All iPads Do you think the iPad and tablets in general have a future?

[Naramis]

I don't see tablets going anywhere soon. There are some things it just does better than both a phone and a laptop. What I do most on my iPad is read textbooks on Inkling, books on Kindle and PDFs. For that, neither a phone nor a laptop will be as good.
When I'm not at home but have some extra time to browse the web, a tablet is better than a phone. When I'm not at home, I don't need the computer power of a full operating system (my work doesn't involve anything computer related), so a laptop makes no sense for me.
In the end, each person has their own ideal setup of gadgets. You're not supposed to have all of them, watch + phone + phablet + tablet + laptop + desktop. Just choose the ones that work for your particular use.

 

[gregvet]

Re choices

You're not supposed to have all of them, watch + phone + phablet + tablet + laptop + desktop. Just choose the ones that work for your particular use.

Erm, Im not sure apple would agree with you on that one, lol

 

[Freyqq]

The technology market always seeks convergence between devices. You use to buy a camera, but now most people just use their phones. I think tablets will merge elements with phones and laptops to create some kind of compromise device of all three. Maybe, a 6" phone that slides into a laptop chassis to become a laptop. Or, a 6" phone that wirelessly streams to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. But, that's kind of a long way away.

For now, there are three distinct categories: phones, tablets, and laptops/desktops. Right now, bigger phones and thinner/lighter/touchscreen/2in1 laptops are displacing tablets more and more every year. But, tablets are still a strong segment. Some people are similarly ditching their laptop to go with a tablet only.

 

[s2mikey]

The technology market always seeks convergence between devices. You use to buy a camera, but now most people just use their phones. I think tablets will merge elements with phones and laptops to create some kind of compromise device of all three. Maybe, a 6" phone that slides into a laptop chassis to become a laptop. Or, a 6" phone that wirelessly streams to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. But, that's kind of a long way away.

For now, there are three distinct categories: phones, tablets, and laptops/desktops. Right now, bigger phones and thinner/lighter/touchscreen/2in1 laptops are displacing tablets more and more every year. But, tablets are still a strong segment. Some people are similarly ditching their laptop to go with a tablet only.

I've bolded the key word in your reply. Compromise. It's the very reason that I do NOT want Apple to screw with the iPad and try and make it everything to everyone. Let phones be phones. Let laptops be laptops. Let tablets be tablets.

I can't stand the harping people do about why the iPad can't be as powerful as a MacBook Pro or as light as a phone or whatever. These devices might have some convergence but ultimately they work best when they are allowed to focus on excelling at JUST their propective task. The jack of all trades, master of none phrase applies here.

 

[MH01]

Tablets are great. They will continue to be very successful, though people have no reason to buy a new iPad every year, it's more like a 3-4 year update cycle , hence the sale figures.

 

[Billy95Tech]

Yeah, I definitely think they have their place.I don't think its enough of a laptop replacement, but then again that was never what their purpose was. At least iPads. Maybe in the future there'll be some convergence, but not for the next several years (again, with respect to iPads).

I definitely think of tablets weather it is a Ipad, Android or a Windows 8 tablet as laptops replacements and i'm sure lots of people think the same as me!

They are way better than laptops and i don't see laptops especially desktops having a bright future at all, i see desktops, laptops will become a thing in the past, disappear in 5/10 years and we will have 2-1, hybrids and tablets as our primary/main computers.

But i think Desktops will most likely to disappear in 5/10 years then laptops as most people use there laptop as there desktop computer in there house so in the future laptops will be used as desktops computers and people will use tablets as there ultra portable computer and on the go.

Tablets are way more convenient and more ultra portable and as powerful than laptops and there is no need for desktops anymore because you can get laptops as powerful as desktops and desktops are not portable unlike laptops, tablets.


I think tablets are ultra portable computers and there is NO reason for tablets to go away in the distant future, tablets have very bright future!

Thank god we don't have those very underpowered, bulky horrible netbooks!!!!


I have completely replaced/ditched my laptop with tablets, a high end Android tablet(Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4) and a very powerful 11.6 inch Windows 8 tablet(Acer Iconia W700(I5 Core) and it is awesome!

 

[Billy95Tech]

As phones become more powerful and wireless protocols faster and more reliable, I'd like to see a tablet which is basically just a screen, which mirrors your phone. Would be a fair bit cheaper (although clearly the screen is the major expense), but more convenient because you'd only have to set up and maintain one device software wise. My iPhone and iPad are already set up very similarly, so I can transition easily between the two.

Much longer term the phone would be your home computer as well, mirroring to a large desktop screen(s).

I don't really see that happening at all, i really hope not anyway!

Phones will NEVER be our main home computer for lots of people even in the long term!!!!


It is completely ridiculous and stupid idea to think of our phones will be our main home computer one day and replacing tablets, laptops, Sorry but people always WANT something in between like tablets, laptops to be there main home computer especially when doing content creation and on the go!

And i don't see tablets becoming a sceen because there already exist and there are called MONITORS!!

