Tablets: How Would You Solve the Input Problem?
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 29, 2011 2:22 PM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Apple
- iPad 2
- Ask AnandTech
- Mobile
In our iPad 2 review I mentioned that despite really liking the device, I never really could integrate the original iPad into my daily life in a meaningful way. I always ended up traveling with the iPad and a notebook or while around town I just kept a smartphone on me. That limited my iPad use to pretty much lounging around at the house, and even then I found myself turning to the laptop more often than not.
With the Xoom and iPad 2 I've been giving the tablet usage model another try. I've kept my usage mostly consumption focused. Browsing the web and reading emails. I really do prefer using a tablet for both of these things. I do wish the iPad 2 was faster when selecting lots of emails but the improvement over the original iPad is still considerable.
My holdup is this: while I love reading on the iPad 2, I have troubles contributing using it. Writing lengthy email responses or even posting comments on AT is just slower on the iPad than on a notebook. The solution can't be to just walk over to a laptop when I want to respond and just use the iPad when I'm reading - that seems horrible inefficient.
I could use a Bluetooth keyboard but that's also rather clunky. I feel like there has to be a better solution going forward, particularly as the tablet market grows. Is it voice? Or some sort of an integrated kickstand with more flexibility than what you get with the smart cover?
I feel like smartphones get a pass because it's easy to type on them regardless of where you're sitting. Tablets on the other hand need to be propped up against something and as a result are harder to type on in certain situations. They work fine on a desk but if I'm at a desk I'd rather use a notebook. What about when laying back on a couch?
I'm curious what you all think about this. Am I alone in finding tablet ergonomics a barrier? If not, what do you believe is the best solution for tablets going forward. I want to read and respond on a tablet as quickly as I can on a notebook. What needs to be built? Post your comments here and I'm sure we can get many of the tablet manufacturers to pay attention. I don't think they have stumbled across the best solution for this problem either, so what you say here might go a long way in making tablets better for everyone.
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Johnmcl7 - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
I find the same problem with tablets, fine for browsing but pretty much useless when it comes to entering text. I've always hated touchscreen keyboards and opted for hardware ones instead but thought I'd give the touchscreen keyboard a go this time given there's no tablets with inbuilt keyboards. After a month with the touchscreen keyboard and trying out various keyboards including Swype and the Gingerbread one I hate touchscreen keyboards even more so I've been looking at hardware keyboard options but nothing I've found seems to fit in particularly well with the lightweight tablet concept.John
Dug - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
I don't view any tablet for ease of input, just ease of use.After maintaining computers for the last 20 years, I view the iPad as an elegant solution to things I enjoy about computers.
Easily view my favorite websites
I update my scheduled recordings for TV and easily view what's on.
Use as a remote for my htpc.
Update my Netflix que
Use as a remote for my music and radio server. (ipeng for squeezeboxes around the house)
Read local news and weather.
Email and Facebook
Show recipes while in kitchen cooking.
I love using it as a remote for music at party's. People can just search songs and add them to the currently playing playlist. It's a great way to get people talking and involved. With a laptop it would be awkward.
I eventually want to get into home automation to control lights and blinds.
But this is all done so easily on the iPad. I don't have to think about it, because it just starts up. I don't think about battery life, hard drive crash, updates, viruses, compatibility, etc. It just works, and it does it with less set up time and maintenance than a laptop. The iPad is not something I would take with me. It's just an interactive coffee table book that anyone can use.
I can tell you, it has been really nice to free up my work laptop from those duties.
RamarC - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
Even with haptic feedback, it's impossible to know what you're pressing without looking at your finger(s). That shifts your focus away from what you're doing to what you're "attempting" to type. Maybe a fluid based screen that can be dynamically firmed/relaxed would give the feel response to mimic diferent shapes/textures.BTW, everytime I look at an android or iphone based interface, I see Windows 95... a bunch of icons in a scrolling window. The UI is de-volving but maybe I'm just jaded.
synaesthetic - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
Add an active digitizer and a stylus and make it useful for artists.Then tablets would not only be easier to use, but have a problem to solve!
ludikraut - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
You need to checkout the EP121, then. Stylus and a WACOM digitizer built into the screen. ;-)mados123 - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
I wish the Acer Iconia had that setup with a 180 degree hinge.Arsynic - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
What we need is a dock-able phone that docks into a screen as a tablet that docks onto a keyboard as a netbook. The only difference would be that each dock signals a change of context and the appropriate OS options.For example the next version of Android could scale based on the context. I think I'll coin the next big buzzword "Contextual Computing". Smartphones, tablets and netbooks will be supplanted by Contexual Computing devices.
play2learn - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
But then there's a couple of patents to deal with...nickolas - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
My father is an old school civil engineer, designing by hand, having no knowledge whatsoever of computers.When I bought my first iphone all that it took was 5 minutes and a newspaper website for him to start browsing. He could actually enjoy the experience on his own, reading the headlines and browsing the articles, magnifying to read them and then going back to the main page to pick something else to read. That is great he said, though they can make the screen resolution higher.
I am going to buy the Ipad for my parents, so they can actually use the internet. For the rest of us, it is good for when we need to chill out.
taserbro - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
I've been using a tablet computer, an hp tm2 to be precise, for a few months now and I've found myself growing fond of the wacom tablet pen. Sure, the windows pen support is far from perfect and the best typist will still have a slight edge on the best hand-writers in speed. That said, being able to handwrite notes, sketch out accurate diagrams, scribble post-its and run character recognition (which works surprisingly well) for emails and urls is so incredibly more attractive as a solution than anything I've tried on my ipad as of yet that I can't imagine why apple still hasn't licensed or developed their own magnetic resonance pen technology for their flagship tablets.Lest you count the prohibitively expensive, custom modified mod-books, whose price could easily cover 5 hp tm2 models or 2 lenovo x220s.