Are tablets a dying breed?

[wyattzx]

     Marques Brownlee brought up a very interesting point in his latest video. Smartphones and laptops, which typically lie on either side of the tablet, have started to converge. Smartphones are getting bigger and faster, and laptops are getting smaller and faster. The price point of each device has been going down, and the demand has been going up. Typically, you'll replace your smartphone every 12-18 months, and your laptop in the 24-36 months range. Tablets, however, are something you'll typically buy, use occasionally, and often forget you own. They serve a purpose, but that purpose is minimal when you have two readily-available devices on either side that do most, if not all of what you aim to do with a tablet. This is especially relevant with the latest trend of convertible laptops. 

 

What are your thoughts? Are tablets a dying breed? Or will they find their place and settle?

[Minsekt]

never felt the need for a tablet

[comicsansms]

I HOPE that tablets are a dying breed.

They are very limited and I still don't know the point of them

[You_are_a_cunt]

I used to use my tablet as an e-book reader before giving it to my dad to use it... as an e-book reader. Could never find any meaningful use for it

[PetiteBob]

When you are like me with a family of 4 you will need to have some kind of device to read emails and check work notifications in the morning the tablet with somewhat come a necessity 

[Paralectic]

I have an iPad 2, I don't use it. It's still really fast after all those years.

[AlTech]

Just now, Minsekt said:

never felt the need for a tablet thb...

Unless it's basically a laptop in a tablet form factor #Surface #DoGreatThings

 

 

 

[Soppro]

I use my tablet whenever I'm not bothered to turn my laptop on. Mostly, just web browsing and light gaming.

[Dabombinable]

Just now, Paralectic said:

I have an iPad 2, I don't use it. It's still really fast after all those years.

just like the 4th Gen iPod touch, 256MB RAM and a single core CPU and it still runs smoothly.

[AlTech]

Just now, Dabombinable said:

just like the 4th Gen iPod touch, 256MB RAM and a single core CPU and it still runs smoothly.

Nope. just like iPod Touch 5. 512MB RAM, dual core A5.

 

iPAd original had A4 single core, A4

[Sakkura]

10 minutes ago, NonaHexa said:

Typically, you'll replace your smartphone every 12-18 months, and your laptop in the 24-36 months range.

The hell you say.

[Dabombinable]

1 minute ago, Sakkura said:

The hell you say.

*Still uses a 10 year old laptop*

[wyattzx]

5 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

The hell you say.

 

3 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

*Still uses a 10 year old laptop*

This is based on statistics, so of course you'll have your outliers.

[ShadowCaptain]

I still think tablets have a place, though I am all for 2 in ones

 

my iPad 4 is still one of my most used gadgets

[Dabombinable]

Just now, NonaHexa said:

 

This is based on statistics, so of course you'll have your outliers.

What if I tell you that all of the laptops that i've ever used have only had the original batteries drop past 50% at around the 7 year mark (give or take a few months)....

[Imabigmac]

Unless something evolutionary comes along in the tablet market or a company changes what a tablet is capable of, they will ever shrink in popularity but I don't they will die out completely. They have their place but they aren't a replacement for either the phone or laptop. Once I got my phablet I never used my ipad mini for much, now it sits on bedside table.

 

Perhaps one of the coolest things about tablets is how many tried to make them into laptops while others tried to make them their own unique companion device, while some of the industry was trying to take some aspects of tablets and breed it with other conventional consumer electronics. If the tablet was not such a hit, I don't phablets would be a hit either. 

 

Sent from my convertible laptop....

[ShadowCaptain]

10 minutes ago, Imabigmac said:

Unless something evolutionary comes along in the tablet market or a company changes what a tablet is capable of, they will ever shrink in popularity but I don't they will die out completely. They have their place but they aren't a replacement for either the phone or laptop.

 

Sent from my convertible laptop....

 

Agreed, tablets are in their own category, I assume in the future they will most likely all become 2 in 1 devices since it makes sense to add a keyboard in this manner but not sacrifice portability since it can be removed

 

I think tablets will continue on, the reason they are slowing down in sales, is that a tablet bought in the last 3 years is still perfectly usable today without needing to upgrade

Same as PCs, a 5 year old laptop can still do the tasks 99% of people do

the only people buying new tech are gamers and high end content producers, somebody like my mum, could use a 3 year old tablet and laptop, and an old phone and thats all she needs, 

[Sir Asvald]

28 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

I HOPE that tablets are a dying breed.

