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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
247 Comments
View All Comments
Belard - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
When you want to browse the internet while sitting on a toilet... the iPad is better than a desktop of notebook.When using GPS / map functions - trust me... the 10" screen on an iPad blows away my 4" Android in every way.
It okay that some people don't want or need a tablet. I finally bought my first notebook about 3 years ago - I used my Thinkpad for court because it allowed me to review evidence on the fly. Otherwise, not much use. Today, it goes out with me on business and is handy to have. Its an older model with a 2hr (at best) battery - but for performance, I use AC power 90% of the time.
With an iPad, I get a great little screen and a device that I can use for 6~9 hours. Tablets are NOT input devices... use a notebook or desktop.
I don't put games on my iPad - otherwise my kid would be wanting to use it.
bigboxes - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Ok, +1 for iPad while on toilet. Yay, iPad wins the toilet test. Maybe, just maybe, you can do without a computer for a few minutes while you take a crap.Belard - Thursday, March 31, 2011 - link
There will come a day when they make a computer that will work when you take a shower or go for a swim - because facebook updates is a way of life.Springfield45 - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Less expensive. More powerful. More productive. More versitile.http://shop.lenovo.com/us/products/professional-gr...
Buy a modern netbook.
ET - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
A solution to speech recognition is lip reading software. You'll still look like an idiot taking to yourself, but at least you won't have to disturb others with your speech.Of course the best solution would be thought control for input, but it'd take more time to get there.
Arnulf - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
It's simple really, let the fad die out and use normal (portable) computer for your portable work needs. Most people have far better things to do than to devote a portion of their life to yet another technotoy that does nothing but waste one's time in ways that have all been possible before, but none in this lame a manner :)Belard - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
That is YOUR problem.Okay, its not really a problem. Like many people here - you are a TECH GUY, but more so - you are a tech guy in the publishing of tech info. You create a LOT of material for some tech site, which I'm sure will become popular someday. :{P
Tablet devices are NOT designed to be used that way. It'd be like expecting a Wii to act like an DSi. Nintendo created a powerful console and a portable one. They are aimed and built to be used in different environments.
So yes, you are holding your iPad wrong. And I doubt you'll be doing it correctly for quite a while... perhaps when you are burned out on computer tech. Hey, I was so sick of computers some years ago, I didn't even want a computer in my home.
I'd say, keep it handy in your home for your guest to use. A family or friend comes over - they have a device with web access they can use all over your home without touching your computers.
When I went on a business trip, we used an iPad to sell a company/services because of EXACTLY how it worked. A notebook would have been too bulky, even with the ThinkPad T410. While in that town - 1000 miles away, I went to visit relatives and show photos / videos of my household family and life (kid, GF, friends, etc). I had these devices:
Galaxy S Phone: 4" screen - limited battery life and need to use it to make calls and take photos.
ThinkPad : 15" screen - fast yes, but maybe 1hour of good battery use or be tethered to a power cord and most likely bring the notebook bad with mouse and mouse pad... thats 10 lbs of crap. Its bigger screen is a plus...
iPad: 10" screen - this is the device I took with me (and my phone). 2 lbs and in a simple protector case. I shared hundreds of photos with adults and kids. Flicking through the gallery was easier than if I used my notebook. I didn't bring a charger or anything else. It made visiting easier and more fun.
I've taken to the iPad faster than my notebook. For serious work, it'd going to be my Thinkpad thats going to be used... and the iPad is small enough to easily fit in my notebook bad.
Even in my hotel room, I'd use both... but the iPad is what I used when I was relaxing and perhaps wanted to check something out real quick.
The ipad I bought 2 weeks ago is my first apple product and by using it, I know it won't be my last. I doubt I'd ever get an iPhone, far to restrictive for my needs of a cel-phone. And I'm hoping that Lenovo makes a T-Series notebook with an AMD Fusion CPU really soon to replace my old ThinkPad.
Anand : take your iPad out of your office - leave it in your living room. Its only in your office for a recharge or updates. Report back... ;)
mushu - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Why does this tablets-are-only-toys idea have such inertia?In my previous post I gave some examples of why a tablet has been a productivity booster for ME. Immediately following that post another person provided a long list of examples of tablet applications that are more productive than youtubing on the loo. Clearly there are uses for the ipad that go beyond conventional internet-based procrastination, but immediately after that post people began carping on about how tablets are toys that have no better use than to watch silly stuff on the internet.
What's going on here?
Is this the same phenomenon we saw before smartphones exploded? Is this the same group that insisted that netbooks were useless low-powered niche products that did nothing well and that would never take off? I was inclined to believe those people until I got a netbook and it quickly became my only regular computer; until I got a smartphone and discovered the benefits of having a tiny super-connected camera-equipped computer in my pocket at all times; and until I got my hands on a tablet and seamlessly incorporated it into my work and my studies as well as my leisure time.
I don't understand this misguided compulsion some of you have to invalidate other people and their experiences. I get it, it's not suitable for you, it's not a good use of your money, but tablets are clearly useful to other people and constitute a legitimate use of THEIR money. Other people exist and they are different from you, get with the homo sapiens already.
Solandri - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
That's my interpretation of the market too. At first netbooks used a simplified version of Linux which gave you access to just a few vital apps (browser, email, IM, picture/video viewer, MP3 player). But then the techies kinda raided them and converted them into full-fledged mini-laptops which run Windows apps. Consequently, netbooks ended up abandoning their original niche and being subsumed by the low-end laptop market.Blackberries and iPhones kinda filled the niche they left empty for a while, but they were too small. Then the iPad dropped square in the middle of that niche and quickly sold 10 million. Face it - despite what we techies think about these devices being too "limited", there is substantial consumer demand for this niche - a low-end primarily-consumption device with just enough flexibility to do other simple stuff.
As for input interfaces, why does it have to be just one? Give it a virtual keyboard. Give it Swype. Give it a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. GIve it that weird circular text entry thingy someone came up with last year. Give it voice recognition. Give it handwriting recognition. Give it Graffiti from the old Palm Pilot days. Give it something that uses the front-facing camera to determine where your eye is looking at on the screen. Give it lip reading with the front-facing camera. Give it something based on the Kinect technology that'll let you type on the table in front of it as if there were a keyboard there.
Give it all of these and let each user decide which data entry method s/he prefers.
BugblatterIII - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
About the only thing that's easy to type on a QWERTY keyboard is the word QWERTY.I used a FITALY keyboard on my old Touch HD and that was a definite improvement.
However I think this problem has already been solved in a different way.
You know that person in the court transcribing everything that's said? He/she's got around 8 keys and presses them in various combinations.
Imagine 8 slightly-movable switches on the edge of the tablet at the back. You hold the tablet with both hands and just flex your fingers a little to enter text.
Only problem is the learning curve, but like I say I don't think QWERTY works so there's likely to be a learning curve. If you want to be a power user you've gotta put in the effort, like I did with FITALY.
I don't think speech works; talking to my tablet would just annoy everyone around me.