HN Explorer

Does anyone else not 'get' tablets?

3 points by martijn_himself ↗ HN
My parents (coming up to pension age) asked me to recommend a tablet. I talked them through the options (Apple vs. Google) and took them to the store to try out the iPad Air.

I own both MacBook and Lenovo laptops for work and personal use (programming) and have never owned a tablet. I have never owned a tablet and still do not see a genuine use for them when my laptops can do the same thing but better and the cost of ownership is not negligible, especially because it is a recurring cost and additional costs (iCloud, apps) are likely. For those reasons I have a hard time recommending tablets to anyone I know.

This is perhaps a bit of a strange question to ask on HN but does anyone else not 'get' them or am I just getting old? :)

12 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 45.1 ms ] thread
gdilla
Kind of an odd question in that obviously tablets are quite established now. Tablets took off because they offered most of the features casual computer users need - web, email, facebook, youtube, aka basic communication and competent media consumption for a price cheaper than desktops and many a laptop. Add the extra portability and ease of use (AppStore, Don't make me think too much about a file system) makes it very convenient for many people. I do not own one, because I find my laptop is portable enough and I want a keyboard.

Surfaces or hybrid touchscreen laptops I think are very promising. Sometimes swiping and tapping the screen can be a great interface for certain things, like games, scrolling and zooming. It's nice to have that on a full powered keyboard computer too.

scholia
Much the same here. I own three tablets but very rarely use them: either I can do something on a smartphone or I'll use a laptop for the keyboard and ease of use (which comes partly from familiarity, but there are things you can't easily do on a tablet).

I've been using a Microsoft Surface Pro since it came out, and I rarely use it without a keyboard. However, I do use the touch screen quite a lot. More than I expected.

Something like the Asus Transformer T100 might be a good cheap option for someone who is going to use partly as a tablet. The obvious drawbacks are (1) it still needs Windows Updates etc and (2) it doesn't have the iPad's app ecosystem.

martijn_himself
I totally agree it is an odd question, thanks for the thoughtful response. My thoughts are that even though it is established I still quite often wonder if using a tablet is an improvement over using a (very) portable laptop.

I often see people struggling using the touch keyboard to write e-mails or take notes and wonder about the cramped ergonomics. The games on tablets are often very uninspiring clones of (portable) console classics at best and exploitative money making schemes at worst. There is often no way to tell the difference.

I realise this all sounds very negative, I know there are plenty examples of applications where tablet-type interface shine. I like the idea of hybrid touch screens too and would be interested to see if Apple could be tempted to move into that area with the MacBook Air.

PaulHoule
2 words

Bluetooth keyboard.

Logitech, Staples and Microsoft have long harbored fear of a Bluetooth planet but all the hybrid and convertable stuff is there because people are fooled by form factors.

Add a BT keyboard and mouse and then you can write, develop software, etc. On a Win8 machine you can even use your old software.

martijn_himself
Interesting point. Do Apple and app developers design/build with BT keyboards in mind? Do you use a tablet for software development?
loumf
Yur app will automatically not bring up the software keyboard.

The main issue is that they don't make keyboard shortcuts for things you need to tap on. I don't know of a single app that does that, so you have to type-type, tap-tap, type. I hate the mouse, so I REALLY hate this.

I bet Win8 apps make more shortcuts -- Windows has always been better at this.

mkr-hn
I like my Kindle Fire because I can hold it like a real book. The fact that it also does more than display books is a bonus. My next tablet will be a Surface Pro unless someone else makes a tablet with a Wacom screen that you can hold in one hand by the time I'm ready to buy.
kappaloris
you're too accustomed to being in front of a computer.

people who want to go surf the web or do other similar small tasks while sitting on the couch or while laying in bed will really enjoy their tablet (way more than a laptop). I personally use mine to read in bed at night.

its a similar concept to why people might want to buy a steam box (why get a console to run steam?): because in some situations having to sit in front of a computer might be a deterrent.

martijn_himself
Yes this is a very good point. I personally don't mind sitting in front of a laptop but my parents may find it much easier to perform small tasks using a tablet while sitting on the sofa. I'm not convinced reading a tablet in bed is a good idea, prolonged looking at a screen before bed time is supposed to be bad for sleeping patterns.
pwg
> I own both MacBook and Lenovo laptops for work and personal use (programming) and have never owned a tablet. I have never owned a tablet and still do not see a genuine use for them when my laptops can do the same thing but better and the cost of ownership is not negligible,

You don't "get" tablets because tablets are not designed, nor marketed, to your demographic. You are the outlier, the 1% (or whatever percent, that's just made up), who needs a general purpose computer in order to "create".

But most "computer users" are not creators in the sense of a programmer. They are mere "consumers". And they treat a computer as little more than a glorified TV where they can "click" with a "remote" (mouse) to access content, then passively consume that content.

What little "creation" they do (posting something to their wall, twitter,, etc.) is easy enough to do from a tablet, so they don't see any difficulty that way.

You, however, are not a passive "TV" like consumer of others content. You are a content creator. Your needs are different, and as such, you don't see a tablet as useful, because it does not fit your use situation.

martijn_himself
This makes a lot of sense. To me a tablet is a "redundant" device. I can use my laptops for "consumption" purposes and can quickly switch between "consume" and "create" "mode".

That and I have a hard time justifying the cost of a tablet even though I can afford it. Call me crazy, but I scoff at people who own multiple game consoles. Must be upbringing :).

rush-tea
I am one of this kind like you. :) I do not get tablets as well, but I own one (Nexus 7 2013).

To me, tablet is like a bigger screen version of a phone, it performs exactly like a phone (without telephony).

I own an iPhone 5 and I prefer iOS vs Android, but I opted to get Nexus 7 (and not iPad Mini) because

1. price of N7 is so cheap (bought one at mid $100s for 32 GB). Android tablet is much cheaper, you can literally buy 2 refurb N7 for the price of 1 refurb iPad Mini with Retina.

2. to read books and magazines (it is not convenient to read books/magazine using laptop and to read on an iPhone, it's too small). Kindle or any other e books can be read with an app that exists on both iOS and Android.