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  1. #1
    VIP Member CzarJunkie's Avatar
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    Hardware Tablets are dead

    Personally I love my iPad and use it much more than my phone, but an interesting article all the same......

    Tablets Are Dead

    In 2010, tablets were supposed to be the new hot thing. Apple released the first iPad, Samsung was working on the Galaxy Tab and countless others were about to flood the market with Android tablets. Six years later, there weren’t any tablets at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Companies and consumers have moved on. Tablets are dead.


    To be fair, if you looked hard enough, you could find an Android tablet or two hidden in a corner of the Fira Gran Via. And Apple, the tablet leader, doesn’t come to MWC. But it’s safe to say that tablets are not the future for the Samsungs and LGs of the consumer electronics world.


    In fact, Samsung, Sony, HTC and LG didn’t have any new tablet to announce. They didn’t even mention tablets during their conferences. It’s not just that people don’t care about tablets anymore — the big electronics companies themselves aren’t even trying to release new products for this market anymore.
    Remember how people were excited about the Nexus 7?

    Sure, Lenovo released some cheap Android tablets, but it seems like nobody noticed. Huawei announced the MateBook, but this isn’t technically a tablet — it’s a Surface Pro-like device running Windows 10 for laptops.
    And yet, it wasn’t always like that. Remember how people were excited about the Nexus 7?


    I’d have a hard time naming the most recent flagship Android tablets from some of the biggest tablet makers. After a bit of Internet searching, it looks like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, the LG G Pad II and the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet are real things and were all released last year. Could I tell you which one is the best? Not a chance.


    There are a few reasons why tablets have become so unpopular. First, tablets are now a commodity. You can find dozens of perfectly fine tablets for less than $200. And there’s no differentiating factor between Android tablets. As a result, companies are not making a profit on them.


    Second, chances are you already have a tablet at home and it’s working fine. There’s no reason why you should upgrade it — it probably runs Netflix, Facebook and the Kindle app. It has a browser and your emails. Long replacement cycles mean you don’t need to pay attention to the new and shiny tablets.


    Third, phones are getting bigger. The LG G5 (5.3-inch display) and Samsung Galaxy S7 (5.1-inch display) are the two most interesting flagship phones that were announced at Mobile World Congress. The first Samsung Galaxy Note had a 5.3-inch display. At the time, we called it a phablet. Today, it would be an average phone. Big phones are the new normal, and everybody uses their phones constantly to interact with other people and do everything they’d do on a tablet.


    I find myself using my phone more even though my iPad is within arm’s reach. It’s just easier to deal with one device instead of two. I read more on my iPhone than on any other device. I’ve also written posts on my phone because I’m so used to the small keyboard.


    So it’s time to face the truth. Tablets had a good run, but won’t be around for much longer. The iPad is still selling well, but Apple is trying hard to differentiate the iPad from the iPhone, creating the next generation of laptops.
    Arguably, the iPad is a better tablet than any of the Android tablet I mentioned in this post. The Pixel C is a good-looking tablet, but there aren’t many tablet-optimized apps on the Play Store. This is key to understanding the iPad’s appeal.


    Tablets can still make a comeback. They need to become good laptop replacements, or a digital canvas for artists, or something else. But something needs to change and soon. Current tablets prove that you should never bet against the smartphone.




    http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/25/tab...dead/?ncid=rss

    4 Thanks given to CzarJunkie

    ibobsy (26th February 2016),  Mule (25th February 2016),  Over Carl (26th February 2016),  WRATH OF BOD (25th February 2016)  


  2. #2
    DF VIP Member
    Mule's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Makes sense. I got my first tablet only a couple of months ago. It's pretty basic but other than it missing gps I can't see any reason I'd want to upgrade it and it seems sturdy enough that it's unlikely to break any time soon.

