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Tablets - toys or tools?

Skwinty said:
All my working life I have had the priviledge of working with new technology that cost millions.

The technology has always been applied as a serious and useful tool, yet, I have always viewed the technology as something to play with.
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My point was more about how we think about computing power, and not how we play with technologies.

Put your mind in the head of someone living 20 years ago, that's 1991: The year of Windows 3.0, and close to the birth of 486 processors.
Today's iPad processors would probably be comparable, in performance, to a Cray Super Computer, back then.

Sure, people would "play" with the iPad like it was a toy, much of the time. But, it would not be dismissed, so easily, as "merely" a toy. Not with a processor that advanced.

Today, iPads could be toys for some, tools for others. But, since they exist alongside other, more powerful computing platforms in our society: It becomes easier for many folks (such as myself) to brush them off as "merely toys".

See?
 
Wowbagger said:
Today, iPads could be toys for some, tools for others. But, since they exist alongside other, more powerful computing platforms in our society: It becomes easier for many folks (such as myself) to brush them off as "merely toys".
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This is an excellent point, and it underscores the idea that value is subjective.
 
daSkeptic said:
You didn't answer my question. Given the choice between a tablet and a laptop, both with the same power and capabilities, why would you personally choose the former over the latter? What would the tablet give you that the laptop would not?
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Mainly more portability. It won't have a keyboard permanently attached (but you could carry a wireless one if you needed it...as well as a wireless mouse). It has a touch screen which is useful sometimes (certain laptops have this but charge a healthy premium). It will run cooler, be thinner and have no moving parts. And as I said this would be a secondary laptop replacement most likely.
 
When I started working in 1970, after school and college, the predominant technology was vacuum tubes. We were 10 years behind in SA then.

So I experienced the transition from valves to transistors to integrated circuits etc.

I have always considered the technology and the increase in computing power as toys, purely because it gave me much pleasure and kept my interest.

I was always amazed at the utility and power of technology, but still thought of it as a toy.

I suppose it really is all about a persons mindset and how one defines the objects that stimulate and interest you.
 
In some situations. The lack of keyboard is nice when you want to lay down or move around with the tablet. No spinning hard drive is a plus for power consumption, heat, and silent running. Being thinner makes it easier to hold if you can't put the tablet down on a surface. Also the weak point of many laptops construction is the hinge (I'm looking at you m11x) and you would not have to worry about that with a tablet.
 
Policenaut said:
In some situations. The lack of keyboard is nice when you want to lay down or move around with the tablet. No spinning hard drive is a plus for power consumption, heat, and silent running. Being thinner makes it easier to hold if you can't put the tablet down on a surface. Also the weak point of many laptops construction is the hinge (I'm looking at you m11x) and you would not have to worry about that with a tablet.
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It sounds to me like these things aren't that necessary, they would just be nice to have. For instance, how often are you really going to be using a computer in a non-sitting position? How likely are you to be away from a power source? How bothersome is the sound of a modern hard drive? In my experience, the difference between tool and toy lies in questions such as these.
 
daSkeptic said:
This is an excellent point, and it underscores the idea that value is subjective.
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I was also thinking that part of the reason for this is the "irony of plenty".

If a single iPad were to go back in time, to 1991, and was found by someone who would be competent in using it, and even programming for it; imagine what it could be used for: NOW is the chance for this person to model all sorts of things that could not be done before: High-res calculations on meteor impacts, various complex AI algorithms, large populations of genetic systems, etc. The world would be this lucky person's oyster! It would be considered a tragic waste if he decided to only use it to play Angry Birds all day long*.

(*Ignoring its possible utility as a 2D physics simulator.)

Today, we have soooooo much power lying around, most of us can afford to say: "Yeah, I'll just get to that sort of calculation when I have time. Whatever."

It's the Irony of Plenty.
 
Policenaut said:
For a tablet to attract me first it needs a full desktop OS (not a phone os like ios or android) that has been customized for the tablet.
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But that is one of the major criticisms of those companies trying to catch up to the iPad: like the Ugly Sister(s) trying to fit Cinderella's glass slipper, they're trying to shoehorn old user interface features into a modern implementation, instead of building a new OS from the ground up.
 
Wowbagger said:
If a single iPad were to go back in time, to 1991, and was found by someone who would be competent in using it, and even programming for it; imagine what it could be used for: NOW is the chance for this person to model all sorts of things that could not be done before: High-res calculations on meteor impacts, various complex AI algorithms, large populations of genetic systems, etc. The world would be this lucky person's oyster! It would be considered a tragic waste if he decided to only use it to play Angry Birds all day long*.
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Objective consideration versus arbitrary dismissal.
 
Wowbagger said:
Today, we have soooooo much power lying around, most of us can afford to say: "Yeah, I'll just get to that sort of calculation when I have time. Whatever."

It's the Irony of Plenty.
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You are absolutely right about that.

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum with 48k of RAM.