 

[Billy95Tech]

I don't see tablets going anywhere soon. There are some things it just does better than both a phone and a laptop. What I do most on my iPad is read textbooks on Inkling, books on Kindle and PDFs. For that, neither a phone nor a laptop will be as good.
When I'm not at home but have some extra time to browse the web, a tablet is better than a phone. When I'm not at home, I don't need the computer power of a full operating system (my work doesn't involve anything computer related), so a laptop makes no sense for me.
In the end, each person has their own ideal setup of gadgets. You're not supposed to have all of them, watch + phone + phablet + tablet + laptop + desktop. Just choose the ones that work for your particular use.

My setup is just 2 tablets and that is all!

 

[Freyqq]

I've bolded the key word in your reply. Compromise. It's the very reason that I do NOT want Apple to screw with the iPad and try and make it everything to everyone. Let phones be phones. Let laptops be laptops. Let tablets be tablets.

I can't stand the harping people do about why the iPad can't be as powerful as a MacBook Pro or as light as a phone or whatever. These devices might have some convergence but ultimately they work best when they are allowed to focus on excelling at JUST their propective task. The jack of all trades, master of none phrase applies here.

Of course. You can still buy a DSLR, but many people can now survive on an iPhone camera, to show the analogy.

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I don't really see that happening at all, i really hope not anyway!

Phones will NEVER be our main home computer for lots of people even in the long term!!!!


It is completely ridiculous and stupid idea to think of our phones will be our main home computer one day and replacing tablets, laptops, Sorry but people always WANT something in between like tablets, laptops to be there main home computer especially when doing content creation and on the go!

And i don't see tablets becoming a sceen because there already exist and there are called MONITORS!!

It's really not that crazy of a concept, maybe 10+ years out. I mean, up until this gen, the iPad air and iPhone used the same exact processor.

 

[Harmonious Zen]

I've bolded the key word in your reply. Compromise. It's the very reason that I do NOT want Apple to screw with the iPad and try and make it everything to everyone. Let phones be phones. Let laptops be laptops. Let tablets be tablets.

I can't stand the harping people do about why the iPad can't be as powerful as a MacBook Pro or as light as a phone or whatever. These devices might have some convergence but ultimately they work best when they are allowed to focus on excelling at JUST their propective task. The jack of all trades, master of none phrase applies here.

I don't disagree, but at times technology catches up and it's possible to have a tablet with very little compromise and a phone with every little compromise and a laptop that does everything. Microsoft has really pushed the tablet concept with the Surface Pro.

 

[Yr Blues]

Can you imagine the day we all wear iLens and sit, staring into space while drinking lattes at the coffee shop? Too awkward.

 

[s2mikey]

I don't disagree, but at times technology catches up and it's possible to have a tablet with very little compromise and a phone with every little compromise and a laptop that does everything. Microsoft has really pushed the tablet concept with the Surface Pro.

No doubt the surface gets closer to the ideal laptop doubling as a tablet device. Still can't quite get it though. Maybe soon. They've made strides, no argument there.

 

[mi7chy]

Only tablets with a full OS like Windows or even Mac OS X have a future. Pretty much replaced my iPad and Android tablets with a Core M Windows tablet that does everything those can plus more. Very freeing to not have limitations. For example, can't even install Popcorn Time on iPad without jailbreak, Android is fine but only the Windows tablet can stream Popcorn Time to Chromecast while at the same time display YouTube 1080p full screen locally at the same time.

 

[ManicMarc]

I actually believe it's the phone that will go away.

When the Apple Watch is powerful enough to provide cellular connectivity, I'd much rather have that on my wrist all the time, and carry and iPad when I need a bigger screen (accessing the internet via the watch) For me, the phone is the compromise,

 

[Plutonius]

iPad Air and iPad Pro - Yes
iPad Mini - No (Will be phased out)

 

[nj-morris]

iPad Air and iPad Pro - Yes
iPad Mini - No (Will be phased out)

Disagree. Apple will develop each iPad to suit it's use case. iPad Mini will focus on portability, iPad Air will focus on experience, and iPad Pro will focus on power. I think think making the Mini lighter, increase battery life on the Air and put an advanced system and professional apps into the Pro

 

[CEmajr]

I actually believe it's the phone that will go away.

When the Apple Watch is powerful enough to provide cellular connectivity, I'd much rather have that on my wrist all the time, and carry and iPad when I need a bigger screen (accessing the internet via the watch) For me, the phone is the compromise,

It won't. Even if technology permitted, Apple will continue pushing the phone over all others due to how much revenue it generates. Plus the Watch is too small for a lot of the things people have become accustomed to using their phones for.

People have to understand that Apple wants you to buy an iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch. They have no interest in meshing two lines together like the Surface, that's why there's no OS X on iPad nor detachable keyboards. The only reason the iPod died out was because the iPhone literally is an iPod and contained all of its functionality plus more. I don't see any of those four devices totally replacing the functionality of one of the others and I believe Apple prefers it that way.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I think that tables ARE the future.

Wait till you see the iPad Pro or even wilder the Surface Pro 4

 

[QCassidy352]

I actually believe it's the phone that will go away.

