Tablet Sales are Sizzling

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Hey I had 2 or three computers way before I got the internet! My first was an Atari something or other. My next was a Windows 3.1, and I had a Windows 95, too lol.

I had several also. I had (going to age myself here) an apple IIC back in October of 1984. A now deuncft Zeos in 1991, a gateway in 95, a dell in 2000 and 2005 and now an Hp in 2012.

Still though prior to 1996 home computer still were not as mainstream as they would become due to the internet. If people did have a PC they were college students or their job required them to do work on them or just plain geeks who loved to tinker(mostly games) with them.

Now with students and people who do not really need the power of a pc, going to tablets, they will again become niche. Mostly for the nerds(extreme gamers) and businesses that need the processing power of a pc.

[MartyTX]

Originally Posted by booklover6

My first was an Atari something or other.

A little respect please, you're talking about my beloved Arari 800XL! A sweet machine for it's day.

Back in 1981, before the Atari, I had a Timex-Sinclair ZX81. It had 2K of RAM, not 2MB or 2GB ... only 2K. Saved files on cassette tape, like the old audio tape for music.

The good old days ... maybe, maybe not?

[tubemonkey]

My first computer

[Tony1988]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

My first computer

I am not even going to try to guess your age.

[CarolineNH]

My first computer was a Commodore 64. I remember having to boot the OS with a 5-1/4" disk before I could play with the computer. Then I went to college, and had to get a 286 PC for my programming classes. I sacrificed an RGB monitor (went with an amber monitor) in order to spring for the 40 MB hard drive. Didn't get Windows (3.1) for another year or so. My first computer job was programming COBOL on Wang mainframes! We didn't start playing on the internet until my next job - sys admin on Unix machines.

My now-15 year old son has grown up with computers, ever since he could maneuver a mouse with his hand (about 2 yrs old). We've gone through just about all the tablets and smartphones in my family. My husband has a collection of laptops, but no tablets, just an iPhone 4. I had a Sony PRS-650 (after a long string of PDAs) before getting into Kindles (I've gone through Kindle 3, Kindle Fire 1st gen, and now Kindle PW); I've also had iPad 1, iPad 2, and now iPad mini. My son has gone through Nook Color, Nook Tablet, and now has a Nexus 7 (the first model, only 8 GB) and wants the Nook HD+ for reading Manga. They certainly have their uses, and many are very affordable at this point. My daughter manages most of online interaction on a Kindle Fire (1st gen) and a netbook. The days of spending $1200 on computers is pretty much gone! For that much, we can get just about one of everything.

[danskmacabre]

Originally Posted by CarolineNH

My first computer was a Commodore 64. I remember having to boot the OS with a 5-1/4" disk before I could play with the computer.

hmm I had a C64 as well (the chocolate coloured keys and light brown case), the OS is hardcoded on a chip, you don't have to boot the OS on a floppy. In fact I didn't even have a floppy drive with my C64 initially, just a tape drive. Only the games and apps had to be loaded from tape.
Later I bought a 1541 floppy drive and again games loaded off that, not the OS.
The main reason I bought my C64 was to play Elite on it.

Then I went to college, and had to get a 286 PC for my programming classes. I sacrificed an RGB monitor (went with an amber monitor) in order to spring for the 40 MB hard drive. Didn't get Windows (3.1) for another year or so. My first computer job was programming COBOL on Wang mainframes! We didn't start playing on the internet until my next job - sys admin on Unix machines.

I later bought the Commodore Amiga, the Amiga 1500, which was like the 2000, but minus the HDD and it had 2 floppy drives.
The first PC I bought was a 486 4*25mhz pc (multi core bringing speed up to 100mhz)
It ran windows 95 and I got the Voodoo 1 video card for it to play Quake.

I used to use the Wang VS1000 programming RPG2, but that was a VERY long time ago.
I program on in Iseries (as400, I5 etc) boxes now using RPGILE and other stuff.

