6 ms·

I am so excited for the future. It's so clear to me that tablets are a stepping stone, and a very very exciting one. They're going to be the first time a consum

by cryptoz 16y ago

I am so excited for the future. It's so clear to me that tablets are a stepping stone, and a very very exciting one. They're going to be the first time a consumer computer has lived up to their dreams and expectations of the future of computing: it works, it's fast, it's easy, it's safe and it's fun. Using Windows on a desktop is none of those things. It turns out that iPad was a glorious thing; not in that it was physically incredible, but that it opened up a world that Google understands and is preparing for. We're going to have Android and iOS running HTML5 applications (and native apps of course) on nearly every device in just a few years. Guys, that promised future is coming!

melvinram 16y ago
Color me excited as well! It feels like the era of Jetsons. Now we just need flying cars to go mainstream. A quote from Steve Jobs comes to mind. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks. And this is going to make some people uneasy." This competition between Apple & Google will bring forward an environment that is bring about a lot of opportunities.
- billmcneale 16y ago
  > A quote from Steve Jobs comes to mind. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks. And this is going to make some people uneasy." Yes, Jobs has been predicting the death of the Windows PC (when he says "PC", he really means "Windows PC". He is offended if you call the computers he creates "PC's") for a while. He's not very often wrong, but it's one of these few times.
  - erikpukinskis 16y ago
    I don't think so. Actually if you go back and watch the video where he said that, he very deliberately defines the "PC" category as Windows machines and Macs. Kara Swisher is a little confused, because for her "PC" means a Windows box. She gets some kind of clarification, but it's clear that Jobs wants to use the word "PC" as an umbrella term for all high-powered keyboard+mouse+12-24in screen machines. Apple does the whole "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" thing, but where have you ever seen Jobs personally try to assert that Macs are not PCs?
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
pangram 16y ago
Agree 100% -- ubiquitous tablets will cause some really interesting changes in society. It's illuminating watching a novice user use an iPad; I've seen both young kids and senior citizens become proficient with it in an amazingly short amount of time. You can take pry my terminals and Emacs windows away from my cold dead fingers, but for 90%+ of the population, something like an iPad / Android tablet (with perhaps an optional keyboard for writing) is really just about perfect.
- empire29 16y ago
  I mostly agree, and believe tablets (iPad /honeycomb) is what would suit the majority of consumers -- with one glaring exception: typing. I've had iPad since release and I still loathe to type anything more than a ssntnece or two on the thing, then again maybe twitter and fb updates are teaching us to type in short bursts which is tolerable using current tablet keyboard inputs. (I don't consider 3rd party keyboard HW a viable large scale solution)
  - deffibaugh 16y ago
    I agree completely. New inputs beyond QWERTY need to be developed. The tricky part I think is getting people to use new methods. I think things like 8Pen are a good start, however.
  - w1ntermute 16y ago
    > ssntnece Did you use it to type this comment?
  - shadowpwner 16y ago
    Android's swype(sp?) feature improves accuracy of words, but still takes awhile to type a sentence.
    - jokermatt999 16y ago
      It's still obviously far slower than an actual fullsize keyboard , but for a smaller form size hardware keyboard (such a phone), I've actually found Swype to be faster. It completely blows the on screen keyboard out of the water, but I was never that fast at that. I was a major fan of hardware keyboards before swype (in fact, it's why I got a Droid instead of another Android phone), but I'm beginning to find myself becoming faster on Swype than an actual phone keyboard, and that's even with a 2+ year headstart of using hardware keyboards. However, this all depends on the size of the tablet. If it was laptop sized (with Fn keys to allow for slightly smaller size even), I'd probably take the keyboard over Swype, but it would really depend on where I was typing. Swype is designed to be used one handed, and would be perfect for when you can't just set your tablet down. If the keyboard would be netbook sized, I might actually take Swype over it most all of the time.
blantonl 16y ago
Mark my words. Google and Apple merge in the next two years. Apple has the flash (no pun intended) and user interface. Google has the platform and infrastructure.
- daviding 16y ago
  What would be their motivation for that? It seems like a very different set of cultures, and it's not as if the stock-holders are revolting (no pun intended). Personally I'd prefer some good healthy competition in mobile/tablets/HTML5 - as we saw what happened to the browser when left to one dominant player...
  - pyre 16y ago
    The browser market languished with one dominant player because that player specifically wanted to kill the market. Microsoft/Bill Gates didn't want the browser to take off. They wanted to become the dominant player so that they could just funnel everyone away from the browser and to their other products. On the other hand, if Google were to have the only browser on the market, they have incentives to keep improving it. Not that I'm advocating a one-player browser market with Google at the helm. I'm just stating that the goals matter. Having a single dominant player isn't necessarily the death of innovation, so long as they have incentives to keep innovating.
- lwat 16y ago
  Wanna bet? I'll give you 3 to 1 odds.
  - mishmash 16y ago
    Might I suggest http://www.longbets.org/ http://www.longbets.org/
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - ZoFreX 16y ago
billmcneale 16y ago
I'll get excited about the future when tablets come with jetpacks.

