Tablets

I have been giving a lot of thought to tablets lately. The iPad has put tablets on the map and a number of manufacturers seem to be scrambling to get something on the market.

Tablets generally come in two varieties. The iPad is the flagship for the limited type of tablet, which runs on an ARM processor and runs an OS similar (or identical) to a smartphone. The second type generally runs a low power, low heat version of a desktop processor and a desktop OS, like Windows. Without meaning to demean either type, you could think of these as being netbooks without keyboards and large screen smartphones. I am careful about my insult warning because I don’t want to offend iPad buyers. I can certainly talk at length about the deficiencies of the iPad, but that isn’t my point now.

While many feel that the iPad has the tablet market to itself, that is only because they never looked for a tablet until the iPad came along. In addition, it looks like the market will soon be flooded with competitors. Many of those competitors will be equipped with ARM processors and will run Android, which will place them as direct competitors of the iPad in the first segment mentioned above. Android is a smartphone OS.

To truly understand the tablet market you must understand the limitations and advantages of these two types of tablets. A new nomenclature has been suggested for this market. Slate would refer to the more limited giant smartphone device, while tablet would be reserved for devices running a desktop OS. I like it, so I’ll be using it.

Slate (Giant Smartphone)

Since the iPad is the best known tablet I will use it as the example.

I have disparagingly referred to the iPad as a glorified iPod Touch. This is correct for the simple reason that the iPad does nothing more than an iPod Touch. They run the same OS and the same apps. Anything and iPad can do, an iPod Touch can do. This is true for any tablet that runs Android, except of course you must compare it to an Android phone.

Now, that doesn’t mean that this type of tablet is worthless. If you have used a smartphone for any length of time you know that one of its biggest limitations is the tiny screen. The tablet relieves that problem. Whether watching videos, reading or surfing the web, the experience is better because of that larger screen.

Tablet (Keyboardless Netbook)

Now, on to the second type of tablet.

So far, most of the more powerful tablets run Windows. They aren’t really any bigger than the lesser tablets, though they may be a bit thicker because of the extra heat from the more powerful processor. Many netbooks run Linux and you should be able to run any variety of Linux on Tablet devices.

Tablets offer many advantages over Slates, though some of these advantages may be shared by Android Slates, which will have their own advantages over the iPad.

As I used the iPad above, I am going to use a Windows Tablet as my example here. It is no accident that I am going to use a Samsung Q1U as my example, I am writing this on my Samsung Q1U right now.

My Tablet has a full version of Microsoft Office on it, not the Mobile Version that you find on Windows Phone, but the full version, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, even Access. Now, you may think that a boast, but actually it is just an example. With A Windows Tablet you can run any application that will run on Windows.

My Samsung also has two USB ports, a network jack, a VGA port and an SD card slot. You won’t find any of those on an iPad, though you may find SD card slots on Android Tablets. And yes, my Samsung has WiFi and Bluetooth.

Now, my old Samsung is a bit of a dinosaur in the Tablet World, but you can see that a true Tablet will have capabilities that no Slate can match.

The price for choosing A Tablet over a Slate are cost and weight. The fan on my Samsung is running right now.

I am not offering any judgments today. I am not here to declare one better than the other, only to define the market.