Are you a tablet skeptic?

It feels like modern tablets have been around a lot longer, but three years is still nothing to sneeze at. Reflecting upon the last three years of tablet mania, the Ars staff and contributors began to share stories about how our iPads or other tablets have changed how we interact with our devices and the Internet. Most of us were heavy tablet skeptics when the iPad was first announced, and some of us still are. So in honor of the three-year anniversary of the iPad, we decided to share some of our experiences with you on how our lives have changed—or how they haven't, depending the case.

Not everyone on staff feels like the iPad—or one of its competing Android or Windows equivalents—has made a dent in their lives. Here are the stories from those staffers who think the modern tablet has a way to go before it earns a permanent spot in their bags.

Read more at source:
"I was an iPad skeptic" | Ars Technica

 

[Ray8]

While you can generally connect most Windows based tablets to a larger screen, keyboard, mouse etc, it really isn't an ideal solution. Anyone who uses large/multiple screens on a regular basis would really want a dedicated workstation setup. And given that one would already have the main components in place, having a workstation is hardly an added impost and you get something far more powerful and capable. Tablets are not designed to replace a workstation.

 

[Wenda]

I was originally skeptical of them, as I had an early smart-phone (LG) and a 15.6" laptop which was, for its
time, quite a good performer. It has all the connectivity one could desire and at 250GB, plenty of storage.

At the time, I remember thinking what a royal PITA it would be, carrying a 10" tab around, especially one
as limited as the iPad. I basically filed tabs under 'Nah, not interested' in my mental directory.

Moving along a few years, and the LG is long gone (always wondered what LG stood for), it drowned in a
toilet (???). And the 15.6" laptop's battery, never that great, has deteriorated to the point that about forty
minutes is about all you'll get out of it.

One year ago, I purchased my current laptop initially as a replacement for both the 15.6" laptop and my
aging (but considerably hotted-up) Pentium 4 desktop. As it turned out, they were not replaced but merely
assigned to other duties, but that's another story.

Anyway, the upshot was that I had nothing that was readily portable (this laptop certainly isn't, see my
System Specifications). My Android smart-phone is great, but at only 4" is a bit cramped for some tasks.

My original aversion to 10"+ tabs remained (and still does), and I won't buy fruit at gunpoint, so I began
looking at various 7" Android tabs. I wasn't looking to spend bags of money in case I found no real need
for a tab. Anyway, I bought a cheap Chinese Android 7" with Ice-Cream Sandwich installed. It's not a fire-
breathing dual or quad-core with 64GB of storage, it's a 1Ghz single-core with only 4GB internal storage.
However, at only A$129, with a USB wireless modem thrown in, I wasn't expecting i7 quad-core specs or
performance. It's more than adequate for my needs, though.

Storage wasn't a problem as I installed a 16GB microSD in the slot provided, and so far it's proved to be
more than adequate. MicroSD cards are super-cheap, so having two or more extra isn't exactly the end
of the world. The tab has not had a major impact on my usage of the 'big' computers, and has not come
close to superseding them for most of my computing tasks.

It gets used mainly as an e-book reader, and for casual browsing/entertainment when I'm NOT around my
primary machine. I can (and do) use it for basic computing tasks, but it is definitely an ADJUNCT to my
'big' machines, NOT a replacement. I'm not disappointed with it, and would certainly miss it if I lost it or if
it died. And it's WAY more portable/convenient than a 10" tab.

But it wasn't, and isn't, a must-have. Far from it.

 

[Ray8]

I actually like my 10" Windows 7 tablet and it's basically my travel PC, plus desktop backup. In no way could it supplant my desktop, nor could any other tablet out there at the moment; I can't see any tablet running two 24" screens at the same time. Sometimes I use the tablet to watch TV, while I'm doing other things on the desktop.

My real problem is, if this tablet ever bit the dust, there is no other tablet with the features that it has, on the market, at the current time. It's physically no bigger than the Surface Pro, yet is as versatile as a desktop PC.

 

[Rickkins]

I have a...
desktop
laptop
tablet
smartphone

I very rarely use the tablet, although I can absolutely see a place for them. Occasionally I might bring the tablet with me to show a new batch of photos. Any other mobile need I fill with either the phone, or the laptop.

That's just me though.

 

[Barman58]

@ Wenda LG = Lucky Goldstar

My tablet, (a 7" Google Nexus 32GB), was quite reasonable at £199, and of course it's not a replacement for my desktop but is always on and within arms reach, and is an important part of my workflow.

