Is it the right time to buy an A-Z Pad?

[Schot 407]

Now I realize that the concept of a tablet has been kicking around for a little while now. About a hundred years or so. Ok ok, well maybe not the tablet we're familiar with but the concept certainly reaches that far back. Interesting read on that by the way, History of tablet computers.

 

For whatever reason though I've managed to refrain from going "I" crazy throughout all the commotion Apple has been generating for the past 10 years or so. Personally, I've always been weary of the Apple industry. I couldn't say why until their marketing strategy became fairly clear recently. That being the "upgrade" strategy. In fact I was so adamant about not purchasing an Apple that it took up until last year for me to finally give in to the unique innovation of Apple's Ipod Touch 4. I wanted a music/video player and knew that an Ipod would do the trick but blindly refused and instead tried other company models. I can't even remember the brands I tried now but I had tried 2 other brands, returned them each in turn and finally gave the Ipod Touch 4 a try. I knew just from the packaging that I would be keeping it, lol. It truly is a great product but boy am I glad that I waited till the Gen 4 before buying one...

 

Holding off on buying the "latest and greatest" has taught me a valuable lesson. That perhaps it is wise to wait for new technological trends to be improved upon by companies looking to out-feature eachother. With that in mind I wonder... Is the whole touch screen tablet craze still in it's infancy? Is there something on the horizon that could very well make our present understanding of tablets obsolete?

 

To me the tablets just don't make sense. I have an Ipod Touch that pops into my jeans pocket and away I go. It doesn't make sense for me to put aside my conveniently sized iTouch for a tablet that, by comparison, would be a clunky O'l mass to lug around. I think these companies are going in the wrong direction and they ought to be working on a wrist watch with a lite expanding face plate touchscreen. I mean come on. Isn't THAT what we all really want? You know you do.

 

Back to the point at hand though. Considering all the tablet products coming out these days, it feels like it's a bit too soon to be buying an A-Zpad from whatever company. I feel as though companies and their tablet products need more time to work out all the kinks and to perfect what they have. Am I the only one?

[masteff 64]

For more than five years I've really wanted a tablet: http://forum.sacred2.com/showthread.php?t=39069

 

My problem w/ the latest "pads" is they 1) don't have CD/DVD drives and 2) they lack any real computing power/ability (insufficient processor and RAM). I don't know if anyone is still making the more powerful tablets or if they all gave into the "ultra-thin but weak" fad.

 

Yes, they're nice and thin and depending on the brand have lots of apps available. But they're simply inadequate as a computing device.

 

I think you have to sit down and make a list of reasons why you need it. For instance, my girlfriend would benefit from one because it's lighter (for carrying in her suitcase) than her netbook but performs the same functions (mainly as an email/internet device). I on the other hand would expect such a device to do programs like Excel and Word and would be disappointed by any product that runs anything less than a tablet version of Windows.

 

I am intrigued by the Amazon Fire... I'll be watching it over the coming year to see how it develops.

[essjayehm 58]

Heh... nothing too deep or philosophical but... isn't this all related to the "Star Trek effect". Or whatever that nonsense is where people will jump on a tech leap, just (mostly) because it resembles something we've seen in the Media's vision of the future.

 

Reminds me of Arsenio Hall / C&C Music Factroy... things that make me go Hmmmmmmmmm....

 

IMO, tablets are just about one of the most useless things that I've heard of... the only advantage they hold over a smartphone is the screen size?

 

But, eventually they will take over note/net-books, but their current iteration is deplorable. Put together the cheapest hardware you can manage, and sell over-priced software (ie apps) to support it.

 

And, yes, I love to hate technology... and hate to love it at the same time.

[lujate 575]

I guess it depends on what you want to use it for. I have a Xoom, and I really like it. It gets more use than my pc (excepting gaming). I use it for web browsing, email, reading, accessing my Google Docs spreadsheets, etc. It is my primary web browser. When I am programming, I use it to have manuals open. When playing Sacred, I have the wiki open on it. The only non-free app I use is my office suite. I cannot comment about what it has under the hood, all I can say is that it does what I want.

[chattius 2,522]

Smartphone less size

Netbook less usable with THICK gloves . Touchscreen can be used if yiu just glue a drop of rubber on the glove

 

Add gps, use it as a map when doing forest work

 

At bicycle tours you can attach it on the handlebar, which is quite nice. No longer forced to ride back to a known place if doing a wrong turn. Just calculate a new route.

 

Same for sail plane.

 

Our 3 year old twins do hard on keyboards or smart phones, but screen size of pad just fits and pointing at pictures is intuitive.

 

Curse that you need another apple to do your own apps, grmbl

 

so useful for special purposes I think. I needed big gloves combability, other reasons were just bonus. Wood chopping here is on frozen ground, because way less damage to the soil.