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Thanks guys! And...tablet? Am I becoming a luddite?
12 years ago
General
Okay, so I got a birthday gift from my father. I'm very grateful for it, don't get me wrong. I just don't know what to do with this damn thing...the hell am I supposed to do with a tablet?!
So I've been outspoken about my views on tablets. On the surface, they appear to have all of the functionality of a phone, with none of the portability. In reality it is actually worse. There's a bunch of things I can use my phone for (other than the obvious), that realistically, I can't do with a tablet. My phone's battery life is longer. And my laptop has a much better interface. I already have a portability case/bag for my laptop, and I don't need to get a screen protector for my it either. Speaking of screens...
Yes, I'm going there. Touchscreens are heathen. Just because smearing your greasy fingers over a screen takes more technology than hitting a key on a keyboard, does not make it more functional. Sometimes technology can and does push us backwards in functionality, and this is a prime example. No, my hands are NOT made of glass and I shouldn't be expected to go all jazz hands all over a piece of equipment while simultaneously trying to observe the output of it. They also can't be perfectly clean every time I touch a screen because I have neither the time nor the inclination to go wash my hands every few minutes to get the grime and sweat off of them. There's a reason computers have a keyboard at chest level and the screen at eye level, they both function best when not trying to be the other. Not to mention the fact that the more screen space you devote to imput, the less screen space you have to observe output.
I have to deal with touchscreens at work. We're at a point now with technology that calibration of the screen isn't an issue. But the lack of feedback when hitting a key or button produces problems, especially when dozens of keys are lined up right against each other. Mis-strokes happen every few minutes because the lines between keys blur when the key "stroke" is registered to the last place your fingertip touched when pulling back, rather than the center of where your finger hit in the first place. Combine that with screens so sensitive you can register a touch while keeping your fingers a few millimeters away, and you have a recipe for problems. And that's all that touchscreens are good for; problems.
I tolerate their existence on smartphones because the lack of space makes touchscreens damn near necessary. And if touchscreens were limited to just that, I'd be fine with them. But they're popping up everywhere and not doing a damn thing to improve interfaces. Your terminal have too many functions to lay out on a custom keyboard? Have buttons on a screen that can be activated with a fucking corded mouse. That's what they're there for.
Okay, end rant.
So I have this little piece of technology that has neither the portability of a phone, nor the functionality of a laptop. It wants apps. I have apps...on my phone. And none of them would translate well to a tablet. I'm not going to use a tablet for Twitter, or for navigating (those are the only two apps I really have and use on my phone). Any other function of technology I need, I use my laptop for. I can type with my laptop, because you know, keyboard and all that. In fact other than gluing some toothpicks onto a tablet and making it into a mini coffee table, I still don't see what these things are used for. Do you serve drinks on them?
You don't watch movies on a tablet, that's what the computer and TV are for (bigger screens, no need to worry about battery).
Can't play games (no way to control anything; touchscreens ruin everything good and pure in this world)
Don't need it to play music, that's what my Zune is for (better battery life, more portable, etc).
Can't use the damn thing at my apartment (it demands wi-fi, and I don't have any. I don't even get cell phone reception in this place. The fuck is wi-fi anyway? Wireless fiction?).
So what do I do with this thing? I desperately want to make use of it because I don't want my dad's generosity to go to waste. I just don't see how this thing fits into people's lives. It just seems to be something a guy invented then convinced people they needed when they really didn't. And
So I've been outspoken about my views on tablets. On the surface, they appear to have all of the functionality of a phone, with none of the portability. In reality it is actually worse. There's a bunch of things I can use my phone for (other than the obvious), that realistically, I can't do with a tablet. My phone's battery life is longer. And my laptop has a much better interface. I already have a portability case/bag for my laptop, and I don't need to get a screen protector for my it either. Speaking of screens...
