I have an iPad3 and a Nexus 7. They sit mostly unused. I'll pick up the iPad3 once in while just for fun. I've played a few games to completion (Sword and Sworcery, Groove Coaster) but that's about it.
I don't find them good for consuming except for movies on a plane. Movies at home? The bigger the screen the better. I'd much rather watch movies on my 42 inch TV from my sofa than my tablets.
Reading? I'd much rather use my Kindle Paperwhite. It's better on the eyes and soooo much lighter.
Browsing the internet? I'm a curious person and I click lots of links. So for example I'll come to HN and ctrl click every title that sounds interesting. Tablets hate this workflow as they start removing tabs. Even when it does work invariably I'll run into a page that doesn't work on the tablet. Maybe it's a WebGL page. Maybe it's a Flash page. Maybe it's a page that requires interactivity but does not respond to touch events.
Finally I'll want to comment on something or post something I found to my facebook or G+. In those cases tablets suck balls. Editing text in a tablet is a exercise in frustration. Trying to move the cursor, format, copy and paste. It's not fun. Pasting a link in the Facebook app doesn't generate a editable preview like it does in a regular browser and many other shortcomings.
I could go on and on. Some of these limitations I put up with on my phone but then my phone fits in my pocket and is always with me. My tablets though, really, I find them pretty useless. There's sole purpose at this point is to once in a while check out some new app someone tells me about. Otherwise mine are unused.
I agree with almost all of your main points, except that Chrome on my tablet does a pretty decent job of supporting your "opening lots of interesting looking tabs" workflow (which I also do).
> I'm a curious person and I click lots of links. So for example I'll come to HN and ctrl click every title that sounds interesting. Tablets hate this workflow as they start removing tabs.
I'm the same way on my desktop, but on my iPad, I accomplish this by using the 'Add to Reading List' functionality. Just tap and hold a link and it is queued up.
I used this all the time for HN and Google News. I like not having the clutter of tabs.
I've recently got kindle paperwhite - definitely the best purchase of this year so far. Pretty much the only thing I use my smartphone for now is splitting internet connection and picking up calls. Even the kindle experimental browser is not that bad as one might expect. I don't really see much use for myself in a tablet apart from using some interactive apps/games and watching movies on the go.
I mostly agree with your critiques. I would just add that even if there something I might want to use my tablet for the cost of context switching from the computer to the tablet is just too high.
And if I suddenly needed to do something the tablet didn't do well I would have to go back to the computer in any case.
Probably stupid to admit this, but I bought a tablet to go homeless. It has a longer battery life, which is extremely important when access to electricity is limited. It is also far more user-friendly when in a tent or otherwise without proper desk facilities, which is the norm for me, not the exception. Given my medical condition, I view paper as evil. And normal keyboards get pretty disgusting. My tablet is surprisingly clean. Yes, it can be annoying in all the ways he lists. But it is my personal lifeline. I make money with it. It allows me to participate in online forums, which helps me keep my sanity. And a million other useful, productive things.
I had dual monitors at work when I had a job at a Fortune 500 company. Yes, they can be great. But I posit that tablets aren't useless, the author is merely too rich and spoiled (as are lots of people on hn, who no agree with him). Not everyone can afford dual monitors and multiple other electronic devices to choose from. That's like saying cars are passe and going out of style since I got my pilot's license. Why would I want to drive when I can fly? Hey, good for you. But there are quite a lot of people on planet earth of more modest means (maybe he has heard of third world countries?) who, like me, might well appreciate the hell out of having a tablet. I am sure I would happily go back to a netbook should my circumstances suddenly change. For now, I cannot imagine how painful that would be under my present circumstances.
It's not stupid at all. If you didn't buy it, you would have lost a source of revenue, which would have made your situation worse in the long run.
I'm definitely spoiled, as in, I've never had to worry about having food and shelter. I've been close to that point while looking for work, but its never actually happened.
I'm fortunate enough to have a tablet and a computer, and while my computer is clearly better suited to some tasks, I could do pretty much everything that I have to do with a tablet, a Bluetooth keyboard, a $5/month vps, and an internet connection. It might not be ideal, but if it were my only option, I'd be just fine. There's actually people out there who prefer to work like this.
In short, I don't always create content on my tablet, but it definitely helps me be more productive.
