Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
I think that the consumption/creation division used so often in discussing tablets is almost completely contrived. First of all, 90% of home computers are also "consumption" devices, based on their usage. Second, the fact that tablets aren't ideal for a lot of text input doesn't make them "very expensive toys" by a long shot (for one thing, they are not "very expensive). After doing a pilot project, my work just bought several hundred iPads to replace laptops for some users. A lot of physicians are using iPads, as are a lot of lawyers. I use my iPad at work a lot, and it is a lot more functional than a laptop would be for its usage cases.
The iPad isn't replacing a primary computer - any of these people who need to do a lot of text input will use their desktop or primary laptop to create the document. But an important part of many jobs involve going to meetings and talking about documents that were created in the office. And when you need something to look up documents on the work system, check something on the internet, e-mail, or, most importantly, share a document on screen with someone else - a tablet beats a laptop in most use cases.
Now, obviously, if you have a job where you never leave your cubicle for offsite meetings, or if virtually all of your work is text input with no need for portability, a tablet won't meet your needs. But in a lot of work cases, a tablet will perform better than a laptop when the laptop is just needed for database access, internet access, and e-mail.
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Well, I'm part of that 10% I guess. As a writer, a tablet is useless to me. That is most of what I do on a computer.
But it strikes me that you're wrong about tablets being so appealing and versatile when you look at the numbers. More people own ereaders than tablets, by a pretty big margin. And ereaders a niche product. Tablets can't even compete with ereaders. There's a reason for that.
Ereaders do what they do really well. They don't try to be things they aren't, and they don't do anything half-assed. Tablets do almost everything half-assed, and they have no specific purpose. In addition to that, they have very poor ergonomics and present the same problem that we had before the typewriter - your hand covering what you're trying to look at.
I have a convertible touch netbook. That is a perfect solution to me. It weighs a bit more than a tablet, but honestly, without a real keyboard, tablets are useless to me anyway and I'd be carrying around an external keyboard if I had one - so weight-wise it works out about the same.
It has great handwriting recognition. So if I need to take quick notes while I'm standing or moving I can swivel down the screen and do that, or to quickly read PDF's, or whatever.
If I need to actually get things *done* I can swivel it out again and use the real keyboard. And it has a full operating system.
$500 may not be expensive to you, but it certainly is for me. I could buy a whole 'nother netbook for that price, and it would be vastly more functional. Hell, I could buy 2.
But honestly, if I'm part of a 10% minority on one end of the spectrum, I think you're part of a 10% minority on the other end. I may not represent the average user due to the amount of output I do, but I don't know any average users who use their tablets a whole lot. Most of them say they bought it, it was neat for a week, and they use it less and less. They can do all the same stuff on their netbook/notebook plus a lot more, and it will do it a lot better than a tablet could. Why bother?
I see tablets for sale on campus all the time, from students who bought them thinking they'd be useful for class. My dad got a tablet a month ago... and now he hardly uses it. Because it just isn't that useful.
Maybe it is for you and what you do, but from what I can tell you're as much a minority as me.