I didn’t want a tablet. No, seriously, look it up. It has never been at all clear that the form factor will work for me. And yet here I am, in the market for a tablet. What happened?
A number of things. It didn’t help that Lenovo killed off the device that I actually wanted, the Skylight, which was essentially a tablet-like piece of hardware in a netbook form factor. Not that I can blame them, not when its chip manufacturer Qualcomm is running around admitting that Apple’s iPad obsoleted smartbooks before they even arrived. Probably because I wanted one, the smartbook category died a quiet, unacknowledged death. The reason I wanted one, however, remained.
The simple fact is that a modern laptop is more machine than I need while traveling. Even my underpowered Thinkpad X301 and its ultra-low-voltage chip represents a surplus of computing capacity. What do I really need while I’m on the road, after all? A browser, a text editor, a terminal application and some form of MLB At Bat, be it native or Flash. For that I just don’t need much machine. I wouldn’t mind the excess so much if the costs weren’t so high. But for the power that a laptop affords, you trade weight, battery life and size. I’m aware that the new Macs, for one, can get better than five hours to a charge. But I’m also aware that five hours does not a full day make, and that even the MacBook Air tips the scales at three pounds.
What I want is a machine I can carry sans briefcase on a day trip to New York or Boston. More specifically, this:
- Battery Life:
I don’t want to have to walk into a room at a conference and look for a charger. Actually, I don’t even want to bring a charger on a day trip. Which means I need seven or eight hours to a charge, at a minimum. - Connectivity:
Wifi, obviously. Ideally, I’d like 3G (EV-DO/HSPA) or 4G (LTE) connectivity on a non-AT&T network, simply because I can already turn the Nexus One into an AT&T hotspot so an alternate carrier would give me more options. - Cost:
Anything more than the iPad is too much, given the quality of that device. Less is better, obviously. - Display:
Basically, it needs to be at least twice the size of my Nexus One (3.7″). There are just some things it’s easier to do on a full sized – or nearly so – display. - Size:
This one I’m unsure about. Would the Galaxy Tab’s 7″ display be sufficient? Or would 10″ be better? Probably I’ll have to use them to find out; I hope the carriers make their tablets available under the same 30 day return policies as their handsets. - Weight:
Can’t weigh much more than a pound. The Galaxy Tab’s .84 lbs is just about right.
What about the software, you ask? Funny thing: it’s juts not the priority for me – I’m far more concerned with the hardware. Any of Android, Chrome OS or webOS would probably be acceptable as a tablet operating system. For me, anyway. Google’s Director of Mobile Products, Hugo Barra, was unequivocal in his belief that Android isn’t ready for that device type, which while technically true probably isn’t going to help Samsung’s marketing efforts.
Even the iPad’s iOS would be workable were it not for the fact that it’s tethered to iTunes, and thus to a Mac or Windows desktop. I’m excluding primarily desktop oriented operating systems such as Windows or Ubuntu because they’re not quite there for these form factors, in my opinion.
Add it up, and I’m probably getting a tablet, in spite of their unfortunate lack of a keyboard. The question is which one? The answer to that is as much timing as anything else.
For reasons that I cannot fathom, we are nine months post-the iPad announcement without a credible alternative on the market. This, in spite of the availability of obviously workable alternative operating environments in Android and webOS, and possibly Chrome OS. Whether the massive latency is due to difficulties in design, market factors and uncertainties, or something else, the fact is that the would-be challengers to the iPad are massively late to market. To the point that many have not only missed the Back to School rush, but might not make the holiday shopping season either. In theory, we’ll see Samsung shipping its 7″ Galaxy Tab on a variety of carriers in the near future, but most of the rumored arrival dates for tablets are a quarter to two quarters away.
It’s baffling.
The choice before me then is to wait, or do what I did with the iPhone: tread water using the Apple product until such time as its competitors are sufficiently compelling. The majority of the private feedback I’ve received about tablets encourages me to wait: those who’ve seen or held the forthcoming iPad competitors consistently say nice things about them. But that means putting up with a laptop during one of the two busiest portions of the year for me in terms of travel. Suboptimal.
What do you think? Do you have interest in a tablet?
sogrady says:
September 21, 2010 at 3:29 pm
“I Don’t Want a Tablet, So When Can I Get One?”: http://monk.ly/aEeLk5
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Kevin Schmidt says:
September 21, 2010 at 3:45 pm
I don't want a tablet either. Well, not yet at least. I'll accept the overhead of a laptop (part of why I prefer smaller laptops) to get a keyboard.
Saying that, I wouldn't be surprised (or I'm hopeful?) to see tablets with slide out keyboards soon. I mean, if we have them on mobile phones, why wouldn't we on a tablet?
I have been tempted to do a day trip with just my iPhone but have hesitated to do so primarily because of the lack of a keyboard I could actually write something of substance with. Once that is addressed with a tablet, I might be interested.