Stupid to admit it because my credibility is in the toilet as is. Reminding people that I am homeless just gives them another excuse to be dismissive assholes. No one wants to hear that I am competent, intelligent, etc and on the street because of my medical situation. It is too threatening. It is far more comfortable to believe my problems are somehow due to poor choices. It is similar to the principle that if you want to convict a rapist, you want a jury full of middle aged men, not women. Women will blame the victim and let the rapist off. Most women do not want to believe that you can do nothing wrong and still be the victim of sexual assault. So they find fault with the rape victim and conclude she was "asking for it" so they can tell themselves "I will never be raped because I would not (dress that way/talk that way/go to that part of town/whatever)."
I know plenty about social psychology. It is actually a personal strength or I literally would likely have died.
Anyway, off topic and probably nothing anyone wants to hear. I am just kind of cranky this morning.
And if you are in a situation with limited access to electricity, that may not be relevant. Some third world countries have electricity but cannot afford to make it available 24/7. You clearly have no idea how spoiled you are that you think a decision like that is purely a matter of personal budgeting. A netbook would have been cheaper. I know that. It would not have served my needs as well. It still wouldn't. Nowhere in there did I list price point as impacting my decision to purchase a tablet.
Eh? I don't claim that dual monitors are the best option for everyone, but it's a possibility to most Western people, since the cost is the same as it is for a cheap tablet. I think you should have some better manners and stop calling everyone "spoiled". It's not a good way to have a constructive discussion.
You haven't heard anything I have said. Replying with your rebuttal completely dismisses my point. And now you are engaging in ad hominems. Saying someone is spoiled says they lack perspective as to why this might be valuable to someone in different circumstances. That's all. Nothing ill mannered about it. But your replies are pretty disrespectful, and getting increasingly worse.
My iPad mini is pretty useful for me. I use it for all kinds of random stuff, nothing too serious. It's not absolutely indispensable, but very nice -- and fun at that.
Getting away from my cubicle to sit somewhere nicer with a cup of coffee and plan/brainstorm with SimpleMind+, a great little mindmapping tool whose touch interface is really slick.
Calendar and mail works great. It's like a little secretary.
Sitting in my armchair in the morning with a cup of tea reviewing todos and stuff is nice.
I'm comfortable enough with writing on the iPad mini (in portrait) to write stuff in Drafts (great app). Sitting somewhere with the tablet makes it easier for me to focus on just writing. I usually write in Markdown and save to Dropbox, then I can do whatever with it on the computer later.
Reading articles on Instapaper. Not "productive" in the narrow sense, but I don't really subscribe to this dichotomy!
I also use it as a remote for my music player... Meditation timer... I play music with some friends and it's awesome to be able to just pull up the chords & lyrics for any song. (Plus Propellerheads has a fun iPad synth that I play some silly leads on...)
I didn't really have any idea what I was going to use it for when I bought it, I just needed it to do some mobile web app prototyping. But it's delightful! My laptop is pretty stationary now -- the mini fits in my inner coat pocket.
> it's delightful .... yet ... not "productive" in the narrow sense.
I totally agree. I like the idea of tablet very much and I own an iPad 3, but I don't use it at all. My MacBook Air is the same size and weight and gets 99% of my time.
I also reply to emails and schedule calendar events from it. As soon as I need to edit documents, manage servers, or write code - I move to a laptop or desktop, it's just more comfortable.
I've been using one of my tablets to read through a book I'm using to tutor a friend's high school aged kid.
My wife uses one to read programming books and reference materials.
My preschool-aged son and nephew watch educational videos (type "number", "polygon", "alphabet", etc. into the youtube app; there's some great stuff out there.) They also play number, letter, color, shape, reading, and math games (the five year old plays Dragon Box! [0])
My sister uses hers to schedule substitute teaching and tutoring jobs, and on occasion she works as a manuscript editor (the keyboard dock is important for this.)
So there's a lot of reading, learning, and even production of content going on on tablets in this household.
I don't think reading/learning are productive use cases. Productivity, IMHO, means you create/produce something that is tangentially different (regardless of how small it is) than what existed before an activity. In the minds of most people, creating new knowledge or acquiring new information does not conform to the above definition.
You could argue though that iPads and other tablets _help_ you stay productive on a broader basis. At least that's how I justify my use of my iPad. They simplify certain aspects of my workflow (like easier/intuitive annotation of PDFs). But I know that simplification is not at a level where I'd like it to be.
This doesn't surprise me at all. I am reading all of these critiques and wondering if the people who don't have a use for tablets are all programmers who sit at a desk all day.
My iPad is indispensable. I use Evernote to store a ton of important info. My calendar is almost exclusively managed on my iPad (largely because I set appointments while in meetings). I have a few web apps that are critical to my business that I frequently use from my iPad.
Then there is my downtime. I love reading on my iPad. I also have a Nexus 7, but I don't like it nearly as much. The narrow screen makes traditional websites uncomfortable to read, though the evernote and calendar uses are great.
