Well, I can tell you that my internet phone has come in extremely handy at times when out shopping for things.
Being able to bring up the net and find and compare items, or show a clerk that an item is on sale, or if they have it in stock has saved me time. So, there are many uses for it, however, making it a primary device (like many do with Aircards for work cause they refuse to pay for their own internet) is absurd.
But if you are out and need to look at something or kill some time? yeah, very handy and useful.
With a Tablet, it will be even more so, if you happen to have it with you in the car, which a lot of people will/do/should.
There are far more benefits to a tablet and a phone with internet access than just social media.
And who in their right mind is going to create a complete spread sheet on their phone? No one.
But, if you need to make a last minute change? Or throw a thought together? that is not a useless feature to have when/if needed.
Will everyone need it? No, but it's nice it is there.
I really think people are far more negative than really is warranted.
I certainly agree mobile devices can be very handy at times.
However, I do all my pre-shopping research on the net at home before I set foot out the door. So I've already checked prices, availability, and if necessary cut a deal by phone. When I leave home I'm organized and know where I'm going and what my agenda is. And I won't leave a tablet in my car as a target for thieves to steal by smashing in my car windows. Or as I said before, lug one around a shopping centre.
And if I've got a bit of time to kill, no way do I want to be stuck on an electronic device. I'd rather take a quiet walk by the river or beach, or watch a sunset, smell the roses ... or maybe even do a quiet relaxation exercise akin to a meditation.
Who wants to be connected 24/7? I recently took a long slow country trip just to get away from the phone, PC, email, visitors dropping in, and neighbors. And in remote regions of Aussie there often is no mobile phone network. In fact if you're travelling the outback you need to advise authorities of departure, route and ETA at next destination, for that very reason. Ask the Yankee guy Begucki, who got lost in the North West of Aussie a few years ago, and was saved by a million to one shot when spotted by a news chopper.
Maybe I'm a bit odd, but I've never once needed to view, amend or transmit a spreadsheet, word doc, or whatever from a mobile device. As stated earlier, 99% of the time that can be done from a desktop if you're properly organized. And who wants to buy something on the net or Bpay a bill when you can't print a hard copy receipt? It seems to me a lot of the need for a mobile computer comes from laziness in not being organized.
My son has his own business and used to do everything on his $3000 Sony Vaio laptop. I built him a $1,000 tower with 24 inch widescreen montior and he now does 90% of his computer work at home. IMHO it seems that people have become too dependent on mobile devices and needing to have computer access 24/7.
You might laugh at this, but at one point I was so addicted to PCs I'd stay up two days straight on some occasions, to the point where I used to have repetitive, hallucinatory type dreams where I'd see images of programs, spreadsheets, games, etc. And I couldn't get the images out of my mind's eye, even when I was wide awake ... and no, I wasn't wired.