Yes, I'm going there. Touchscreens are heathen. Just because smearing your greasy fingers over a screen takes more technology than hitting a key on a keyboard, does not make it more functional. Sometimes technology can and does push us backwards in functionality, and this is a prime example. No, my hands are NOT made of glass and I shouldn't be expected to go all jazz hands all over a piece of equipment while simultaneously trying to observe the output of it. They also can't be perfectly clean every time I touch a screen because I have neither the time nor the inclination to go wash my hands every few minutes to get the grime and sweat off of them. There's a reason computers have a keyboard at chest level and the screen at eye level, they both function best when not trying to be the other. Not to mention the fact that the more screen space you devote to imput, the less screen space you have to observe output.
I have to deal with touchscreens at work. We're at a point now with technology that calibration of the screen isn't an issue. But the lack of feedback when hitting a key or button produces problems, especially when dozens of keys are lined up right against each other. Mis-strokes happen every few minutes because the lines between keys blur when the key "stroke" is registered to the last place your fingertip touched when pulling back, rather than the center of where your finger hit in the first place. Combine that with screens so sensitive you can register a touch while keeping your fingers a few millimeters away, and you have a recipe for problems. And that's all that touchscreens are good for; problems.
I tolerate their existence on smartphones because the lack of space makes touchscreens damn near necessary. And if touchscreens were limited to just that, I'd be fine with them. But they're popping up everywhere and not doing a damn thing to improve interfaces. Your terminal have too many functions to lay out on a custom keyboard? Have buttons on a screen that can be activated with a fucking corded mouse. That's what they're there for.
Okay, end rant.
So I have this little piece of technology that has neither the portability of a phone, nor the functionality of a laptop. It wants apps. I have apps...on my phone. And none of them would translate well to a tablet. I'm not going to use a tablet for Twitter, or for navigating (those are the only two apps I really have and use on my phone). Any other function of technology I need, I use my laptop for. I can type with my laptop, because you know, keyboard and all that. In fact other than gluing some toothpicks onto a tablet and making it into a mini coffee table, I still don't see what these things are used for. Do you serve drinks on them?
You don't watch movies on a tablet, that's what the computer and TV are for (bigger screens, no need to worry about battery).
Can't play games (no way to control anything; touchscreens ruin everything good and pure in this world)
Don't need it to play music, that's what my Zune is for (better battery life, more portable, etc).
Can't use the damn thing at my apartment (it demands wi-fi, and I don't have any. I don't even get cell phone reception in this place. The fuck is wi-fi anyway? Wireless fiction?).
So what do I do with this thing? I desperately want to make use of it because I don't want my dad's generosity to go to waste. I just don't see how this thing fits into people's lives. It just seems to be something a guy invented then convinced people they needed when they really didn't. And
I do give credit to the windows tablets like the venue from dell as a fully functional laptop because it offers a complete windows system not an RT or spin off os designed for the tablet itself, but the same pone they run on desktops and laptops. So in that regard, you do have the functionality in a smaller package along with the ability to use wireless keyboards the same way you can with any laptop these days and the ability to at least watch 1280x720 movies and get 10 hours continuously out of it is still quite an achievement for a plate with a screen attached that can hold some expanded storage.
But my point remains of it being a toy to play with, not a suit to enjoy so if you don't care about the best of something but want it done well enough, they fit that realm... well enough for most people
I wanted a Tablet mainly because I'm a geek and I like to play with new gadgets. At first I didn't use my Nexus 7 all that much and was regretting the purchase and to some extent I still do as I would like somthing with a larger screen. After a while I found it was really my second screen, my quick tasks device. I check Email, Facebook, FA, Play Games, Watch Netflix (Though I usually use Chrome Cast to watch it on my television) and I really liked having it on me at Midwest Fur Fest for looking up everything and taking notes. It's light weight, get's better battery time than my laptop (Though it took some configuring to get that battery life out of it), the screen size is reasonable although I'm not a fan of the mini/7 inch size.