It's that simple. I don't find using it to be terribly productive for work purposes (especially as a data warehouse consultant). I realize that some people have, and that's great, but for me it doesn't fit the bill.
So what I use it for is when I specifically want to ensure I can't work. I grab it, I go into the sitting area of my bedroom (away from dual 27" display setup), and do things that are very much "not work" in my lounge chair. I might check on my finances. I might play some games. I might browse a few sites, catch up on them with something like Reeder, or read old articles with Instapaper. I watch my subscribed channels on YouTube. Perhaps check the weather. Perhaps do some shopping, catch up on Twitter, or maybe check Facebook to see what friends are prattling on about. If it's late, it'll get perched on a nightstand and I'll play some podcasts, stream a movie or TV show, or put something on from YouTube and fall asleep to that.
I could do that on my iMac + display as well, but then I might get sucked into doing actual work, which I want to avoid. I'm not going to work on large database apps or ETL processes on my iPad. I'm not going to code effectively on my iPad. It's suboptimal for it. So I relish in that fact and it's my "coffee table computer" or my "fun computer". And for that, it does a great job, mostly in ensuring I stay away from "doing work" when I don't want to be working. Overall, it ends up being about 30-35% of my "total computing" time, but at least all of that time is 100% leisure instead of constantly straying back towards work.
iPad for my old parents has been a tremendous benefit. They are not very technology oriented. I remember pulling my hair when they had a PC and they'd call me so often for every little pop-up window that was different from their usual workflow. For example, system updates and all that crap.
However, with iPad they learnt things much more quickly than the PC. The things they do on the iPad does not involve a lot. They are just content consumers who do not want their computer to be in their way. The mobility of a tablet means that when my Dad has back aches he can just lie down on a bed and read form his iPad.
about 4 years ago when I thought I'll first buy them a computer so that they'd be able to do some video conferencing with the family, I actually took them to Microcenter, just to show them the variety. To my surprise, my Mom 'assumed' that the computer will respond by her touching the monitor to click on an icon (she had seen people playing with iPhones).
On the other hand, for me iPad hasn't got a lot of value at this point. I do not play games. I am a programmer who is constantly on a computer and when I am not on a computer, I am on my iPhone. But that does not mean I fail to see how cool a computer that can be carried in your hands is for others.
I find this wildly at odds with the experience of my friends. Granted they are early adopter type folk but they have taken to tablets extremely intently. They use them for gaming, and browsing, and other miscellaneous activities. Just because they are not great at everything doesn't mean they can't be incredibly useful tools.
I think the key difference there is that those are 'passive consuming', which is what tablets are excellent at. But those things are entertainment, not 'productive' in terms of output.
I don't agree with the authors conclusion, but I do agree that tablets aren't usually the right tool to efficiently be productive on. But they're great for consuming. I don't see a problem with that.
I think that's actually more of an artifact of the nature of introduction of tablets than a fundamental limitation. Over time tablets will become much, much more powerful and standard peripherals (such as external keyboards) will become more refined and more commonplace. I don't see anything particularly odd about the notion that someone in, say, 2023 might use a stylus with a tablet to produce various graphic arts, or sit at a desk with a tablet on a stand and type on a keyboard to write, or code, or do any sort of creative endeavor that is now possible with a PC.
There have been artists who produce the majority of their work on a tablet PC for years. They aren't as thin or as light as an iPad, and none of them have been perfect, but they are incredibly well-suited for drawing.
I just hope that Microsoft's efforts eventually cause Apple to implement a Wacom digitizer into the iPad.
The author talked about "productive use" - you listed gaming and browsing. In many circles those don't rank as productivity. There's a fine difference between "great"/"cool" and "being productive".
I think this depends on the kind of work you produce.
I know tons of CEOs who are more productive because of their tablets. The reason is that the form factor makes it easy to carry it everywhere. So they always have documents in Evernote, Dropbox, etc and are able to manipulate those if needed. Sometimes accessing information is the key to productivity.
Now, I am sure someone will want to debate the idea of CEOs being productive, but that is another thread.
Are we being a bit condescending by insinuating that points earned or facebook walls commented on, is not productive?
I'm sure you cure cancer with every 5th keystroke of your best selling novels and crush awesome ruby code for breakfast.
You're espousing a pretty narrow view of what a computing device can be used for in a way that produces some value for its user.
"Productive" is used in its more literal definition here: producing, m/aking, creating. It doesn't have to be shakespeare or picasso to still be a creative work.
You are allowed to find a device useful (i.e. gain value out of it) without being productive on it. That is why e-Readers sell a lot - they are useful. We're arguing about productive use cases here and that in my mind does not include commenting on facebook walls. If that is a narrow viewpoint then that's fine with me.
There's your first problem. (Okay it's not a big problem, and yay for sd slots, but the Nexus 7 and 10 are fantastic devices.) I have a Nexus 10, and got this case for it: http://www.amazon.com/Poetic-Removable-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Fu... The keyboard is just big enough that I can type more or less at full speed (the weird location of the right shift sometimes bugs me). I can understand the view that without being able to type quickly, productivity in a lot of areas isn't possible. But it's an easily solvable problem with a case, especially if you have a 10-incher and thus aren't too worried about trying to fit the thing in your pocket. (Though caseless my N10 fits in my rain jacket pocket.) I also can get that lacking a second monitor is a pain, though it helps to have a 2560x1600 resolution on the tablet.
Here's a sample of productive/useful things I use my tablet for: programming (Terminal IDE is a great help here, it has vim and ssh if I need something on my main machine), calculating, price checking, note taking with keyboard (if you can type, why write?), lecture recording, reading, testing Android apps I/friends have developed, fitness tracking, instantly satisfying my curiosity when only Google can do so, navigation, calling people over SIP, memorizing important things with Anki, taking pictures and never having to say "I wish I brought my camera", and buying stuff from vending machines that accept NFC-credit cards. All of these could be done with a good phone+keyboard+maybe screen-dock, but I don't want a phone.
This is another way of saying, "Why do I need that? I've always done it this way." It is also a form of soft ludditism. Why do I need a word processor? I have a typewriter.
My regular use of a tablet (with a data plan): Reading. It's almost energy replaced books for me. Email when away from my desk. Note taking. Reference. Lots and lots of it, whether through a web browser, PDFs stored in my Dropbox, or special purpose apps (language dictionaries among many others). Extra screen to put a document on while working on my laptop away from an external monitor. General web browsing, on the couch, when eating lunch, etc. News. Flipboard has replaced newspapers entirely for me. Emergency server maintenance - I once resurrected our storefront server at 1:00 AM without getting out of bed. Remote VNC over VPN from anywhere. Casual gaming. A 9.5" screen is so much better for this than a 4" one. Movies while flying - way easier than trying to work with a laptop in coach.
Not to mention anything I would do on my Laptop - if I had my laptop with me at the time. I carry my tablet with me everywhere. I leave my laptop on my desk.
I feel tablets are more a case of "Why do I need a typewriter? I have a word processor." My laptop and phone already do most everything my tablet does, but better.
I gave up on my Nexus 7 after 3 months of trying to like using it. Somehow, every time I went back to my (Android) phone after using the tablet, it just felt 'better' - more responsive, better-designed, more comfortable. Perhaps it's an OS design issue, but I thought Android had been built with tablets in mind after 3.0?
What might get me interested again is when colour, touch-screen e-ink tablets become a reality. Until then, I'm happy with my laptop and phone - I don't need a 'happy medium'.
Just my point of view, of course: I can see that tablets offer a great way into computing for people who are largely information consumers, and for whom a laptop isn't appealing.
I would say that it is notable that the author has apparently never used iOS. Setting all subjective judgments of whether iOS or Android is better to the side, what that means is that the author hasn't even tried out what is by far the largest app/developer base available on a tablet. So I don't really think the author's opinion bears much weight, when we have facts staring us in the face such as the near-universal adoption of iPads in Fortune 500 companies, sales figures clearly showing that many users are buying tablets instead of laptops now and apparently are doing just fine, etc.
If by developer base you mean market share, Android tablets are selling more than iOS nowadays. Apple is 43.6%, Android over 50%. Nowhere near the huge lead Android has in smartphone market share, but still enough that people going for the biggest market should chose Android:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/31/technology/mobile/android-ta...
Not really surprising considering competitors like amazon aren't even trying to make a profit on the hardware cost and are selling the things at rock bottom prices. Most business solutions I saw at CES were using Android tablet bases as well now. I guess due to the low price and because you can customize the entire software stack for health care providers or whatever you are targeting.
What? Developer base mean developers, not users. Developers are more with iOS (better dev tools, better monetization, less tech problems, etc) Is well understood. The most quality apps are in iOS. That is a fact. The most qualified devs are in iOS, that is another.
Android have the market share, but the quality is not there yet (as compared with iOS)
This is why I think that things like the Samsung ATIV and the Asus Transformer Book are so neat. For most things I do - writing code, writing emails, posting my inane thoughts on Hacker News, the laptop form factor is pretty ideal.
I really like the book form factor for reading texts. For novels, my Kindle is great, but for textbooks and technical books, with a lot of random access, I much prefer a tablet to a laptop, and to the weight/space requirements of a dead tree book. I have the Kindle DX too, which is a pleasure to read, but the lack of random access is killer.
That said, I never have my tablet when I have my laptop, since it's more stuff to carry around - which is why I think if they were one and the same, it'd be ideal.
Tablets make a great 2nd (or 3rd) screen to supplement your computer workstation. You can keep reference material open on the tablet, which is a good read-only device. The one missing link is cut-and-paste from tablet to PC, and there are apps for that.
With browser sync, you can look something up on the main screen, then carry the tablet to the lunchroom (or toilet) to read it.
Tablets are fantastic for children. If you have kids, you may find that they take to it like a fish to water. You may want to steer them toward educational nature videos and math games, rather than mind-numbing running games like Temple Run, just to justify all that time they could have spent reading a book or playing ball outdoors.
Tablets are handy for reading or watching shows in the dark. My wife and I are watching Downton Abbey in bed. It's not ideal--I wish I had a robot arm thingie to hold the tablet rather than having it balanced on my chest, digging a ditch into my skin. But it's good enough; easy to pause and go back to catch what they said (we're not British and the dialects are sometimes tough to follow).
Basically, tablets are quite useful, and there's about 100 million users just in the U.S., so they must be doing something right! What's more, I suspect we've only scratched the surface of what these gadgets can do.
I use my iPad to read scientific papers as part of my Masters thesis. Saves me a lot of time and headache with regards to printing, and keeps my computers free for taking notes and looking up related research. Definitely a productive use.
Before going to bed, I sometimes would prop up a softcover book, hardcover book, or laptop on my stomach and read. The hardcover book was usually much too heavy, and even the laptop was too heavy. The softcover book was light, but a little hard to hold, and I would flip the page every minute or two. Also, many softcover books I read once and then would have to look for a new one.
My tablet - very light on my stomach, as easy to hold as a book - easier with no page flipping etc. The half hour before I sleep is usually when I use my tablet.
Also - I develop for Android. Honeycomb was the first Android version designed for tablets. It came out about 2 years ago, early 2011. Back then the Android smartphone to tablet ratio was something like 95 to 5, if not greater. The integrated smartphone/tablet ICS Android version came out at the end of 2011. Meaning, the tablet OS and API hooks have only been out for two years, and initially there was very little of a user base.
In other words, these are still early days. I am sure the popular Android tablet focused apps of the future are yet to be written.
My iPad 1 paid for itself in a month: I was able to squeeze in "anytime anywhere" time to take on teaching an extra class.
Now I edit iPad app code on it in "anywhere anytime" opportunities. Our app's users save hundreds of thousands of dollars (actual savings for mileage & enterprise data access "anywhere anytime").
If you can't find a productive use you're not trying very hard.
That is a rare case of correctly understanding the user but incorrectly understanding the technology (most errors are the opposite). That laziness drives behavior was correct, but that calling is easier than texting was incorrect.
under the assumption that something like "reading a book" is considered productive
1) surfing the web from my couch
2) some games like plants vs. zombies are sublime on a tablet, much better than on a pc imho
3) pdfs read much better than on a pc or a kindle
4) comic books (cbz and cbr files) on a ~10" tablet are almost as good as the real thing
5) when docked, my tablet makes a fantastic picture frame showing the photos in my google+ account
6) there's some music production software that are really quite good, I like Caustic myself, there's similar for iOS.
7) lots and lots and lots of pretty decent painting apps
8) I use it to see notifications, task, etc. things that I've entered from my PC into some "cloud" service. calendars, trello tasks, etc. Just bringing my tablet into a meeting with trello pulled up on it makes it seem like a have a super human memory and is far less intrusive than a laptop
9) use it as a third monitor, there's some great wifi streaming apps that tell your OS to use it as another monitor. Sure it's a bit slow, but if I stash my email program over there, or a shell that's tailing a log or something, it's perfectly adequate
10) better yet, just put a shell app on there direct and ssh into the server and tail the app that way, keeping tabs on a long running startup process while I'm in the bathroom has never been easier
11) remote to my PC running VLC...it's awesome for this, I can seek fast forward and rewind, control volume, pause play, whatever...custom home touch panel remotes don't hold a candle to this
things I don't do
try to type non-trivial amounts of text quickly without a keyboard, which is where most of the examples from this post are about, which is weird since he's using a transformer prime...who's entire point is the keyboard dock
I think productivity is reflected in the software we use, not the device.
