They're cool, they're fun, but do I need one? Since they don't even figure on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, maybe "need" isn't even the question. The question is more likely: Would a tablet be useful to me?
Currently we have a range of personal computing products to chose from, all with a varying degree of portability. The desktop computer, laptop, net-book, tablet, and smart-phone. We also have some "two-in-one" options in the large screen smart-phones, which are tablet and phone, and the tablet with dock, or net-book with touch screen, which are pretty much net-book and tablet. The portability of these devices range from low to high.
There is also a large degree of overlap in the abilities of these products, which is emphasised by the ability to sync software, access, and information across all these platforms. Which rises questions:
- If one can for instance access and use Facebook, Google docs, etc. on all of these devices, what is the point of having more than one of them?
- The differences in portability.
And then the follow-up:
- Why not then just buy the most portable device?
- Because portability is a trade-off.
The more more portable a device is, the less powerful it is (processor, memory). The more portable a device is, the less convenient its hardware is to use (screen size, physical keyboards). Ultimately any increase in portability (a.k.a size) means an increase in restrictions. Actually, if you think about it, even a desk top computer is fairly portable when compared to a super computer, but has processing restrictions! Price barely even comes into the argument at the moment as most decent smart-phones, tablets, net-books, laptops and desktops cost R5000 or over to South Africans.
Which means that officially choice should be governed by what you want to do. Portability plays a large role in function, but it isn't the begin-all and end-all. Do you really want to type a five page document on a smart-phone? So I decided to go find out more on what tablets are suppose to be for, and found some interesting bits and pieces.
The Economic Times has an article called Do you need a netbook, notebook, or tablet?, which consists of a quiz that was unimpressive, but gives results which gave me food for thought:
A - You should get yourself a netbook since you need a device that is easy to use and relatively light in terms of price and weight. Basically, a smaller, more portable avatar of your desktop.
C - Lightweight, easy to use, always connected and mainly for consuming information rather than creating it-you are the tablet person.
The website Makeuseof has a number of articles, actually better for being opinionated, that make some interesting points:
4 Reasons I'm Glad I Own a Netbook and Not a Tablet
- "Tablets Are For Consumption, Not Creativity"
A very true point if you consider it. Tablets are ideal for interacting with content, but are not comfortable to use for creating content (unless you're a digital artist).
- "Glowing Screens Suck For Reading"
One of the reasons often given for having a tablet is the ability to read eBooks. The Kindle stills beats a tablet hands down for that.
What You Need to Know Before Buying a Tablet
5 Things to Consider Before Buying a Netbook
5 Things to Consider Before Buying a Tablet PC
