
Why Have Tablets Flopped? Here Are Five Reasons - newacc
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/the-top-five-reasons-tablet-computers-have-failed/?ref=technology
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shaddi
I don't buy this article. I'm sitting on my tablet writing this. Handwriting
recognition in Windows, in my experience, is anything /but/ mediocre: in fact
it's really quite fantastic in Win7. It's the only reason I don't run Linux
exclusively on this machine, the tablet support is just phenomenal.

The killer app is definitely OneNote. I /yearn/ for something in Linux that
does everything OneNote does, but as of yet I'm disappointed. Full text
searching of handwritten notes and handwriting to text conversion both work
beautifully.

Why have tablets flopped? The concept just doesn't fit the way some people
work. My school did a study (that I was a participant in) on tablet use, and
gave a group of 20 students a tablet (Lenovo X60t, at the time) to use for an
academic year. Probably half the group just stopped using the tablet aspect of
the device, saying they just prefer working on paper. Some people just like
organizing their work in notebooks and paper.

Also, the Lenovo X61t (what I have now) is built great. Lots of thought put
into this device, and it's solid.

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jacoblyles
Tablets are mildly popular in my grad school classes. I would love to say
"goodbye" to paper notebooks.

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dkarl
The main reason tablets never took off is that tablets are supposed to be a
lot more convenient for on-the-go use than notebook computers, but in
practice, they aren't. Their size and the fact that they can't be used one-
handed means that you give up a lot of the functionality of a notebook for not
much more convenience. Shrinking technology and improved touch-screen
interfaces have alleviated that problem but actually narrowed the niche even
further, because now tablets have to find a space between notebooks and
iPhones.

Also, his "3. Input systems" should just say "3. Pens." Microsoft's opinion,
which I would normally respect because they have done a lot of work to support
tablets, be damned. Stylus-based input seems really awesome until you try it.
Even as pointing-and-dragging devices, they're inconvenient. Take them out
(with your _other_ free hand), use them, put them back, and make sure you
don't drop them down a grate. What a hassle.

I'm expecting, and kind of dreading, Apple proving me wrong and persuading me
to part with $600.

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shaddi
I largely agree with your pen point, but I couldn't imagine (yes, I've tried)
writing notes, for instance, without a pen. Perhaps, though, that's not really
the best use of a tablet, which seems to be the premise that most tablets out
there today are based upon.

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evgen
I would settle for Inkwell using my finger. As an old Newton user who was very
pleased with the recognition on my MP2100 and a MS tablet user (ended up
getting RightPen because XP Tablet's recognition was not the "global"
recognition system I was used to from my Newton days) I like using a stylus.
OTOH, seeing how close iPhone gestures are to old Newton gestures I think it
would not be a large jump for an iTablet to enable write-anywhere
functionality via the multi-touch system and even enhance it slightly with the
"multi" part in multi-touch.

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bbuffone
I still can't figure out the point of a Tablet. That should be the number one
reason.

Laptops are an easily portable version of a Computer. Netbooks are really
cheaps/simple versions of a Laptop.

A tablet is a ????? version of a computer that isn't covered by a laptop.

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dkarl
I can imagine kicking back on the couch (or in bed) with a tablet, reading or
doing flash cards or playing go on the internet. I don't do that with my
laptop or my iPhone. I just haven't convinced myself to pay close to a
thousand dollars for a computer dedicated to that purpose.

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bbuffone
Laptops are perfect for the couch. Watching TV is easy; your laptop screen and
TV are on the same plane so it is easy to go back and forth between the two.
Laptops sit nicely on your lap (Think that is how they got there name), unless
you have a thinkpad like mike that operates at 200 degrees.

Chasing another input device like a point would be a pane; Sticking your hands
between the seat cushions for the remoe is bad enough. Now I would be chasing
a tiny plastic pencil everywhere.

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bokchoi
As a lefty, I always hated that the scrollbars were on the right when I was
using a tablet.

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blasdel
No mention of Ergonomics!

 _Gorilla arm_ makes touchscreens completely unusable unless you're cradling
the thing (no desks!), and anything much bigger than pocket-sized is going to
be too heavy and awkward.

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forsaken
See: Why have Cell Phones Flopped?

Reason: Apple hasn't made one yet :)

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Devilboy
That's pretty much what the article said...

