Tablets Will Kill Laptops, Say Nearly Half Of Americans

Page 1 of 1

You cannot start a new topic
You cannot reply to this topic

Tablets Will Kill Laptops, Say Nearly Half Of Americans

#1 PCWorld

Advanced Member

Group: PCWorld BOT
Posts: 103,814
Joined: 01-August 07

Posted 11 January 2012 - 02:03 PM

Post your comments for Tablets will Kill Laptops, Say Nearly Half of Americans here

#2 TsarNikky

Advanced Member

Group: Members
Posts: 341
Joined: 18-April 08

Posted 11 January 2012 - 04:25 PM

Not by a long shot. True, tablets will take over the casual tasks now done by laptops and desktops, i.e., checking e-mail and short messaging. Laptops and desktops will continue to reign supreme for serious business-related applications and certainly for data entry intensive tasks. Data entry with one or two fingers?

#3 chosenson

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 524
Joined: 06-January 09
Location:Brooklyn

Posted 12 January 2012 - 07:01 AM

Why is there so many stories, polls, and predictions about this? Are the companies involved in the tablet market pushing this kind of media in an attempt to get the unknowing people to jump on the bandwagon early?

For a tablet to replace my laptop it will have to have a truly powerful cpu, a large enough amount of ram, plenty of ports to attach a physical keyboard and mouse; along with other peripherals. The display will have to be at least 15 in. It will have to have an OS which will support the hardware and software of my choice. In other words, it will have to be a laptop.

Until then, my laptop goes no where. I couldn't get any work done without it.

always be just.

#4 SpamnEggs

Newbie

Group: New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 12-January 12

Posted 12 January 2012 - 07:19 AM

I agree with the TsarNikky and chosenson! The pollsters must've picked a crappy sample of people. Tablets will continue to evolve, and apps will get better as will the OS (Android, BBX, OSX,etc)...but laptops aren't standing still either. I think you'll see them come to a point where they've merged and you can't tell the difference....look at the Asus Transformer....is it a laptop or a tablet...holy crap...its both.

#5 ronin7752

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 935
Joined: 21-February 09

Posted 12 January 2012 - 05:53 PM

A laptop, by any other name, would be a tablet + a keyboard.

(While we're at it, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?)

90% of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.

#6 butlerwm

Advanced Member

Group: Members
Posts: 312
Joined: 27-July 06

Posted 12 January 2012 - 05:58 PM

When tablets have 17 inch screens, 32 GB of RAM (that's memory, not storage capacity), terabytes of onboard storage (e.g., not the Cloud), full hardware keyboards and numeric keypads, and video processors with 1 GB or more dedicated video memory, then they can replace laptops. But at that point they would become laptops and not tablets.

Tablets serve a purpose. Laptops serve a different purpose. Before the advent of tablets, laptops were used for the things they were best at and the things of which tablets are capable. For people who don't need laptops, tablets serve their needs. Others will continue to use laptops.

The either-or argument is largely a waste of time.

#7 TheTess

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 843
Joined: 12-March 10
Location:USA

Posted 12 January 2012 - 08:06 PM

"1155 registered U.S. voters"

Thats HALF of americans? LMAO!

btw, 900 dead voters voted in the last South Carolina election. That poll is crap.

http://www.wistv.com...ballots-in-2012

Laptops are not going anywhere. Gaming laptops are becoming the huge craze. Taking away from gaming PCs.

As for the poll, what a friggen JOKE!

#8 TheTess

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 843
Joined: 12-March 10
Location:USA

Posted 12 January 2012 - 08:08 PM

chosenson, on 12 January 2012 - 07:01 AM, said:

You forgot about the hard drive. Add a 1 TB hd to your list.
That would make me a happy camper

#9 chosenson

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 524
Joined: 06-January 09
Location:Brooklyn

Posted 12 January 2012 - 08:25 PM

TheTess, on 12 January 2012 - 08:08 PM, said:

chosenson, on 12 January 2012 - 07:01 AM, said:

You forgot about the hard drive. Add a 1 TB hd to your list.
That would make me a happy camper

How could I have forgotten that? Must be old age.

My biggest peeve about tablets is the lack of proper user input methods. Even if a person can type relatively well with a touchscreen keyboard, the fact that the keyboard takes away from your screen is a big negative for me. Precise mouse/cursor control is important also. I can't imagine trying to do anything intricate with a touch screen and my finger. I have somewhat fat fingers, which is why I use my wireless Logitech keyboard more often than the laptop's keyboard. Touch screen keyboards could possibly be configured for larger hands, but I think the screens will have to get larger to accommodate that.

The biggest reason I won't be switching: I need power! Between teaching, programming, creating graphics, preparing the documents we teach with, and every thing else that is typical for most any business, my laptop gets quite the workout. No tablet, currently, can begin to fulfill my needs.

always be just.