A few points to mention here that apply to yourself. One is the lack of Wi-Fi which basically keeps you from doing anything with your tablet on a regular basis. These things are built for the connected world so if you're not connected then they lost half of their appeal. Two is the touch screen typing which I also hate but have begun to adapt to. That being said I use a cheap Bluetooth keyboard with mine when I will need to type something more than a few lines at a time. Third and finally it sounds like your tablet needs to be configured better so that the battery life, digitizer sensitivity and everything else functions properly.
At the end of the day I leave my phone and it's horrendous data costs for when I'm not in Wi-Fi range or need a secure connection. It's great for little things but the screen size makes doing any real work.. hell even real web browsing a pain. The tablet fills the role of a computer for those times when dragging my computer out of the house is undesirable like at a convention. As a bonus if my $300 tablet gets broken or stolen that is much less traumatic compared to my laptop.
Another thing worth mentioning here is that there are a number of services, free services that let you sync and work in the cloud across all of your devices. So for example all of my bookmarks are the same across all of my devices, I can work on a document or edit a photo on my tablet and then fire up the laptop and continue where I left off seamlessly. This kind of functionality takes the tablet from a simple toy to a work machine with a few free apps.
I found that I have a place in my life for a tablet. Do I NEED it, no nobody needs it or the internet realistically but it has made my life a little easier and richer for having one.
I have a desktop computer with a core i5 and 8-gigs of memory that can handle just about anything, including some hard core games even tho the hardest game I play on it is Simcity (not hard core at all). I do my simple web browsing, ebay shopping, FA checking, photo/video/music editing and email on it. I love my wired keyboard and mouse, never have to worry about batteries. I love my 40-watt sound system and I really love the 33-inch LED that sits at the back of the desk while I lean back and away from the desk.
I have a tiny little netbook for when I'm on the go, which isn't very often. But for $50, I just couldn't pass it up!. It has an Intel Atom dual core and 4-gigs of memory that can handle about half of what my desktop can do. It does everything a normal size laptop can do, minus the cd-rom tray (it doesn't have one). I've done everything that's mentioned above, minus Simcity (who wants to play games on a 9-inch screen anyway). It came in VERY handy when I went to FurFright. Took the SD card from the phone too!
I have a tiny little Android smart phone and I'm the sorriest person that I joined the smart phone revolution. I don't need internet or to be "connected" at all times. I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a contractor, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a firefighter, I'm not a stocks trader, I'm not an EMT... What else would I need a smart phone for? I don't do any of the social network sites because they're all about drama and politics and ultrasound pictures of unborn babies. I will NOT tolerate either one and I will NOT waste my life on that.
As far as texting goes, I'd rather not. But some people just don't know how to use a phone for it's original purpose and would rather sit there typing for 45-minutes until their thumbs fall off, when all they needed to do was hit one speed dial button and talk for 3-minutes instead. The thing I hate most about smart phones is that the more people have them, the stupider people get. They think they can actually tweet and drive at the same time. And when they look back up, they've plowed into my little Dodge Neon!
Their stupidity has caused me and my mom many hospital visits and pain, not to mention aggravation, having to deal with the dumbest police in Massachusetts and two insurance companies. I lied, only one of them is aggravating, Geico has been great to me. Then having to find another car, going through the whole registration, inspection, transfers, titles, taxes, ARGHH - AND THE STUPID DMV!!! I don't even answer my phone while I'm driving, but I'm the one who got it in the end... Literally!
Ahh... And I've just noticed that I, too have gone on a bit of a rant... My apologies to you, good sir... My best opinion to you about that tablet that dad gave you... Take that little tablet and have fun with it. Don't take it too seriously, it was a gift and it didn't cost you a penny to find out that you already didn't care for touch screens lol. Personally, I'd probably use it while I'm dropping a duce, instead of reading a news paper or a magazine. Play a game on it or something of the sort. Best wishes lol!!!