• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Tablets - toys or tools?

Wowbagger said:
I want a real laptop that functions as a Tablet PC. I will not put up with the iPad or Galaxy Tab or any of these other puny devices.

As a software developer, I need the full operating system experience.
And, I have occasional art-related and note-taking needs for the tablet interface.
Click to expand...

Art and note-taking I can understand, but is the tablet form really suitable for software development? I suppose it would depend on what aspect of development you are referring to. Certain management tasks might be ok, but I would think hours of coding would be more efficient and comfortable with a real keyboard.
 
Wowbagger said:
Convertible laptops are suitable - they have a built-in keyboard, with a swivel screen to turn it into a tablet.

My M400 was a very good machine for the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

Ok, I didn't realize you were talking convertibles. Never mind then. :)
 
The Lenovo x201 is another option. And if you have a Visa card you almost always get a pretty nice discount (usually between 20-30%...and they usually have a stacking coupon on their site).
 
Policenaut said:
The Lenovo x201 is another option. And if you have a Visa card you almost always get a pretty nice discount (usually between 20-30%...and they usually have a stacking coupon on their site).
Click to expand...
Could work. ThinkPads also have a good reputation for quality, at least last I heard.

Models from Fujitsu are also very nice, but for some reason more expensive for the same level machine I could get from Toshiba.
 
daSkeptic said:
Art and note-taking I can understand, but is the tablet form really suitable for software development? I suppose it would depend on what aspect of development you are referring to. Certain management tasks might be ok, but I would think hours of coding would be more efficient and comfortable with a real keyboard.
Click to expand...

I suspect the keyboard issue is trivial. I would guess that all tablets (even the smaller ones like the Galaxy) can be connected to a regular size keyboard without fuss.

Linda
 
fls said:
I suspect the keyboard issue is trivial. I would guess that all tablets (even the smaller ones like the Galaxy) can be connected to a regular size keyboard without fuss.
Click to expand...

A fair point, however, I don't know that I'd say the issue is trivial. One still needs to consider how they're going to use the system. If 99% of the time one is sitting down at a keyboard, a tablet may not be the best choice since its primary benefit (mobility) is being wasted.

I think the main issue I have with this entire discussion is the seeming insistence by some on doing everything in one box. I see nothing wrong with having different tools for different problems. However, I recognize this is not the mindset of the average consumer.
 
daSkeptic said:
A fair point, however, I don't know that I'd say the issue is trivial. One still needs to consider how they're going to use the system. If 99% of the time one is sitting down at a keyboard, a tablet may not be the best choice since its primary benefit (mobility) is being wasted.

I think the main issue I have with this entire discussion is the seeming insistence by some on doing everything in one box. I see nothing wrong with having different tools for different problems. However, I recognize this is not the mindset of the average consumer.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the opposite - the popularity of the iPad shows that the average consumer found those tools put out to satisfy the likes of Wowbagger and Quadraginta unpalatable. So that when something better was offered - something which didn't have everything in one box, but instead satisfied those specific needs - it was snapped up.

Linda
 
For all the alleged shortcomings of the iPad, you've gotta ask how the iPad succeeded where successive Windows tablets failed.

If people really wanted all the features and connections offered by windows tablets past and present, they would have bought them.

The simplicity of the iPad was part of the reason for its popularity.
 
fls said:
I was thinking the opposite - the popularity of the iPad shows that the average consumer found those tools put out to satisfy the likes of Wowbagger and Quadraginta unpalatable. So that when something better was offered - something which didn't have everything in one box, but instead satisfied those specific needs - it was snapped up.

Linda
Click to expand...


In the early half of the decade tablet format PCs were virtually unknown to the "average consumer" and curiosities (i.e. "toys") to many of those few who did know about them but did not understand their full capabilities. What was unpalatable to the remainder was often the high price point of the machines, a price point kept high in no small part because of the limited market itself. This led naturally to a vertical market sales approach, which did nothing to ameliorate either of those issues.

Apple's imprimatur was itself a positive sanction mainstreaming the format, and the advances in technology in general, not to mention those application specific advances made by the early tablet offerings, had brought that price point down to a level that improved palatability. The only real question is whether or not the iPad's cut-off-at-the-knees offering was crippled as it was solely as a cost saving measure, or whether they could have managed something less infuriatingly hamstrung without breaking the wallet of their target market.

My belief is that they could have, and chose not to for reasons which have already been discussed earlier in this thread.
 
Kid Eager said:
For all the alleged shortcomings of the iPad, you've gotta ask how the iPad succeeded where successive Windows tablets failed.