I've long maintained that there was no more productive time or software or device in my life than a Palm os device with Datebk6. In contrast, it was made to be productive, not novel, or distracting. Today's phones have all this horsepower, but to what outcome?
It's a fair reflection that right now we're working our way learning through the novelty and distraction app economy.
The masses don't know what else to do with tech (be productive?) because their interaction with tech (tv, radio, web) has always been about finding that next hit of novelty or distraction.
I tough similarly, but now I have found spot for tablet in my life.
It is not my home work tool. Hell no, downgrading from three screens to one small? no.
I use low end Android phone, so I charge it only twice a week, but this means I cant use it for other purposes so well. Tablet is the thing I take with me whenever I leave house or go on a bigger trip. Battery life+ portability. Traveling abroad, maps, internet, hostels, emails, everything. It is perfect for these things, better than laptop. It is nothing I would prefer over real computer inside the house. But I prefer it every time I leave the house.
I think the author has an excellent point until he gets to "I feel like tablets are a short-lived fad."
Every single comment here is how much people are using their tablet: for reading, surfing the web, watching videos, etc. I personally use my Nexus 7 every day both directions on my commute to do all those things.
However, the like the OP I'd really like to do something productive with my commute (coding, writing, whatever) and I have not found any good way to do that on my tablet. Even my 1st gen netbook is more useful for productive work.
I think the author has an excellent point until he gets to "I feel like tablets are a short-lived fad."
Fine, but are you going to spend $500+ for the new iPad now that you know its limitations first hand? That's what he may have meant. Personally I'd buy a cheap one to browse while in the backyard or couch but the price matters. What I love is a hybrid, or a light laptop (you don't even have to hold it)
This seems to be mostly looking at tablets as potential computer replacements, but that's not really where they're good. A tablet (or phone) can be a decent supplement but is unlikely to be a replacement.
A few areas to consider:
* When you're mobile with a laptop and used to working on multiple monitors, there's software you can use to make a tablet or "phablet" into a second monitor. This depends on you having a reasonable stand and you'll probably want it plugged in (at least if it's a phone and you want to preserve battery life), but at least one of the options (iDisplay, iOS and Android) works with either Wifi or USB as a connection.
* Offload non-essentials or things you'd like to be able to refer to - ebooks, to-do lists.
* Offload communications (email, twitter, etc.) that you might otherwise be tempted to have on your laptop - if those are on the tablet, you're not flipping over to them on your primary machine.
* (mostly phones) As a capture device, these may not be as fast or flexible as pen and paper, but where they can be great is as meta-capture devices: take notes, draw, etc., then take a picture of it in something that auto-syncs for you to process further later (e.g. convert that quick sketch into a network diagram)
Funny thing that the author gets a Transformer, and then claims that tablets may have a chance now that MS "invented" the hybrid PC.
I've recently brought a Transformer for upgrading my 2008 laptop. The main differences are:
- The tablet needs rooting, I could find no good development enviroment for Andoid, but Debian runs well as a userspace system. (Asus distributes the rooting software, I wouldn't even buy it otherwise.)
- The tablet has less USB ports (but has more I/O options). It still wasn't a problem, but I've already needed more than the laptop had.
- The tablet's keyboard is smaller, but better designed. Up to now, I'd say they are equivalently hard to use.
- The tablet has a slightly slower processor, but enough battery for an entire day with keyboard, or an entire working day without keyboard (the laptop lasted for 3 hours), and weights about 10% of the laptop's weight. Also, it's smaller (10" vs. 14") what is both good and bad.
- Touchscreens are simply great. It's still worse than a proper desktop, but it is much more convenient than plugging a mouse at a laptop.
- Also, you can unplug the keyboard when you just want to browse the web or read something, getting a much more convenient format and just half the weight.
I have also Asus transformer prime. I use it for reading PDFs; I also have a Kindle app; then there's streaming music, watching movies, and playing games. Also useful for occasional web browsing (e.g., to look up something while reading).
I also had a keyboard, but quickly figured out that it was useless. It transformed the tablet into a laptop that only barely could do things I usually use the laptop for.
Strangely, I heard a very similar rant from my Dad when he swore up and down he had no use for a cell phone. He left it turned off and in the glove box of his car initially because the only use for it he could imagine was if he was on the road somewhere and couldn't find a pay phone.
When folks ask me "What is a Tablet good for?" I tell them its a TV you can carry around. Oh and you can read books and news papers on it. Oh and you can look at pictures you've taken on it. Oh and you can video chat with someone on it. Oh and it will give you directions on how to get some where.
I have a keyboard case for those times when I need to use an ssh client to do something, I sometimes compose comments to HN on the train, but I don't really do any development on the thing.
