Upcoming tablets

[dmikov]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

With respect, besides you (and now me) no one in this blessed world has ever heard of, seen in real life or possibly actually bought, the Sony Dash. Remind me: what is the point of this device?

Since it's not available till 4/29 nobody could. I for one will buy it, since I like the idea of alarm, photo frame and pandora radio sitting next to my bed.
I don't see how it's relevant to tablet though since it's not mobile at all, although to be perfectly honest I don't understand why people would want a certain tablet in wifi flavor. Don't they have TV and computer at home already? I know they must have a computer to activate that magical device.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by dmikov

I don't see how it's relevant to tablet though since it's not mobile at all, although to be perfectly honest I don't understand why people would want a certain tablet in wifi flavor. Don't they have TV and computer at home already? I know they must have a computer to activate that magical device.

Form factor.

Reading on a laptop/pc sucks. Surfing the web on the couch (aside from forum posts or long e-mails which need a keyboard) sucks on a laptop. Watching streaming video in bed on a laptop sucks etc.

I much prefer doing all that stuff on my girlfriend's ipad to my laptop. So I definitely want a wifi tablet of some kind, the iPad isn't quite there for me with it's closed system, lack of a file management system/drag and drop etc.

As for WiFi flavor----WiFi only in a tablet is fine for me as I'm not on the go that much, and WiFi hot spots are all around, I only stay in hotels with wifi etc., so I have no need for 3G devices period.

[HansTWN]

Watching streaming video will still suck on a 9.7" screen. What I do is I just hook up an old laptop -- that is too slow for regular use -- to a big screen TV via VGA or HDMI cable, take a bluetooth mouse and watch Hulu or whatever this way. A lot of our guests and friends actually think I am watching regular TV.

I am still interested in a tablet. But the kind I want (about 12", full computer replacement, no thicker and heavier than the iPad, with expansion possibilities and at least the same battery life,) is probably still a few years away. Ideal would be a Mirasol or similar screen technology with 300dpi. Not just an additional gadget that offers a few conveniences, but a computer replacement.

And for real portability I still have my phone or my reader.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Watching streaming video will still suck on a 9.7" screen. What I do is I just hook up an old laptop -- that is too slow for regular use -- to a big screen TV via VGA or HDMI cable, take a bluetooth mouse and watch Hulu or whatever this way.

True, but it's fine to watch in bed etc. IMO (especially since I don't have or want a TV in the bedroom). It's so close to me the small screen size doesn't bother me. Same with watching on a laptop, but in bed the heat output sucks--especially in the summer--so I'd rather do it on an iPad like tablet. I don't do a ton of that anyway since I just DVR the shows I watch--so I seldom stream one unless I'm wanting to watch at my girlfriends or the DVR screwed up etc.

Also, and unfortunately my HDTV doesn't have an VGA input, and my laptop doesn't have any other video outs (despite being less than a year old, consequence of being a business oriented Thinkpad I guess) so the only streaming video I watch on the TV is Netflix streaming via my X-box.

Also on that note, I think there is a cable to hook up the iPad to TVs (ipad to HDMI cable) so one could still stream to the TV. And in my case that would work where my laptop wouldn't for lack of video out options.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

True, but it's fine to watch in bed etc. IMO (especially since I don't have or want a TV in the bedroom). It's so close to me the small screen size doesn't bother me. Same with watching on a laptop, but in bed the heat output sucks--especially in the summer--so I'd rather do it on an iPad like tablet. I don't do a ton of that anyway since I just DVR the shows I watch--so I seldom stream one unless I'm wanting to watch at my girlfriends or the DVR screwed up etc.

Also, and unfortunately my HDTV doesn't have an VGA input, and my laptop doesn't have any other video outs (despite being less than a year old, consequence of being a business oriented Thinkpad I guess) so the only streaming video I watch on the TV is Netflix streaming via my X-box.

Also on that note, I think there is a cable to hook up the iPad to TVs (ipad to HDMI cable) so one could still stream to the TV. And in my case that would work where my laptop wouldn't for lack of video out options.

A TV without VGA?

[Magnesus]

Originally Posted by Crowl

A4 is hardly ideal on 4:3

I have 1280x1024 (5:4) LCD screen and in portrait it's great for A4 PDFs.
A4 is closer to 4:3 than to 5:4, so I suppose A4 PDF should look even better on 4:3 screen than it does on mine.