  3. #3
    DF VIP Member WRATH OF BOD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    i think if Apple & Android went the way of Surface pro i think the standard laptops would probably start to disappear. pro 3 & 4 are fantastic bits of kit although a bit pricey

  4. #4
    DF VIP Member DJ OD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    I have a hp stream (win X) used for when I am away from home as a kodi portable. I have a gen 1 nexus 7, dual booting 2 roms primarily for network security testing/pissing about. Also have a iPad mini 1. Slow as shit and essentially just used to read news and occasionally sky go in bed. Lastly I have a surface 2, which is used for work stuff as it does office and email better than anything else without the bulk of my full laptop and battery lasts ages.

    Annoying that each one has its 'thing' and I would be reluctant to get rid of any of them. Maybe the iPad purely just to upgrade the fucking thing. Ios 9 fucked it.

    Im almost in agreement. Tablets are going the same way, netbooks, nettops etc did. Plus chrome books probably.

    Tech just changes so fast now.


    DJ OD

  5. #5
    DF VIP Member plug1's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Iv had iPads from the first month they came out , but I'm going back to a good laptop soon .

    Thanks to plug1

    piggzy (25th February 2016)  


  6. #6
    DF VIP Member TJB's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    I don't think tablets are dead, it's just that everyone has got one now. Realistically, what else can you do with them other than faster processors and more ram?

  7. #7
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Since I got a 5" phone I found my ipad became much less useful. The ipad is basically a web browser and occasional movie player by the side of the bed, I still cant bring myself to watch a movie on a phone screen and for p̶o̶r̶n̶ photo viewing, the ipad screen is the perfect size.

    2 Thanks given to {{909}}

    akimba (26th February 2016),  cassy34 (26th February 2016)  


  8. #8
    DF VIP Member Over Carl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Interesting article but I'm reserving judgement for now.

    Reason being, when tablets were seeming to be all the rage, and MS tried to cripple Windows by pushing Windows Tablet Edition (sorry I mean Windows 8 / 8.1) on us, my honest suspicion was that MS and the hardware makers had a totally different plan which I was worried looked something like this (although Windows 10 makes me wonder if they realised their plan wasn't being accepted too well):

    1: Convert "average" users to tablets so they now consider the tablet to be their device they use to access the net and play games.

    2. Get loads of cheap tablets out there so people wavering between real computers and tablets take the plunge.

    3. Cripple "real" computers so they seem almost as useless as tablets (unless you are willing to stay on an old OS or put extra work into it).

    4. By this stage, a lot if not most people should have been on tablets. Flash was the predominant thing for stuff like youtube, but it's on it's deathbed so those who bought early android tablets probably need to upgrade just to use websites. MS has said they plan to make the replacement to Windows 10 subscription only - so they have their plan regardless of hardware sales. Also imho tablets should have enough processor power to render webpages, but there seems to be a surprising number of website designers that love to code webpages so badly that without a recent i5 or something, pages take forever to load and keep resizing until they eventually show the page as intended - if things keep on going that way, that will be enough to keep driving sales of tablets - just for example my C2Q 3.2 with 20Gb RAM I use daily seems to struggle with a lot of websites which I think is farcical.

    5. Split Windows 11 (or whatever it will be called) into a "consumer edition" and "professional edition". If you just wanna run a tablet with consumer edition, pay MS a fiver a year or some token amount (that still adds up to a massive fortune) to get your tablet running the latest version of Windows totally legit. Or pay £500 for a "professional edition" license that lets you use the device as a real computer.

    That model would have probably kept hardware manufacturers happy as they could keep churning out cheap tablets for the masses, then double the price of real computers for people that actually need them as they would turn more into a product to satisfy business and certain power users.

    Please excuse me if I have resumed my habit of talking out of my backside, but for a while I was quite worried that looked like the future of computing, but seeing Win 10 makes me wonder if I got worried about nothing or maybe MS have decided to backtrack or put their plan on hold for now.
    Last edited by Over Carl; 26th February 2016 at 07:44 PM.