There was lots of software available for it.

Spreadsheet, word processor, flight sim, and more.

Talk about efficient use of resources, elegant code and thin fingers.:)
 
Soapy Sam said:
If constant connectivity is the killer app of computing now, I can see the attraction, but I'm luddite enough to like my time offline at least as much.
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You might have actually latched onto why I've been so uninterested in the iPhone and then iPad surge. It does seem to me that with these modern smart phones and tablets (the ones aimed at general users, not business-aimed ones) the primary feature is that ability to always be connected.

Like yourself, that isn't particularly important to me, so these devices don't really appeal to me much. In fact I've almost gone backwards. I used to be a bit of a gadget geek. Now I barely use the technologies I have, and can't see why I'd want more. I honestly only ever use my phone to make calls and send text messages and as an alarm clock, which makes 90% of the features on a modern phone totally redundant.

Both my GPS and my camera have touch screens, and the GPS annoys the heck out of me and I've got so sick of the touch screen on the camera that I have the swivel screen basically permanently closed so it's off.

Sometimes I feel like there comes a point when you can have too much functionality.

God, I sound like an old man already.
 
gumboot said:
Both my GPS and my camera have touch screens, and the GPS annoys the heck out of me and I've got so sick of the touch screen on the camera that I have the swivel screen basically permanently closed so it's off.

Sometimes I feel like there comes a point when you can have too much functionality.

God, I sound like an old man already.
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Nah, your GPS and camera probably just have terrible touchscreens and interfaces. For ease of use, my Android phone with Google Navigation has put the beatdown on every touchscreen GPS I've tried to use.
 
Babbylonian said:
Nah, your GPS and camera probably just have terrible touchscreens and interfaces. For ease of use, my Android phone with Google Navigation has put the beatdown on every touchscreen GPS I've tried to use.
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Well the GPS, I think, is in part because I have really big hands, so it is constantly selecting something other than what I actually wanted. This can be enormously frustrating, especially if you're trying to punch in an address while driving.

The camera touch screen is actually of excellent quality. The problem is the entire idea of a touch screen on the camera is somewhat stupid, or at least stupid if you can't turn it off. Reason being, if you want to take a photo by looking through the view finder, which I normally do, you can pretty much guarantee you'll brush against the touch screen. Because of how it's designed, this results in the point of focus moving. I cannot express how annoying that is!

It just feels like they stuck a touch screen on because they could, and didn't really think through the ways that it might be detrimental to the user experience.
 
gumboot said:
I honestly only ever use my phone to make calls and send text messages and as an alarm clock, which makes 90% of the features on a modern phone totally redundant.
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Unfortunately, it's that 90% which tends to sell the product. Items in the consumer market generally compete not on core-function but on features. It's pretty much the only way they have to distinguish themselves.

God, I sound like an old man already.
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Actually, you sound like someone who knows their needs. This is a good thing, IMO.
 
Tablets - toys or tools?
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Toys, as much as I hate to say that.

In the near future?.. tools.

You have to "sex-up" any new product before it's potential is truly realised.
Sad state of affairs I know, but your product must beat or at least equal the most modern, grooviest thing that has ever existed. Unfortunately that means the iPhone and the iPad.:eye-poppi
 
If it hasn't been pointed out already, the question posed in the thread title is a false dichotomy.

Tablets can be toys or tools or both or something else entirely.

Their beauty is their flexibility. There's a YouTube video of an "orchestra" composed of nothing but iPads. Pilots are using them to carry backup approach plates and using them in the cockpit for all sorts of things.

I watch a weekly video "Netcast" called "iPad Today" on the TWIT network. This in spite of the fact that I don't yet own an iPad. I'd like to, but I'm on a budget and other things take priority. My MacBook Pro serves as my main computer, and an iPhone 4 serves as a "mini-iPad" when I'm on the road. For now, I'm waiting for the iPad "2" or whatever comes along next.

In any case, they point out on TWIT that if you want to create content, a laptop or a desktop is a better choice. But for consuming content, a table can be nearly ideal.

And the mere fact that Apple has sold about 15 million iPads since last April shows that people are finding uses for them. My guess is that they'll continue to do so!
 
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ComfySlippers said:
You have to "sex-up" any new product before it's potential is truly realised. Sad state of affairs I know, but your product must beat or at least equal the most modern, grooviest thing that has ever existed.
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Only for a certain demographic. However, that is the demographic for which the iPad is targeted.
 
Sadly, my 2007 Toshiba Portégé M400 Tablet PC may now be on its last legs. These past few days it has coughed up some random hardware failures and such.

At the moment, I am eying the most recent model in the Toshiba Portégé series, the M780: http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/portege/M780

But, before I order one, I figured I would ask if anyone had any other models they would recommend.

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.

I already have an Android Incredible to cover my pocket-sized computing needs.

I Should like to know before the end of the week: 2/5/2011. That is when I intend to place my order.

Any suggestions?
 
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