[CTH]

I want MS courier! I really hope it will be a real product and not just a concept. Looks really nice. I dont think I will buy any of these tablets, they havent shown thier usefullness yet. Sure my little gadget voice inside my head tells me to buy one anyway but I dont think I will listen to him this time

[HansTWN]

The courier is very nice, but not for those of us who prefer typing to handwriting. I have gone back to some handwriting now that I have my new Irex (for taking short notes) and it looks so awful even I myself can hardly read it. Perhaps I should write prescriptions, aren't doctors famous for that?

[WillAdams]

Hans, there's always time to improve your handwriting.

A friend of mine has made teaching it her life's work:

http://handwritingrepair.info/

Gunnlaugur SE Briem, a noted calligrapher, type designer and author has a page on this as well:

http://briem.net/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm

His site has a number of books in .pdf format....

William

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Hans, there's always time to improve your handwriting.

A friend of mine has made teaching it her life's work:

http://handwritingrepair.info/

Gunnlaugur SE Briem, a noted calligrapher, type designer and author has a page on this as well:

http://briem.net/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm

His site has a number of books in .pdf format....

William

I am sure there are ways to improve --- but is it worth it? A disappearing art, more of a hobby like riding a horse instead of driving a car, if you ask me. I bet 20 years from now hardly anyone will be able to write cursive anymore, except for his/her signature. And typing is so much faster, in some languages several times as fast. I use handwriting on the reader because the screen is so much bigger than on my phone and I usually have my reader with me when when I visit customers. Bigger is also better for showing writings and drawings to others.

Still, sounds interesting, definitely will have a look.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

Form factor.

Reading on a laptop/pc sucks. Surfing the web on the couch (aside from forum posts or long e-mails which need a keyboard) sucks on a laptop. Watching streaming video in bed on a laptop sucks etc.

I much prefer doing all that stuff on my girlfriend's ipad to my laptop. So I definitely want a wifi tablet of some kind, the iPad isn't quite there for me with it's closed system, lack of a file management system/drag and drop etc.

As for WiFi flavor----WiFi only in a tablet is fine for me as I'm not on the go that much, and WiFi hot spots are all around, I only stay in hotels with wifi etc., so I have no need for 3G devices period.

Ditto

[WillAdams]

The ability to express oneself in writing on paper lucidly and legibly is very important and arguably should become _more_ important as tablet computers become more widespread.

``The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive opportunity missed. The neurological process that directs thought, through fingers, into written symbols is a highly sophisticated one. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better -- a lifelong benefit. ''
--Margaret Webb Pressler, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, October 11, 2006

William
(who has had every job application he ever submitted picked out because it was written w/ a chisel-edged fountain pen in an italic style)

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

The ability to express oneself in writing on paper lucidly and legibly is very important and arguably should become _more_ important as tablet computers become more widespread.

``The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive opportunity missed. The neurological process that directs thought, through fingers, into written symbols is a highly sophisticated one. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better -- a lifelong benefit. ''
--Margaret Webb Pressler, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, October 11, 2006

William
(who has had every job application he ever submitted picked out because it was written w/ a chisel-edged fountain pen in an italic style)

I am sure it will help children's mental development to have such skills, though I think most people will use on-screen or external keyboards on tablets rather than handwriting. With word prediction features, etc. keyboards are just too far ahead. So I dare say you are part of a relatively small minority in the West today. A majority Chinese, on the other hand, still prefer handwriting recognition on phones, etc. Although a speedy typist will be that much quicker, here too.

So I have a personal question for you -- would you pick a candidate based on handwriting analysis (or just for having a clean handwriting style) if you were the one choosing between job applicants?

[WillAdams]

On-screen keyboards are much slower than just writing things out --- one can't use an external keyboard in many of the places one can use a tablet computer, and the latter will always be more natural for note-taking which involves figures or images or math equations.

Handwriting analysis / graphology is bunk --- pseudo-science at its worst.

When conducting interviews here at work, the candidates w/ nice handwriting are more likely to be invited to an interview and certainly, all other things being equal, the candidate w/ nicer handwriting would edge out the one w/ an illegible scrawl --- how could they not?

William

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Hans, there's always time to improve your handwriting.

A friend of mine has made teaching it her life's work:

http://handwritingrepair.info/

Yeowch. That is one fugly website. For someone emphasizing the value of visual presentation, the website is almost comically bad.