But I also know that my finding a place for it in my work flow is completely orthogonal to my Dad doing the same. (although he immediately got an retina ipad when they came out to preview pictures he takes, its a much better preview than the display on his DSLR)
Sounds crazy but I do a lot of work in the terminal and the ipad makes a great terminal when paired with a keyboard.
It's akin to the distraction free solutions such as write room or the blocking the Internet hacks out there... With the ipad you can just have a terminal and nothing else fighting for my attention. Especially as the otherwise great Promt app logs you out so quickly so I put off checking my email as long as possible.
In short, I get more work done.
I think two tablets would make a great development environment, one running the terminal and one a browser checking the results... I do mostly web work so this is easy in the current state of affairs.
I guess I'm old school in my thinking that a screen can be totally detached from its server but then again I once admined a few hundred sun rays. The tablet to me is just the end display, if I need a unix environment I login to a unix server and do my work. When I'm at a real computer 95% of my time is spent on the terminal anyways so what is the difference if I run vi locally or if it is running in the cloud?
For a few months I tried to convince myself that an Asus Transformer Prime (with keyboard) was a great productivity device. I used it in class and did some work on it, it was great (I thought). However I realized, like you did, that I was actually pretty annoyed. I could do everything OK but nothing really well. Even for web browsing, it was still not great.
I sold the tablet, but I still didn't want to go back to lugging my 15" MBP around. Solution? The Samsung Chromebook. This is the perfect cheap productivity device. The keyboard and trackpad are as good as a Macbook air, it's thin and light, and it lasts a long time on a charge. With a $5/month Digital Ocean VPS to SSH into when I need to do programming, it's absolutely perfect. Never been happier with any tech purchase than I am with my Chromebook. People tend to bash Chrome OS but they haven't tried it. For people who think they should buy an iPad for "work anywhere mode", what you really want is a Chromebook.
I'd probably agree, if we're being strict about "productive." I still wouldn't give mine up.
I had a smartphone, and I was paying way too much each month to never make a phone call, to check email, navigate the city, and check wikipedia/google for conversational trivia.
I now have a Nexus 7 instead. Chucked the phone completely. I pay about $25 for metered data. GrooveIP would let me make phone calls on it, but I haven't had the need.
I even stopped hunting for apps, I've just settled on this as a great email/wiki/nav device. The bigger screen makes the experience better for all the things I use it for. Larger size means larger battery, it feels like it lasts forever. It's still pocket sized. A 6-inch mini-tablet would probably be my sweet spot, but 7 isn't too shabby.
None of my uses are "productive," but I'm also not usually "producing" anything outside of a fixed workspace. Kudos to those who prefer to write in parks or coffee houses, I prefer my full chair and desk.
I've had the Lenovo Yoga for a few weeks now and as the OP noted, the combination of very good laptop and pretty good tablet works very well. I'm surprised how often I naturally reach up to touch the screen even in laptop mode. I now even instinctively reach up when I'm using my macbook, only to be mildly disappointed when nothing happens.
I have a feeling that most people in the world are not looking for a productivity benefit from tablets - they want to get home from work and entertain themselves. The spirit that we see on HN - creating = fun, enough energy for creativity / productivity outside of work, working on the go - is the exception, not the norm.
I've installed Ubuntu on my Nexus 7 (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Nexus7/Installation, the desktop version, not the new mobile version) and now I code on my tablet, which is awesome for something that I can carry easily around everywhere. I also carry a keyboard that doubles as a case (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWy3C4DAoOc&list=HL135376...), and now I have the smallest computer I've ever owned in my life.
If you're able to put a serious OS on your tablet, you essentially just have a tiny portable computer.
As a person who has had an iPad since the first generation (and at times used it as the only device in my apartment), I still think Steve Jobs' 2003 characterization is correct: it is a great device for rich guys who can afford a third computer.
I'd love to see good numbers for people who own a tablet and only a tablet (I suppose I'd technically count as one cause my laptop is work provided). I suspect the vivid anecdotes of "my grandmum loves hers and is video chatting for the first time ever!" is overpowering the reality where most of those are sold to people who already have desktops and laptops and smartphones. Could be wrong.
I travel with a laptop but I still use my tablet every day in meetings to take notes (I have an external keyboard cover) and to catch up on emails on the train. It is in use pretty much all day.
I've actually found a sweet spot for a tablet. More than a year ago I ditched my smartphone for a Nokia C3-00. This phone has 2 weeks (!) of battery life and I use it only as a phone - it never drops calls or dies. I use the tablet (Galaxy Tab 8.9) for everything my friends struggle on a phone - much bigger screen for reading, bigger keyboard, more battery. It fits perfectly in the bag I always carry with me.