I will often have it next to my Main system, displaying a live feed of the posts on this forum, so it acts as a third monitor, my HTC Desire S is connected to the main workstation via USB and a copy of MyPhoneExplorer, which allows me to receive and reply to phone calls and text messages via the PC. When I'm not at home a similar link between phone and Tablet allows similar functionality.

When I'm out in the wilds, photographing wildlife, my tablet becomes a useful backup Image store and more importantly a reasonably sized screen for checking image suitability.

 

[Coke Robot]

While you can generally connect most Windows based tablets to a larger screen, keyboard, mouse etc, it really isn't an ideal solution. Anyone who uses large/multiple screens on a regular basis would really want a dedicated workstation setup. And given that one would already have the main components in place, having a workstation is hardly an added impost and you get something far more powerful and capable. Tablets are not designed to replace a workstation.

Obviously.

 

[Coke Robot]

I literally can't even fathom why people legitimately spend 500+ dollars on something that literally, an ipod touch does but just four times bigger....

 

[pparks1]

I literally can't even fathom why people legitimately spend 500+ dollars on something that literally, an ipod touch does but just four times bigger....

Because it's 4x bigger, easier to type on, easier to see and read. You aren't an Apple user and an Apple fan and fail to see any appeal. But millions upon millions of sold devices should clearly indicate to you that there certainly is appeal.

The iPad's are trendy and there are a lot of add-ons for them (cases, covers, keyboards, etc). There is a lot of good app support from the iTunes store. It's a consistent experience with the cell phones that many of them already use (you have to see the appeal in this, as Microsoft is trying to create the exact same thing). It's the device of choice in my creative arts areas (like video, music, etc). While you can run things like Pro Tools on a PC, very few actually do.

 

[Jf1450]

I use my iPad when I want to futz. I use my laptop when real work needs to be done. But hey, that's just me. I'm more skeptical of an OS with a user interface that wants to make my laptop pretend its a tablet.

-jeff

 

[Coke Robot]

I literally can't even fathom why people legitimately spend 500+ dollars on something that literally, an ipod touch does but just four times bigger....

Because it's 4x bigger, easier to type on, easier to see and read. You aren't an Apple user and an Apple fan and fail to see any appeal. But millions upon millions of sold devices should clearly indicate to you that there certainly is appeal.

The iPad's are trendy and there are a lot of add-ons for them (cases, covers, keyboards, etc). There is a lot of good app support from the iTunes store. It's a consistent experience with the cell phones that many of them already use (you have to see the appeal in this, as Microsoft is trying to create the exact same thing). It's the device of choice in my creative arts areas (like video, music, etc). While you can run things like Pro Tools on a PC, very few actually do.

Easier to type on is debatable. But I used to own an ipod touch, first gen. I saw appeal to that with it being a touch ipod, which was pretty awesome actually when it got ios 2 (after a 10 dollar fee). I just don't get that appeal for the ipad, I've always figured it to be an old man's ipod touch: bigger and easier to read, easier to touch, and simple UI design that is skeuomorphic. I see more older people with an ipad than I do younger. Maybe that's my area that I live in though...

But the thing I can't get is why someone will legitimately spend over 1,000 dollars on an ipad and addons to get it to function halfway to a laptop or even tablet PC. Yet, when they do try to get it work like a PC, the simple fact there is no USB port means EVERYTHING has to be done and transferred over wifi or through cloud services. That's not always possible however.

That's the other thing I don't like about how apple used ios on the ipad, things are constricted to what the iphone can do. If that were a Windows 8 tablet PC, such things wouldn't exist. What do can do on Windows 8 can't be done on Windows Phone 8 simply because Windows 8 supports an ideal form factor to do so, like running iTunes to resync an iphone. Also, the UIs of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 aren't the same, they adapt to the form factor they're used on. An example is how on Windows Phone, Start Screen scrolling is up and down, with All Apps being a side swipe. On Windows 8, that's side to side with All Apps soon to be bottom to top swipe. It's similar, but not exact. THAT is the somewhat key difference. Convergence over cloning.

 

[Barman58]

Apple are hardware manufacturers and self appointed Lifestyle Gurus, who dabble, (or should that be dapple), with operating systems, it's not surprising that the operating systems from Microsoft are more usable, as they have always been primaraly a software house

 

[Ray8]

The iPad's are trendy and there are a lot of add-ons for them (cases, covers, keyboards, etc). There is a lot of good app support from the iTunes store. It's a consistent experience with the cell phones that many of them already use (you have to see the appeal in this, as Microsoft is trying to create the exact same thing). It's the device of choice in my creative arts areas (like video, music, etc). While you can run things like Pro Tools on a PC, very few actually do.

