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> I also don't understand who would make their tablet > their primary work device, or even a secondary or tertiary > work device. You called? I carry my i

> I also don't understand who would make their tablet > their primary work device, or even a secondary or tertiary > work device. You called? I carry my iPad Pro (previous generation) + Apple Pencil + Smart Keyboard Cover to all kinds of meetings. I take notes with the pencil, can look up anything I want in Trello, G-Suites, Confluence, &c. ... It is wholly inadequate for coding, but I'm with the late Steve Jobs on that. Laptops—even Apple laptops—are pickup trucks. When I want to haul stuff around, I use my pickup. But it's amazing how much of my job is concerned with words and people. You don't do words+people with a pickup truck. Ok, the metaphor is strained, so I'll just say that when I'm using my words with people, the iPad Pro is a very good tool for augmenting my memory and my words. YMMV. p.s. There is something amazing I have noticed ever since I got a Toshiba Portegé Tablet PC decades ago: If you are talking to someone, the laptop screen is a wall and a psychological barrier. A tablet reverses this. No wall. Also, less privacy for taking notes. But that can be a plus, it implies that you don't have some secret agenda. I think that's something in favour of a tablet, regardless of whether it's an iPad or some origami-like device that is a tablet or a clamshell depending on how you fold it.

timbit42 8y ago
OK. So a tablet makes sense for people who are effectively telephone sanitizers.
- braythwayt 8y ago
  I am not familiar with this term, "telephone sanitizer," but I suspect that it has a dismissive aspect to it, much like the term "soft skills." I am a principal engineer with a very successful technology company. If being good at my job is accomplished via telephone sanitization and/or soft skills, so be it. I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late for dinner.
  - erik_seaberg 8y ago
    It's a reference to https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Golgafrinchan_Ark_Fleet_Ship_B https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Golgafrinchan_Ark_Fleet_....
    - braythwayt 8y ago
      I'm not quite understanding the relevance, but that's ok. To give an example that I hope is perfectly clear, I contend that for me, a tablet is a better device to take when interviewing a candidate than a laptop. Interviewing candidates is not my only job, or 50% of my job, or anything like that. But when I do interviews f2f, I take my iPad, not my Macbook.
      - xenozega 8y ago
        there seems to be zero relevance, hopefully he can explain further. i totally agree with you, most work meetings i attend demand proper attention and being on a laptop (even if taking notes!) could be seen as rude. being a forgetful person, i've had to balance the optics vs. being able to remember meeting contents :) maybe a tablet is in order...
        zapzupnz 8y ago
        > there seems to be zero relevance, hopefully he can explain further There's no explanation required. Given the context of the quote, that person was simply being condescending and dismissive. Effectively, it means "I deem what you do and how you do it to be lacking in worth, therefore you must be a waste of space in the same manner as the worst of the Golgafrincham race".
auggierose 8y ago
Very good point, was talking about that with a friend of mine a few weeks ago as well. He was telling me the exact same thing, when dealing with people an iPad is much less intrusive and creates a more relaxed setting than a laptop would.

timbit42 8y ago

OK. So a tablet makes sense for people who are effectively telephone sanitizers.

braythwayt 8y ago
I am not familiar with this term, "telephone sanitizer," but I suspect that it has a dismissive aspect to it, much like the term "soft skills." I am a principal engineer with a very successful technology company. If being good at my job is accomplished via telephone sanitization and/or soft skills, so be it. I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late for dinner.
- erik_seaberg 8y ago
  It's a reference to https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Golgafrinchan_Ark_Fleet_Ship_B https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Golgafrinchan_Ark_Fleet_....
  - braythwayt 8y ago
    I'm not quite understanding the relevance, but that's ok. To give an example that I hope is perfectly clear, I contend that for me, a tablet is a better device to take when interviewing a candidate than a laptop. Interviewing candidates is not my only job, or 50% of my job, or anything like that. But when I do interviews f2f, I take my iPad, not my Macbook.
    - xenozega 8y ago
      there seems to be zero relevance, hopefully he can explain further. i totally agree with you, most work meetings i attend demand proper attention and being on a laptop (even if taking notes!) could be seen as rude. being a forgetful person, i've had to balance the optics vs. being able to remember meeting contents :) maybe a tablet is in order...
      - zapzupnz 8y ago
        > there seems to be zero relevance, hopefully he can explain further There's no explanation required. Given the context of the quote, that person was simply being condescending and dismissive. Effectively, it means "I deem what you do and how you do it to be lacking in worth, therefore you must be a waste of space in the same manner as the worst of the Golgafrincham race".

auggierose 8y ago

Very good point, was talking about that with a friend of mine a few weeks ago as well. He was telling me the exact same thing, when dealing with people an iPad is much less intrusive and creates a more relaxed setting than a laptop would.