and a total of 16 hours battery life, but also the previously mentioned keyboard allowing me to type and use it professionally. Tegra quad cores are also attracting a larger and larger percentage of game designers, and now that the Ouya android powered game console has been more than fully funded it too has started to bring in higher end game designers and companies. I also have emulators for most of the available game consoles, so I am good to go. Sure, I can't play the newest $60 PC games, but I am ok with the the $6 ones available for android that are just as good in design. There are better office solutions than MS Office (I never much cared for that suite to begin with). I personally use Polaris Office and my wife uses another program with zero issues. Adobe has a full line of tools available for android, including a PS set (albeit a scaled down version). I don't see android as a compramise at all, just early in development and quickly taking over.

My original statement stands, people see more value in tablets than in eink devices. That does not mean that there is no value in eink, just that the market for tablets is much more stable and is growing much faster. I love my Kindle, but I would be hard pressed to buy a new version when I could buy a tablet for nearly the same price.

In other words, by adding a dock and keyboard to a tablet, you have created a home-brew laptop, only with less power and functionality. You are supporting my point; that a pad - as is - cannot replace a laptop computer.

I have used an iPad for quite some time, it is useful for keeping up with email, playing some simple games - Words with etc., and conferencing. Using it, or any of the other pads I have available - Toshiba, Asus, Samsung, etc., for real work is simply not viable. If I add a BT Keyboard I can type faster, but not using the programs that are of a business standard. By the time I have added a keyboard I am carrying more bulk that my current Macbook Air takes. The MBA has all of the software I use and runs it blindingly fast.

Pads are popular, they have a place, they are even fun, but from a productivity point of view, they are toys. The cost - here - for an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard and a case is approximately the same as for the Macbook Air. As the size difference is hardly noticeable, how hard a decision is it to opt for more power and function?



Look at the two together. One is a powerful Core i5 computer with a four GB of memory, a 250GB Solid State drive, there is little difference in size or weight, and the cost is similar if you add your BT keyboard and carry case to the iPad.

That is now, wait another year. Computers are getting smaller, lighter, more powerful and cheaper. Do you really think that pads are the future?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

It differs in several ways, the primary one being that I didn't publish an ill considered article, I responded to one. There is absolutely no legitimate research or study to support the OP's hypothesis, and opinion within the publishing industry is effectively the opposite of his. (I work in this industry.)

Unless they reach the stage of having an active (light emitting) screen not create eyestrain then ePaper will trump any tablet for dedicated reading. Tablets will become increasingly popular as prices drop and power increases, but they will never supplant computers in the workplace or gaming community simply because in both those areas screen size is a primary issue. I work with two or three screens as a rule, more and more professionals work with at least two. All twenty-four to thirty-two inch. Gamers drool over triple thirty plus inch screen setups. Gamers are what drive computer power increases, far more than conventional business use. Frame rates are the main criterion for most - something a pad will not provide.

What is interesting is that I am seeing more and more people who use an iPad as an extended screen for a laptop when someone is working portable. There are several apps that provide this functionality. I walked into a coffee shop yesterday and saw three of the dozen or so "cafe-workers" using such a set-up.

Well that's certainly one opinion. As I said, it is completely dependent on your own personal needs. You act like there is only one path, one solution. You are wrong.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

...
That is now, wait another year. Computers are getting smaller, lighter, more powerful and cheaper. Do you really think that pads are the future?

Yes. Depending on what one's requirements are.

[david_e]

.....

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Well that's certainly one opinion. As I said, it is completely dependent on your own personal needs. You act like there is only one path, one solution. You are wrong.

I am often wrong, just ask my wife.

As for this, I am not saying that my opinion is the only one, I am saying that the OP's opinion is not valid with regard to all factors involved - and giving some reasons why not. It isn't really a debate as there can only be one possible way that someone will use a pad (in a business sense) in preference to a computer that is designed for running business software when all options are considered. Purely personal preference. Some guys like Blondes, I like Redheads - but I am not about to divorce my wife for one.

As for "one path, one solution", in business and gaming, what I say is correct. Business and gaming are the only two areas that I am discussing, and as they drive the industry, they are the real issue. I am not a gamer, I don't play with computers, nor do almost all of those who I deal with. I use them to make a living, and I would be very foolish not to use the most suitable for the purpose. I have yet to see or hear of any corporation or even small business replacing computers with pads. They cannot run business software, no tax software, no database, no office suite, no storage capacity. They cannot be used to design, develop or support a web site. They are effectively exactly what I said, a compromise. A way of mimicking "some" of the functionality of a computer.

What is "wrong" about what I am saying? What would you like to debate?
If you get away from business, I am sure that many people might use a pad as their only computing device, but that is a different issue. In that area they become consumer toys - entertainment devices.

[DarkScribe]

Originally Posted by david_e

it didn't stick when I more subtlety tried to point it out. I doubt your more direct approach will have any more success.

You "subtlety" made my point. Although you argue that a pad can be used in a business sense, you need a dock and keyboard to approach the usefulness of a computer - a pad on its own doesn't do the job. A pad with an added dock and keyboard is no longer just a pad. It is a pretend computer that is less powerful and more difficult to carry than a compact laptop.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by david_e

it didn't stick when I more subtlety tried to point it out. I doubt your more direct approach will have any more success.

Yep, see above.

[speakingtohe]

Like Darkscribe I want a high-powered desktop and at least a pretty damn spiffy laptop as well. I upgrade every two years to the best I can afford.

I gave my sister a quad core desktop two years ago and last year a tablet. She rarely uses the desktop now. I rarely use my tablet.

I am a desktop kind of gal and my sister is happy with weeny little apps that she can use from a reclining position.

Each to their own.

Helen

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DarkScribe

You "subtlety" made my point. Although you argue that a pad can be used in a business sense, you need a dock and keyboard to approach the usefulness of a computer - a pad on its own doesn't do the job. A pad with an added dock and keyboard is no longer just a pad. It is a pretend computer that is less powerful and more difficult to carry than a compact laptop.

Wrong. For his need it is perfect. Others have other needs. Your assumptions are wrong. People have vastly different requirements for technology. Yours is one opinion. That is all.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Like Darkscribe I want a high-powered desktop and at least a pretty damn spiffy laptop as well. I upgrade every two years to the best I can afford.

I gave my sister a quad core desktop two years ago and last year a tablet. She rarely uses the desktop now. I rarely use my tablet.

I am a desktop kind of gal and my sister is happy with weeny little apps that she can use from a reclining position.

Each to their own.

Helen

Exactly!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Not at all. She is probably the most rational user of technology that I know. She doesn't do much technology, but when she does, she wants it to just work. She has an iPhone 4S, and a 13 inch Airbook, and she will keep them as long as they work together, which in my experience with Apple products, will be damn near forever.

I know, it was a joke man.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Exactly!

Monkey wants a chromebox to replace his desktop, but they're too spendy.

[david_e]

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