My now-15 year old son has grown up with computers, ever since he could maneuver a mouse with his hand (about 2 yrs old).

Yeah my kids have ipods, tablets, 3ds, we share a few PCs, ereaders etc etc..
I showed them what the c64 looked like a while back on an emulator, they thought it was cute and even had a bit of fun playing "yie ar kung fu".. ...

[Anabana]

The abacus was in constant use in the Chinatown banks when I visited San Francisco for the first time in 1954. The teller's fingers were an absolute blur and probably out-paced modern technology for computation, but their receipts had to be hand-written, of course.

I was fascinated and practically had to be dragged from the building!

My first home computer (1996) was cobbled together by a nephew and ran Windows 95 - no internet for another 2 years.... Dial-up -- oh my!

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by MartyTX

A little respect please, you're talking about my beloved Arari 800XL! A sweet machine for it's day.

Back in 1981, before the Atari, I had a Timex-Sinclair ZX81. It had 2K of RAM, not 2MB or 2GB ... only 2K. Saved files on cassette tape, like the old audio tape for music.

The good old days ... maybe, maybe not?

I don't remember my Atari model number. I got it in 1986, I think. It was nice! There was nothing wrong with it, when I switched to a windows box. I eventually gave it away...should have kept it.

[danskmacabre]

For the record the 2 tablets we have a very useful for light browsing, email, reading PDFs etc.. but for more heavy work, there' still nothing like using a laptop or desktop PC with a nice large monitor.

Since getting a Galaxy S2 recently I have found it does most of the tasks the Tablets were performing. Now I only use the tablets for reading PDFs, comics etc..

[caleb72]

Another C64 user here. Loved that computer. We had 3 or 4 of them in the house and it was that machine that started me on the path to computer programming. I started teaching myself Pascal and C along with the BASIC that came with the OS.

[voracious71]

Originally Posted by VaultBoy

Everyone in this house will be getting one this year, I believe.

Dad thinks he is surprising me, I've got one for my kid, wife is waiting for herself to arrive, and we are splitting the cost on another for my brother. It's a fondleslab wonderland.

Here too. I have an ipad 4 and just bought myself an ipad mini. My mom and I are splitting the cost of getting my sister an ipad mini for Christmas.

My dad inherited my old Ipad 1.

[Sydney's Mom]

If I didn't need to remote into work, I would be perfectly happy with my Tab. At $270 at the Costco Black Friday Sale, I am hooked. I have also have a Kindle Fire HD, but except for the free Prime Videos, I really don't use it anymore.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by wizwor

The story here is that the tablet has become a commodity. Prices and awareness reflect that. Everyone has touched one and prices are so low that everyone can afford one.

I agree. With the prices starting at $199 it has become an impulse buy.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by sadievan

So. Which tablet is everyone getting. Would be interesting to see the different picks of each one.

I have contemplating getting a Samsung Note 10.1,but I'm holding back because I want it with a keyboard that can attach similar to the Surface. I like the Surface setup, but I want the added benefit of a stylus, very helpful when writing Japanese. But I also want the ability to have a keyboard and use that as a cover for the tablet.

I already have an ASUS Transformer, so it's not like I'm in a hurry. Next time, no compromises.

[Ripplinger]

My first computer was an IBM PCjr when they first came out in 1983 or 84. The first thing I did when I got it home was to take it apart . I had an extra drive for it, figured out how to hook up my huge console stereo to it so I had my version of ghetto surround sound while playing King's Quest loooooong before anyone even thought about having more speakers for their computers, let alone coming from behind and in front of you. Heck, most people didn't have computers to begin with. 1200 baud modems for bbs boards, would be painful to deal with today. I still have it around here too, I could never bring myself to part with it.

And I'm tempted to get a cheap tablet, not even because I even need one, but for just another techie toy. They're now getting cheap enough I can justify getting one just for that reason.