Big tablet

Lately the punditry at the tech press has been trying hard to declare this or that thing "dead." This goes in part with the territory, in an industry where predictions, especially correct ones, are highly valued.

In 2012-2014, the PC was "dead," killed mercilessly by the tablet. Remember how Windows 8 "proved" it?

Ooops!

Now the fad is to say the tablet is "dead." If it were true, it would flash me back to a childhood song, in Hebrew, about a series of killings (cow kills a plant and eats it, man kills the cow, the angel of death kills the man, etc), ending in something or other (praise to the Hebrew god Jehovah, the one who must never be named, most likely). But it isn't.

What's supposed to be killing the tablet? The phablet. Apple buys into the large smart phone mania, and suddenly the phablet is going to kill the tablet (which killed the PC, which killed the typewriter, which killed penmanship, etc.)

Now, if I had a nearly 6" phone, I may find I need the Nexus 7 tablet less. I can buy that. In particular because the phone would be lighter, and has an always on ability to connect to the internet even without WiFi. Sure. But how does that affect the 10+ inch tablet market? There are all sorts of things that can be done better in a large tablet, and things that just cannot be done on a near-6" phone.

What might kill the tablet, so to speak, is the 2-in-1. Why carry a laptop, tablet and phone, when you can have a 2-in1 and phone only? This assuming the 2-in-1 has a detachable keyboard/base.

But rather than being killed, the tablet will be assimilated.

Of course, wrong predictions are more memorable. People recall Bill gates saying "640K ought to be good enough for anybody," Dvorak dismissing the iPhone as a flop, Nareed dissing tablets as "iFads," and even a record company whose name I forget passing on The Beatles because they saw no potential for commercial success. We can now add "The PC is dead" and "The tablet is dead."

Correct predictions, like Nareed claiming Microsoft would have to back down from the Windows 8 touch-centric interface and bring back the desktop, go largely unnoticed. Who predicted Facebook? Or eBay? Or even Pay Pal?

Quote: Nareed

What might kill the tablet, so to speak, is the 2-in-1. Why carry a laptop, tablet and phone, when you can have a 2-in1 and phone only? This assuming the 2-in-1 has a detachable keyboard/base.

"Phablets could even become the dominant computing device of the future — the most popular kind of phone on the market, and perhaps the only computer many of us need."- NY Times

I remember reading that phablets were always going to be relegated to the third world, because they were so clumsy.

Quote: Pacomartin

I remember reading that phablets were always going to be relegated to the third world, because they were so clumsy.

They are clumsy.

In the past few years, I've seen fewer people using hands-free Bluetooth or wired headsets. But they could make a comeback for long talkers who use phablets.

Then, too, there's my idea of a big tablet with a full cellular connection and a Bluetooth handset accessory, say about the size of the old pre-iphone days cell phones, for making calls through the tablet. They'd work for cell calls, and Skype over WiFi. If I knew the first thing about tech, I'd be making one now. A simple LCD screen, say 2" or 3" and a keypad would suffice, maybe a qwerty keyboard for texting.

Quote: Nareed

Then, too, there's my idea of a big tablet with a full cellular connection and a Bluetooth handset accessory,.

SCUBA divers went through some iterations. Originally they had no gages at all, and there was an emergency mini-tank of air. The regulator made it hard to breathe as your main tank was running out of air. You would reach up an open the extra mini-tank to give you enough air to surface. Then they put in air gages that were attached to the main tank so you could see as you were running out of air, then they put in computers. At the last stage they put in wireless so you could wear the readout on your arm like a watch, and never have to twist about to find your computer.


I think that ultimately your prediction will come true. You will carry a unit on your waste with battery and primary CPU. Then wireless devices will fit in your ear, or eyeglasses, or monitor pads, or measure your height rate, or the speed of your walking, or anything else that people could conceivably want to measure or monitor.

I think the standardization of the base unit will allow business to build the accessories. With the computer on your waste you will be able to put cameras in multiple places on your body (rings, sirt buttons, eyeglasses, so people will be able to indulge their obsession with filming everything around them in secrecy.

Quote: Pacomartin

Joke if you will.

But the 2-in-1 has already assimilated the tablet and the laptop. the rest is merely a matter of time.

On a more serious note, as gadgets get ever more integrated and more people carry them at all times, and they're nearly always on, it's ever more imperative to secure one's data from any and all governments.

Hobbyists may start mounting parabolic microphones pointed at public squares, or more likely expensive restaurants.

Quote: Pacomartin

Hobbyists may start mounting parabolic microphones pointed at public squares, or more likely expensive restaurants.

Subtle.

I know apps and websites "spy" on me all the time. But such things won't do much more with my data than try to sell me stuff. The government, on the other hand, is in the business of hunting criminals and enforcing the law. When innocent actions like carrying your own money in cash can lead to egregious punishment, which part of your data can you trust the government to have?

I have done ton a ton af amatuer audio recordings in my life.
I own 4 different sets of microphones.
Me an my friends always record with 2 microphones for left and right channel , usually set at a 45 to 135 degree angle
That is an unusual setup above.
With us, its about the quality of the recording so we dont use the above setup.
Here are picture of our typical setups to record.
http://www.minkindesign.com/photo/gd_merriweather6-30-85/pictures/merriweather6-30-85%20tapers.html

Quote: terapined

That is an unusual setup above.
With us, its about the quality of the recording so we dont use the above setup.

I thought you would need a parabolic mirror to make decent recordings of two people talking to each other at fairly close range in a crowded noisy environment.

Quote: Pacomartin

I thought you would need a parabolic mirror to make decent recordings of two people talking to each other at fairly close range in a crowded noisy environment.

Different sources requires different recording techniques.
I dont record conversations.
I do deal with a noisey crowded enviroments so thats why we have mics high in the air.
I have recorded hundreds of concerts in noisey crowded enviroments :-)