My office just started allowing tablets as official devices and everyone is all out shopping for tablets... which raised some interesting discussions. 1. Tablets are still some years away to fully replace laptops for regular office work (mail + Office apps) even with the keyboard docks and all. I am sure that eventually laptops in future will basically be tablets+monitors. How far away do you think is that day? 2. Since it's been some time that I have owned an iPad 2, a lot of people ask me for recommendations, and I honestly feel that since most of them will not play games on their tablets, and will hardly use any apps apart from browsing, perhaps maps, mail client, and a reader... there is no compelling reason for them to buy an ipad... or for that matter galaxy tab. So the choice of iPad vs. no iPad would be governed by how important is size, freedom that people will have on Android in terms of dumping files on the tablet etc. Do you think iPad is a clear winner for office users as a tablet of choice? Or just merely comparable to other choices? For that matter, is there anything to differentiate non-iPad tablets from each other significantly? Or are they all the commoditized already like laptops tend to be these days?
To hard to get files on and off the ipad imho I think when windows 8 tablets start arriving they will probably suit business work a lot more. I personally think Ipad will probably be in 3rd place in a work environment I'd rank in order of windows 8, Android and then IOS. I have to be honest I'd rather use a notebook/netbook for real work.
agreed... it's a surprise that we idevices owners put up with things that apple shoves down our throats. Good thing the dev community is so massive for iOS
I tried for a while to use an iPad over a laptop for about a month when I was working a different job. It was very difficult. The main problem, for me, was the lack of proper file management. I would have my notes in Evernote, then write something in Pages, then have to post it in a content management system, then add pictures (often impossible if I had to edit or crop something). I would have to swap to a laptop for a little bit just to put finishing touches on something. Kind of a big process. Granted, this was before some iOS updates, but I still don't think it would be exactly what I need to replace a computer/laptop. The iPad is awesome for consuming information and media. Games are included in that, but aren't the end all if someone isn't into it. The other bonus it has is it is really user friendly and easy to use. I understand that other people can adapt just fine (I'm living proof since I have an iPad and an Android phone) but Apple really does nail User Interface like no other.
My personal criticism of tablets: hard to accomplish tasks outside of common OS perimeter; touchscreen typing is inefficient, awkward, unnatural and frustrating; lack, or insufficient accessibility and discoverability, of common advanced functions such as "undo"; lack of maturity and history of touch interactivity sometimes leads to over-thought, unintuitive mechanisms or dazzling but superficial interfaces; systematic limitations regarding file management, viewing and editing lead to heavy, artificial 3rd party circumventions methods.
