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Comment by dictum | Hacker News Reader

My love affair with the tablet isn't over: I love how it lets me browse the web, read books and magazines, and watch videos in bed after a long day. That's probably how most people use their tablets — secondary devices, mainly for entertainment. After a working day, I don't want to use a PC, and the tablet lets me use the web and other media comfortably, but I wouldn't try to actually use it for work beyond initially planning projects.

It's much more human, for lack of a better word — more intimate, more ergonomic — than a PC for (browsing the web|reading ebooks or PDFs|watching videos|making video calls).

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This is exactly how I use my tablet too. I use my computer all day writing code, so when its time to relax with some Netflix, or an ebook I grab my tablet instead. Its perfect for laying on the couch or in bed.

A phone definitely works in that case as well, but the tiny screen isn't as nice for reading and watching video. Not to mention by the end of the day my phone is usually mostly dead and its time to put it on the charger for tomorrow. So trying to use my phone in bed while its attached to a charger is annoying. The tablet meanwhile is charged up (and usually lasts a full week for me between charges, even during heavy Netflix usage).

The difference in screen size between tablets and phones is much less apparent now than it was 2 or 3 years ago.

Now we've got "phablets," which are bad at being phones (awkward and clumsy to carry around, and almost impossible to operate with one hand) and bad at being tablets (small screen for a tablet, inherently greater limitations on battery life)... ><

Yay?

Really? You sound like most tech journalists two or three years ago, when the original Galaxy Note came out. They were sure embarrassed a couple months later when they turned out to be completely wrong about how popular it would be.

Try getting out of the iPhone bubble for a while - you'll find that in the real world, phablets are not just something that you make fun of.

I don't have an iphone. I have an Android phone which is larger (65mm width) than an iphone 5, but decidedly smaller than a phablet.

My phone is just on the edge of one-hand usability (I can mostly manage it but sometimes things get pretty awkward) and I often wish I had something iphone-sized instead, but choice is pretty limited among smaller Android phones (they exist, but tend to be old/slow/etc).

People I know with phablets use them like tablets (almost always with two hands etc). That's fine if you want a small tablet, but it isn't really an adequate replacement for a traditional smartphone. They're just different things.

Have you considered that one-handed usability isn't a defining property of smartphones?

It's a pretty important one, though. I have a Nexus 4 and if not for the big price difference and the fact that I wanted a phone without a contract, I would've gotten an iPhone instead. And one of the primary reasons is one-handed usability, because that is the primary use case for me. If I can comfortably use two hands, and if I want to, I'll use my tablet...

Based on observing people use their phones (as well as personal experience using mine), I think it's reasonable to say that one-handed operation is important for many people in various common usage situations.

E.g., I see huge numbers of people standing on the train using their phone with one hand (while hanging onto a strap with the other) or walking down the street, using their phone with one hand (while carrying a bag with the other), etc.

Have you considered being less patronising?

I have a non-geek friend who has a Note. She loves it.

She's already used to having to charge her phone every night, because while her old phone might've lasted 2-3 days it was easier just charging it every night.

She holds it two-handed, portrait, to text and interact with facebook, and did with a smaller phone too because she can type much faster that way.

She's comfortable reading on it.

It fits in her pockets fine.

I prefer my Nexus 4 + Nexus 7 as an approach, but for a bunch of people, yes, yay.

Sure, and there will likely be a big market for 6" phones for a good while to come - at least until EEG/eye-tracking controlled smart glasses replace them.

That said, I don't want a 6" phone. My Nexus 5 is too big. Just a bit smaller, and I'd be able to use it comfortably one-handed. I'd go 4" over 5" if there was an option with the price and performance I want, though 4.3" or 4.5" is probably perfect for me.

I have medium-small hands, and the Nexus 5 is hard to use one-handed. I made a case for it out of carbon fiber, and that improved things slightly by adding a bezel that sticks out from the screen by 1 mm or so. Its height is also at the upper end of what I want in my pockets. Unfortunately, the iPhone 5S is the only current/recent high-spec smartphone I know of that's the size I want, and I don't like iOS. When is Sony going to offer the Z1f outside Japan?

I dunno. I put in pretty long coding days, pretty much every day. The first thing I do when I get home is, turn on my desktop.

I loved my iPad when I first got it, but now it's relegated to an overly expensive kindle. I actually like to do things on my computing devices. Play (non-casual) games, do some stupid cat Photoshop, start a hobby project(right now it's a tower defense engine in the now defunct XNA). Tables can't support any of that.

Overall, I agree with the article.

Its perfect for laying on the couch or in bed

not for everyone though, as it emits light, and that is not what your body wants late at night. See example HN thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7057575

edit: I'm simply indicating staring at a screen late at night might not be all that good for us humans. Downvoting this doesn't make it any less true.

I suspect you're being down voted because article is discussing the merits between 3 devices, PC's, tablets, and phones, with the conclusion that phablets are the win in the end (with some fairly feeble 'evidence'). The fact that all three affect some peoples circadian rhythm isn't overly valuable to the conversation. Form factor is the discussion, and you're talking about light sensitivity in insomniacs. Water is a solid at -30c at sea level is also true, regardless of whether people down vote me. And neither are relevant to the article or the discussion being had.

