Tablets

Everyone and their uncle has a tablet these days. I see students with them, I see grandmas with them. Business men. Mothers. Dogs. Everyone has a tablet.

I still don't see the point. I have a desktop for home use, and I have a netbook that I use for all my mobile-computing needs. My netbook has 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard-drive, a dual core processor, runs Windows 7 Premium, has a full sized keyboard, and also an HDMI out port. And it cost $200 less than an iPad. I understand that a tablet is cool. I don't understand why people keep paying more for less.

Is anyone else as confused about the popularity of tablets as I am? Or am I just missing the point?


( Edited 28.01.2012 23:01 by Jacob4000 )

Most people probably get them as some sort of fashion statement, particularly iPad users. In richer countries like ours, people seem to buy any old nonsense that's glamorised to the point that it's considered "cool" and they could easily live without it or have a better/just as good alternative.

( Edited 28.01.2012 23:15 by Marzy )

I agree with Marzy. It's often just to do with what's trending.

I myself usually try to get everything as cheap as possible without sacrificing quality, and have gotten several devices that could substitute a tablet for under the price of a tablet. Sorry for the lingo, but fuck that shit.

It looks retarded, too. Can't even stuff it away inside anything but a purse/bag. I'd rather get a decent-sized smartphone, then :p

iPad is for porn nuff said lol

It all depends. I have no need of one, but my parents got one. They aren't very tech savvy at all but my dad now reads all his newspapers on there every day, checks his email and books holidays, gets tickets and tracks stock all from the couch. Its simple and most of all, I don't have to teach him to use it.

My mum also does her work emails from it too, purchases products and is discovering the wealth of the internet, looking at training videos in her profession etc.

All of that can be done on a computer if you know where to look, but they don't. Having it all in one place and easy to download is brilliant for them. We do have a house 27" iMac, but its up in the loft and awkward to get to and that is mainly used for when my dad is designing on Autocad and Sketchup and does still see quite a bit of use.

Tablets certainly have a role in today society. You have to look at what they are catering for - you can keep it in your bag and its very light, has a long battery life, can use it practically anywhere and is expanding in usability - especially with Onlive program streaming.

I'm not saying that a tablet is a pointless endeavor. But the current efforts just leave so much to be desired. They're very limited, and yet they generally cost more than some laptops and nearly all netbooks. In terms of weight they're really not so noticeably lighter either once you throw it in a backpack. At the price, it just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm speaking of course about people in general. I suppose if you have parents or grandparents who struggle to understand regular computers than maybe a tablet is the way to go. But the premium you pay for the limited functionality is still ridiculous to me.

For me to consider them to be practical they need to either run a real OS (Windows 8 may save the day here) and do everything a real laptop can do, or they need to get heck of a lot cheaper. Something's gotta give.

I don't think I've ever seen someone use a tablet in real life. Probably just my location. Around here having such a thing on display is like waving money around. You'll just get mugged and possibly stabbed.

Jacob4000 said:
For me to consider them to be practical they need to either run a real OS (Windows 8 may save the day here) and do everything a real laptop can do, or they need to get heck of a lot cheaper. Something's gotta give.

Agreed. We can blame Apple and their faggoty "lifestyle" aesthetic which dominates all of their products. They just goad simpletons in with their generally all-white and sterile appearance (thanks again, Apple!), implying futuristic capabilities, yet providing nothing of the sort, just presenting pretty basic features in a swish way.

You may substitute the colour "white" in that previous sentence with another colour, as competing tablets will often not be white in order to differentiate themselves from the iPad. You may not replace/disagree with any other part of the sentence.

I don't see the point in them either.

Well actually thats a lie, they would be very convenient for web browsing. Thats what I would mostly use it for that maybe youtube and facebook.

But 300 quid for convenience and what amounts to a web browser most of the time, no way.
I know there are cheaper android varients and such but they mostly suck balls.

The only decent ones out there are the iPad and maybe the premium samsung ones.

I'll be waiting another couple of years, as higher specs become cheaper and Android becomes more ubiquitous among tablets, I could see my self being tempted for one around the £150 mark or £130.
As long as they don't suck and have massive screen lag of course.

My dad likes his iPad for its ease of use, but then complains when it can't run something (usually because it's flash based) and I sometimes wonder why he doesn't get a laptop, but he likes the games on his iPad as well.

It's very much a style thing with most people, they just want one because someone else has one and then compete with people to see who has the newest version (some of my family members do that).

I don't get it either. If you want to carry something about, use your phone. If you're going to stick something in your bag, take a laptop. It's an awkward middle ground of a device that doesn't fit in your pocket (or comfortably in your hand for that point) but does so much less than a laptop, and costs more.