Anyone else not impressed by tablets?

[Fingolfin269]

Anything with a screen smaller than my PC can fuck off.

That must be a big ass smart phone you carry!

 

[H54]

The people with real work to do should definitely stay with their laptops, but I think all this "post-pc world" stuff will start to make a bit more sense in a few years. Perhaps in 5 years or so you will be doing everything with a tablet that you thought you could only do with a laptop.

Tablets already can do everything the average user wants to do. The rest is a matter of input devices and processing power. This is a trend that is only going to continue. Technically they aren't lying when they say a tablet can replace a laptop, they just aren't talking to you in particular when they say that.

I think you're right but I think the power user is not just a niche market.

Nope, unless you want to lug a keyboard around. Unless tablets can build a keyboard that can fold out, work will never be as efficient.

The thing that is mind boggling is the idiots that are paying for a separate monthly data plan ($30 or more) to connect to the internet on these tablets - which my phone can do everything as well for non-screen size functions (web browsing/movie watching). Even web browsing is decent, of course it would be better on a tablet. However, the time spent between PC locations (home/work) makes it irrelevant. Carry on.

The additional data plan is mind boggling.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

That must be a big ass smart phone you carry!

Technically my phone isn't a smartphone, it doesn't have a processor. I make calls and send texts, that's it. FUCK YES, DOUBLE TIME WARP LOL.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm not interested in eBooks because you don't own the books. I'm not a fan of leasing something for the same price as it used to take to buy it.

You're doing it wrong then. You buy the Ebook, and either crack the DRM, or torrent a clean copy. Restrictions on books are unacceptable. It's convenient carrying several books at one time, and fitting them all in a single cargo pocket.

 

[zanejohnson]

tablets rule, never going back to to phone

 

[BoberFett]

Yeah, I browsed his last 200 or so posts, he seems pretty angry, unhappy.

shrug... I remember that crazy depressed shit when I lived in the great white North, always sort of felt trapped by the economy and everything, sort of like being in an episode of Prarie Home Companion on Quaaludes.

Right, anybody who doesn't worship at the altar of Apple is angry or poor.

I'll sum up your last 200 posts.

APPLE!

LOL!

I OWN STOCK!

OMG EVERYBODY LOVES APPLE AND PEOPLE WHO DON'T ARE POOR!

DID I MENTION I OWN APPLE STOCK?!

 

[ultimatebob]

I have an iPad 2, but still I'm not a big fan of it. It's too big to take with you all the time, yet it's too small and impractical to do "real" work on it. Not to mention that a lot of sites still don't render properly on it, because of weird JavaScript menu issues or lack of Flash support.

I mostly use mine to amuse myself when I travel, and check the occasional e-mail.

 

[OutHouse]

You're doing it wrong then. You buy the Ebook, and either crack the DRM, or torrent a clean copy. Restrictions on books are unacceptable. It's convenient carrying several books at one time, and fitting them all in a single cargo pocket.

honestly i dont have time nor the reason to be cracking copyrighted material. Plus i do not pirate and steal shit.

nothing beats a good ole fashioned paperback book, durable, practical and convenient. what more could one ask for? I have a kindel fire and i am not a fan of ebooks.

 

[SP33Demon]

honestly i dont have time nor the reason to be cracking copyrighted material. Plus i do not pirate and steal shit.

nothing beats a good ole fashioned paperback book, durable, practical and convenient. what more could one ask for? I have a kindel fire and i am not a fan of ebooks.

Maybe your problem is the kindle fire (lack of e-ink). Seriously, e-ink on the regular kindle destroys every other medium for reading a book except the real thing.

 

[OutHouse]

Maybe your problem is the kindle fire (lack of e-ink). Seriously, e-ink on the regular kindle destroys every other medium for reading a book except the real thing.

no my daughter has a nook and i just cant get into reading ebooks even on the noon with e-ink.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

They are not for business. They are a toy. Just the modern day gaming console. No serious work can be done on them.

I have one for my kids. "Educational purposes". And for that it is actually good. I would not even think of writing a document on the thing though. I'd rather use my droid 3 since it has a slide out keyboard.

 

[SlitheryDee]

no my daughter has a nook and i just cant get into reading ebooks even on the noon with e-ink.

