CNET: The Future of the Tablet is the PC

[murg]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

We will see. Microsoft has been pushing these convertibles for years starting right about the time they came out with Windows 8. So far, not much traction. Hybrids generally promise the best of both worlds and deliver the worse of both worlds. Maybe this time will be different. I would be surprised though.

Now that Balmer is gone, Microsoft has finally figured out that you can't get traction when you charge $100 per computer for an operating system and your competition is giving it away for free.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Hybrids generally promise the best of both worlds and deliver the worse of both worlds. Maybe this time will be different. I would be surprised though.

I have a Surface Pro 3 and I'm really happy with it. It's portable like a tablet and can do most things like a laptop - the combination of the touchscreen, keyboard cover, and to a certain extent the pen, make all the difference to versatility.

[Josieb1]

I recently bought a Surface 3 (three weeks ago) and I love it. I still have an ipad mini and two Kindle fires but the Surface is my large go to tablet, I'd replace my 7 inch Fire again but not my ipad. I have the type pad and the pen, plus a mouse. I use it as a tablet most of the time which is where the pen is really useful, only hooking up the type cover and mouse when I need to do lots of typing. I have apps plus desktop programs like Calibre and iTunes loaded. It's the best of both worlds.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Yolina

I have a Surface Pro 3 and I'm really happy with it. It's portable like a tablet and can do most things like a laptop - the combination of the touchscreen, keyboard cover, and to a certain extent the pen, make all the difference to versatility.

My niece liked her touch screen Windows 8 device as well. Doesn't mean that it was successful in the marketplace though. Some people liked their Windows phones, even though that was a huge failure in the market place. Different strokes for different folks.

My comments are geared towards the claim that the combination laptop/tablet computers are going grab a big chuck of the market, not that some people don't like them. According to what I read, this "big growth" of Windows has them up to around 9 percent of tablet units shipped last quarter. Good compared to where they were, not so good compared to Apple or Android. The question is whither or not this growth is purely about the initial hype and marketing push or if it's sustainable. A lot of devices have sputtered after the initial marketing push. If they are the hot new Christmas gift for 4th quarter and continue to grow, then they might have something.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

My niece liked her touch screen Windows 8 device as well. Doesn't mean that it was successful in the marketplace though. Some people liked their Windows phones, even though that was a huge failure in the market place. Different strokes for different folks.

My comments are geared towards the claim that the combination laptop/tablet computers are going grab a big chuck of the market, not that some people don't like them. According to what I read, this "big growth" of Windows has them up to around 9 percent of tablet units shipped last quarter. Good compared to where they were, not so good compared to Apple or Android. The question is whither or not this growth is purely about the initial hype and marketing push or if it's sustainable. A lot of devices have sputtered after the initial marketing push. If they are the hot new Christmas gift for 4th quarter and continue to grow, then they might have something.

The thing is though that even a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have considered a hybrid - they just weren't good enough IMHO - so I had a laptop and a tablet - now I can just use the SP3. My phone is a Note 4 so between that and the SP3, I really no longer have a use for a separate tablet.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Yolina

The thing is though that even a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have considered a hybrid - they just weren't good enough IMHO - so I had a laptop and a tablet - now I can just use the SP3. My phone is a Note 4 so between that and the SP3, I really no longer have a use for a separate tablet.

Exactly.
Three years is an eternity in the computing world, to say nothing of five.
In that time Intel got serious about mobile processors (the current Atoms are really good SOCs, to say nothing of the newest Core CPUs; you can get a tablet with a Core i7!), Microsoft matured Azure and refined its mobile message, and now they got Win10 out the door.

It's a whole different environment.
And the devices are entirely different.
MS started Surface to prod their OEMs out of their slacker designs and they've general succeeded. Quality has gone up and the crapware is starting to vanish, especially with MS selling the Signature Editions to make the point that people prefer clean Windows.

Like with everything else, there will still be tablet users out there but the whole tablets will kill laptops meme is on the way out the door.

[Shane R]

I think there will be a plurality of computing form factors.

Erroneous viewpoints developed because many projected the iPad (really, any new Apple product) to emulate the iPhone successes (90+% of all smartphone profits). They're making the same mistake with the Watch and they'll make it again with the Car. These will be safe, profitable businesses for Apple, but they'll be niches. The iPad is a safe profitable business for Apple, just like its laptop business is. Both trend toward niches though.

The iPhone was an aberration. Windows the OS was an aberration. Nothing in human history will ever again do for one company what Windows did for MS and what the iPhone did for Apple. There will always be pluralities. That's how markets work.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Shane R

I think there will be a plurality of computing form factors.

