Tablet Computer’s are great, they’re portable, simple to use and, with a fair sized screen, you really could manage all your computing experiences on one, or could you?
While the next generation of tablets, including the iPad, Courier, Joojoo and HP Slate, will all be far more capable than the last generation, they will still suffer from the the same drawbacks as their predecessors.
1) Precision
For tasks such as manipulating a spreadsheet and entering complex calculations, or writing a blog post, a tablet may not be the best solution. Whilst possible on a touch screen, controlling excel with you fingers, whilst achievable, would not be easy.
Tablet Computer’s are brilliant at what they do, allowing users to interact directly with the content, touching, tapping and swiping our way through the web or a novel. What they aren’t so great at, are more complex, precise tasks.
The key factor in any tablet’s precision is the size of the sensor grid which detects interaction with the screen, the problem with many touch screens is that the grids are just not small enough to achieve a high level of precision, making controlling spreadsheets, at best awkward.
2) Screen size
When you’re viewing video footage or holiday photos tablet devices are great, they allow you to physically touch your content, zooming and rotating with a flick of a finger.
They don’t however make editing easy, choosing tools from a program, like photoshop or final cut, can be remarkably hard without an accurate pointer such as a mouse. Just ask anyone who’s ever bought a cheap drawing tablet.
3) Lack of tactile response
When you type on a keyboard the movement of the keys tells you that the computer has recognized the input, with a mouse it’s in the form of a click. When using a touch screen device, such as a tablet, there isn’t the same level of response.
For browsing the web or viewing a movie that’s fine, tactile response isn’t important. It’s handy but hardly essential. However when it comes to writing your next blog post or report it becomes more of an issue.
In order to know where your fingers are placed on the keyboard you rely on the edges of the keys, in order to know you pressed the key, you rely on the friction of the keys. Without these tactile responses simple tasks, such as typing, become far more complex. The result is that tablet computers may not be much use for writing your next novel.
Should you buy a tablet?
Tablet computers offer a whole new way of interacting with content, removing traditional barriers and allowing us the chance to interact directly. So whilst a tablet computer may never replace a desktop or laptop, they instead open up a new way of computing and experiencing the digital world, all that’s left then is to choose which one to buy.
