Nobody Needs a Tablet. So Why Are We Gobbling Them Up? | Hacker News Reader

Nobody Needs a Tablet. So Why Are We Gobbling Them Up?

wired.com

10 pointsPixelRobot21 comments

All of the top things you can vote on that you use your tablet for are things that my girlfriend uses my Cr-48 (Chrome OS laptop) for.

I don't think that tablets are special, per se, they're just one of a number of ultra-portables (with Cr-48, netbooks, and smartphones being the other ones) that are gaining in use because of how quick/easy they are to pick up and put down.

Not on the uses list, but ultra-portables are also far more comfortable/easier to take into environments like the bathtub. The bubble bath + kindle + zip-loc bag wins the day in this use case, as there's the same functionality as on 'dry land' and no worry involved.

Convenience?

Last night I was reading in bed on my iPad. I got an email saying that our main e-commerce site was down. I switched to iSSH, fixed the database, typed of a reply saying it was fixed, and went back to reading.

Yeah, I could have gotten out of bed, put my shorts on (TMI), gone downstairs, and fired up my laptop. The point is, I was reading (comfortable on a tablet, not so much on a laptop), and I had no need to go grab another device.

Had it been my phone, I wouldn't even have attempted it, but on the tablet, no problem. So, yeah, it definitely scratches an itch.

I have done the same on an iPhone (staying in the country on a GPRS connection with a hangover) - but it's much much better on an iPad.

I've convinced myself I need a tablet because nothing really fills the "pdf viewer" slot in a good way. I can print pdfs of several state law-specific reference books for free (at cost of ink and paper ~2500 pages) or pay ~$400 for paper copies in 3-ring binders - or I can buy a wifi Xoom on Sunday. No-brainer.

I have a hard time focusing on pdfs on a desktop or laptop when distractions like reddit are so easily accessed - but if I can keep myself focused on the content at hand I can have a portable copy of important references with me at all times for a small price.

Agreed, during my evenings I've been attempting to learn Rais. So I have the Ruby on Rails 3 Tutorial PDF on my iPad resting on the arm on my couch, and laptop in my lap. These types of PDFs/eBooks really shine on the iPad over the Kindle. From what I read the code section appearance on the kindle makes it hard to follow. The color diagrams, code and touchable hyperlinks make the tablet pc the book of the future.

The tablet for me is really about reading and reference. I got a bunch of 99 cent html5/JS/php/css reference books in case I need them there. But the real bread and butter for me is FlipBoard and InstaPaper. These apps make the tablet worth it. InstaPaper now has social interaction and a curated longform article section so I don't even have to use my computer to find interesting topics anymore.

Yesterday there was a HN post about Inkling, a textbook distribution app for academic textbooks (McGraw-Hill, Pearson) that allows you to have embedded multimedia objects and section highlighting/note sharing to professors and classmates. Tablets are the reading experience of the future.

i think there are a lot of new areas for something like a tablet -- take for instance, a lot of designers these days are using iPads/tablets as portfolio devices in interviews or with clients. Instead of clunky paper portfolios or simply throwing someone your website and asking them to check it out later or after the interview, you can bring in your tablet, show off some nice high res images, zoom in and out. It adds interactivity to the interviewing experience, especially if you can bring up a website design you might have done and show exactly how it works.

All of which you can do with your laptop. The tablet just makes the experience a whole lot nicer.

So, just like the article explains, you don't need the tablet, but it's worth the $500+ anyways.

One of my previous clients, a couple of tattoo/piercing shops, just emailed me to be on the lookout for used iPads. They want to use them to show off the artists portfolios but also for to showcase their extensive jewelry collection and pricing. It feels like a great way to allow the client to be more invested in the artist, and they can even use the ipad2 camera and drawing apps to sketch tattoos without ever leaving a potential client.

I've been trying to convince them to try out the POS options as well. Being able to replace a bulky $4000 point of sale system into an ipad portfolio/register is pretty sexy.

I think a major factor is that most people despise their "real" computers, even though they like what they can do with them.

Which is why they don't care about the locked down nature of the App Store - in fact it's an advantage.

Nobody needs a tablet? Sure... let me just pack my desktop computer up and put it in my carry-on bag the next time I travel.

"As you might expect, the top three things consumers have been doing with iPads are surfing the web, writing and checking e-mail and playing games"

That sounds like the same thing people are doing with desktop computers and laptops.

Did you even read the article? He explains really clearly that he understands the advantage Tablets represent. He even makes a nice little Microwave-to-Oven analogy.

"He even makes a nice little Microwave-to-Oven analogy." (TomOfTTB)

The microwave-to-oven analogy doesn't make much sense. Do you think most people are sitting beside their desktop/laptop while they use their iPad/tablet? I love my iPad, but I will surely use my desktop when I can choose between the two.

Just like you'll surely use your oven instead of the microwave if you're not time-constrained because it's a richer taste experience.

Except the laptop is faster.

if its started up. One of the biggest draws to me originally for the tablet was that there is no waiting.

"you'll surely use your oven instead of the microwave if you're not time-constrained"

So, if I'm time-constrained, you're thinking I'm going to type that email on my iPad? Again, this is a bad analogy. I think people really do need tablets. They just don't need them when their desktop/laptop is in reach.

He's making an abstraction not saying a Microwave represents a 1-to-1 relationship with an iPad

Thanks for clearing that up. I was starting to think my iPad was going to cook me dinner quickly. That is surely an item on the iPad 3 feature list.

Sorry, the comment is confusing: I'm referring to the fact that you prefer your computer when you're at it, and only prefer the iPad when not.

The preference for the microwave is only when you're time-constrained. Otherwise the oven is preferable because of the tastier results it produces.

His point is that a Microwave adds convenience at the expense of ability. In that a Microwave doesn't cook things as well as an Oven does but it cooks them faster.

In that same way an iPad adds convenience at the expense of ability. You can carry an iPad places you don't want to carry a desktop or laptop but it can't do as much as those devices.

Though all of this is beside the point because your original comment treated the statement "no one needs" as if he were saying "there's no value in" when in fact that wasn't what he was saying at all.

"your original comment treated the statement "no one needs" as if he were saying "there's no value in""

And that isn't what I was saying either. Some people really do need a portable device like an iPad. However, as this article points out in its many examples, the average person does not need one.

Perhaps this article should be retitled to "The average person does not need a tablet".

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