My initial problem with my kindle was mostly that my brain has been trained my whole life to get into the mode of thought for reading when I'm holding a book in my hand. Besides the appearance of the screen, a kindle doesn't feel or work much like a book. I was constantly "aware" that I was trying to read a novel on this slim little device, and that was a problem for my ability to immerse myself in the book. Just the fact that it's not really a book was sending mixed signals to my brain, I guess. I really had to soldier my way through a whole novel before I found myself getting immersed in the story like I normally would. Since then I've read a couple dozen books on my kindle, and I no longer have a problem with it. Perhaps you just need to break yourself in on it. Get a book that you know you'll love and just read it until the weirdness goes away.

 

[SP33Demon]

Just a bit of trivia, since it's claimed iPads are sold to consumers already in the ecosystem, 70% of iPad 2 launch sales went to brand new Apple customers.

I'm seeing estimates of a million gen III iPads are going to be sold on launch day.

And Boba Fett, you realize HTML 5 changes everything, right? And that Apple is one of the companies pushing HTML 5?

Your solution to your hatred of Apple (LOL, Apple kills babies and starts wars I guess) is for everyone to run Windows? It's voluntary, there will always be platforms with more freedom. Dunno that Microsoft is in danger of losing any markets that I can see.

Web Apps, all beyond Apple's control, it'll be a whole new game. The wild wild west actually...

Tethering for iPads & iPhones all from an HTML 5 web app, but you knew HTML 5 would destroy the App Store, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GkbAiRMf40

I needed my laugh for the day, you said tether and iPad in the same sentence... even funnier was that it's on a... windows laptop (proving them superior again). When you can tether to the iPad to bypass the extra $30 you're paying for that extra data plan, then come to talk. Apple won't allow the iPad to be open in any way, shape or form and HTML5 isn't going to be allowed to lower the ridiculous profit they (and their cellular associates) are making on data plans. Also, don't be surprised if Apple nixes that app just like Android tried (unsuccessfully) to nix their tethering apps - however, Apple has way more control of their app store.

RE: 70% of new Ipad2 sales going to new customers, well that's a loaded statistic because tablets were still (and you could argue are) in their infancy and hindsight has already showed that numbers were and continue to explode in the tablet market.

For my needs, I'd try a kindle fire if it ever got color e-ink, not going to ever try reading from an lcd screen and torture my eyes like that.

Re: what Crono said, I think if the new ultrabooks do hit in the sub $1000 range then that'll be my next purchase.

Re: what soxfan said, he is on the money since most of us geeks don't give a sht about pretty design, especially since most of us know how to get the most power out of the most flexible hardware/software (custom built rigs/lappies with 64bit Linux) and processing. Most of us would only buy Apple because of someone else not on our level (wife, kids).

 

[vi edit]

My initial problem with my kindle was mostly that my brain has been trained my whole life to get into the mode of thought for reading when I'm holding a book in my hand. Besides the appearance of the screen, a kindle doesn't feel or work much like a book. I was constantly "aware" that I was trying to read a novel on this slim little device, and that was a problem for my ability to immerse myself in the book. Just the fact that it's not really a book was sending mixed signals to my brain, I guess. I really had to soldier my way through a whole novel before I found myself getting immersed in the story like I normally would. Since then I've read a couple dozen books on my kindle, and I no longer have a problem with it. Perhaps you just need to break yourself in on it. Get a book that you know you'll love and just read it until the weirdness goes away.

That's kind of my problem with the "e-text" thing with school books going digital. I think it's a step backwards in learning. I honestly beleive there is more to reading than just reading. There's some sort of memory commitment that you have turning pages, judging where something is in a book based on being able to physically see in a book, flipping back and forth between pages to compare something, highlighting, ect.

I would love to see of long term studies of classes tought using e-texts vs. actual texts and see which one ends up with longer retention/application of information.

 

[Veliko]

That's kind of my problem with the "e-text" thing with school books going digital. I think it's a step backwards in learning. I honestly beleive there is more to reading than just reading. There's some sort of memory commitment that you have turning pages, judging where something is in a book based on being able to physically see in a book, flipping back and forth between pages to compare something, highlighting, ect.

I would love to see of long term studies of classes tought using e-texts vs. actual texts and see which one ends up with longer retention/application of information.