This exactly right, it's precisely what Microsoft is trying to emulate. Whoever thinks that 100,000,000 iPad users and rapidly the same number of Android users don't have a clue, need to return to their alternate reality world.

Yes, there may be over a billion Windows PC users, but they also own Apple and Android devices, and many of those PCs (including laptops) are in the corporate environment. Two entirely different, situations.

 

[Coke Robot]

There are also a number of the over a billion Windows PC users that won't buy an android or ipad tablet simply because of the lack of features per dollar versus a PC....

Mustn't forget that.

 

[Ray8]

Yes, and those vast numbers who won't buy and Android or iPad, can be pretty much counted on this forum.

 

[Coke Robot]

Yes, and those vast numbers who won't buy and Android or iPad, can be pretty much counted on this forum.

Nah, it's more like those with an ounce of logic.

 

[Ray8]

Yes, and those vast numbers who won't buy and Android or iPad, can be pretty much counted on this forum.

Nah, it's more like those with an ounce of logic.

So everyone who buys an iPad or an Android tablet is dumb?

 

[Coke Robot]

Yes, and those vast numbers who won't buy and Android or iPad, can be pretty much counted on this forum.

Nah, it's more like those with an ounce of logic.

So everyone who buys an iPad or an Android tablet is dumb?

Personally, that depends. If someone spent over 1,000 dollars to attempt to replace the use of a laptop, then yeah, I consider them to be an iDiot because that 1,000 can be WELL better spent on a touch enabled PC especially nowadays. Even a mac....

But if the tablet was for simple web feasting, meh. That's basically what a smartphone does, except the ipad and android tablets are blown up smartphones minus the phone. So that's what the ipad and android tablets are used for, within their respective software/hardware limitations.

 

[Ray8]

What Android or Apple tablet costs over $1000? Which Apple/Android buyers look to replace their PC with an Apple/Android tablet? What tablet costs over $1000? Surface Pro and other Windows 8 tablets.

There are nearly 200,000,000 and growing reasons why Apple/Android tablets are doing well. Microsoft wants to be part of that growing reason, but has it made the right move?

 

[TanyaC]

I offered to buy my kids tablets last christmas. They said to me "What on earth for?"

My sons are 16, 17 and 21. They said "Our PCs do everything we need and more when we are at home. When we are out, everything we want or need is available on our smartphones". "Why would we want another oversized portable device that is at high risk of being lost, stolen or damaged, doesn't fit in our pockets, and is totally useless when we are at home, are insanely expensive to repair if they break, and doesn't offer us anything new?"

These teens are into facebook, skype, full time students, have jobs, are heavily into sport (playing and spectating), and socialise almost entirely using technology, and they see tablets as irrelevant.

When asked what else they would want from a technology perspective they said "Not windows 8, that's for sure". The only thing they wanted was a stable internet connection. They tell me that their attitudes are commonplace amongst their other Gen-Y peers.

Who am I to argue!? Saves me money on higher insurance policies.

:shock:

 

[Ray8]

I offered to buy my kids tablets last christmas. They said to me "What on earth for?"

My sons are 16, 17 and 21. They said "Our PCs do everything we need and more when we are at home. When we are out, everything we want or need is available on our smartphones". "Why would we want another oversized portable device that is at high risk of being lost, stolen or damaged, doesn't fit in our pockets, and is totally useless when we are at home, are insanely expensive to repair if they break, and doesn't offer us anything new?"

These teens are into facebook, skype, full time students, have jobs, are heavily into sport (playing and spectating), and socialise almost entirely using technology, and they see tablets as irrelevant.

When asked what else they would want from a technology perspective they said "Not windows 8, that's for sure". The only thing they wanted was a stable internet connection. They tell me that their attitudes are commonplace amongst their other Gen-Y peers.

Who am I to argue!? Saves me money on higher insurance policies.

:shock:

That pretty much summarises what I've observed. All the young ones that I know (way more than I realised), live by their iPhones for just about everything when out and about. The ones who use tablets (iPads or Android) are all of an older generation.

When you think about it, the younger generation can live with a small screen device because they usually have good eyesight; whereas, the older generation doesn't, but also doesn't want to lug around a heavy device. So the tablet is the tool of the older generation. That makes tablets way uncool, it's what your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather uses. :thumb: