Tablets Vs. Laptops

I have been following tablets since the beginning. I was aware of the Windows-based tablets years before the iPad came out. Of course the Windows tablet was virtually unknown except to those few who had a need for them. Then the iPad came out and created a sensation. I played with iPads purchased by others and had to admit that they were interesting and nicely designed. However, try as I might I could not see how I could justify buying one. Also, it was an Apple and I just don't buy Apple. Yes, this is an ugly bias in my judgment. Um, now that I think of it I do have an iPod that I love, so add hypocrisy to my vices.

When Apple made it clear how much money could be made from tablets loads of other companies jumped into the market. Google's Android OS, first seen on smart phones, became the platform of choice for most non-Apple tablet makers. Unlike Apple, where there is one product, the iPad, there were a whole slew of Android tablets to choose from. For me there were two problems with these tablets. The first and largest problem was cost. At $500 to $700 they just cost too much for my budget. The second problem closely tied to the first was need. As interested as I was in tablets, as cool as they were, I just could not find enough need in my life to attempt justifying purchasing a tablet. I had a laptop at home and a netbook at the shop (for on-site calls). A tablet gave me nothing that what I already had could not do. Oh, I guess there was one thing a tablet could do uniquely--be used while standing up, but that alone didn't justify the kind of money they were asking for them.

Eventually an event happened that finally influenced me to pull the trigger. The Amazon Kindle came out for $199. The low cost of the Kindle Fire and my intense curiosity for tablets finally won and just before Christmas I pulled my Kindle Fire out of the box. It was an exciting moment for me. This blog entry is not a review of the Fire or a comparison against others so I will spare you details. Rather, it is a brief analysis of how a tablet has changed my life. In short I have found that it hasn't changed my life very much. The novelty is starting to wear off and my tablet is relegated to some bedtime reading and web-browsing. Oh, yes, it also serves well for the bed-time games of "Worms" with my kids. That is about it. I'm really glad I didn't put out $500 for a tablet. My table is really good for looking at things and for short entry input, but that is about it. The ease with which it can be carried to another room to show someone something is unsurpassed, but that is where its true usefulness in my life stops. A major problem with a tablet is that they are just too big to carry around all the time. They are no more mobile than a netbook. Even my 7" Fire is too big for my pocket. Fortunately there are smart phones that do fit in my pocket. My G2x has every function of any current tablet and is extremely mobile. I love it and use it constantly throughout the day. So in essence this phone, not considered a tablet, has changed my life where a tablet proper only entertains me.

I have found that when I need to get any serious work done I still reach for my laptop. Writing this blog entry is a good example. Other examples are editing my photos, creating movies, writing letters, paying on-line for my daughters school lunches or adjusting usage allowances for my mobile phone accounts (not mobile sites and kind of clunky on my tablet). I am aware that there are keyboard options for tablets which help solve the input problem, but then I basically have a laptop--and I already have a laptop that can still do more than the most expensive tablets.

So where does this put me in my opinion of tablets? I love them! They are so cool. They are here to stay and are making a difference in many people's lives. However, I don't see them replacing laptops, but only becoming a different kind of laptop--a laptop with a removable, touch screen. There will be at least three kinds to choose from: Apple, Android, and Windows. At this point in time, if I didn't already have my mobile needs taken care of I would choose a Windows 8 tablet (when released) because I like the 30 years experience behind the OS versus the new and still rather unpredictable Android environment. But that is the  subject of a different blog entry.

The Web Knows All

     There are many great developments in the past 25 years, but I believe that the one that has had the most profound effect on society is the Web. The Web and its side-effects truely have made the world a very small place.
     I remember back in the DOS 3.1 days. This long before the Internet was a household item. In fact I had not heard of the Internet yet. I had a computer and it was running from a command line like everyone's computer. On one occasion I remember having a technical problem of one kind or another. Technical problems are a part of my everyday life now. However, back then I was on my own. Today you wouldn't understand those words. At that time I had a problem. My resources to solve the problem were what I knew in my own head and a useless user's manual. I didn't have the answer in my head and the user's manual didn't have the answer. At that point the program was broken and that was that. I still remember the incredible frustration I felt. I was totally helpless. Luckily the problem was not life or death. I can't even remember the details. But something that should have worked didn't work and I had no resources to fix it.
     Today it is so very different due to the web. I was putting up a bulletin board on a web site once. I ran across a problem where a necessary feature wouldn't work. I had no ideas on how to fix the feature, but I began the search--online. I read through all the help for the bulletin board without success. I went through other avenues without finding the answer. I ended up on a PHP forum where I found people discussing similar problems with their bulletin board. After several hours of searching across two different days I finally ran into a post that held the answer.

"Open up the configuration file. On line 128 change the '1' to a '0' then restart the program."

I did this and the bulletin board was working. It was the most beautiful thing--not the bulletin board, but finding an answer to my problem. The problem was far above a non-programmer like me. In spite of this, because the Web's powerful communication ability someone out there who I have never met was able to help me solve a problem that was impossible otherwise.
     Since that time I have used the Internet, as most of you, to solve many, many problems. I believe I would not hesitate to call the Internet one of the wonders of the world.