Will tablets w/ BT kbds eat all netbooks alive?

The Lenovo X201 is the Thinkpad 12" line. Thinkpads are also available in larger, “mainstream notebook”, screen sizes (the T-series, W-series, SL-series), and traditional tablet (Thinkpad Series Tablet).

I have an X201, bought 4 mo. old for USD 800. The X201 line has a great docking station, about USD 80 used.

I use my wife’s iPad alot for light-typing stuff, but the real limitation is business apps … I’m tied to Office, so given a choice, I take the X201. MS is supposed to have Office for iPad on the market soon.

By the end of 2011, I think we’ll see the equivalent of X201 power split into a plain tablet and a wireless keyboard from about 15 vendors… HP, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, MSI, Acer, Fujitsu, Sony, etc.

Maybe.
Until a few large companies do it and others realize they can essentially ax their IT department’s Windows Bucket Brigade. Such cost savings could make it happen real quick.

Well, it is true that everyone who knows me is aware that I hate gadgets and hardly ever use those electronic thingamajiggies. But you really need to realize that your “data” is personal, anecdotal experience that does not equal objective, universal truth for everyone. It’s really lurvely that you can type quickly on your tablet, but some of us have tried it and found it gets in the way.[/quote]

I am an early adopter and will always be. I have to be because firstly I love this stuff, and secondly because it is my job to be. I’ve made it my job to be. So yes, my “data” is personal, but because I am an early adopter, it may be the some of the only data to run on.

I’m not particularly special. If I can type as quickly on it as I can on a “real” keyboard, anyone can achieve the same. If I can achieve the use cases I have with it, anyone can achieve the workflows I have.

Maybe getting to those workflows took more experimentation for me and other early adopters than an “early majority”, “late majority” or “laggard” adopter might tolerate, but its up to the early adopters who care to evangelize and educate to lower the hurdles and help the adoption happen. This little tablet has changed the way I do things for the better, and has had a positive effect on my life. I am more mobile than ever before. I don’t have to worry about not being to accomplish tasks while being away from the desk. I am simply sharing my experiences to help people remove any fears they may have with taking the leap.

Today, I will show my gal’s uncle some of the tricks I’ve learned over the last 8 months with my iPad on his new iPad. With the iPad being new in Taiwan, I would be more than happy to host a gathering to show more people the same things and have others share tricks they have learned. Even as a first generation, for me the tablet has already shown a lot of promise as a very viable form of computing moving forward.

I thought the exact same thing until I got the iPad as an experiment. To say the least, that experiment ended up totally changing how I work. I use the full size laptop in the office, and for two other things: Development Environments (Coding) and very occasionally, Computer Aided Design. Both are very specialized use cases.

The cross compatibility is not just in consumption. The iPad can import & export, edit & generate DOC/PPT/XLS/PDF quite well with its iWork suite ($30USD for all three apps). You can build a fairly inexpensive (or even free) app stack on the device that will import & export, edit & generate pretty much any file format used today, and quite well. I cannot speak to my Android experiences firstly because the first Android tablet I got to use was so bad as to not be usable, and thus I have not used one as a daily device. The Android tablets will improve a lot in the next year, but right now… they are extremely bad.

We migrated everything from our task management, code store, bug tracking to graphic design and user interface design tools and repositories to the cloud. We chose tools that run in pure HTML/CSS/JScript and when possible have a good native client on the mobiles. So technically, we can run the entire company from a phone, and actually we have at times. We are a small company, so we design it however we want, but medium to large companies will have to do the same or be chewed up by smaller, more agile companies with more mobility, more agile tools, and lower cost structures.

mabagal, I agree… the “pad tablet” is a disruptive technology. Netbooks pale in comparison as a disruptor. The impact of pad tablets is closer to portable PCs… Osborne, Travelmates, the jump from AC to battery power.

The history of the netbook is quite interesting. In its initial manifestation it was a huge disruptor for the computing landscape of the poor as the brainchild of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative at MIT. This was an extremely cheap ($100) machine with peer-to-peer wireless connectivity and a hand-crank for making electricity that could be made cheaply and deployed to classrooms in the third world. Books and other materials would be deployed to the classrooms via this medium. MIT OpenCourseWare ( ocw.mit.edu ) could be made available over this medium for college-level courses.

After first trading insults and blows, Intel and OLPC teamed up. Then “stuff” went down with between Intel and OLPC. Intel decided to go commercial with their own devices. This isn’t a really surprising outcome, but they did it in direct competition with OLPC, which did not go over well with OLPC principal, Negroponte. The first shipped Intel Atom powered netbook came in late 2007, early 2008 as the EeePC. It started off something like the OLPC but commercial. It ran a stripped down Linux with almost no local storage - all storage was expected to be in the cloud. It become more popular through 2008 and there was the economic collapse of late 2008. Demand built up for cheap computers. So the whole EeePC thing morphed into a Windows machine. And they were crap.