When the Apple Watch is powerful enough to provide cellular connectivity, I'd much rather have that on my wrist all the time, and carry and iPad when I need a bigger screen (accessing the internet via the watch) For me, the phone is the compromise,

Not for me. The phone is by far the best form factor (out of those 3) to take photos, use for in-car navigation, and actually talk on a phone.

Many, many people want something small enough to take with them without a bag. That's not the iPad. So the question becomes whether the watch will ever be good enough at things like writing (not reading) texts and emails, browsing, taking photos, etc to make the phone expendable. It could be good enough at phone calls, streaming music, maybe even reading texts and short emails, but beyond that, the screen size is fundamentally prohibitive to the watch being even ok at those tasks.

 

[Robstevo]

For me they have a future, however apple needs to improved the software and open it up more in order for me to buy an iPad again.

For all the power the iPad has, it still has the exact same software as the iPhone. It needs real multitasking, and for me hopefully in the future it has USB c which allows you to plug in hard rives and such things.

Basically for me its mostly a software issue that could be addressed today if they wanted to.

 

[tdale]

I've bolded the key word in your reply. Compromise. It's the very reason that I do NOT want Apple to screw with the iPad and try and make it everything to everyone. Let phones be phones. Let laptops be laptops. Let tablets be tablets.

I can't stand the harping people do about why the iPad can't be as powerful as a MacBook Pro or as light as a phone or whatever. These devices might have some convergence but ultimately they work best when they are allowed to focus on excelling at JUST their propective task. The jack of all trades, master of none phrase applies here.

I agree. But I think there is room to move with an iPad, or should I say iOS, that would improve the iPads productive uses, and have zero effect on the iPad as a tablet.

1. There are times when getting a fire onto the iPad is a pain. No USB port, cloud is not always convenient, available or suits large files given the cloud cost or cellular plan cost. No need for Finder, just allow connection of a USB drive/stick, copy file, paste into the app that file is used in.

2. Mouse support. If you have a need to use the iPad as a laptop, say for travel, on the go. Using a BT keyboard will do, but adding mouse support would be great.

These two factors would make zero difference to the iPad, but they would allow a laptop-like experience, with a keyboard, mouse, file management ability.

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I definitely think of tablets weather it is a Ipad, Android or a Windows 8 tablet as laptops replacements and i'm sure lots of people think the same as me!

No, an iPad is restricted, too hard to do many things, such as get the 4GB file from that thumbdrive onto the iPad when you are on the go.

They are way better than laptops and i don't see laptops especially desktops having a bright future at all, i see desktops, laptops will become a thing in the past, disappear in 5/10 years and we will have 2-1, hybrids and tablets as our primary/main computers.

But i think Desktops will most likely to disappear in 5/10 years then laptops as most people use there laptop as there desktop computer in there house so in the future laptops will be used as desktops computers and people will use tablets as there ultra portable computer and on the go.

Tablets are way more convenient and more ultra portable and as powerful than laptops and there is no need for desktops anymore because you can get laptops as powerful as desktops and desktops are not portable unlike laptops, tablets.


I think tablets are ultra portable computers and there is NO reason for tablets to go away in the distant future, tablets have very bright future!

Thank god we don't have those very underpowered, bulky horrible netbooks!!!!


I have completely replaced/ditched my laptop with tablets, a high end Android tablet(Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4) and a very powerful Windows 8 tablet(Acer Iconia W700(I5 Core) and it is awesome!

Otherwise I agree. The tablets that you now use are fully capable of anything a laptop can do, functionality wise, but the iPad isn't

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For me they have a future, however apple needs to improved the software and open it up more in order for me to buy an iPad again.

For all the power the iPad has, it still has the exact same software as the iPhone. It needs real multitasking, and for me hopefully in the future it has USB c which allows you to plug in hard rives and such things.

Basically for me its mostly a software issue that could be addressed today if they wanted to.

Agree 100%. The iPad is limited, restrictive. (I have one and love it, but just to watch, read, and play)

It has enough power and it has ALL the functionality, except many functionalties are turned off, disabled, not implemented. It can have this without the need to be thicker, heavier and faster, software weighs nothing.

 

[940272]

I love seeing these types of threads when a few years ago everyone was proclaiming tablets were the future.

 

[tdale]

I love seeing these types of threads when a few years ago everyone was proclaiming tablets were the future.

Combine that with the fans/fanboys of Apple, Microsoft, Android, and there is a lot of filtering to do to see the real posts

 

[Mliii]

I love seeing these types of threads when a few years ago everyone was proclaiming tablets were the future.

Well, I think they COULD be the future if they were not hamstrung by companies which deliberately limit functionality in order not to cannibalize from laptop sales.

 

[tentala]

If we want to talk about the "future" of iPads compared to phones and laptops in general, we should think about the "future" of those devices as well. What will they look like in future?

To me, phones and tablets never replace laptops (similar to that laptops never replace desktops) unless a physical big screen is not a concern. If 3d projection or something similar can be achieved in a simple way by the devices, all tablets, phones, laptops, and desktops will become one.

Also, with the development of voice recognitions and other controlling devices that can understand our gestures (and even read our brain signal *future*), we probably don't need a keyboard and a mouse.