Why haven't you bought a tablet?
Displaying poll results.41401 total votes.
Most Votes
- What's the highest dollar price will Bitcoin reach in 2024? Posted on February 28th, 2024 | 8480 votes
- Will ByteDance be forced to divest TikTok Posted on March 20th, 2024 | 7590 votes
Most Comments
- What's the highest dollar price will Bitcoin reach in 2024? Posted on March 20th, 2024 | 68 comments
- Will ByteDance be forced to divest TikTok Posted on March 20th, 2024 | 20 comments
Oblig Xkcd (Score:4, Insightful)
Crucial app unavailable. [xkcd.com]
Re:Price (Score:4, Insightful)
missing feature (Score:5, Insightful)
Pointless (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, I am not a typical computer user.
Keyboard (Score:4, Insightful)
Why would I care? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I just need to do something quickly, I'll use my smartphone. If I know I'm going to need something heavier-duty, I'll bring my laptop. The tablet is too big to carry in my pocket everywhere (as I can do with the smartphone), and not set up to do heavier work that requires a significant amount of typing (as my laptop is). So while they're very popular, the tablet seems to me to just be the worst of both worlds.
Price isn't even really a factor. Even if they were giving the things away, I just don't know what need I would have for one that I can't fulfill with something I already have.
Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Missing option: Apple. I refuse to buy one after Apple got so cocky and restricive, otherwise I'd bought one ages ago. Still waiting for the perfect Android tablet, though.
Missing option: Does not fill any need! (Score:4, Insightful)
Things we buy and use all fulfill a need in our lives. I can clearly identify why I need a telephone, and why that telephone needs to be mobile. I can also clearly identify why I need a computer, and why that computer needs to have a decent screen size and a keyboard. But I can not identify any functional need in my life, for which a tablet would fill that need. This is nothing like the option "need fulfilled by other devices". Yes I have other devices that fit identified needs, and yes a tablet can also fill some of those needs in a limited capacity, but there is absolutely no need that I can see for a table.
As an example, lets look at the basic need of human communication. This can be broken down further into two sub-needs; speed and reliability. Verbal communication takes care of speed, and written communication somewhat addresses reliability (repeatable, retrievable later, reviewable, etc). To meet the need of fast communication throughout history humanity has expanded the distance over which this need can be met by creating and improving tools such as signal flags, signal fires, telegraphs, radios, television, telephones, close range mobile phones, longer range cellular phones, and other such tools. Each of these tools have also been used for other, similar purposes (example: fax machines, entertainment, SMS messaging, etc) but these tools are still focused on the primary need of fast human communication over great distances. With tablets, I see they are trying to add such additional purposes, without fist being a tool to meet a clear primary need.
Re:missing feature (Score:5, Insightful)
Absolutely right...people keep talking about these things like they are computers or something! Most of the things I do on my computer can't be done on a tablet. There's not a mouse either (insert rolling-eyes icon here).
A keyboard is an absolute requirement for a general purpose computer.
Tablets are "real computers" in the same sense that your dvd player, microwave oven, car ECU, and cell phone are computers. They are are special purpose devices that contain computers. Tablets are special purpose devices for consuming electronic media (video, audio, web, games), very much like your dvd player.
Batteries (Score:2, Insightful)
Missing option: batteries.
I'll consider buying one when it could be used for 10-12 hours straight with just a single charge.
Re:Option missing - Dont give a shit (Score:1, Insightful)
Riiiiight. And that's why BOOK READING is so painful and non-existent. Dumb ass.
It's a "TABLEt" so put it on a table. Or your lap. Write on it. Read it. Use it like you do paper. Problem solved, weakling.
Re:Apps to create stuff (Score:4, Insightful)
Like anything else, "creation" inside of the Walled Garden is subject to the rules of the platform tyrant. If you aren't prominent enough, you might get censored or your politics may be fundementally in conflict with the tyrant.
Re:Price (Score:3, Insightful)
So what you're saying is that the US patent system is anti-competitive and harmful to consumers?
Thought so.
Re:Option missing - Dont give a shit (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure you can do all that on paper. The difference is that I don't have to do as much planning ahead of time. That saves me time that I can then use for other things.
Case in point: I decide I want a soldering station with adjustable temperature iron. There are several considerations, but one big one is the need to be able to get replacement tips without having to mail order them. Thus, browsing products online first makes no sense because I'd be writing down prices for hundreds of products, only three of which are really viable. Browsing the store first also isn't ideal because it would mean two trips to the store---one to get a list of brands and models, then a second one to actually buy the product (maybe) if the price was good enough. With a smartphone, I can almost instantly do the price comparison while I'm doing the model comparison.
Similarly, I was looking for blenders a while back. That's the sort of thing that you'd prefer to buy locally in case it sucks. On the flip side, you also want to have some idea of whether it sucks before you bother to buy it and bring it home. So I went around to local stores looking at their selections and simultaneously looking at reviews on Amazon. Eventually, I found one that looked like it would be good. It would have been good, but they only hat one left, it was the display model, and it only worked once before some part of it fell off. (I forget exactly what.) So I ended up buying one online in that case, but at least the instant access to Amazon reviews saved me from a lot of other annoying returns.
A more frequent example is buying DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, etc. I often just go to Fry's to see what they have. If something looks interesting, I might buy it. However, I might find something---a set of DVDs, for example---that seems good but pretty expensive. If I can quickly bring up Amazon and see that it's significantly cheaper, I'll add it to my list of things to buy online, then choose something else to buy for entertainment that day. If it isn't much cheaper, I might decide to buy it there. Without a smartphone, that would require either making a trip home or just making a call based on my gut, then returning it later if it turns out to be significantly cheaper on Amazon. Both are workable, but neither is nearly as convenient. And because my phone is always with me, I never have to think about bringing a paper list. It is also a lot easier to keep an electronic list sorted alphabetically without wasting a lot of paper reprinting it every time I buy some DVDs. (Yes, I know that it is probably always cheaper on Amazon, so I could probably just buy DVDs ahead so that I never run out, but there's something to be said for supporting local businesses, not to mention actually looking through the DVDs when choosing what to buy.)
And really, the same technique works equally well for anything you consider buying just because you see it and think, "That would be cool to own." It's not for big purchases that you plan for weeks to buy, nor for the little things that you buy every week, but for the stuff in between. Often, I find that it is much cheaper online, so I say that I'll buy it online. Then I think about it further and realize that I really don't need it anyway.
It's really one of those things whose usefulness you tend to underestimate until you experience it.
Re:Price (Score:3, Insightful)
Why what? I don't want a freaking Ubuntu tablet.
_IF_ I would ever get a tablet at all it would have atleast two very basic requirements:
1) Have a browser (duh!)
2) Offer convenient ways to get other information at a glance => Convenient apps.
I doubt I'll get much of the later with Ubuntu, but what do I know. Maybe if they had a tablet edition of the OS but I don't want the regular OSS crap, it's not designed specifically for the tablet.