5 Reasons Tablets Suck and You Won't Buy One

[terr281]

There is a use for tablet PCs in the computer marketplace. That use is any job where you are required to be mobile as part of the job, yet also input data into a database at your "headquarters." (Example: Police officer, Industrial plants, Construction work managers, Truck drivers, etc.)

The problem, however, is application support for the device and user treatment of the physical hardware. Most "good" laptop owners would never dream of throwing their laptop into the passenger seat (like a paper log or small "rugged" handheld device) or leaving a computer in their vehicle overnight (freezing or very hot temperatures). Yet, in the occupations that could use tablets the most, they can't be used.

Further, the next question is whether we truly want them to be used. In the world of business, at least one person (if not several in a company/occupation) have no other job than data input from paper logs into databases. If we went to tablet use across most business fields, that is yet another occupation lost for the low and lower middle class across the country/world. (And, at the same time, creating jobs in all social economic classes... but these jobs are generally tied to specific areas known for computer expertise. Example: Silicon Valley, CA & India.)

 

[JohnnyLucky]

It's probably going to wind up being a small niche.

 

[d-block]

I always thought the tablet pc was a stupid idea. I could see the ipad doing better in sales, because it is an apple. Tablets are completely useless.

 

[Guest]

All the tablet haters can hem and haw all they want. The geeks can look down upon the iPad as a weak, under-featured device. But who really gives a darn what these people are griping about. Geeks comprise about 2% of the general population. Yeah, the same geeks that said the Palm Pre was going to kill the iPhone because it had a physical keyboard and multitasking. Geeks are not even a large enough group to be worth selling products to.

For the pure tablet haters in general that swear the cheaply-built convertible netbook is the ultimate in mobile computing, I hope they enjoy their crap machines that are the bane of the U.S. computer companies. Regardless of what these individuals think, Apple is going to be able to sell the iPad to millions of low-tech users who don't have any preconceptions about the iPad hardware. If it does what they want it to do, that will be more than enough. The idiot geeks would want a full OS on the Kindle if they could, for all the good it would do. All that extra crap code just to read an eBook. What the hell are these geeks thinking? Apple built a tablet with just enough power and just enough OS to be nimble and easy to use. That and tons of content are going drive iPad sales through the roof. Apple has already disregarded the pundits, the tablet haters and the geeks and it's a good thing because those narrow-minded doubters understand nothing about sales, marketing or human nature. Prophecy critics just want attention. Any person that says a product will fail before they've even used it aren't even worth listening to.

 

[rbarone69]

Great read and very true. You hit the nail right on the head!

 

[buwish]

Indeed, I had an HP convertible tablet (tx series) and before it burnt out in less than a year I did find the tablet feature a bit of a fun novelty, but not the most convenient thing in the world.

 

[hakesterman]

It's Funny how he thinks the Ipad Sucks and he thinks it's just another Tablet. May the truth be told about the Apple Ipad, it is on track to becomeing the greatest Mobile device to ever reach planet earth. It has sold over a quarter million in sales it's first week and is on track to sell over ten million it's first quarter of sales. This is going to be the King Daddy of Mobile devices and every other tablet will be commpared to the Ipad.

 

[Honis]

The reason all other tablets have failed is advertising. Apple actually advertises its products through its fanboys, clever TV ads, and slipping new devices here and there. When was the last time you saw a Tablet commercial that wasn't a recent iPad commercial? Never! Archos has never advertised any of its products on television as far as I know. HP is doing nothing but the underground advertising (showing it at trade shows). Say what you will about interfaces and features. Amazing products fail all the time due to a lack of informing the general public of the products existence. A perfect example would be the Palm Pre/WebOS. It is an amazing device but has used all of the wrong advertising to get the word out.

 

[tuannguyen]

[citation][nom]hakesterman[/nom]It's Funny how he thinks the Ipad Sucks and he thinks it's just another Tablet. May the truth be told about the Apple Ipad, it is on track to becomeing the greatest Mobile device to ever reach planet earth. It has sold over a quarter million in sales it's first week and is on track to sell over ten million it's first quarter of sales. This is going to be the King Daddy of Mobile devices and every other tablet will be commpared to the Ipad.[/citation]

That's not what I said in this article. You completely missed the point here. This article was about getting Microsoft to get off its lazy behind.

