Bump.
I don’t get the tablet craze. I’m 31 and don’t have a smartphone or a tablet. Seems to me the primary advertised functionality of, say, the iPad is that it can play games, edit photos, play music, and browse the web.
Try manipulating a 4,000 line spreadsheet with multiple pivot tables on a tablet, and we’ll talk. Sometimes a keyboard and a mouse win the day.
My wife bought the Zagg keyboard/cover for the iPad. Much, much lighter than a laptop. And without the keyboard, she uses the iPad as a gaming/reader device. YMMV.
IMHO, the iPad is just the Nintendo DS on steroids. It’s fun for kids to play games on.
Darren Murph is a tard.
Sorry, there is no better way to say this. He’s mentally difficient, he’s not the person that Engadget wants on staff. He’s not smart enough to work, let alone be published.
The iPad is a LEISURE device. It excells as a book reader, displaying photo’s, playing movies, limited game play, surfing the net, checking email, and entertainment sort of activities. It was never designed to be a productivity device.
A laptop excells at productivity. The built-in keyboard, extensive hard drive space, processing capabilities, I/O devices make this a mobile workstation.
When you bring up the virtual keyboard on the iPad, you have a ‘screen’ of what you are typing appear, that measures approximately 3 inches tall, by 6 inches wide. Sure, you can easily respond to an email with a 3x6 screen; but do you want to write a report, prepare a presentation, or work a spreadsheet with a screen that measures 3x6? Nope.
A motorcyle and a lawn mower are two entirely different devices. Each has a specific task they were designed for. Too bad the author hasn’t grasped this basic concept.
He’s wrong and he’s right. It depends. For some people, it has replaced the laptop, or been used in new ways, like to take orders at a restaurant, or work with customers. For others, who need spreadsheets or a keypad, it is useless. I go days sometimes without using my laptop, and i can take my ipad places i would never take a laptop. It is a very useful tool, for me.
Watching a movie on a 4.3 inch screen kicks ass over a 10 inch screen. :)
The tablets, to be useful, need a good handwriting recognition program.
The writer says “After years of watching the masses fawn over the iPad ...”
It may seem like years, but the iPad debuted just 16 months ago. I agree with some of his points, disagree with others, but mainly, I am old-fashioned enough to think that 16 months isn’t a very long time to base an “it’s useless” judgment on...
Got my wife one for xmas - most of what she uses a computer for is surfing and video viewing from that perspective it’s perfect. I’d consider it except that I like multiple windows open at the same time and I can’t run many applications, so for me a laptop or desktop is a better solution. I have an ipod touch for calendar, to dos, instand photo/video, and boredom relief while waiting in line.
bump.
I was lucky enough to get in on the HP Touchpad ‘fire sale’ that virtually shut down every major electronics e-tailer and retailer this weekend. I’m posting from it right now. Its been out for 6 weeks and the price dropped from 599.00 to..... 99.00
which caused and is still causing pandemonium on various sites/stores..most are sold out now. This thing Is an AWESOME machine and for 99.00 it wouldve been stupid NOT to buy one.
There is a 5000+ page thread on the slickdeals.net forum updating by the second...get one if you can
I got an iPad to work on my artwork. I needed the portability it offers over a laptop and my desktop computer. I have also taken it out to do plein air painting, tho have spent half the time explaining to the curious.
While it doesnt do everything, it has been worth it for me in increased productivity.
Does anyone know how to print from an IPAD? I’m not going to buy an AirPrint printer. I am looking for a free app to do this. I have a wireless printer and can’t figure out why I just can’t send a web page to my printer to print out.
But you won't be doing a spreadsheet or any major changes to a document on the Ipad.
Where it shines for me is on the shorter trips where I know I'll only need it for email. The laptop stays home and I don't have to lug it around. In all cases, it's great for presentations.
Before I owned a tablet, I thought the same thing - that they do the same thing as a smartphone, but are just bigger so you can’t keep them in your pocket.
After you own one, though, you realize there are all sorts of things they’re ideal for. Mine has an app that replaces a special-purpose computer costing thousands plus regularly updated paper charts costing a thousand or more per year (the app subscription runs just $75-150). This app is available for smartphones (and I have it on mine), but it’s not practical to use on a smartphone-sized screen. A tablet screen is ideal.
There are lots of general-purpose uses for tablets that follow the same model. Sure, you can view a web page or a video on a smartphone, but try sharing it with multiple people who want to see. A phone is just too small to do that well. You also miss a lot of content even watching things by yourself on a small phone screen compared to a tablet screen. And most people wouldn’t want to read books or text of any great length on a smartphone screen as opposed to a tablet.
It’s also a convenient middle ground for those times when you don’t want to bother pulling out your laptop. It’s instant-on, has cell data so you don’t need to worry about finding a wi-fi connection, and can be shared easily amongst people. If you want to show your client a certain page of your proposal or show your friend a great video, you can just hand the device over the table. Too awkward with a laptop and too difficult to see with a phone.
As for productivity, most of the use of mine is personal and not business. But I can create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on mine, and I have done so on more than one occasion where I didn’t have my laptop with me, didn’t want to get it out, or needed Internet access to make the needed changes and wasn’t in range of wi-fi. I’ve also used it as a supplement to my laptop when giving presentations - rather than just displaying a video and presentation on the overhead projector (which wasn’t bright enough to really show what I wanted) I just loaded the documents on my tablet and passed it around the room.
Tablets aren’t for everyone, and if I had to choose whether to give up my tablet, phone, or laptop, I guess the tablet would be first to go. But they really are great “third devices” for those situations where a phone is too small and a laptop is too big or unwieldy. The author should try one for a few weeks; I don’t know anyone who’s had one and hasn’t found lots of uses for it, largely in areas where it just works better than a laptop or a phone.
The iPad and other devices have a market in easy access and recording of data. Trying to view large data bases on them would be hard but using them to a inventory would work well. iPaqs were used by the mail room where I last worked to record signatures for deliveries. The new tablet cost more but not much. It can be carried around like a clip board and find the price of any house in the country that is on sale. I could see a doctor using one while doing is rounds in a hospital. It won’t replace a laptop for most people but has endless work possibilities.
Couldn’t agree more. I’m covered with my smartphone and netbook.
I mean, just compare the value proposition of a netbook: for $250 you get a complete mini-laptop with a couple of gigs of memory. Runs anything you need, is nearly as portable as a tablet, already has the keyboard, and is sturdier to carry around.
I’ve used all sorts of high-tech gadgets for note taking at meetings (Palms, Smartphones, but no IPad!), and I finally settled on the perfect instrument: A leather 3x5 note card holder with specially printed note cards.