They are very limited and I still don't know the point of them

Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro. 

 

I believe they have their uses. For instance, rather having a large laptop around with you. Just take your tablet with the additional keyboard and start take notes. I'm currently at University and I've got a big Dell 5520 which IS heavy. Now, I'm thinking of getting a tablet just for my notes. No need for a big laptop. 

[ShadowCaptain]

2 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro. 

 

I believe they have their uses. For instance, rather having a large laptop around with you. Just take your tablet with the additional keyboard and start take notes. I'm currently at University and I've got a big Dell 5520 which IS heavy. Now, I'm thinking of getting a tablet just for my notes. No need for a big laptop. 

 

But the point is, laptops are getting thinner and lighter

Example, the new macbook / xps 13 etc - if you could carry a 12/13" light laptop you might not need a tablet

 

For me,a tablet is a 100% consumption device, gaming, YouTube, netflix, photos, reading etc - it does this task better than anything else IMO

 

Its more of a luxury than a necessary device, but the 10" size fits perfectly between an ultrabook and a phone so I dont see this changing in the future

 

 

[comicsansms]

Just now, Abdul201588 said:

Surface Pro 4 and iPad Pro. 

 

I believe they have their uses. For instance, rather having a large laptop around with you. Just take your tablet with the additional keyboard and start take notes. I'm currently at University and I've got a big Dell 5520 which IS heavy. Now, I'm thinking of getting a tablet just for my notes. No need for a big laptop. 

Okay, the Surface is fine because it runs a full x86 version of windows and ONLY because it runs a full version of windows.

 

iPads, Surface RT's and Android tablets (I have used them all) are a pain, there is limited app support and the lack of a decent file explorer (The RT does have that)

 

The ONLY people at my school who use iPads (or any other stupid mobile OS tablet) play games on them, they usually have a Laptop with them, or the plain just do nothing.

[Sir Asvald]

2 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

 

But the point is, laptops are getting thinner and lighter

Example, the new macbook / xps 13 etc - if you could carry a 12/13" light laptop you might not need a tablet

 

For me,a tablet is a 100% consumption device, gaming, YouTube, netflix, photos, reading etc - it does this task better than anything else IMO

 

Its more of a luxury than a necessary device, but the 10" size fits perfectly between an ultrabook and a phone so I dont see this changing in the future

 

 

Yeah that is true. Only problem, that the Dell XPS 13 costs around £950-1600. Which is an expensive note taker.  

 

Unless there are much cheaper options which are available. 

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, Abdul201588 said:

Yeah that is true. Only problem, that the Dell XPS 13 costs around £950-1600. Which is an expensive note taker.  

 

Unless there are much cheaper options which are available. 

 

We are ignoring price for the moment, as they will become cheaper over time, this is more, what will the future hold

We have things like the HP Stream which is £200

or an Asus UX305 which is 13" with an Intel Core M like the macbook, costs £577 on amazon 

[Dredgy]

So I am a tablet power user. I have an extremely high end gaming PC/workstation and my primary rig is definitely my iPad 4. I use it for everything. But I absolutely hate the laptop form factor (can't use them comfortably on planes - or at all on planes during takeoff and landing).

And has been for years. I'm not in a hurry to replace it though, I bought it in 2013 and it's probably good until next year at least.

 

 

[Sir Asvald]

2 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

 

We are ignoring price for the moment, as they will become cheaper over time, this is more, what will the future hold

We have things like the HP Stream which is £200

or an Asus UX305 which is 13" with an Intel Core M like the macbook, costs £577 on amazon 

Ah okay. What about the Lenovo y40 and y50? are they any good? Are they light?

 

 

[Sakkura]

24 minutes ago, NonaHexa said:

 

This is based on statistics, so of course you'll have your outliers.

Statistically, the replacement cycles are much longer than you claim. In the US in 2014, the replacement cycle for smartphones was estimated to be 26.5 months, not the 12-18 months you claim. And that's probably one of the faster upgrading markets, and the cycle has been getting longer (so today it could be 2½-3 years).

 

http://reconanalytics.com/2015/02/2014-us-mobile-phone-sales-fall-by-15-and-handset-replacement-cycle-lengthens-to-historic-high/