I think you are anthropomorphising sheets of paper here.

However an ereader really isn't suited to using textbooks and manuals that you will need to keep referring back to. They are fine for novels, newspapers and magazines that you will read in a linear fashion.

 

[xSauronx]

I think you are anthropomorphising sheets of paper here.

However an ereader really isn't suited to using textbooks and manuals that you will need to keep referring back to. They are fine for novels, newspapers and magazines that you will read in a linear fashion.

indeed. ive bought a few technical books as e-books. software still needs some work to make jumping around in them easier, but i do get to highlite things, make notes and have a copy everywhere i go.

 

[zoiks]

My wife has the iPad2 and I have a nook color. I used to have a Transformer TF101 but I sold that after finding that I have no patience for a product that doesn't perform to what I want it to do. Typing was painful on that thing. The iPad isn't any better either. Writing emails is a major pain. What these are good for are..
Browsing on the internet.
Snooping on people on FB.
Playing meh games.

It definitely won't replace the notebook as Apple once said.

 

[keird]

I like tablets. The orange chewable ones impressed me.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Right, anybody who doesn't worship at the altar of Apple is angry or poor.

I'll sum up your last 200 posts.

APPLE!

LOL!

I OWN STOCK!

OMG EVERYBODY LOVES APPLE AND PEOPLE WHO DON'T ARE POOR!

DID I MENTION I OWN APPLE STOCK?!

Best post of the thread!

You seem a little angry there dude

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Do you have CM9 (ICS) installed on your Touchpad? If not, I would try that before even entertaining the thought of buying another tablet.

I don't, but I probably will eventually. I'm having a couple of issues with my Touchpad:

1. The dreaded cracks near the speakers. Only one speaker has the crack and there is no way I am sending it back to HP just to get a refurb.

2. Since 3.05, I've had battery life and network issues. I finally got around to posting on Precentral so hopefully someone can tell me the issue.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I think it's comical to think that some companies will not ship web browsers on their cell phones in the future. It is even more comical that people don't seem to realize that HTML 5 is one of the languages that their apps already rely on. Think of things as 3 tier architectures in the future. You write you app in HTML 5, use middleware to make your app work on iOS, Android, QNX, Windows, etc. And the line is blurred. Low cost providers will ultimately win. I can tell you what hte high cost solution is....

 

[Pliablemoose]

I think it's comical to think that some companies will not ship web browsers on their cell phones in the future. It is even more comical that people don't seem to realize that HTML 5 is one of the languages that their apps already rely on. Think of things as 3 tier architectures in the future. You write you app in HTML 5, use middleware to make your app work on iOS, Android, QNX, Windows, etc. And the line is blurred. Low cost providers will ultimately win. I can tell you what hte high cost solution is....

Yep, anyone that develops software needs to learn HTML 5, it's a game changer.

 

[MetalMat]

I am not really impressed with many of the android tablets but the Ipad is nice. I'm no apple fanboy (have an HTC EVO 4G) but I think their stuff it pretty cool. I have a 3rd gen IPOD touch and that thing is great. I mess with my roomates IPAD from time to time, wish I had one.

I never tried a Kindle (fire or touch), am wondering how those are.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I don't, but I probably will eventually. I'm having a couple of issues with my Touchpad:

2. Since 3.05, I've had battery life and network issues. I finally got around to posting on Precentral so hopefully someone can tell me the issue.

Do your network issues amount to "unable to load page" type errors in the browser? If so, I had the same thing and installing ICS fixed it. The gingerbread based cyanogenmod was basically crap because gingerbread is crap, I much preferred webos to it. ICS is a whole different story though. Its definitely preferable to webos even in the current alpha state. Its like a 20 minute job to install. There's little reason not to do it now.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Do your network issues amount to "unable to load page" type errors in the browser? If so, I had the same thing and installing ICS fixed it. The gingerbread based cyanogenmod was basically crap because gingerbread is crap, I much preferred webos to it. ICS is a whole different story though. Its definitely preferable to webos even in the current alpha state. Its like a 20 minute job to install. There's little reason not to do it now.

That is exactly what happens. It just refuses to load pages and I have to reboot to fix it. It still seems to have network connectivity since email still seems to work, but the browser just seems to croak until I reboot it.