12-21-2012, 09:25 PM
I used to think tablets were useless myself, but after using one for a little while I've come to understand the advantages.
For the sake of argument I'm going to ignore the price, and other auxiliary technical aspects like battery life and storage space, those will vary based on hardware and it would be pointless to compare either a cheap tablet vs. a high end laptop, and equally pointless to compare an expensive tablet and a low end laptop.
So let's assume we're comparing standard hardware from the same "generation". (so a tablet and a laptop that were produced for the market at roughly the same time)
I'm also going to ignore tablet PC's, and other specialised equipment, that's not entirely fair and those are definitely options, but they're much more specific and the price is a clear divider.
Obviously a laptop has better hardware, and access to more software and a standard OS, these are both major benefits to be sure.
A tablet on the other hand is much more convenient in a number of situations, for example, if you just want to check your email it's as simple as turning it on, checking your inbox and turning it off again, with a laptop you have to wait for the OS to boot, run your email client and then shut it down.
But we can go further than that, so let's assume the laptop is entirely optimised, running a solid state drive, and anything else it would take to get rid of any delay on starting it and shutting it down.
In that case we'll look at another simple scenario, you're browsing the web and need to move to another room, you want to show something to someone, go make some food, or stare wistfully out of the window into a cruel and uncaring world, or any other common reason to leave the room.
You can take a laptop with you, of course, but with few exceptions a laptop will always be bulkier than a tablet, and can't be operated so easily with one hand, that's by design, they're a portable PC you can use on your lap or any other surface.
A tablet on the other hand is designed to be fully portable and is always operated by one hand, which means you can use it while standing, walking or kicking down a door to escape from a fire.
Not as important for most people, but a tablet is a more sociable object too, it's much easier to pass a tablet to someone than a laptop, and it's less of an issue for someone to use your tablet than to use your laptop.
(Would you really trust just anyone to have access to all your files?)
Where a laptop does have a clear advantage is in power, baring in mind we're talking equivalent generations a laptop will far exceed anything you'll get from a tablet, for gaming, word processing, image editing and other "work" activities a laptop is clearly superior.
But if you're going to be sitting down to work, or game, or anything that requires serious hardware, why not just get a desktop PC? They're cheaper, more powerful, more upgradable, easier to repair and can be adjusted and customised with whatever you need, multiple monitors, different keyboards and mice, soundcards, video cards, multiple drives, and so on.
So to twist the question, I suggest it's actually laptops that are more redundant, tablets are more portable and desktop PC's are more powerful.
Obviously I'm not saying Laptops are pointless or that there's no reason to have one, but as much as people claim a tablet is the middle ground between a phone and a laptop, it's equally true that a laptop is now the middle ground between a tablet and a desktop system.
And it's great, because there is no single superior choice, we can choose the one that fits our needs.
For the sake of argument I'm going to ignore the price, and other auxiliary technical aspects like battery life and storage space, those will vary based on hardware and it would be pointless to compare either a cheap tablet vs. a high end laptop, and equally pointless to compare an expensive tablet and a low end laptop.
So let's assume we're comparing standard hardware from the same "generation". (so a tablet and a laptop that were produced for the market at roughly the same time)
I'm also going to ignore tablet PC's, and other specialised equipment, that's not entirely fair and those are definitely options, but they're much more specific and the price is a clear divider.
Obviously a laptop has better hardware, and access to more software and a standard OS, these are both major benefits to be sure.
A tablet on the other hand is much more convenient in a number of situations, for example, if you just want to check your email it's as simple as turning it on, checking your inbox and turning it off again, with a laptop you have to wait for the OS to boot, run your email client and then shut it down.
But we can go further than that, so let's assume the laptop is entirely optimised, running a solid state drive, and anything else it would take to get rid of any delay on starting it and shutting it down.
In that case we'll look at another simple scenario, you're browsing the web and need to move to another room, you want to show something to someone, go make some food, or stare wistfully out of the window into a cruel and uncaring world, or any other common reason to leave the room.
You can take a laptop with you, of course, but with few exceptions a laptop will always be bulkier than a tablet, and can't be operated so easily with one hand, that's by design, they're a portable PC you can use on your lap or any other surface.
A tablet on the other hand is designed to be fully portable and is always operated by one hand, which means you can use it while standing, walking or kicking down a door to escape from a fire.
Not as important for most people, but a tablet is a more sociable object too, it's much easier to pass a tablet to someone than a laptop, and it's less of an issue for someone to use your tablet than to use your laptop.
(Would you really trust just anyone to have access to all your files?)
Where a laptop does have a clear advantage is in power, baring in mind we're talking equivalent generations a laptop will far exceed anything you'll get from a tablet, for gaming, word processing, image editing and other "work" activities a laptop is clearly superior.
But if you're going to be sitting down to work, or game, or anything that requires serious hardware, why not just get a desktop PC? They're cheaper, more powerful, more upgradable, easier to repair and can be adjusted and customised with whatever you need, multiple monitors, different keyboards and mice, soundcards, video cards, multiple drives, and so on.
So to twist the question, I suggest it's actually laptops that are more redundant, tablets are more portable and desktop PC's are more powerful.
Obviously I'm not saying Laptops are pointless or that there's no reason to have one, but as much as people claim a tablet is the middle ground between a phone and a laptop, it's equally true that a laptop is now the middle ground between a tablet and a desktop system.
And it's great, because there is no single superior choice, we can choose the one that fits our needs.