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Comment by rezashirazian | Hacker News Reader

I think most people use tablets to watch TV in bed. Now that iPhones and Androids are shipping with larger screens and higher resolutions, there isn't much need for a second device.

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I still think the need for tablets exists, because even larger phones feel inadequate for browsing the web, particularly on sites were the desktop version is superior to the mobile one. That said, tablets tend to limit the user's ability to perform other day to day tasks, most notably moving files around. My suspicion is that sales have fallen in part because tablets, particularly iPads, have too narrow a use case to justify their price.

Pretty much. The Apple devices assume that you buy into their ecosystem. It is interesting to note that back when the first ipad shipped, Apple release a camera kit that plugged into the tablet. But it only allowed files to be transferred to the tablet, not the other way.

Similarly Google started out allowing bi-directional file transfers, but then later rolled that back to only allow reading, not writing, with regards to removable storage.

This leaves Windows. But there there fusing of Windows Phone's UWP and NT's win32 is awkward at best. Resulting in the best use of the "tablet" to prop it on a surface and attach a mouse. This because UWP file management is highly restricted, leaving us to use touch-hostile win32 programs for that task.

Android can do bidirectional file transfer quite happily, you just need a "file manager" app. My Zenfone even had one preinstalled.

Thats the thing, only system apps are allowed to write to removable devices.

Yeah, some OEMs include a minimal file manager with their devices. But they are a pale comparison to what third parties can offer.

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