I've found that f.lux really helps with that. For iOS you need a jailbroken device though.

Since the era of zoomable text on phones appears to be over, tablets have a bright future.

Why the frack do they keep doing that!?

Agreed. I'll even go as far as saying that away from work, my Nexus 7 quickly became my primary device. I dread sitting down at the laptop if I'm away form the office.

The existence of the tablet has (indirectly) made me more productive at work, too: Rather than reading articles that come through my RSS feed when I'm working (which is a vice of mine), I just add any interesting items to my Pocket queue, and read it that night (or later in the week) when relaxing at home. Not because I don't want to read the article right away (I usually want to)—but because I actually prefer to read on the tablet.

> My love affair with the tablet isn't over: I love how it lets me browse the web, read books and magazines, and watch videos in bed after a long day. That's probably how most people use their tablets — secondary devices, mainly for entertainment.

That is how most people use their computers.

In order to argue the author's point you would also need to be carrying around a 5" phone. He is pointing out the trend of more people using their phones for what they used to use their tablets for. I'd be interested to know if you have a 5" phone and whether or not you think it replaces the features of your tablet in any way.

Speaking for myself, no, my smartphone does not replace my tablet. The amount of screen realestate lost when going from 11" to 5" is just too much. It makes reading hard (particularly with less than perfect eyesight), movies too small, and all of the real time communication that comes with a phone is vying for my attention all the time.

Now then, if I could make calls over a bluetooth headset connected to my iPad, I'd drop my phone in a heartbeat...

> Now then, if I could make calls over a bluetooth headset connected to my iPad, I'd drop my phone in a heartbeat...

What's stopping you? I do this from Hangouts (which can make calls, at least in the US.)

I can do that with google voice.

My HTC One (4.7") has more or less obliterated my Nexus 7 usage.

I'm with you on that. Though actually my thinking is increasingly "dumbphone + tablet". Where the phone gets carried when I absolutely, positively, must be in contact (and the less that happens the better).

I think phablets may replace small tablets, but the real question is whether large tablets will replace laptops/desktops. That's where the growth market is for tablets if the software becomes powerful enough.

My Note II (and now Note III) completely killed my tablet use... or more properly put, replaced it. With the stylus and multitasking, feels more like a small tablet with phone capabilities.

My various tablets are now nearly permanently attached to my computers. I need them for writing / testing software, but that is mostly all they do these days, don't carry them around the house much, never carry them out of the house.

I've given up mobile phones completely. The only device I carry around is a Nexus 7.

http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/no-smartphones/

Am I the only one who uses it mostly in the toilet?

Sitting upright at a desk with a reasonably sized monitor placed at arm's length is much more ergonomic than curling over a tiny glossy screen.

Not to mention that curling up with a small laptop the size of an iPad (MacBook Air 11'') is even more ergonomic because it has a built-in stand and doesn't need a cover. Close to the same weight, same size as an iPad, but a full laptop.

have you ever tried using a laptop in bed , in a similar position to if you were reading a book? It kinda sucks (yes, even the 11'' air). Tablets replace magazines, not computers (at least in the "position in which you're using it" category).

Why would you want a stand if you're going to hold it anyways?

In bed, I often lay on my side with my tablet locked to portrait orientation but it is standing horizontally with respect to the bed. This way, I don't need to support it with my hands to read, only need to use my hands when I need to scroll or pick something new to read.

Not really tiny. And I DON'T want to "sit upright at a desk" after 10+ hours of doing just that.

Yes, and the superior battery life of a tablet enables this casual consumption very nicely.

My sentiment too, especially with airplay/chromecast (I use both iOS and Android), the value of the tablets is only going up for me. I happen to prefer Nexus 7 over iPad for reading books, but besides that iPad is my go-to device for non-work consumption.

With FaceTime use especially, iPhone form factor is not great. Same can be set for my old Galaxy Nexus with hangouts. iPad/Nexus 7 do way better in that department. iPad Air weight and form factor is especially better then the old iPad.

There is a whole gradient of mobile devices, from small PMPs to full-sized tablets. They all are essentially the same thing in different scales. The article seems to be saying that the use case for tablets is being supplanted by larger phones.

> The article seems to be saying that the use case for tablets is being supplanted by larger phones

... which seems a fairly silly thing to say. The exact same factors which attract people to larger phones -- bigger screen, bigger battery, other things like CPU power that more space helps with -- are also going to make "tablets" more attractive than "phablets" for some people and/or some situations (e.g., like many people, I have a "home tablet" which sits around my house, but I don't try to carry it around in my pocket).

I think phablets have a place as the very-small portable end of the tablet market, but they aren't a good replacement for traditional smartphones, because they're just too awkward. So the argument that they're a "good enough" one-device alternative to both phones and tablets doesn't seem very strong (it will certainly be true for some people, but it will not be true for many others).

[If you look at people using phablets, they tend to use them exactly like tablets: two hands for operation (whereas traditional smartphones work great with one), putting them down when not in use (people often just hold their phone), putting them in a bag instead of in a pocket, etc. They're tablets.]

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