Great debate...
Mar. 8th, 2012 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiberaddictThere's a debate raging in the house today. The newscaster this AM (the ONLY time we have the news on; I want to check the weather and traffic for SG) was talking about the new iPad (meh - *I* do not need nor want to upgrade), and about how, in a few years, tablets will replace computers.
SG immediately said "NOT even!", and Himself - who had heard me say "donuts!" and got up early - said "I don't think so, either".
I took the opposing view. See.....for *MOST* people, tablets WILL take the place of computers. MOST people use the computer to: websurf, check e-mail, play games, and stream movies. All of which a tablet does (please note I am NOT pushing iPad here. :grin: I'm an Apple fan, but there ARE other tablets out there, and most people don't care about the whole "Apple experience". *I* don't understand Android, but that doesn't mean it's a crap OS.) BETTER than a computer or laptop.
For one thing, they're smaller and lighter. I can lie on the bed while surfing, or move to the couch, or take it into the kitchen to whip up the batch of cookies I just found on allrecipes.com. Yes, you CAN haul a laptop around...but it's bigger, and bulkier, and not as, well, handy.
You don't need 3/4G; WiFi is fine. I don't regret going with WiFi only - the few times we've been out and WiFi-less, I simply pulled out my phone for any 'net stuff we thought we needed to do. I do NOT need to be connected 24/7 - and when the 'net isn't available, well, guess I can always open iBooks and, I dunno, READ one of the many books I have on my iPad.
You need a wireless router if you don't go 3/4G....but that's not a big deal. I *think* you have to have DSL - but most people already do, because it's being bundled with just about everything these days. (Here, DSL was $20 CHEAPER than dial-up, which is totally odd, but it's what got me to upgrade. Satellite was $20/month cheaper than DSL, so we switched again. Both of those came with wireless routers.) I don't see that as being a problem, honestly.
Now, I'll keep my laptop - I need it for work. Yes, there's an app of Excel for iPad, and Word, but it's just easier - for ME - to use an actual keyboard to do my data entry. Plus, the larger screen makes a difference when inputting a lot of data - the iPad's screen size is perfect for surfing, etc., but....not for work-related stuffs. (Some people disagree with that; whatever works for them.) I also have ALL our homeschooling stuff on the laptop (well, on an external hard drive - same difference.), because it's easier for me to look at and print from it (I haven't got my iPad hooked up with the printer yet. *I* can't get it to acknowledge the printer, even though it can see it. I think I have to enable bluetooth....and I haven't done that yet. :sigh: It's not a huge issue - I just go to the MacBook for any printing that I need to do; besides, my laser printer isn't wireless, so I can't print from anything BUT the MacBook, as it's the only one that's hooked up to it.) Of course, the day Apple puts a USB port on an iPad, I'll be first in line to upgrade. :lol: (The retina display is the big deal amongst techies, to MY eyes, it's no different than the "old" display. I went from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4, which had the "retina" display, and I saw NO difference. :shrug: To ME, it's not worth the $$$ to upgrade, since I don't need the better camera (I've taken *1* photo with the iPad, and hated it. It's too BIG for me to use as a camera - I'd rather use the phone, thankyouverymuch!), I don't really care about the processor/larger battery (with the SAME life!) or any of the other upgrades......so, I will wait.)
SG thought about it, and finally agreed with me - most users WILL eventually switch. For one thing, entry-level tablets are cheaper than decent PC's, and a lot of them have better specs. (Or so he says - he's IT, so I'll take his word on that). (Some people say that 16G isn't enough; I have 200+ ebooks on my 16G iPad, a bunch of music, and 42 apps - and still have something like 13G available. So....in our case, 16G is MORE than enough.) The ease of use, and the ability to put it ANYWHERE (with a PC or laptop, you have to have a dedicated spot for it to live.) is also a big plus.
Himself still isn't convinced. He said that IF you could get a mouse for it, he'd agree - but he can't game with the touch screen. *I* think, if he'd try it, he'd appreciate the ease, but that's OK. (He argued that without a physical keyboard, nobody would trade a PC for a tablet...then I showed him all the external keyboards available for iPad. He's holding out for a mouse, now - trackpads just aren't his thing. :lol:)
It's been interesting - every now and then Himself will offer another argument for keeping PC's..and I'll refute with an argument as to why I think he's wrong. He did agree that tablets are more flexible...but that's as far as he'd go. :snicker:
SG immediately said "NOT even!", and Himself - who had heard me say "donuts!" and got up early - said "I don't think so, either".
I took the opposing view. See.....for *MOST* people, tablets WILL take the place of computers. MOST people use the computer to: websurf, check e-mail, play games, and stream movies. All of which a tablet does (please note I am NOT pushing iPad here. :grin: I'm an Apple fan, but there ARE other tablets out there, and most people don't care about the whole "Apple experience". *I* don't understand Android, but that doesn't mean it's a crap OS.) BETTER than a computer or laptop.
For one thing, they're smaller and lighter. I can lie on the bed while surfing, or move to the couch, or take it into the kitchen to whip up the batch of cookies I just found on allrecipes.com. Yes, you CAN haul a laptop around...but it's bigger, and bulkier, and not as, well, handy.
You don't need 3/4G; WiFi is fine. I don't regret going with WiFi only - the few times we've been out and WiFi-less, I simply pulled out my phone for any 'net stuff we thought we needed to do. I do NOT need to be connected 24/7 - and when the 'net isn't available, well, guess I can always open iBooks and, I dunno, READ one of the many books I have on my iPad.
You need a wireless router if you don't go 3/4G....but that's not a big deal. I *think* you have to have DSL - but most people already do, because it's being bundled with just about everything these days. (Here, DSL was $20 CHEAPER than dial-up, which is totally odd, but it's what got me to upgrade. Satellite was $20/month cheaper than DSL, so we switched again. Both of those came with wireless routers.) I don't see that as being a problem, honestly.
Now, I'll keep my laptop - I need it for work. Yes, there's an app of Excel for iPad, and Word, but it's just easier - for ME - to use an actual keyboard to do my data entry. Plus, the larger screen makes a difference when inputting a lot of data - the iPad's screen size is perfect for surfing, etc., but....not for work-related stuffs. (Some people disagree with that; whatever works for them.) I also have ALL our homeschooling stuff on the laptop (well, on an external hard drive - same difference.), because it's easier for me to look at and print from it (I haven't got my iPad hooked up with the printer yet. *I* can't get it to acknowledge the printer, even though it can see it. I think I have to enable bluetooth....and I haven't done that yet. :sigh: It's not a huge issue - I just go to the MacBook for any printing that I need to do; besides, my laser printer isn't wireless, so I can't print from anything BUT the MacBook, as it's the only one that's hooked up to it.) Of course, the day Apple puts a USB port on an iPad, I'll be first in line to upgrade. :lol: (The retina display is the big deal amongst techies, to MY eyes, it's no different than the "old" display. I went from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4, which had the "retina" display, and I saw NO difference. :shrug: To ME, it's not worth the $$$ to upgrade, since I don't need the better camera (I've taken *1* photo with the iPad, and hated it. It's too BIG for me to use as a camera - I'd rather use the phone, thankyouverymuch!), I don't really care about the processor/larger battery (with the SAME life!) or any of the other upgrades......so, I will wait.)
SG thought about it, and finally agreed with me - most users WILL eventually switch. For one thing, entry-level tablets are cheaper than decent PC's, and a lot of them have better specs. (Or so he says - he's IT, so I'll take his word on that). (Some people say that 16G isn't enough; I have 200+ ebooks on my 16G iPad, a bunch of music, and 42 apps - and still have something like 13G available. So....in our case, 16G is MORE than enough.) The ease of use, and the ability to put it ANYWHERE (with a PC or laptop, you have to have a dedicated spot for it to live.) is also a big plus.
Himself still isn't convinced. He said that IF you could get a mouse for it, he'd agree - but he can't game with the touch screen. *I* think, if he'd try it, he'd appreciate the ease, but that's OK. (He argued that without a physical keyboard, nobody would trade a PC for a tablet...then I showed him all the external keyboards available for iPad. He's holding out for a mouse, now - trackpads just aren't his thing. :lol:)
It's been interesting - every now and then Himself will offer another argument for keeping PC's..and I'll refute with an argument as to why I think he's wrong. He did agree that tablets are more flexible...but that's as far as he'd go. :snicker:
