Connect with us

Hardware

Toeman: All Tablets Suck

Published

on

Jeremy Toeman has quite the fascinating read regarding all the tablets that folks seem to be talking about these days, plus the tablets we’ve all been using since 2002. His take:

In practical reality tablets generally suck.   They are both a worse laptop than a laptop, and a worse touch-input device than a piece of paper I can scan with my cheapo HP all-in-one printer/scanner/fax/sock darner combo device.   So this is my ““I don’t care what they say in the focus group, nobody’s buying your crappy tablet” intervention blog post.

Head over and see what Jeremy has to say and then let us know what you think. Is he spot on in certain areas and totally missing it in others? Personally, I think he is totally missing the boat in the handwriting reco area. I’ve never been more impressed with handwriting reco than how it is done in Windows 7. Piece together great software and optimal hardware (no passive touch, please), and you’ve got a great experience.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Tim

    08/04/2009 at 12:21 pm

    I just don’t see why every tablet discussion these days simply ignores the convertible form factor. Obviously the rumored devices are rumored to all be slates, but the IMO the convertible form factor is perfect. Sure it’s heavier and bulkier compared to a slate, but you get all the tablet features and all the laptop features (outside of high powered graphics available on some laptops) in one device.

    Aside from my love of convertibles, this article is misguided or even wrong on most of its points. Obviously the handwriting recognition argument is from someone who hasn’t actually used a tablet recently. The argument for smudging is a bit moot, since it would seem to me that most manufacturers would just implement a different material that’s more smudge resistant. The inability to share with others is wrong as well, since most apps that I’ve come across still utilize a common file format (PDF, docx, etc) OR convert to regular text. The constant use argument also doesn’t seem to have any merit at all, since the author admits they are better for “constant use” than a laptop, and if I needed to use it for a prolonged period of time I would sit–just like I do with paper.

  2. Gagan Saxena

    08/04/2009 at 12:26 pm

    Cannot comment about the slate form factor, but the convertible is perfect in every way. All the issues pointed out have been very effectively debunked in the comment above.

  3. M@rc

    08/04/2009 at 12:41 pm

    Same as above.
    I guess this guy could be included in the category “I have my own idea and this is the right one (period). I won’t even listen to other arguments.” I guess he should look back at some of the new slate and convertible tablet with win 7 and this with an impartial kinda look. I’m sure that anyone really looking at any tablet device these days would be amazed by all one can accomplish with this little machine. At least that’s always the comment I get from co-workers that never saw a tablet pc before when I take mine out of the bag.

  4. GoodThings2Life

    08/04/2009 at 1:20 pm

    Fascinating isn’t really the word I’d use to describe his opinion. Void of Fact is more accurate.

  5. Rob

    08/04/2009 at 1:21 pm

    Just read the guys article – he really does not get it. Some good responses pointing this out. Just purchased a Lenovo X200 tablet and for the way I work it rocks, should have bought a tablet years ago.

  6. schmolch

    08/04/2009 at 2:45 pm

    If you find retards on the internet, please ignore them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.