4 ms·

One wonders if the tablet (or small tablet) isn't really just the last good form. We've spent decades building towards it. Time to stop and enjoy. (That and

by jjindev 13y ago

One wonders if the tablet (or small tablet) isn't really just the last good form. We've spent decades building towards it. Time to stop and enjoy. (That and make tablets cheap enough to be ubiquitous)

stcredzero 13y ago
Make them usable in bright daylight while you're at it.
- aeosynth 13y ago
  That's possible today with e-ink tablets, like the Kindle.
  - stcredzero 13y ago
    The trick is to have both reflective displays and responsiveness.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
uptown 13y ago
Tablets may be a dominant form for quite a while, but how can you possibly think tablets are all there will ever be?
- acuozzo 13y ago
  The UI in the NCC-1701-D is basically thousands upon thousands of mounted iPads with a really, really advanced version Siri installed. I'd be OK with that kind of future.
  - PebblesRox 13y ago
    Yeah but don't forget what else was in that future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT-wfcujaNE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT-wfcujaNE Wouldn't you at least want to try it out?
untog 13y ago
Not even slightly. I don't think there is one last good form. The future is a variety of devices. Despite the rise of tablets, I still code using a desktop machine with multiple monitors, and I wouldn't ever trade it for a tablet.
- jjindev 13y ago
  I'm looking at the progression of form. The paperback book did not kill the newspaper, but it was kind of the bottom end. "Tiny books" are a novelty. So yeah, development is serious work like stocks trading and you want a big interface like the Wall Street Journal.
lnanek2 13y ago
I've never found a use for a tablet myself. My phone is fine for Kindle reading and anything else I'd use a tablet for. Past that I use my Macbook Pro Retina which is barely heavier than a tablet anyway and has a nice keyboard. Glass/watches are handy because they don't have to be taken out like a phone/tablet/laptop.
- jjindev 13y ago
  I'm counting my phone (4.25" diag) as a small tablet. I don't have a bigger one myself, but I see them, especially at parties, in the hands of children. Their ubiquity is growing. I can see room for more devices, fitness bands, etc., but as sensors rather than media. I'm just not seeing them beat the form of the book, magazine, tablet. I mean wrist-watches kind of overloaded their interface after time, date, and dive depth. It was technically possible to put a microfilm reader in a wrist watch, but a paper copy of National Geographic was just so much nicer. I'd be willing to try a heads-up travel guide, but a cheap and light one in my pocket might be all I need.
  - jjindev 13y ago
    OK, maybe running with a HUD would be fun, current pace, previous pace on course ....
    - canvia 13y ago
      Maybe with a "ghost" feature like from Mario Kart where you can see a representation of your previous runs on the course and compete with them.
tehwalrus 13y ago
when I can write the software for the tablet on it, and get one with a beefy processor (which only fires up to max when on AC power), I might think about it. Right now, I need an ultrabook to do that. (and no, I'm not interested in the MS Surface Pro, Windows 8 is terrifyingly poor by all accounts.)
haberman 13y ago
Yes, definitely something that became a mainstream product less than five years ago is The Final Innovation.

by jjindev 13y ago

stcredzero 13y ago

Make them usable in bright daylight while you're at it.

aeosynth 13y ago
That's possible today with e-ink tablets, like the Kindle.
- stcredzero 13y ago
  The trick is to have both reflective displays and responsiveness.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

uptown 13y ago

Tablets may be a dominant form for quite a while, but how can you possibly think tablets are all there will ever be?

acuozzo 13y ago
The UI in the NCC-1701-D is basically thousands upon thousands of mounted iPads with a really, really advanced version Siri installed. I'd be OK with that kind of future.
- PebblesRox 13y ago
  Yeah but don't forget what else was in that future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT-wfcujaNE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT-wfcujaNE Wouldn't you at least want to try it out?

untog 13y ago

Not even slightly. I don't think there is one last good form. The future is a variety of devices. Despite the rise of tablets, I still code using a desktop machine with multiple monitors, and I wouldn't ever trade it for a tablet.

jjindev 13y ago
I'm looking at the progression of form. The paperback book did not kill the newspaper, but it was kind of the bottom end. "Tiny books" are a novelty. So yeah, development is serious work like stocks trading and you want a big interface like the Wall Street Journal.

lnanek2 13y ago

I've never found a use for a tablet myself. My phone is fine for Kindle reading and anything else I'd use a tablet for. Past that I use my Macbook Pro Retina which is barely heavier than a tablet anyway and has a nice keyboard. Glass/watches are handy because they don't have to be taken out like a phone/tablet/laptop.

jjindev 13y ago
I'm counting my phone (4.25" diag) as a small tablet. I don't have a bigger one myself, but I see them, especially at parties, in the hands of children. Their ubiquity is growing. I can see room for more devices, fitness bands, etc., but as sensors rather than media. I'm just not seeing them beat the form of the book, magazine, tablet. I mean wrist-watches kind of overloaded their interface after time, date, and dive depth. It was technically possible to put a microfilm reader in a wrist watch, but a paper copy of National Geographic was just so much nicer. I'd be willing to try a heads-up travel guide, but a cheap and light one in my pocket might be all I need.
- jjindev 13y ago
  OK, maybe running with a HUD would be fun, current pace, previous pace on course ....
  - canvia 13y ago
    Maybe with a "ghost" feature like from Mario Kart where you can see a representation of your previous runs on the course and compete with them.

tehwalrus 13y ago

when I can write the software for the tablet on it, and get one with a beefy processor (which only fires up to max when on AC power), I might think about it. Right now, I need an ultrabook to do that. (and no, I'm not interested in the MS Surface Pro, Windows 8 is terrifyingly poor by all accounts.)

haberman 13y ago

Yes, definitely something that became a mainstream product less than five years ago is The Final Innovation.