If people really wanted all the features and connections offered by windows tablets past and present, they would have bought them.

The simplicity of the iPad was part of the reason for its popularity.
Click to expand...


The iPad succeeded because it was an Apple gizmo. The native advantages of the tablet format in a PC were largely a mystery to the average consumer before that stamp of approval, much as PCs themselves were curiosities before IBM put its logo on one. Simplicity is one of those native advantages, not some magical quality which Apple somehow managed to add before anyone else figured out how to do it..

It is that native advantage which has kept the iPad a success, and as I have said before, I thank Apple for bringing the awareness of it to the general public. To me the major benefit of the iPad will be to legitimize those more serious machines which had previously languished in relative obscurity.

Before long people will wonder why the Apple fans are still clinging to their lobotomized gizmos when more capable offerings are everywhere around them, because now that the ice has been broken in the average consumer's mind there is going to be a big enough market to attract serious competition. The companies who have been offering full-function tablet PCs for years already are going to have a big leg up when that race gets going.
 
Wowbagger said:
Convertible laptops are suitable - they have a built-in keyboard, with a swivel screen to turn it into a tablet.

My M400 was a very good machine for the best of both worlds.
Click to expand...

My mom likes her convertible netbook, if that is OK for you.
 
Kid Eager said:
For all the alleged shortcomings of the iPad, you've gotta ask how the iPad succeeded where successive Windows tablets failed.
Click to expand...
Marketing, mostly. Windows Tablets were aimed at businesses which are often reluctant to adopt new tools. The iPad was aimed right at consumers, who were eager to gobble up the latest sleek-looking gadgets.

Price point helps too. I mean, the $500 iPad is probably overpriced for what it is. But, when (perhaps unfairly) compared to the average price of Windows tablets (up to $2,000 each) they seem like a bargain!

But, I am both spoiled and a Windows-based software developer. So, prefer I stick with the "Greater Tablets".
 
quadraginta said:
Before long people will wonder why the Apple fans are still clinging to their lobotomized gizmos when more capable offerings are everywhere around them,..
Click to expand...

You've been very keen on insulting the users of this product by referring to the idiocy of the product (don't worry, I have a thick skin:)). Yet it does what I need it to do (and more for that matter), while your beloved product would not. Can you give an example of features which should be present, but are not, or an example of a gizmo which would have been a better choice for me (as an average consumer)?

Linda
 
fls said:
I was thinking the opposite - the popularity of the iPad shows that the average consumer found those tools put out to satisfy the likes of Wowbagger and Quadraginta unpalatable. So that when something better was offered - something which didn't have everything in one box, but instead satisfied those specific needs - it was snapped up.

Linda
Click to expand...

Probably a bit of a mix of that, and the Apple marketing departments skill at telling people what they want and what they shouldn't want.
 
Wowbagger said:
Marketing, mostly. Windows Tablets were aimed at businesses which are often reluctant to adopt new tools. The iPad was aimed right at consumers, who were eager to gobble up the latest sleek-looking gadgets.

Price point helps too. I mean, the $500 iPad is probably overpriced for what it is. But, when (perhaps unfairly) compared to the average price of Windows tablets (up to $2,000 each) they seem like a bargain!

But, I am both spoiled and a Windows-based software developer. So, prefer I stick with the "Greater Tablets".
Click to expand...

But there are $500 convertible netbooks out there. they have things like cameras and the ability to run flash that apple knows its customers are too cool to need.
 
ponderingturtle said:
My mom likes her convertible netbook, if that is OK for you.
Click to expand...
I do have a couple of concerns about the convertible NetBook:

1. Many NetBooks would only allow a Starter edition of Windows 7 to be installed. Even if you had a disc for the Professional edition, it would not work. And, that is what I would want (or the Ultimate edition).
Although, I do hear that this is changing. Dell makes one with the Home Premium edition pre-installed, for example.

2. The small screen size might be adequate 90% of the time. But, would be really annoying during that 10% of the other times.

3. I might, on occasion, do some power-demanding things with it: Some light video editing, and game playing. Though, this concern is also fading as netbooks become more powerful.
 
fls said:
You've been very keen on insulting the users of this product by referring to the idiocy of the product (don't worry, I have a thick skin:)). Yet it does what I need it to do (and more for that matter), while your beloved product would not. Can you give an example of features which should be present, but are not, or an example of a gizmo which would have been a better choice for me (as an average consumer)?

Linda
Click to expand...

To name one, a microSD card reader. But that would let you expand the memory in your device with out paying the inflated costs apple charges for devices with more memory.

Also cameras that have been on the I phone for some time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom