5 Reasons Tablets Suck and You Won't Buy One

[ahslan]

^Agree...they have a slight learning curve, but seriously, once you get used to using one, it is SOO much more productive...I mean, I literally have a database of all my notes for the pass 3 years, where I can search through them easily with a search bar! That recognized my own handwriting!....what more can you ask....

 

[sublifer]

I've been saying these very same things for years. (except the hardware portion... can never have too much or too powerful of hardware) But the user interfaces on full OSes and Applications are what kills the tablet AND touchscreen market.

 

[Guest]

I'll see your article and raise you with this one: http://besttabletreview.com/the-a-zs-of-tablets-why-tablets-hold-so-much-potential/

It's not an "all of the sudden" fad. It's just that no company has truly made a tablet that fulfills what a tablet SHOULD be. Those looking at the iPad for that need is like looking at a bicycle when you really need an automobile.

 

[Guest]

It's interesting to listen to the defenders of the Ipad. Here we have a device that offers limited capacity, the ability to do only one task at a time, and offers a "great reading experience". Couple that with having to pay for 3-G service, and you have a quiet disaster in the making.

My point is this: I'll agree that the Ipad jumps a lot of hoops,(photos, ect) but down the road, after shelling out what, between $500 - 900, how much will it cost to replace the battery? Can the user do it his/herself? I doubt it. What if that pretty color screen is damaged? Will it cost $300 to repair? Portability is an issue, and depending on where you live, the very shape makes you an easy mark for the ne'r do wells of the world. Now, I own a Kindle, and so far, I have no complaints beyond having to press the "Next Page" button. It lasts for close to three weeks between charges, and I read a lot. Most of the books I have (85) I got for free, mostly classics, and some med. books. Amazon has their own wireless network, so I don't have to deal with AT&T, and while I can't do color, I can still read the NY Times, ect.

What I'm saying is that Apple is appealing a small crowd of well-to-do folks, who will fly all the way from Barcelona, Spain to buy whatever is the "Newest" trend, and that's a cart that many of us lower-income folks don't (or can't) jump on.

The Ipad is beautiful, no doubt. But it's like the Iphone: I just need a phone that takes/makes calls. I don't play games on my phone. I don't need to know where the "good" restaurants are. Don't need to know how to "get a date". Don't need to play music on the darn thing. Just a phone. Years from now, Apple may come up with an "everything" tablet that will justify my spending that kind of money, but for now, I'll keep my devices separate, because with this thing, if ya lose one (component), you lose all.

I like the Kindle for it's simplicity, portability, battery life, and the number of books available. Amazon has left itself plenty of "wiggle" room for innovation, and once all the hoopla dies down, you'll find that they'll maintain a strong following, because they're what most people can afford, something that Apple seems to think is irrelevant. Time will tell.

 

[Guest]

The real issue is that it goes against our own ergonomics. We only have two hands so if your holding a tablet you can only type with the free hand. But with a notebook or even a netbook you can set it down and type with two. The other problem is of course is the lack of a keyboard. Apple keeps telling us what we need but many of Apple products are actually handicapping how we naturally use stuff. Apple seems to be more interested in eliminating certain annoying things. Like when Steve Jobs came up with the one button mouse. Even their newer products are more about design then practical usage. As the iPad gets more popular just what some people try as use one. Eventually you will see them have trouble doing something and you will then realize that the whole ideal behind the tablet is wrong for us.

 

[Guest]

[citation][nom]gorehound[/nom]number one should be that all ebooks suck and they are going to hurt the bookstores that employ folks (maybe a friend of yours) in your local town.they also kill the collectible 1st edition offthey also can't be resold years later at a profit.they also are not supposed to be resold at all.i won't ever buy any kind of IPAD.I won over 1200 books and many are 1st editions.makikng every thing digital will only cause pain in the end for millions whose livelihood depends on physical things.stores,UPS,manufacturing,resellers,etc.[/citation]

No no no no no... There is a place in the world for more than one business model to operate at a time. Also, if the market chooses one way to read over another, that is the free market you live in. I don't see people riding horses just to keep the blacksmith trade going. Except the Amish... Maybe you might like to move to the Salt Lake area?

I don't intend to be mean and I see where you are coming from but the point is, the only people who value first editions and book shops will still stick to the old ways and pass those ways onto their children. We are not all going to start burning books or even stop producing paper books just because a large portion of the population find 100s of books on one portable device more convenient than lugging a suitcase full of books about.

If anyone can point fault with my logic, please correct me, but frankly, I just don't see it.

 

[Guest]

Ok, so I admit I don't have time to read all of these comments. Some people appear to be making sense but the main article does not. Even at the time of writing, the Android operating system was live on smart phones and promised to be viable for larger devices.

In my mind (even though I love the iPad as the device that will blow open the market and get other companies to take tablet/slate/pad computing seriously) the only current alternative to the iPad OS is Android.

Android IS built from the ground up to work with touch input. Even though they were slow to implement, it does have multitouch in the kernal. It is open source so it can potentially overtake the Apple App Store in numbers of Apps and at the time of me writing this, the best devices of the next year are set to be Android.

The face that the author of this article seemed to deliberately ignore Android, simply because it did not 'fit-in' with his thesis, makes me distrust and dislike this article and lets down this writer and the website.

But that's just my opinion... Please feel free to correct me with facts, figures, insightful tid-bits if you like, but please let's not resort to small minded insults and overly generalised hyperbole.

Also, the Archos device mentioned with Windows is relatively new and all other tablet devices that I can find that were available before were either over-sized PDAs or expensive laptop based devices... Can anyone point out an iPad like device that existed before? Really... I would love to see it... I just haven't found one yet.

 

[mrkhsm]

I know this is an old story now, but I really think this article sums up exactly what is going on with these tablet machines. There is no real good reason to get one. the only thing i see that is anything like what the Ipad is advertized as is this:http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/asus-eee-slate-ep121-officially-unveiled-ips-display-core-i5-a/

But I bet that that will cost a bundle!

 

[mrkhsm]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/asus-eee-slate-ep121-officially-unveiled-ips-display-core-i5-a/

 

[Guest]

I've used the ipad. I was totally underwhelmed. I'll take a 7-year-old PC over an ipad any day of the year.

 

[itssri]

Hi,

This is August 20, 2012 and much of this article still holds true. One interesting development in this period has been the development of the free OS - Linux Ubuntu, with built-in tablet user interface.

Please also see my blog post on my wishlist for a "productive" handheld tablet at http://www.handheldtablet.com/specs-for-ideal-handheld-tablet-pc-wishlis

Best regards.