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Not a very convincing article overall
There might be some possibility that tablets will replace laptops in the future, but I don't see it yet (typing this from a laptop, actually, over a year after this article was released). Point by point though:
1. Power consumption
This one is fair: laptops are more complex so they use more energy. Of course, that also means they can run more complex programs, like new video games. There's no doubt that if tablets could run Call of Duty: Black Ops II they wouldn't last anywhere near a day.
2. Viruses
This one is nonsense: a computer is a computer is a computer. Viruses don't distinguish between desktops and laptops, and tablets aren't some magical exception. If a hacker wants to code a virus for a tablet, there's nothing inherant in the design that prevents that any more than another computing device.
3. Portability
Similar to 1: it's a smaller device but with that means less ability to run difficult programs.
4. Cost effectiveness
Again, similar to 1. Devices that can do less will oftentimes also cost less. Nothing special here.
5. Online connection
This one would be fair, if not for the fact that wifi springing up everywhere now, available in many coffeeshops and airports (many times for free). Constant 4G connections ofttimes carry a monthly fee, and they're slower than the average wifi network. There's a clear tradeoff there: you get internet anywhere you go, but it's slower. This one I hope grows more common in the future though: I think you should be able to access the internet from anywhere, and that will certainly be yet another evolution of this amazing technology we call the internet.
6. Available applications
Total nonsense: laptops can install any piece of software its desktop counterpart can, which stretches back into the 1980s (with the right emulation software). And many of them aren't "worthless".
7. User friendliness
This one is silly and I totally disagree. Physical Keyboards are more user friendly than touch-screen keyboards, period. We haven't found a good substitute for the physical keyboard in well over 100 years now, and I don't see that happening with touch screens (which aren't new at all...my handicap brother was using one attached to our family's computer monitor since at least 1994).
8. Bluetooth connectivity
As a non-user of Bluetooth, this one rings hollow to me. Since when do laptops lack the ability to take advantage of Bluetooth? Saying it's "not so easy" is vague and unhelpful in explaining how tablets are superior in this area (which I don't care about anyhow...I think wearing a bluetooth headset around your ear all day is obnoxious)
9. Well...you could turn off hibernation and just use sleep instead. It's a pretty simple setting under "power options" in Windows 7.
10. Social integration
This is where smart phones are superior, imo. Tablets are just oversized cell phones in that regard, and their one day battery life pales in comparison to some smart phones 2-3 days of life (although the top notch ones tend to be quite a bit worse).
I bought my first laptop this year, after nearly 20 years of exclusive desktop use. I'm no luddite either: I built my own desktop and have a deep love for the inner-workings of computers. I might be behind the average consumer, but I don't see tablets overtaking desktops/laptops anytime soon. Windows 8 has so far been a bit of a mess, but there's no doubt (a la Vista) that Microsoft will piece it together properly over the next couple years and it will very likely change the way we interact with computers (yet again). Perhaps then, we will then start seeing a shift away from our physical-keyboard friends, but I still don't see a solution in tablets for computer games right now: the hardware just isn't there at the moment. Technology though is a rapidly advancing field, and it continues to accelerate beyond many of our mind's ability to keep up. I can't visualize playing "World of Warcraft" on a flat display without a keyboard right now, but pehaps computers will continue to grow more mobile and more modular, where peripherals like keyboards and mice are added when needed, but otherwise removed (which is certainly the case right now for laptop mice: the trackpad works just fine for casual use). Whatever happens, I'm sure computers will continue to grow more usable, faster, smaller, and more integrated into the fabric of our society. Tablets clearly have a niche today (which may grow into the core computer device) but for now that's about it. We will see how that chages, though, over the next 2-3 years for sure.
1. Power consumption
This one is fair: laptops are more complex so they use more energy. Of course, that also means they can run more complex programs, like new video games. There's no doubt that if tablets could run Call of Duty: Black Ops II they wouldn't last anywhere near a day.
2. Viruses
This one is nonsense: a computer is a computer is a computer. Viruses don't distinguish between desktops and laptops, and tablets aren't some magical exception. If a hacker wants to code a virus for a tablet, there's nothing inherant in the design that prevents that any more than another computing device.
3. Portability
Similar to 1: it's a smaller device but with that means less ability to run difficult programs.
4. Cost effectiveness
Again, similar to 1. Devices that can do less will oftentimes also cost less. Nothing special here.
5. Online connection
This one would be fair, if not for the fact that wifi springing up everywhere now, available in many coffeeshops and airports (many times for free). Constant 4G connections ofttimes carry a monthly fee, and they're slower than the average wifi network. There's a clear tradeoff there: you get internet anywhere you go, but it's slower. This one I hope grows more common in the future though: I think you should be able to access the internet from anywhere, and that will certainly be yet another evolution of this amazing technology we call the internet.
6. Available applications
Total nonsense: laptops can install any piece of software its desktop counterpart can, which stretches back into the 1980s (with the right emulation software). And many of them aren't "worthless".
7. User friendliness
This one is silly and I totally disagree. Physical Keyboards are more user friendly than touch-screen keyboards, period. We haven't found a good substitute for the physical keyboard in well over 100 years now, and I don't see that happening with touch screens (which aren't new at all...my handicap brother was using one attached to our family's computer monitor since at least 1994).
8. Bluetooth connectivity
As a non-user of Bluetooth, this one rings hollow to me. Since when do laptops lack the ability to take advantage of Bluetooth? Saying it's "not so easy" is vague and unhelpful in explaining how tablets are superior in this area (which I don't care about anyhow...I think wearing a bluetooth headset around your ear all day is obnoxious)
9. Well...you could turn off hibernation and just use sleep instead. It's a pretty simple setting under "power options" in Windows 7.
10. Social integration
This is where smart phones are superior, imo. Tablets are just oversized cell phones in that regard, and their one day battery life pales in comparison to some smart phones 2-3 days of life (although the top notch ones tend to be quite a bit worse).
I bought my first laptop this year, after nearly 20 years of exclusive desktop use. I'm no luddite either: I built my own desktop and have a deep love for the inner-workings of computers. I might be behind the average consumer, but I don't see tablets overtaking desktops/laptops anytime soon. Windows 8 has so far been a bit of a mess, but there's no doubt (a la Vista) that Microsoft will piece it together properly over the next couple years and it will very likely change the way we interact with computers (yet again). Perhaps then, we will then start seeing a shift away from our physical-keyboard friends, but I still don't see a solution in tablets for computer games right now: the hardware just isn't there at the moment. Technology though is a rapidly advancing field, and it continues to accelerate beyond many of our mind's ability to keep up. I can't visualize playing "World of Warcraft" on a flat display without a keyboard right now, but pehaps computers will continue to grow more mobile and more modular, where peripherals like keyboards and mice are added when needed, but otherwise removed (which is certainly the case right now for laptop mice: the trackpad works just fine for casual use). Whatever happens, I'm sure computers will continue to grow more usable, faster, smaller, and more integrated into the fabric of our society. Tablets clearly have a niche today (which may grow into the core computer device) but for now that's about it. We will see how that chages, though, over the next 2-3 years for sure.
Posted by bernlin2000
21st Nov
