The Case Against Tablets
As I hunt for new computing hardware, I’m coming to the conclusion that tablets are simply a mistake. And yes, strongly informed by using one as a primary device for 5 years.
An ultra-light laptop has better utility and vastly superior privacy.
The one killer function, reading documents, seems better served by an e-book reader. ...
I'm exploring this question on Diaspora, with some good suggestions. Upshot is that tablets do most things poorly and virtually nothing well. And the landscape fully sucks.
Text reading and possibly notetaking is the major exception. And for that, an e-ink reader is the preferred option.
I'm surveying what uses people have, multi-response, with a goal more of completeness than representation. Please explain "Other".
https://joindiaspora.com/posts/880e5c403edb013918e1002590d8e506
#Tablets #Devices #Laptops #Desktops #Servers #Embedded #Mobile #Android #iOS #TheCaseAgainstTablets
@dredmorbius Does this include the "yoga"-style convertible tablets and x86 tablets with detachable keyboards?
@jfred Convertible / hybrid / 2-in-1s offer the worst-of-both-worlds for laptops and tablets yes. For the cost, get a low-end laptop and an e-ink bookreader. Or upgrade the one you truly need.
The tablet+keyboard seems like it should work but 1) keyboards are rarely available other than for specific devices and 2) the tablet OS and app ecosystems render the resulting system all but entirely anti-productive. Possibly slightly less so for Apple devices, but still poor.
I'm unaware of x86 tablets. Virtually all are ARM and either Android or iOS. Pine's discontinued Pinetab is the lone exception.
@dredmorbius @jfred I bought a bunch of Winbooks when they were giving them away(x86). Got linux running on one, but it wasn't pretty. Probably could have gotten it working with enough TLC.
