AppsLab: “But why not get a keyboard to attach to your tablet? Yeah, let’s replace that bulky laptop with a skinny tablet and a bag full of accessories. Reminds me of the Sony Vaio I used in 2001; all the cords and accessories I needed to make it useful outweighed the actual laptop.”
This is the same sort of stuff people said about computers when the Internet became popular. We still have computers. I don’t know about you but to do my day job I’d be hard pressed to replace my eight core beast with a tablet, or iPad. I still need computing power to get my job done. Heck, I still need a real computer to do iOS work. I see rows and rows of computers at work. The place the tablet, or iPad, will be handy is in your home. It’s a casual computing device. Much better suited for consumption than creation.
2 replies on “Computers still needed”
I agree that there will long remain need for desktop/tower computers for the sheer power, but I don’t agree that tablets should be pigeonholed as a “home device”.
I’ve seen plenty of people use them for “light creation” of notes, etc. in meetings, which is a no-brainer.
Beyond that, though, there are LOTS of industries that have been using wearable-type computers for a while, because the form factor is sometimes as important as the power.
Car dealers and medical offices are embracing tablets as lightweight, portable, and perhaps most importantly, easy to learn input devices for their everyday business.
I’d argue that 85% (number pulled out of my rear USB port) of people using computers daily *don’t* need anything more than a tablet, or glorified data entry and order-taking/display device.
Tablets hit that sweet spot dead center.
Well, I don’t think you know how much I agree with use of iOS devices for medical. I think there is definitely a market for dashboard style interfaces tuned for Docs, Pharmacists, and Nurses.
I wish I had some cash in my pocket, I’d go off and write this stuff. As it is, I need a job that pays, unfortunately.