 

[islate]

The iSlate is a tablet being made by Apple not HP.

 

[meepstone]

Only place I can see using a tablet is for work purposes. You can bring up documents and work on new ones and save them to the office server on the go and anywhere. Be more efficient and convienent then having to go back to your desk and use computer.

I dont see a reason to have one around the house.

 

[dheadley]

I think that Apple is going to be the first company to have a successful tablet simply because they are not going to try to make it a laptop or desktop replacement device. They want it to be something that the customer and the app developers shape into something new.

I see it being popular with certain industries in a way that the previous tablets have never been. Imagine a hospital where instead of having to go to the nurses station and grab the proper chart, the doctor just calls up the patients charts, test results, x-rays, MRI or ultrasound pictures right there on the iPad. If he wants to add instructions for the nurses, order tests or change medications he can do it as he does his examination and on the other side of the hospital the pharmacy instantly gets an update, the nurses stations, labs etc are instantly alerted to make the necessary changes happen. Heck you could have patients who are on support equipment be able to be monitored from anywhere in the hospital, so that a doctor that just came out of hours of surgery could rest in his office and still have instant access to his recovering patient's condition.

Not that the other manufacturers couldn't do this same thing, it is just that like this articles points out, they build full on desktop OS experiences, when the tablet should really be about the applications and the OS should be as small and unobtrusive as possible. For the example I gave above, maybe the iPad would run an app suite that never gets switched off and the OS itself is never actually seen by the users directly.

Also the iPad will have the simple charging dock that can be used with any unit. Walk to your office and drop in a dock to recharge and receive updates or drop it in a dock at the nurses station. Take it to a meeting room and drop it in a dock to display all the x-rays of a patient on a large projector screen and with a touch on the iPad select an individual image and zoom in/out or rotate with gestures or tie it into a video conferencing system to do remote collaboration with an expert in another field.

Any of the other manufacturers could have done something like this, but Apple will make it happen because they strive to make things as simple as possible while at the same time allowing the developers to take the device anywhere they want it to go. If it won't do it out of the box, maybe with an add-on like the GPS cradles or credit card swipes.

 

[Guest]

For all the smart asses here - you never in your life had a huge successful company with 50 billion dollars in cash on hand, to make an opinion what is the right way of designing and distributing a product. apple has. ipad is a combination of design, gui, content and battery life that no other one got even close. thats why i'm sure the ipad gonna be a tremendous success, and the rest of a competition will just try to copy it, like they did with the iphone. mark my words.

 

[hakesterman]

That's not what I said in this article. You completely missed the point here. This article was about getting Microsoft to get off its lazy behind. Your not Tuan Nguyen, Sorry nice try.

Microsoft is not the reason there is no PC Tablet. Microsoft makes software not hardware, it's Dells and HP and Acer and all the other manufactures who are sitting around on standby.

Islate you are not the person who wrote this artical, Stop Dreaming. And by the way Islate is not being built by Apple, it is being developed by HP. However it will probably never get the actual Islate or Itablet name because of legal issues.

 

[schmich]

The main reason the lack of keyboard. The price doesn't justify a whole new device unless you are loaded with cash.

I myself would love one to watch movies as I travel a lot. Laptops are a hassle to take out and use in an airplane.

 

[hedin]

This article is totally missing what is actually going on. Yes there are people making tablets based on Microsoft's desktop OS and they have largely failed. I think the author's saying he likes the direction Apple's taken with their tablet not being based on their desktop OS. But he ignores that there are lots of people making Android and Chrome tablets. And he ignores that its likely Microsoft will support tablets based in Windows Phone 7.

 

[bigrigross]

"Cramming a desktop OS into a tablet but rebuilding the user interface from the ground up? That's what needs to be done. Microsoft needs to accomplish this."

Umm doest window 7 fix this problem. Ive been using it on a older IBM tablet and it works great and ive never had any problems. It could just be me but I think Microsoft hit it right on head with that UI and structure.