#10 RyanGunn

Newbie

Group: New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 12-January 12

Posted 12 January 2012 - 11:03 PM

The day tablets become 21 in and support windows games with off screen keyboard and mouse inputs... That's when I'll buy a tablet. Until there, I have no reason to waste money on something I can't do on my laptop, or my phone.

#11 RJSuss

Newbie

Group: New Member
Posts: 5
Joined: 13-January 12

Posted 13 January 2012 - 01:56 PM

Not until tablets have the storage capacity of most (similarly-priced and -sized) laptops/netbooks. If you put all your faith in "the cloud", you're screwed when you can't access the internet. That's the one reason I'd still buy a netbook or new laptop over a tablet. I like having a local HDD and programs.

I do believe tablets may at least begin offsetting the popularity of mobile phones, however... (if they haven't done so already.) Especially considering you can theoretically make free phone calls on Skype on a tablet, for example.

And whether telephone tech is even going to retain its prevalence in society is another question entirely.

#12 Evildave

Expert

Group: Members
Posts: 4,287
Joined: 24-January 08

Posted 13 January 2012 - 04:00 PM

Most likely, nearly half of Americans do not want/need the complexity of a notebook or desktop PC, or the fiddly business of configuring+administrating them, either.

BTW, 'half' of any sample is below average.

Be it in needs, income, intelligence, or plain geeky computer know-how.

If you are a hunt 'n peck typist anyway, what do you need the 'real' keyboard for? May as well have an 'ABC' layout for it.

Or above average in age, perhaps. And the U.S. population is getting older. Just because grampaw doesn't understand computers is no reason for him to DIE, much less be left out of technology.

Grandma/Grandpa mainly just want to RECEIVE those pictures of the grandkids. They still don't know how to operate anything else, and they don't generally want to learn new 'mad skillz' or cap people in a 3D shooter.

BTW, most of those touch displays are 'multitouch'. I find I can touch-type on some of 'em OK with all of my fingers.

Criticism of Microsoft Criticism of Apple Criticism of Google

#13 chosenson

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 524
Joined: 06-January 09
Location:Brooklyn

Posted 13 January 2012 - 04:24 PM

Evildave, on 13 January 2012 - 04:00 PM, said:

Most likely, nearly half of Americans do not want/need the complexity of a notebook or desktop PC, or the fiddly business of configuring+administrating them, either.

BTW, 'half' of any sample is below average.

Be it in needs, income, intelligence, or plain geeky computer know-how.

If you are a hunt 'n peck typist anyway, what do you need the 'real' keyboard for? May as well have an 'ABC' layout for it.

Or above average in age, perhaps. And the U.S. population is getting older. Just because grampaw doesn't understand computers is no reason for him to DIE, much less be left out of technology.

Grandma/Grandpa mainly just want to RECEIVE those pictures of the grandkids. They still don't know how to operate anything else, and they don't generally want to learn new 'mad skillz' or cap people in a 3D shooter.

BTW, most of those touch displays are 'multitouch'. I find I can touch-type on some of 'em OK with all of my fingers.

I agree with you that many people do not need anything as powerful/capable as a laptop/desktop. I see too many people with a laptop/desktop, only using them for the basics. But, the tech pundits, the media, the [insert person, group, company], keep on saying the laptop, the desktop, are going to die soon because of the tablets. AS IF!!! I doubt I see this come to pass in my lifetime. I'm sure tablet will grow, will become more powerful and capable, but replacing laptops/desktops, not likely.

always be just.

#14 jazzy007

Senior Member

Group: Members
Posts: 618
Joined: 24-January 10

Posted 13 January 2012 - 04:53 PM

Here is the latest poll. 99% of the responder to this article prefer a laptop to tablet. That is 10 so far and only 1 is for tablet. 10 to 1. Wow, I guess laptop is here to stay contrary to some blogger.

#15 Evildave

Expert

Group: Members
Posts: 4,287
Joined: 24-January 08

Posted 13 January 2012 - 06:13 PM

jazzy007, on 13 January 2012 - 04:53 PM, said:

Actually 10/11 is about 90.9%.

There's probably a calculator somewhere in your notebook computer, and maybe even a spreadsheet, but in either case, you'd have to know how to do math to get any real use out of them.

Actually, only eight people (including yourself) have responded... but you'd have only seen seven, if you counted, when you made your post.

"There are liars, damned liars and statisticians."

... but worst than statisticians are people who make numbers up out of thin air and try to convince you they mean something.

But to be fair, nobody here has given a personal preference to tablets. I own a tablet (and a reader or two) but I program stuff, and that happens primarily on my iMac.

But a geek forum about geek things is hardly the place to find 'real people' information.

Criticism of Microsoft Criticism of Apple Criticism of Google