Are tablets just a fad and the toy gizmo? & Apple Vs Android a brief opinion

This is a response I wrote on one of my discussions website as regards Tablet as a Fad and comparing Apple to Android.


Not sure if any device can replace the iPad in my life for now. Its quite handy and serves well for keeping up with mails, notes and to-do lists.
Ph3y,

In most cases if you have n iPad, you might (end up) need to stick to an iPad, Android comes from a rather different perspective. I love Android for one simple and specific reason, I HATE rigidity. Apple products are extremely rigid. Apple basically make its products completely rigid by design (initially, they have changed over time to meet what Android brought to the table). Apple basically says, we know what you the consumer wants and here it is use it and that is what is best for you. And yes, they do make very good products. 

Android took an opposite approach by saying, we know you the consumer has wants, and we know each consumer is different so here, take our product and customize it to your liking and use it as you please. And for me in reality, in today fast paced world, Android makes things a bit easier by eliminating a step or two to get information. 

For example (as I now have an iPhone 4 and still have my Droid Incredible). Checking the weather. 
On my iPhone, I need to power up, look for my weather icon or weather channel icon, click it and then get my current weather. 

On my Droid, as soon as I power up, the HTC sense interface has a weather status right on my home screen, I can see the immediate outside condition immediately, a sun for sunshine, sun plus clouds / rain et al. And I see the temperature outside. One step, nothing to click further to get my information. 

One nice trip that HTC Sense has on its devices is how the screen is intuitive and reactive to weather conditions, so for example if it is raining outside, as soon as you power up the device, the first few seconds, your screen powers up and mimics you driving in the rain, your phone screen background is like a windshield with raindrops on it and then a wiper actual swipes the water away... 

That is a small example of what I can do via Android allowing me to customize my phone and also device manufacturers to overlay their UI on the phone OS, which of course has it ups and downs and which is why Google is now decided to sell products directly with is OS only and not tampered with like HTC Sense or Samsung's TouchWiz UI. And I think the more people get to know Android the more people move to the interface which is why recently Apple has simply copied Android and made a lot of the copied items cooler and better. 

I wonder what exactly these things bring one differently from a phone or a laptop. Nothing sterling. Just another gizmo to toy about with until the next fad comes to town.
Dapxin,

It depends on how you use technology for your everyday life. My laptop, is a Dell Precision M6300 ( I know you know but for the non-techies) basically this is a laptop designed to be as strong / stronger than many desktops, it is 17" screen laptop. The downside? It weighs a TON!!! It is not a portable laptop at all. So that is not something I can easily carry about. 

Secondly and I believe for most what a tablet has done is, a greater percentage of people use of technology involves these social circles nonsense (Facebook, Twitter, PinInterest, Groupon et al) So people are spending vast amounts of time today using those services in addition the OTHER big factor is entertainment. The other significant main use of technology now is to watch movies, TV shows and play games. And finally a lot of people now need to simply browse the Internet and also check and reply to emails. 

And of course read magazines and books. The days of print copies of books, newspapers and magazines are already numbered in countries like the US. 

Now the main advantage of a tablet: the touch screen interface for use. Eliminating the need for a laptop keyboard. 
The second main advantage is portability. For those actions above, a smartphone is many times too small and a laptop is too big OR heavy, this is where tablets slid in. 

The next fad you speak about is actually here and right around the corner AND is here more or less with theMicrosoft Surface which is basically merging the laptop and tablet. Also the ASUS Transformer series is the same concept. By Christmas this year, and early next year, laptops are coming out that have touch screens. So you can be rest assured that within the next two years both the laptop and the tablet will be replaced by new devices like the MS Surface and the ASUS Transformer and we will probably stay at that point for a while a few years.

That is until Google Glasses takes over...

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