Tablets are a Waste of Time. Don't Buy One.

[Rizla]

What do people use them for? Checking email, consuming digital content (!) and playing games. Great, that's fine. They are entertainment devices, they are time-wasters, they are a waste of time.

Every moment you spend wasting time on a tablet would be better spent reading a book or an ebook*.

*If you counter "But ah! I read on my tablet!" define what percentage of your glued-to-your-tablet time is spent reading.

[Teknikal]

I more or less agree but for different reasons, their just not as portable as a phone or as capable as a laptop.

Nexus 7 is pretty tempting price wise though and would make a good pdf reader but for reading novels nothing beats the batterylife or screen of e-ink I just wish ereaders and tablets weren't built so fragile.

I use my tablet for three purposes:

• Watching movies
• Reading books for leisure
• Reading books / PDFs for university (or otherwise studying)

Tablets appeal to three distinct primary markets: corporate users, content consumers and PC-replacement-users.

You're addressing an issue with content consumers -- I'm not sure what the issue is, as you haven't attempted to state your argument beyond tablets wasting time that could better be spent reading. While it would be wonderful if everybody enjoyed reading, that's simply not going to happen; furthermore, there's nothing wrong with choosing to consume other digital content such as games, movies, television shows and music. Many of these can be just as educational as reading a book.

Many people own tablets to replace PCs. These people probably never needed to fully utilise a PC in the first place, and what a tablet can do is all they've needed in the first place. I wonder if you would tell people that their PCs are a waste of time because you can also game and watch movies and consume other miscellaneous digital content on a PC -- I assume that you've posted this thread from a PC (or smart phone, or other device capable of providing you with digital content for consumption).

I have a smart phone, a tablet and a computer. I use all three for consumption of digital content -- for games, movies, music, podcasts and books. All three are entertainment devices, but all three also enable me to keep up-to-date with the world; and besides, the greatest form of entertainment (for me) is reading. Before the digital world, paper books were "entertainment devices".

I'm not often glued to my tablet, but when I am truly glued to it, it's because I'm reading for my own leisure or I'm reading a document for university. I'm not often glued to my smartphone, but when I am glued to it, it's because I'm on the phone to a classmate or a lecturer, or I'm listening to a science-y podcast. I only ever watch movies when I'm with company; I'd consider it rude to whip out my tablet and start reading a book in a guest's presence (but I'm an extrovert). To answer your question, I spend approximately 95% of my time on my tablet reading -- just over half of that time for leisure, and just under half of that time for education.

I agree with taustin, but I bit anyway, because I can't sing the praises of tablets highly enough - they're better than carrying two text books and a fantasy door-stopper! (And, if your eyes can take the LCD or you're not bothered by a transition between e-ink and LCD, they can even be better than lugging around more than one reading device in the same circumstance.)

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Rizla

What do people use them for? Checking email, consuming digital content (!) and playing games. Great, that's fine. They are entertainment devices, they are time-wasters, they are a waste of time.

Every moment you spend wasting time on a tablet would be better spent reading a book or an ebook*.

*If you counter "But ah! I read on my tablet!" define what percentage of your glued-to-your-tablet time is spent reading.

I actually save time because I have a tablet. Otherwise I'd have to get out of bed, turn on my PC, start a browser, go to the forums and read there. Now, I picked up my tablet which was laying beside me on my nightstand, turned it on (which is instant) and open the forum reading app. Saves me at least 10 minutes. And when I'm done here, I'll open my book reading app and start reading, instead of going back up again and try to read on a non-backlit device in a darker room.

I use my tablet for a lot of things, which save me time. Such as my grocery shopping list, my encyclopedia, my book, my communication device with the outside world...

[VaporPunk]

Lemme fix this for ya. Tablets are a Waste of Time for Rizla. Don't Buy One. There, now we're all happy.

[Pushka]

I really like my nexus but don't see the need to justify that.

[rhadin]

For what it is worth, I own a Nook tablet and have never played a game on it, never read an email on it, and never browsed the Internet on it. I use it to read ebooks and the New York Times.

What the tablet does offer me, however, that the eInk ereaders I own do not, is the ability to have some of the Audubon apps on it. My wife likes birdwatching and the Audubon bird app is essentially reading a bird guide plus the ability to hear the bird call.

And children like the ability to see a bird in our backyard and go to the app and identify it and learn more about the bird.

The real issue is how disciplined is the tablet owner. I don't watch TV and could care less about watching videos on the tablet, so I don't do either. I do not feel I need to be always connected, which is one of the reasons I don't have a smartphone, don't twitter or text, and continue to use my basic cell phone that I bought 10 years ago.

[Chi Cygni]

My ipad saves me tremendous amount of time when I do online shopping. Especially clothes. No more going to a crowded shopping centre to browse through all the racks. Ugly changing rooms, noise, music and too bright. Stand in the queue to pay and back home by tram (another 25 min there and back) No, thanks, shopping from my sofa. And the choice is immensely bigger. Also for xmas gifts. I am still on my ipad1, expensive as it was, best money ever spent.
And just oredered my next ereader from my sofa, via my tablet. Don't have to queue in a xmas havoc line to pay either. Writing this on ipad as well.

[JoHunt]

Originally Posted by Rizla

Every moment you spend wasting time on a tablet would be better spent reading a book or an ebook*.

You might want to spend a few less moments reading and discover that there is more to life

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by Teknikal

Nexus 7 is pretty tempting price wise though and would make a good pdf reader but for reading novels nothing beats the batterylife or screen of e-ink I just wish ereaders and tablets weren't built so fragile.

I cannot agree more. For regular e-book content, yes, nothing beats my E Ink reader. But for reading complicated PDF content, I couldn't find any useful solution based on E Ink. For that purpose I purchased the Nexus 7, which is a truly remarkable device for its price, and it does display PDF content like charm.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

I cannot agree more. For regular e-book content, yes, nothing beats my E Ink reader. But for reading complicated PDF content, I couldn't find any useful solution based on E Ink. For that purpose I purchased the Nexus 7, which is a truly remarkable device for its price, and it does display PDF content like charm.

This Christmas I am getting a grandchild a Nexus 7. I won't go into all the reasons I was given by my kids.

Personally I am sure both I and the child would rather spend the time together and with friends at the park or zoo, but the tablet will be nice for her on those cold wintery evenings or those days when she can't get out.

[DrNefario]

I'm using mine to read this forum right now.

Yeah, it's a waste of time.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

I cannot agree more. For regular e-book content, yes, nothing beats my E Ink reader. But for reading complicated PDF content, I couldn't find any useful solution based on E Ink. For that purpose I purchased the Nexus 7, which is a truly remarkable device for its price, and it does display PDF content like charm.

Similar for me, but I purchased an iPad. Downstairs in the hobby room, the iPad works perfectly for reference material PDF's or browsing for information.

The symmetry works perfectly for me.

[Apache]

My wife and I use them for both work and personal enjoyment.
At the store we can use them at the counter to help with sales. Instead of catalogs the customer can see everything my vendors offer. You can put a ring together right before their eyes. It can also be used to give the customer a more in depth understanding of jewelery and why they need to know it. A informed customer is a happier customer. The tablets are used to order form vendors instead of sitting on hold waiting in Que. This time of year vendor phone lines are jammed. The tablets can be used to take a picture of a ring and emailed to whom ever the customer wants to have see it. At market we can use the tablets determine what vendors we want to visit and their location. Some of these shows (Las Vegas) are huge and in multiple Venues.
Useless, I don't think so.
Apache

[Asawi]

Yep! Tablets are a waste of time. But so is for example golf...