Thus, it’s no surprise that the typical netbook is a very bad computer. It started life as a $100 machine aimed at the third world and morphed into something people expected to be a real PC in the first world. Not purpose built. It was bolt-ons to a platform that was never intended to be a PC in the way we expect it to be.

Looking at the iPad’s history (particularly that it actually came before the iPhone) as a device purposely built to achieve as much as possible using touch input, and it’s quite obvious in retrospect how things are developing in the way they are today. It wasn’t trying to be a PC. It was trying its own thing: a device that could consume content better than a PC, and generate the same output as a PC but using very different, touch-optimized inputs. Purpose built.

Where the netbook is like a Honda Civic with a bunch of add-ons to try (and fail at) making it into a Ferrari, the iPad starts out as a purpose built racecar.

For me, the great thing about the netbook is that, functionally, it can completely stand in for my regular computer (although slower and more annoying). I can run all the same software, including fairly specialized stuff (some of which cannot even be run on a mac). If work involves more than standard word/image processing, a tablet is not going to cut it. But with the netbook, I can go on several week trips and do all the work I can do at home without having to lug around a regular laptop. The netbook might not be a game changer, but it’s certainly made my bag a lot lighter when I travel, and I don’t see the tablet replacing it for me.

I might try that Dropbox thx. I don’t always have internet connectivity when I travel so that’s the only thing I worry about. I assume when you go back online it looks for the latest version you have saved everytime and drops it in as appropriate. It will be handy for me as I use a USB sometimes and thought I lost it recently, that wouldn’t have been too cool.
I’ve used a netbook sometimes for work (my wife’s) but gave up using it as the screen was too small, processing power poor and missing some software, went back to lugging my heavier but trusty laptop around (which does give me shoulderache). That’s why my next purchase will be in between like the Thinkpad type laptop mentioned above.

As for iPad, I haven’t personally used one so will give it a try sometime, the main reason I am not too hot on it yet is I’m already suffering from gadget fatigue with a PC, laptop, phone, camera and e-reader and all the associated cables and chargers for the mobile ones when I travel. Plus the iPad is expensive, it doesn’t run Windows (I need to use corporate servers and standard biz enterprise software) really and I don’t like dealing with companies that have a monopoly and I don’t really buy into the consumerist ‘let’s get the latest gadget and trash it next year when something new comes out’ approach, to me that is wasteful and damaging to the environment. I also don’t define myself by items that I buy…which I feel is a big con (like when you see all artists/creative types using a Mac, as if that was somehow ‘creative’ and ‘artistic’ than using a bog standard PC/laptop).

If there was an iPad like device that could be updateable from the internet (rapid and always on connectivity negating any need for local storage) without having to buy a whole set of new hardware every 2 years that would be best for me as it is in theory more environmentally sound. A programmable chip (I know mobile phones use this)…however I am aware that with the constant evolution of tech and associated parts it is kind of a dream.

[quote=“mabagal”]I am an early adopter and will always be. I have to be because firstly I love this stuff, and secondly because it is my job to be. I’ve made it my job to be. So yes, my “data” is personal, but because I am an early adopter, it may be the some of the only data to run on.
…With the iPad being new in Taiwan, I would be more than happy to host a gathering to show more people the same things and have others share tricks they have learned. Even as a first generation, for me the tablet has already shown a lot of promise as a very viable form of computing moving forward.[/quote]
I have a question for you. When will the next ipad be coming out, and what improvements in specs are expected?
Also, in early 2011 what other tablets are expected to be on the market which would compete with ipda, but offer access to Microsoft Word/Excel, etc?

[quote=“Kea”]I have a question for you. When will the next ipad be coming out, and what improvements in specs are expected?
Also, in early 2011 what other tablets are expected to be on the market which would compete with ipda, but offer access to Microsoft Word/Excel, etc?[/quote]
While nothing has been announced officially, the next iPad will most probably debut in April next year. You probably won’t see it for sale in Taiwan until September at the earliest. The biggest difference it is expected to have is a camera or two, better resolution and possibly faster processor.

There should be a ton of competing tablets from most PC companies running Android in the first quarter of next year, in all kinds of sizes and form factors (eg. Acer has announced a dual screen version for multitasking). They’d be mainly competing with the iPad 2. They can all read and do basic editing of Word / Excel using programs like Google Docs and iWorks on the iPad.