by cryptoz 16y ago

melvinram 16y ago

Color me excited as well! It feels like the era of Jetsons. Now we just need flying cars to go mainstream. A quote from Steve Jobs comes to mind. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks. And this is going to make some people uneasy." This competition between Apple & Google will bring forward an environment that is bring about a lot of opportunities.

billmcneale 16y ago
> A quote from Steve Jobs comes to mind. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks. And this is going to make some people uneasy." Yes, Jobs has been predicting the death of the Windows PC (when he says "PC", he really means "Windows PC". He is offended if you call the computers he creates "PC's") for a while. He's not very often wrong, but it's one of these few times.
- erikpukinskis 16y ago
  I don't think so. Actually if you go back and watch the video where he said that, he very deliberately defines the "PC" category as Windows machines and Macs. Kara Swisher is a little confused, because for her "PC" means a Windows box. She gets some kind of clarification, but it's clear that Jobs wants to use the word "PC" as an umbrella term for all high-powered keyboard+mouse+12-24in screen machines. Apple does the whole "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" thing, but where have you ever seen Jobs personally try to assert that Macs are not PCs?
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]

pangram 16y ago

Agree 100% -- ubiquitous tablets will cause some really interesting changes in society. It's illuminating watching a novice user use an iPad; I've seen both young kids and senior citizens become proficient with it in an amazingly short amount of time. You can take pry my terminals and Emacs windows away from my cold dead fingers, but for 90%+ of the population, something like an iPad / Android tablet (with perhaps an optional keyboard for writing) is really just about perfect.

empire29 16y ago
I mostly agree, and believe tablets (iPad /honeycomb) is what would suit the majority of consumers -- with one glaring exception: typing. I've had iPad since release and I still loathe to type anything more than a ssntnece or two on the thing, then again maybe twitter and fb updates are teaching us to type in short bursts which is tolerable using current tablet keyboard inputs. (I don't consider 3rd party keyboard HW a viable large scale solution)
- deffibaugh 16y ago
  I agree completely. New inputs beyond QWERTY need to be developed. The tricky part I think is getting people to use new methods. I think things like 8Pen are a good start, however.
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  > ssntnece Did you use it to type this comment?
- shadowpwner 16y ago
  Android's swype(sp?) feature improves accuracy of words, but still takes awhile to type a sentence.
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    It's still obviously far slower than an actual fullsize keyboard , but for a smaller form size hardware keyboard (such a phone), I've actually found Swype to be faster. It completely blows the on screen keyboard out of the water, but I was never that fast at that. I was a major fan of hardware keyboards before swype (in fact, it's why I got a Droid instead of another Android phone), but I'm beginning to find myself becoming faster on Swype than an actual phone keyboard, and that's even with a 2+ year headstart of using hardware keyboards. However, this all depends on the size of the tablet. If it was laptop sized (with Fn keys to allow for slightly smaller size even), I'd probably take the keyboard over Swype, but it would really depend on where I was typing. Swype is designed to be used one handed, and would be perfect for when you can't just set your tablet down. If the keyboard would be netbook sized, I might actually take Swype over it most all of the time.

blantonl 16y ago

Mark my words. Google and Apple merge in the next two years. Apple has the flash (no pun intended) and user interface. Google has the platform and infrastructure.

daviding 16y ago
What would be their motivation for that? It seems like a very different set of cultures, and it's not as if the stock-holders are revolting (no pun intended). Personally I'd prefer some good healthy competition in mobile/tablets/HTML5 - as we saw what happened to the browser when left to one dominant player...
- pyre 16y ago
  The browser market languished with one dominant player because that player specifically wanted to kill the market. Microsoft/Bill Gates didn't want the browser to take off. They wanted to become the dominant player so that they could just funnel everyone away from the browser and to their other products. On the other hand, if Google were to have the only browser on the market, they have incentives to keep improving it. Not that I'm advocating a one-player browser market with Google at the helm. I'm just stating that the goals matter. Having a single dominant player isn't necessarily the death of innovation, so long as they have incentives to keep innovating.
lwat 16y ago
Wanna bet? I'll give you 3 to 1 odds.
- mishmash 16y ago
  Might I suggest http://www.longbets.org/ http://www.longbets.org/
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- ZoFreX 16y ago

billmcneale 16y ago

I'll get excited about the future when tablets come with jetpacks.