Note that I don't compare it to a PC - a real computer is a lot more productive when it's around.
I use it to play games on airplane rides and to jerk off in bed when a laptop would be inconvenient. Other than that, I'm also at a loss of what to do with it.
I am sitting at a rec center right now while my son attends a birthday party, having just finished updating a slew of items on Asana from my Nexus 7, tethered through my smartphone. It has been an incredibly productive hour or so.
I wouldn't have brought a laptop, but a little pad tossed in the swim bag...perfect.
That is how it often is. The tablet saves the day where alternately I had no real convenient options. It allows me to read up on technologies, learn language innovations, send missives, complete to do lists, etc.
If you always have the option of a full PC, as apparently the author does, of course it is a poor substitute. Yes I prefer my dual big monitors, VMs galore, and killer compute box. That isn't always an option.
In the same boat as the author, with the exception that we don't have a (working) TV, so the wife and I use my iPad as a pricey way to watch Netflix.
I have an iPhone 5, I have a MacBook Air (at work and at home) and I have a Kindle. They're each very very good at what I want them for, and I rarely find myself reaching for the iPad other than Netflix...
I found the iPad to be a better media consumption device than my laptop. Which means that I rarely spend my non-productive time on the laptop.
Which in turn creates a higher spatial divide between work and entertainment, creating designated places for each. That alone makes me less likely to procrastinate and more productive.
I echo the sentiments here that tablets are media consumption devices, because that really is what they're best at. The most productive use I have for my tablet is using it to view a crochet or knitting pattern while I'm working on it or for following a recipe when cooking. My tablet's primary use is for reading, though.
Author likes dual monitors therefore tablets are a fad.
This is nonsense. There will always be powernerds who want expensive keyboards and 15 million pixels of desktop. Tablets are not currently productive... for us
Now watch ordinary people using them and then look at tablet sales. Now tell me they are a fad again :)
My Android tablet is my portable calendar, piano sheet / guitar tab viewer, access point to mail and chat, and a media consumer device. It's quick to activate and easy to stop using.
My computer is the thing on which I sit down and get stuck for hours and hours. If something I'd get rid of that.
In my iPad2 I have the Kindle app, iBooks, and Flipboard, so I can read everything I need or want to read.
Also, with Paper by 53 and my Wacom Bamboo Stylus I can doodle mockups to attach to any ticket for my team.
I'm more productive than ever.
I use my tablet to read (books and comics), to play music (as in reading partitures), to make music, to draw and to play games. That's very productive to me.
What irritates me was his choice of a Casio. Yet there's a photo of a Palm PDA. Clearly he would have had less entry friction using a Palm over a Casio.
I am an author of DrawExpress - a gesture recognition diagram app. I built it because there is really no app that let me draw ideas and designs fast enough. Too many of the current apps for tablet are not optimized for touch-based input. Productivity is all about speed and I like to see more gesture controlled productivity apps in the near future. (My app video - http://youtu.be/SI9VdC_JYWU)
My best use case for iPad has been the ease of showing some paper or draft to my advisor instead of printing it out or sending it over email and hoping he reads it. In general, I find iPad great for sporadic use cases that complement my laptop-based use cases quite well. But often I will lament the fact that I am using a $600 device (32GB) just for sporadic use cases.
I don't find them good for consuming except for movies on a plane. Movies at home? The bigger the screen the better. I'd much rather watch movies on my 42 inch TV from my sofa than my tablets.
Reading? I'd much rather use my Kindle Paperwhite. It's better on the eyes and soooo much lighter.
Browsing the internet? I'm a curious person and I click lots of links. So for example I'll come to HN and ctrl click every title that sounds interesting. Tablets hate this workflow as they start removing tabs. Even when it does work invariably I'll run into a page that doesn't work on the tablet. Maybe it's a WebGL page. Maybe it's a Flash page. Maybe it's a page that requires interactivity but does not respond to touch events.
Finally I'll want to comment on something or post something I found to my facebook or G+. In those cases tablets suck balls. Editing text in a tablet is a exercise in frustration. Trying to move the cursor, format, copy and paste. It's not fun. Pasting a link in the Facebook app doesn't generate a editable preview like it does in a regular browser and many other shortcomings.
I could go on and on. Some of these limitations I put up with on my phone but then my phone fits in my pocket and is always with me. My tablets though, really, I find them pretty useless. There's sole purpose at this point is to once in a while check out some new app someone tells me about. Otherwise mine are unused.