[quote=“Adam_CLO”]While nothing has been announced officially, the next iPad will most probably debut in April next year. You probably won’t see it for sale in Taiwan until September at the earliest. The biggest difference it is expected to have is a camera or two, better resolution and possibly faster processor.

There should be a ton of competing tablets from most PC companies running Android in the first quarter of next year, in all kinds of sizes and form factors (eg. Acer has announced a dual screen version for multitasking). They’d be mainly competing with the iPad 2. They can all read and do basic editing of Word / Excel using programs like Google Docs and iWorks on the iPad.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply. I read about Acer’s coming tablet-February 2011-which will use Windows 7. Also, the Adam looks interesting.
Here’s a good photo of the Acer: :lick:

Further, something mabillas has mentioned and I was curious about, cloud computing. here’s something I read:

And here’s Meego, something I have been really waiting for:
tech2.in.com/india/news/smart-mo … e/158802/0

I also have an extra comment. I wish I’d be able to get a tablet that I could enjoy media with-9-10 inch size, but that could also make and receive phone calls (using bluetooth earpiece). Otherwise, just have a very basic non smart phone phone, and a tablet. Seems silly to have a smartphone, plus tablet. Any comments?

Kea, that windows based tablet is going to be horrible. Please just believe me on this. I have used a half dozen of them as daily computers over the years.

Also Meego is vapor at best. This already exists today and it is called Dropbox.

I just taught my gal’s uncle and 13 year old cousin some tips on their new iPad. They came away very happy knowing what they could do beyond media consumption and gaming, which it is excellent for. I figured I would share what I showed them to you. I hope this removes any doubt anyone may have about this device as a “real” machine. I did this entire post on the iPad.

Remember that the iPad is multitasking and has fast app switching with the recent iOS4.2 update, so each of these things are “alt tab” away from each other (double click home + touch app icon, which is a very fast operation analogous to alt tab).

I may sound like a gadget nut, but my normal usage is 4 devices. An iPad. An iPhone. A Desire HD Android phone. These three I carry with me always. I use one mini charger with two cables that all fit in my pocket. I carry the iPad like a pad folio. The forth device is a MacBook. Every other device I have eliminated from my normal life, because these devices do everything. The iPhone is my camera. This could be three devices if I only carried one phone.

In pictures.

This is my home screen:

This is how I generate documents in PDF, Pages or Word format. This is a very powerful word processor.



This is how I generate presentations in PDF, Keynote or PowerPoint format. This is a powerful, extremely easy to use slide deck maker.



This is how I generate spreadsheets in PDF, Numbers or Excel format. This is a decent spreadsheet. It is limited when you start looking at pivot tables and solvers, so it’s not all the way there yet if you live in Excel.


This is how I import documents in XLS, DOC, PPT or PDF.

This is how I edit photos.

This is how I instant message.

This is how I whiteboard. This exports and mails as PDF.

This is how I communicate design to my developers. This exports and mails as Balsamiq or PNG to attach to flow diagrams.

This is how I read my news.


This is how I read books.

I can go on and show how I sketch, how I browse, how I annotate documents, how I work in issue and work item trackers, how I sync and backup my stuff (Dropbox), but I hope this gives you an idea of what you can do with this apart from the great movie viewing, etc.

This is generation one. It’s already this good. It’s only going to get better.

Sent from my iPad.

[quote=“Adam_CLO”][quote=“Kea”]I have a question for you. When will the next ipad be coming out, and what improvements in specs are expected?
Also, in early 2011 what other tablets are expected to be on the market which would compete with ipda, but offer access to Microsoft Word/Excel, etc?[/quote]
While nothing has been announced officially, the next iPad will most probably debut in April next year. You probably won’t see it for sale in Taiwan until September at the earliest. The biggest difference it is expected to have is a camera or two, better resolution and possibly faster processor.

There should be a ton of competing tablets from most PC companies running Android in the first quarter of next year, in all kinds of sizes and form factors (eg. Acer has announced a dual screen version for multitasking). They’d be mainly competing with the iPad 2. They can all read and do basic editing of Word / Excel using programs like Google Docs and iWorks on the iPad.[/quote]

