7 ms·

I remember the argument against tablets, I was one of them, I thought because of the weird hand/arm position, this can never be a serious format. It was pushed

by _glass 3y ago

I remember the argument against tablets, I was one of them, I thought because of the weird hand/arm position, this can never be a serious format. It was pushed through several iterations, and now it is accepted.

nologic01 3y ago
I never had the same feeling about tablets. If anything, I am still somewhat surprised that they have (in relative terms) flopped. I was really expecting much more widespread use given it is quite a sweet-spot form factor (small and lightweight to carry around to far more places than a laptop yet offering a good fraction of the laptop functionality)
- irrational 3y ago
  I was listening to a famous shoe designer give a talk today. While telling a story, he mentioned in passing that he no longer uses paper but does all his design work with a stylus on an iPad. This guy has to be in his 60s or 70s. I was kind of surprised.
- sangnoir 3y ago
  > I am still somewhat surprised that they have (in relative terms) flopped. I am not - Apple's "Post-PC" vision was clearly not viable to me, despite initially out-selling the entire desktop industry initially. The "What is a computer" ads were cringe.
  - coffeebeqn 3y ago
    They never stopped their PC lines so I don’t think they believed it either.
- Al-Khwarizmi 3y ago
  In my view it's the opposite: the worst of both worlds. If I need to do work involving lots of typing, precise clicking or sitting for a long amount of time, I'd rather use a laptop (or desktop). And for less demanding stuff, the smartphone (which I'm already carrying everywhere by default) is enough. The tablet sits in an awkward middle and I don't really find much use for it.
  - nologic01 3y ago
    I think the tablet market share agrees with you. We've also got touch sensitive notebook screens that removed the edge from a pure tablet experience. Which is something important to keep in mind when discussing VR adoption. A few people getting overly excited (or overly dismissive) is not necessarily a good predictor.
  - mavhc 3y ago
    Tablet is for playing touch based games and watching Youtube
- pmontra 3y ago
  Phones got larger. 6" or 7" phones are normal now, they are always with us, no need to also buy a 8" or 10" tablet. As a data point, I do own a tablet. It's mostly a mobile TV screen: a TV Headend client for broadcast TV, NewPipe for YouTube and VLC to a shared disk on a server at Home. Not having to sit in front of a fixed TV set it great. My TV is mostly forgotten in a corner of the living room. I rarely bring the tablet with me outside home. When I do it's with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Example: I'm on vacation but I need some sort of work connectivity in case nasty things happen. Ssh works better on a 8.4" screen than on a phone. That doesn't happen every year luckily. My laptop is larger, weights more and I'll cry if it breaks or gets stolen. Damage to the tablet will only piss me off a bit.
darawk 3y ago
I thought that about tablets too! I still don't really use them myself, but they just seemed like a dumb interface to me. I do understand their appeal now, though.
Al-Khwarizmi 3y ago
They didn't really live up to the hype, though. It was said that they would replace laptops. While they have their space in the market, sales are in a declining trend, and considerably behind laptops. (I was like you and still am, by the way... I don't find tablets comfortable. I only bought one once, and I think the number of times I actually used it can be counted with both hands).
- williamcotton 3y ago
  Kids love tablets and parents on trips love that kids love tablets!
  - coffeebeqn 3y ago
    They’re convenient consumption devices. I’d never work on one but I can watch something on it. Personally I have a phone full that niche but I get that having a giant phone is nice to some people. But keeping kids calm during a plane ride is a great use case
- pjmlp 3y ago
  They surely replaced laptops for artists, digital note taking, journalists, travelling and mobile terminals.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - rocketbop 3y ago
    For some people, some of the time. Many journalists will have their MacBooks prized out of the cold dead hands. I travel with my laptop and my iPad Pro never leaves the couch. And how close to most working artists’ realities are those slick Apple keynotes showing sexy young people drawing with their Apple Pencil? I don’t know. Artist is a broad term.
    - pjmlp 3y ago
bombolo 3y ago
They're still fairly rare.
utsuro 3y ago
For all intensive purposes tablets became normalized but are far from widely accepted or bought, Part of the reason it’s only kids and old people often seen using them.
- brookst 3y ago
  Haven’t been on an airplane recently?