 

[Abrahm]

Good article Tuan. I recently was given a classic laptop style tablet to use for a project with a stylus. After the "WOW" factor of it, I really haven't used the touch screen and the only benefit I have found from it is the pivoting screen to show other people stuff. It's also fairly large and clunky and not useful for sitting on the couch and watching something.

That being said, Apple's idea for a touch screen media slate actually intrigues me. I can actually see myself buying and using something like the iPad. But, all of the shortcomings if the iPad hardware and software, and the tyrannical control of Apple assures me that I will never buy an iPad. I am, on the other hand, very interested in buying one of the many upcoming Android tablets that should be available fairly soon.

As far as the popularity, you also have to take into account that most previous tablets weren't really marketed much, but the media has been in a rabid frenzy over the iPad for some reason.

So while I didn't have much interest in classic tablets before, I am interested in the new slate devices, and when looking at the new slate devices, it's easy to see and point out the terrible flaws the iPad has.

 

[ncr7002]

I've always wanted one, but the prices are crazy, they need to be in the netbook range, and they need to be easy to use, if have a pdf that I want to read, just drag and drop on the tablet storage device and read. I'm not putting up with demented business models that impose restrictions on what I can or can't do with my own device like the Apple Store. I want and OS and a file system that I can use seamlessly anyway I feel like it, anything else is crap.

 

[Pyroflea]

Right when I thought the Apple fan-boi-ism was gone from the article...

"Otherwise, it'll be 2001 all over again, except Apple will be the king of tablets--and no one wants a monopoly."

What the hell does it matter if Apple holds a monopoly on a product you just wrote a huge article on saying how terrible it is and it'll never catch on? Good for them, they'll be the kings of the worst available form of computer built, I hope their proud.

 

[matt314]

I have a Thinkpad X61t and I actually quite enjoy it. Its a very light and thin computer (3 lbs), it has strong specs (don't need to play games on campus), and I find the 1400x1050 12 inch screen perfect. The fact that its a tablet doesn't negatively affect any of the features of the laptop and whenever I want to take notes, or feel like jotting down an idea, I can use the tablet. Plus the battery lasts over 6 hours. Can't complain.
Now the iPad I don't have a use for personally...too big to use for music, it can't run any programs I would need, and it doesnt have a keyboard... As much as I love using my computer in tablet mode, programming or even surfing the web is not fun without a keyboard!
Anyways, thats just my two cents.

 

[orionantares]

I've been looking at tablets for 5 years now but haven't seen any that were worth the cost. My hope is this renewed interest in tablets caused by the iPad will inspire better designs (of which the iPad is not quite one of them) that will be worth the cost.

I'm thinking that something with the iPad's specs and potentially with Android or maybe even the coming Chromium as the OS might be interesting.

 

[cadder]

The article brings up some good points about usability of the OS. I've not been interested in tablets because I was afraid that Windows would not work well on a tablet. I've used Windows-based PDA's quite a bit and they work well with a stylus, but you are using the stylus for everything, not switching back and forth between it and a keyboard.

With an OS made for finger use such as what the iphone has, a tablet might be easier to use. Windows could do the same thing if they just made the buttons and scrollbars larger.

I think the difference between now and several years ago for tablets is how people are using them. People use the net more for streaming media and social networking now, more people are doing this and this functionality will work on a tablet, perhaps easier than it will work on a laptop. The tablet is definitely a niche market, and nobody knows yet how big that niche is.

 

[peacock]

[citation][nom]Pyroflea[/nom]Right when I thought the Apple fan-boi-ism was gone from the article..."Otherwise, it'll be 2001 all over again, except Apple will be the king of tablets--and no one wants a monopoly."What the hell does it matter if Apple holds a monopoly on a product you just wrote a huge article on saying how terrible it is and it'll never catch on? Good for them, they'll be the kings of the worst available form of computer built, I hope their proud.[/citation]
Dude I think you did not comprehend the article properly. What you quoted above there is clearly a statement saying that Tuan doesn't want to see Apple dominate that market segment, and hopes that Microsoft will have something great to offer to counter.

 

[hurfburf]

I think the criticism of the iPad stemmed from the fact that it's even lamer than a tablet PC, and everyone was expecting something that would be at least as good.