My WAG for this:
I believe Apple needs to pull the “go nuclear” option on the game tree this year to stimy Android tablet adoption as much as possible before it happens.
iPad2 announced or leaked at CES to quelch the other tablet announcements. I believe it will be set to leapfrog the progression on Android tablets with the hope of making the other devices look silly in comparison.
April release.
Price point same as today and killing the iPad 1 or higher price point while keeping around the iPad 1.
More resolution. Retina level density would be ridiculous but you never know. That’s like 2880 pixels on the short axis. Probably something like 1920x1440 so it can be full HD and go nuclear on that progression.
1GB RAM, 128GB SSD. They bumped their volume commit on flash memory with the Air, so we could see even more storage than that. So they could go nuke now on this axis as well.
Faster processor. Basically enough to keep the responsiveness of today with the higher pixel count. I feel they may go further yet.
Single camera or dual with a very shitty rear camera just for flip-to-show scenarios with FaceTime. Taking photos with an iPad or any tablet is going to look so toolish, it’s ridiculous that there are OEMs even playing on this axis.
Thinner, lighter, bigger battery but no discernible battery life increase.
White version. For the dudes liking the clean look and for the ladies.

To track pad tablets, bookmark
tabletpcreview.com/ (also tracks Apple)

Every major notebook maker will launch a pad tablet. They didn’t think that netbooks would get traction, and were wrong. They won’t make the same mistake twice.

Samsung, and esp. US carriers, are toying with the leading edge of the chasm. The Tab is crippled and lame… but Samsung, not waiting for Android 3.0, is “building market share”. VzW has a six week waitlist for the Tab… and the US market Tabs have not only voice, but many computer features, disabled.

Excellent posts. I’ll post something else more pertinent once I’ve gone through those posts. Cheers.

Post-CES: Intel to the tablet masses…35 new Atom tablets.
Acer is using only Meego.

It baffles me why manufacturers continue to try to shoehorn Windows into a tablet.

Sure, the existing Windows install base and wrongly perceived “need” for a Windows app stack in enterprise makes sense to go after, but the experience is going to be downright terrible.

It’s quite obvious to everyone who’s thought about this at all by this point that a “single touch” interaction model which requires:

  • Pixel-perfect manipulation (ie: small hit areas and a mouse)
  • Mouseover state (which doesn’t exist in touch)
  • Multiple click types (ie: left, right, middle - which are not directly replicable in touch, and requires multi-touch to even get close as with one vs two-finger tap)
  • A focus model (which doesn’t make sense in touch)
    Is never ever ever going to end well in on a touch-tablet. Having a stylus doesn’t help this. It’s a terrible experience. I used a half dozen or so Windows Tablets since when “Tablet PC” was in internal alpha at Microsoft 8 years ago and none of them were good at all.

The iPad changed all of that. It is the first tablet that is great to use.

Just for shits and giggles, I’ve tried Windows on the iPad.

Wow, that sucked. On a peer-to-peer WiFi between the host and iPad, doing this gets a system that is responsive and as fast as Windows on the host, so that wasn’t the problem. It was the user interface model on a touch device - wonky at the best and downright terrible the rest of the of time.

An OEM can throw whatever skin they want onto the shell to make Windows more palatable on a tablet, but all that instantly falls apart the second you go into an app.

If Windows tablets get any volume at all, I feel it will be bad for the march of the tablets altogether. It will leave a lot of people with a very bad experience with their first tablet and stymie the adoption of the form factor as a whole.

Microsoft’s new Windows Phone interface on the other hand is beautiful and works perfectly with touch. I feel the only way “Windows” tablets can be successful is if they start from the Phone OS and make it tablet-ready, so that the entire stack from the UI paradigm to the app framework is built for touch from the get go. Or make another OS.

FWIW, Mac OS X on the iPad is just as terrible as Windows. The second you try this, it becomes quite obvious why Apple chose iPhone OS for the iPad, likely even before the iPhon even existed - it is a “touch OS” from the ground up.

[quote=“maunaloa”]If I’m writing a patent application or contract, I use a HW keyboard and HW mouse. If I’m shopping, on a forum, or other light typing, a touchscreen is fine.

When you dock a tablet, you need a HW keyboard.

Ergo, keyboards are indispensable for some tasks and for some users.[/quote]

this.

[quote=“Deuce Dropper”][quote=“maunaloa”]If I’m writing a patent application or contract, I use a HW keyboard and HW mouse. If I’m shopping, on a forum, or other light typing, a touchscreen is fine.

When you dock a tablet, you need a HW keyboard.

Ergo, keyboards are indispensable for some tasks and for some users.[/quote]

this.[/quote]

extremely false.
you cannot make this statement until you live with it for a while.
once again, i have banged out whitepapers, contracts, and entire specs with nothing but the touchscreen.
i am also marginally faster on the touch keyboard than on a physical keyboard. why? zero throw, dynamic hit area sizing, and autocorrect optimized to deal with touch.
experience + data beats speculation 100% of the time.