    Thanks to Over Carl

    corskey (26th February 2016)  


  9. #9
    DF VIP Member akimba's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    I bought a table soley really to use for smart glass on xbox and for the games where you can use a tablet whilst in game Dead Rising 3 had it as a map etc so thought here we go but since then not many games have bothered to tie into it (bit like the Kinect) so now its on the shelf gathering dust arm in arm with me PS Vita :-(

  10. #10
    DF Super Moderator {{909}}'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    from tab-hanging on a convo in the EE shop, and a few of the older members of my family (We gave my Dad his second tablet this year for his 70th birthday) I think tablets are still popular with people who 'need' to be online but are afraid or incapable of handling a fully blown laptop or computer. This market is probably not one for the bleeding edge technology so it's not at the front of all the tech pages we all follow, but the market is still there.

  11. #11
    DF VIP Member
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Still happy with my Nexus 10 it gets regular security updates and when my phone contract is up in a few months time I'm seriously considering a nexus phone

    Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

  12. #12
    DF VIP Member corskey's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    A great summary Over Carl (though I love my dual OS Teclast tablet)

    Sent from my M470BSE using Tapatalk

  13. #13
    DF VIP Member kroner's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Still a massive market, kids, women and the men inbetweeners and the older generation. Both my kids favour their tablets but when they need to do homework they have to use their laptops.

    Never swap my desktop or laptop for a tablet, as i can't do the things that i want to do on it.

  14. #14
    DF VIP Member diablos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    I had a few tablets bought a flex 2 (cant think why now)as well at Christmas had it out the box twice mainly use my phone and my laptop.

  15. #15
    DF VIP Member Scottio200's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    Had the original iPad, used it at home mainly but always went back to my iMac when i needed to do proper work. Then got rid of that and got the original iPad Mini, that was a bit of a game changer, the size was perfect for most things and i felt myself using my computer less and less however still need it for proper work. I found the first gen iPad, although a great device, just a bit too big to be practical, the iPad Air however is perfect for a tablet in my opinion. Ive never been a laptop person at all, always preferred a desktop however I got the iPhone 6+ and now the 6s+ and got rid of the iPad mini as I found I was using it less and less.

    But here's the thing, I mainly used the iPad/iPad Mini for watching Youtube, surfing the internet, playing the odd game and checking e-mail whilst lying on the sofa as it offered a bigger screen to my phone. The screen size of the iPhone 6s+ is more than capable of all these tasks, and i can now stream youtube directly to my TV in 4K so there is definitely no need for a tablet in my life anymore.

    Been without a tablet for 14 months now and although I have been tempted with an iPad Pro, its too big and too expensive for the throw away nature of a Tablet. Now if the rumours that the next "normal" iPad is going to be a 9.8" iPad pro with its own smart keyboard and will be able to use the Apple Pencil I could be tempted to return to a Tablet.

    I think the real issue is that people are treating tablets more like computers and less like phones. We have this crazy throw away nature for mobile phones where every 12/18/24 months we get a shiny new handset, there are always new models coming out and we can get them pretty cheap as they are subsidised with a contract. The market treats tablets in the same way, life expectancy is 18-24 months for a tablet, but in reality its more like 3-4 years. Thats because tablets are amazing at doing what they where designed for, they are not PC replacements, no matter how much Microsoft want to make people think they are with the Surface Pro, which are great devices but are basically Laptops with a touch screen. A tablet should be the device that doesn't replace our phone or our computer, but be that device we use for media and web consumption and thats it, thats what they where originally sold as and guess what, they do that AMAZINGLY well, even the first generation iPad is a great device and still holds place for some (My step-dad actually has my original iPad and uses it with no issues, it just doesn't run the latest OS).

    People can't justify upgrading their tablet as much as their phones, why? because they still do exactly what they did on day one (if not more) and thats enough. Average consumers only upgrade things when the need to and there simply isn't a need to upgrade a tablet.

  16. #16
    DF VIP Member
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    I don't think this is in any way bad news. It means that tabs have come to their natural maturity and other than slight upgrades to technology resulting from R&D for PC's/Mobiles they'll just trundle along. These things are going to go down and down in price and will eventually cost buttons.

  17. #17
    DF VIP Member doughboy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Tablets are dead

    My beloved nexus 7 2013 with multiboot kali this that and the other hasnt been used since I broke the display at least 12 months ago.

    It's even more redundant now that my new phone is a note

    Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

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