This erroneous viewpoint came about because many projected the iPad (really, any new Apple product) to emulate the iPhone successes (90+% of all smartphone profits). They're making the same mistake with the Watch and they'll make it again with the Car. These will be safe, profitable businesses for Apple, but they'll be niches.

The iPhone was an aberration. Windows the OS was an aberration. Nothing in human history will ever again do for one company what Windows did for MS and what the iPhone did for Apple. There will always be pluralities. Thats how markets work.

Windows success is mostly the result of opponent incompetence in the 80's and 90's that entrenched it so deeply an asteroid impact won't kill it.

PS2 almost made it there.
Kindle is getting close to that threshold.

In each of those cases you have a good product that goes essentially unchallenged because the opposition misread the market. And, as you say, those events are rare, generational outliers.

[murg]

Originally Posted by Shane R

Nothing in human history will ever again do for one company what Windows did for MS and what the iPhone did for Apple.

History is littered with people who've made statements like this, and have subsequently been proven wrong.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Exactly.
Three years is an eternity in the computing world, to say nothing of five.
In that time Intel got serious about mobile processors (the current Atoms are really good SOCs, to say nothing of the newest Core CPUs; you can get a tablet with a Core i7!), Microsoft matured Azure and refined its mobile message, and now they got Win10 out the door.

It's a whole different environment.
And the devices are entirely different.
MS started Surface to prod their OEMs out of their slacker designs and they've general succeeded. Quality has gone up and the crapware is starting to vanish, especially with MS selling the Signature Editions to make the point that people prefer clean Windows.

Like with everything else, there will still be tablet users out there but the whole tablets will kill laptops meme is on the way out the door.

I think that tablets killing the laptops meme was always bogus. I have both a laptop and a tablet because both units fit different use cases. I tend to agree with the previous poster that there will be niches for many different form factors and designs. The question is how big is the niche. The major problem with the tablet convertable and Windows 8 is that in trying to design a user interface that worked with a tablet and laptop, Microsoft designed one that frustrated many, many users. I would be surprised if Windows 10 solves that particular problem. Having to move your hands from the keyboard to the screen and back is a big, big issue.

[Shane R]

Originally Posted by murg

History is littered with people who've made statements like this, and have subsequently been proven wrong.

What is the next big development everyone is waiting for?

Too bad Google isn't raking in some funds off of Android. If I were an investor, I'd be a little miffed at that.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Having to move your hands from the keyboard to the screen and back is a big, big issue.

Why do you need to? If you have a keyboard and mouse/touch pad there's no reason to ever touch the screen. On the flip side, if you're using it as a tablet, there's no need to use the keyboard. That's why convertibles are amazing.

Shari

[robko]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

The major problem with the tablet convertable and Windows 8 is that in trying to design a user interface that worked with a tablet and laptop, Microsoft designed one that frustrated many, many users. I would be surprised if Windows 10 solves that particular problem. Having to move your hands from the keyboard to the screen and back is a big, big issue.

I disagree that moving your hands from keyboard to screen is an issue at all (let alone a "big, big issue"). It's no different than moving your hand on your laptop to the touchpad or mouse (and both those options are available to me on my Surface 3 anyway). And I would say W10 solves a lot of the issues. I didn't mind W8.1 and now that I have W10 on my tablet there is no way I'm going back (even with a couple of bugs that need to be sorted).
I used to used to be like you and used my tablet (an Acer W4) and a laptop independent of each other and each for their own purpose. Since I moved to the Surface 3 it has taken over a nice portion of what I previously would have preferentially pulled the laptop out for. It has enough screen size and power that it works. The FULL WINDOWS factor is why I see convertibles/hybrids/tablets taking over more of the market. You're not giving up functionality over a laptop and people are either used to a smaller screen due to phones/phablets/tablets or they just hook it to an external monitor when they need bigger screen real estate.

EDIT TO ADD: and on the moving hands off keyboard: since you can use full windows with the exact version of Office etc you're using on your laptop, if you're using keyboard shortcuts on your laptop you can use exactly the same keyboard shortcuts on your tablet with a keyboard.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Shane R

What is the next big development everyone is waiting for?

If we knew that, we'd all be prophets doing it, and then nobody will own the whole market.



You are missing the point.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

CNET sales reports are pointing at a resurgence of PC sales through 2-in-1 convertibles:

http://www.cnet.com/news/the-future-...let-is-the-pc/


More at the source.

Apple's "Pony" is out of tricks.

They used to say a 3.5" screen iPhone was all you needed, now they sell about twice that large a screen.

The iPad was to be a new era for computers. Now it appears to be not much at all.

The iWatch was a new "coming." Now not so much.

Apple TV has been kicked around for a while now. Anyone have one?

iTunes makes people mad.

... Apple needs not only new tricks, they need a new "pony."