by _glass 3y ago

nologic01 3y ago

I never had the same feeling about tablets. If anything, I am still somewhat surprised that they have (in relative terms) flopped. I was really expecting much more widespread use given it is quite a sweet-spot form factor (small and lightweight to carry around to far more places than a laptop yet offering a good fraction of the laptop functionality)

irrational 3y ago
I was listening to a famous shoe designer give a talk today. While telling a story, he mentioned in passing that he no longer uses paper but does all his design work with a stylus on an iPad. This guy has to be in his 60s or 70s. I was kind of surprised.
sangnoir 3y ago
> I am still somewhat surprised that they have (in relative terms) flopped. I am not - Apple's "Post-PC" vision was clearly not viable to me, despite initially out-selling the entire desktop industry initially. The "What is a computer" ads were cringe.
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  They never stopped their PC lines so I don’t think they believed it either.
Al-Khwarizmi 3y ago
In my view it's the opposite: the worst of both worlds. If I need to do work involving lots of typing, precise clicking or sitting for a long amount of time, I'd rather use a laptop (or desktop). And for less demanding stuff, the smartphone (which I'm already carrying everywhere by default) is enough. The tablet sits in an awkward middle and I don't really find much use for it.
- nologic01 3y ago
  I think the tablet market share agrees with you. We've also got touch sensitive notebook screens that removed the edge from a pure tablet experience. Which is something important to keep in mind when discussing VR adoption. A few people getting overly excited (or overly dismissive) is not necessarily a good predictor.
- mavhc 3y ago
  Tablet is for playing touch based games and watching Youtube
pmontra 3y ago
Phones got larger. 6" or 7" phones are normal now, they are always with us, no need to also buy a 8" or 10" tablet. As a data point, I do own a tablet. It's mostly a mobile TV screen: a TV Headend client for broadcast TV, NewPipe for YouTube and VLC to a shared disk on a server at Home. Not having to sit in front of a fixed TV set it great. My TV is mostly forgotten in a corner of the living room. I rarely bring the tablet with me outside home. When I do it's with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Example: I'm on vacation but I need some sort of work connectivity in case nasty things happen. Ssh works better on a 8.4" screen than on a phone. That doesn't happen every year luckily. My laptop is larger, weights more and I'll cry if it breaks or gets stolen. Damage to the tablet will only piss me off a bit.

darawk 3y ago

I thought that about tablets too! I still don't really use them myself, but they just seemed like a dumb interface to me. I do understand their appeal now, though.

Al-Khwarizmi 3y ago

They didn't really live up to the hype, though. It was said that they would replace laptops. While they have their space in the market, sales are in a declining trend, and considerably behind laptops. (I was like you and still am, by the way... I don't find tablets comfortable. I only bought one once, and I think the number of times I actually used it can be counted with both hands).

williamcotton 3y ago
Kids love tablets and parents on trips love that kids love tablets!
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  They’re convenient consumption devices. I’d never work on one but I can watch something on it. Personally I have a phone full that niche but I get that having a giant phone is nice to some people. But keeping kids calm during a plane ride is a great use case
pjmlp 3y ago
They surely replaced laptops for artists, digital note taking, journalists, travelling and mobile terminals.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- rocketbop 3y ago
  For some people, some of the time. Many journalists will have their MacBooks prized out of the cold dead hands. I travel with my laptop and my iPad Pro never leaves the couch. And how close to most working artists’ realities are those slick Apple keynotes showing sexy young people drawing with their Apple Pencil? I don’t know. Artist is a broad term.
  - pjmlp 3y ago

bombolo 3y ago

They're still fairly rare.

utsuro 3y ago

For all intensive purposes tablets became normalized but are far from widely accepted or bought, Part of the reason it’s only kids and old people often seen using them.

brookst 3y ago
Haven’t been on an airplane recently?