Apple's iPad and tablets in general. The "pet rock" of the 2000's

Was in Chapters (bookstore) which has a Starbucks in it. There were about 30 people seated. Most of them were working. Students, business people. Nearly ALL had a laptop, a couple were on phones and only one had a tablet,a Microsoft Surface with a keyboard.

 

Well that's Toronto for you.

 

But that's the point. Tablets, aside from the Surface aren't really
intended to be work machines. They are content delivery systems. I'm a
dedicated PC user and I bought a Kindle Fire HD, mostly on a whim. I use
it a LOT more than I expected. I have Amazon Prime to stream a really
good library of video content, and also HBO Go which delivers nearly
everything available on HBO on demand. I simply use the Kindle to grab
the content and push it up to my 46" Samsung 8000 series through the
HDMI port. If I'm not home the content is still very viewable on the
Kindle screen.

Tablets really do fill a need, the shipment numbers for PC's and laptops
tell the tale.

When I have actual work to do I have the high-spec PC for Photoshop and
Lightroom. On the go, well, I can't imagine a situation where I would
really need a laptop while traveling anymore. I can read and respond to
email with the tablet, or my phone for that matter.

I'd not criticize a category for not filling a need for which it was not
designed.

 

You and nospam should form a market research firm as a partnership.
You both feel that one person's personal observation is a valid claim
that can be extrapolated.

 

once again, you are twisting things.

my observations have never been about one single location. i look at
overall trends, and i'm certainly not the only person who does this
either.

for instance, i knew several years ago that blackberry was fucked. it
was very obvious from what i saw. every time i went out, i kept seeing
fewer and fewer blackberries and more and more iphones and android
phones, but the real red flag was that i never met a single person who
had a blackberry and actually liked it.

you would have said 'but blackberry has 50% market share, look at the
official numbers'. i suspect their management said the same thing.

you have to pay attention to the real world and what's really happening
and what users think about the products, rather than live in an
analytical cave and rely on numbers that don't mean what you want them
to mean.

 

Actually tablets make fine work machines, they're just not "sit at a
desk" work machines. I've seen them used for inventory and other
situations where a handheld device makes sense.

 

Probably means people in Toronto with taste have more sense than to buy
over diluted $tarbuck$ American weak coffee. Local chains are better.

Actually with an ancillary keypad and an origami stand they are not too
bad as a netbook - less powerful than a full laptop but also lighter.

And for many inventory or tick box exercises in the workplace they come
into their own since there is no scrappy mechanical keyboard to get
germs, oil and rubbish trapped in. One wipe of the screen with a
suitable cleaner or bactericide and you are good to go again.

 

yep, pick the right tool for the job.

also, more and more tasks can be done on tablets. it's a rapidly
growing market and it's not all for playing or consumption.

 

one of the many reasons why they are popular in hospitals

 

<BFG>

Agreed, what an armpit!

 

Are you kidding?!? They would kill each other first, arguing about Apple...

 

Was in Chapters (bookstore) which has a Starbucks in it. There were about
30 people seated. Most of them were working. Students, business people.
Nearly ALL had a laptop, a couple were on phones and only one had a tablet,
a Microsoft Surface with a keyboard.
The lesson for me in that story is the sorry state of
coffee shops. They used to be places to go for
socializing, stimulating conversation and people
watching. I haven't done that for years. There aren't
any coffee shops like that left. Starbucks also
epitomizes another thing missing from present-day
coffee shops: delicious bakery products made on-site.
Their $3-4 bakery products are, without exception,
greasy and *very* over-sweetened.

 

Starbucks coffee weak? To me, it is far too strong and bitter.

 

Yes, I know. You sometimes have to take more than one flight, or view
both Coach and Business Class, to determine national market share
figures.

Arguing with industry figures would be crazy if you took just one
airplane ride and made your projections.

 

Whatever one's take, it's crap. There are hundreds of better choices in
large metropolitan areas, fewer in suburbia.

And the better coffee shops in the SF Bay Area have a nice mix of iPads,
MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, with the odd PC here and there.

I'd expect a lot of PCs in any old Starbucks.

 

Support your local espresso shop, and bakery, if you're lucky enough to
have them.

 

I suppose, if one drank it enough, one could acquire a taste for
Starbuck's coffee. The only times I've frequented Starbucks is when
I've been in need of a wi-fi hotspot and a comfy chair to check out
something online. The ridiculous price and vile taste is the price of
admission.

 

Many of the The coffee places in NY have latched on to the Starbucks
pricing model. Even the local breakfast joints have significantly raised
their coffee prices. At least at Starbucks you get a comfortable place
to relax. If all I want i Internet, I have a portable WiFi hotspot.
Having said that, I don't think they have bad coffee. They also serve
excellent tea and hot chocolate. If I want a plain cup of coffee, I
think MacDonalds, has pretty good coffee.

 

I don't dispute your observation of its poor taste but it is amongst the
lowest caffeine content "real" coffee sold on UK high streets.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...-levels-in-your-espresso-scientists-urge.html

Depending on your point of view this is either good or bad.
Their cakes are overly sweet and pretty rubbish too.

Some hapless individual with liver disease managed to get a fatal dose
of caffeine by consuming a large number of Hero energy mints recently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-24492833

A few others have bought unintentional lethal doses on the internet.