So I change my mind, I want a tablet, but it has to be the right one 🙂
Stormy says:
September 21, 2010 at 3:48 pm
The big thing to me is the lack of a keyboard. Swype has made my Android much, much easier to use. But I still can type much more quickly on a keyboard. If you carry a keyboard around with your tablet, does it defeat the purpose? I don't think so, as the battery life is probably the most important feature to me.
Mark Cathcart says:
September 21, 2010 at 4:00 pm
I had the chance to hold one of these the other day, I'm sold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_0GHfxdYS4&fe…
Especially for those of us that grew up on a keyboard…
Even I have to wait for one to come to market before I can get it though…
Simone Cicero says:
September 21, 2010 at 4:15 pm
This post is spectacularly real Stephen.
Again and again it seems that the incumbent wireless industry is slow.
On the other hand, as for the phones, there will be more powerful and compelling devices from other OEMs: the constant is that they'll be LATE!
Would appreciate if you would read this post of mine (monday) http://meedabyte.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/where-i…
I'm seeing a huge momentum around tablets in the last few weeks.
Vivek says:
September 21, 2010 at 4:21 pm
These netbook-like detachable keyboard solutions might work for you: http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/
Chris Tirpak says:
September 21, 2010 at 4:23 pm
I want a tablet but do not want an iPad. I am waiting patiently for a suitable Android, webOS, or Chrome based tablet to hit the market. I would be more excited to see an Ubuntu based version hit the market. The one thing that would keep me from traveling with one for extended periods is lack of storage for photographs. I frequently travel with my DSLR and there is no viable way to offload several GB of RAW image files. That being said I recognize that I am a corner case in that regard and on a recent trip traveled with only my Android based EVO and a portable hard drive. I used a hotel business center computer to offload the pictures to the hard drive and also print my boarding passes.
I would even be excited about a WiFi and Bluetooth only based option since I could tether it to my EVO. I don't suppose we will see that though as it appears the hardware manufacturers are focused on tying these devices to carriers. I would love to see one of these as truly open sourced and not locked down so that the community could start to really drive some interesting implementations.
TheTechScribe says:
September 21, 2010 at 5:14 pm
I Don’t Want a Tablet, So When Can I Get One? http://j.mp/burxq6
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Jefro says:
September 21, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Hilarious and very relevant. I'm in the same boat with respect to netbooks (and now tablets).
Check this one out, though: the Always Innovating TouchBook. Similar to the skylight, but ARM-based. (I am unaffiliated, but highly intrigued.)
Guy Creese says:
September 22, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I bought an iPad and I'm a convert. My requirements were: instant on, 9 hours battery life, and access to e-mail and contacts. Because of certain Gartner administrative systems I still lag my laptop around for work in the evening, but the iPad is just fine during the day.
Jump on in; the water is fine.
Doug K says:
September 22, 2010 at 1:05 pm
On work trips, I have to carry the work laptop (luggable) since anything smaller can't run the software I need to work with.
On personal trips, I borrow my son's iPod Touch 😉
which has put me in much the same position as you – don't really want to pay the Apple premium and buy into that whole ecosystem, so we wait patiently.
Charlie Stross is not patient. His review of the iPad explains why I'm still waiting, though.
empiricator says:
September 22, 2010 at 5:19 pm
I Don’t Want a Tablet, So When Can I Get One? by @sogrady http://bit.ly/aPuf5S
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
matt_L says:
September 22, 2010 at 7:18 pm
RT @empiricator: I Don’t Want a Tablet, So When Can I Get One? by @sogrady http://bit.ly/aPuf5S
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
The Geek Life » Episode 71 – Don’t Blink, Ronald’s Around says:
September 23, 2010 at 8:55 am
[…] iPads canibalize laptops (link1) (link2) […]
Dietrich T. Schmitz says:
September 23, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Seems to me, you need a Netbook, but with a touch screen.
I am happy though with my Acer Aspire One D260, for most of the reasons on your wish list.
Get a Netbook. I'll never have a device without a keyboard.
Links 26/9/2010: Many New GNU/Linux Releases, Free Software in British Government | Techrights says:
September 26, 2010 at 3:19 am
[…] I Don’t Want a Tablet, So When Can I Get One? What about the software, you ask? Funny thing: it’s juts not the priority for me – I’m far more concerned with the hardware. Any of Android, Chrome OS or webOS would probably be acceptable as a tablet operating system. For me, anyway. Google’s Director of Mobile Products, Hugo Barra, was unequivocal in his belief that Android isn’t ready for that device type, which while technically true probably isn’t going to help Samsung’s marketing efforts. […]
Chui Tey says:
October 5, 2010 at 2:57 am
Pssst, don't tell them it's a PDA and they'll buy it by the store-ful.
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February 10, 2011 at 2:04 am
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