Full Linux Tablet Coming
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@scottalanmiller said:
I actually use a tablet very little these days. Laptop and phone nearly always and a Kindle (semi-tablet, but not a Fire) for reading.
This, This 1000 times, this!
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@Dashrender said:
Why would you have nothing? you have your creation-focused machine.
Like when I am on the couch or on an airplane and don't have my content creation machine(s). It fills a gap for the times when I would otherwise not have a device with me.
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@scottalanmiller said:
It's a good discussion... what does a mobile OS really imply? There are a lot of assumptions, but no one is completely sure.
Some common assumptions that I doubt any or most of us would universally agree with:
- Mobile means ARM (so what about mobile Intel procs or low powered PowerPC?)
- Mobile means single user (but what if you enable users on Android?)
- Mobile means specialized touch interface (mostly acceptable I think.)
- Mobile means limited apps (how do we define limited, the apps are just apps.)
Interesting -
why does mobile mean ARM? Consumers have no clue what that means, so that would only be a techie thing.Single user - OK I'll give this one to you, only because the device makers (until the Surface devices) have given no way to easily switch between users (missing from UI)
Touch interface - yeah, you're right.
limited apps - this is a perception issue, not a real one. With so much being done in the cloud these days there is little reason that you can't have full normal business access to things that don't require a ton of horse power to utilize (i.e. video editing, possibly graphics editing, etc)
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@Dashrender said:
Interesting -
why does mobile mean ARM? Consumers have no clue what that means, so that would only be a techie thing.Yes, but it is often used as part of the definition. Why does ARM mean "Real Time?" Windows RT (real time) was the name of their ARM build. Why? What strange association people make with something that is simply a different architecture.
ARM gets associated with mobile because all major consumer mobile devices are ARM and nothing else that they see is. Even though you've been able to get ARM desktops for decades.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@DustinB3403 said:
That would be an ideal platform, a device that can be a desktop computer (content creation), tablet for mild creation / consumption, and lastly a consumption only function for reading / watching / listening to content.
That's a theory long debated. Is something that "converts" a better (more ideal) platform than multiple, specialized products? Apple things no. Microsoft thinks yes.
Convertible laptops/tablets like the Yoga series are an example of this. But it suffers a noticeable issue - weight! People love their 1 lb or less iPad. Top that off with the fact that the OS and the required AMD x64 based processor use a lot more power.
Scott loves the ARM chips so much, and they do seem to be able to be powerful, I'm guessing it would just break to much, or require to much power, etc to try to move Windows to an ARM processor? Perhaps this isn't possible and expect any real gain the battery life arena?
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@Dashrender said:
limited apps - this is a perception issue, not a real one. With so much being done in the cloud these days there is little reason that you can't have full normal business access to things that don't require a ton of horse power to utilize (i.e. video editing, possibly graphics editing, etc)
I agree. It is all perception. That's the core problem. The term arose and we "get it" but there is no definition. That makes for a problem long term.
The best definition of mobile I can think of is simply "an OS focused on usability for highly mobile devices like phones and tablets." Which leaves us with no defining characteristics, but at least a definition that mirrors usage.
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@DustinB3403 said:
Something like this I/O Magic MagicTouch Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard built into a tablet would be an amazing step in the right direction for consolidating the hardware platforms into 1 device.
As this device is now, its just another peripheral device. It may fill a need, but seems rather wasteful by it's representation. Of a persons hands only a few feet from it.
A better explanation of what I mean is, this device certainly fills the need of a keyboard on a device, but it seems ridiculous to have to carry yet another device around for the keyboard. It should be integrated.
have you ever tried using one of those? They're pretty horrible. I can barely type on a keyboard that doesn't have the little feet sticking out to prop up the back of the keyboard, let alone type directly onto the table top surface. If I was willing to use it, it wouldn't be for more than a sentence or three a day, more than that and I need a keyboard, at least something like the Surface Pro 3 keyboard, but I'd rather have it more like a laptop keyboard (stiff/rigid).
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@Dashrender the point is that the tools to use the device (and to be considered a full OS, as this subject has digressed to) need to be built in.
A peripheral device although standard on a desktop device (keyboard & mouse, speakers, webcam or whatever) all need to come into the main system, and be built into it.
One shouldn't be required to carry a keyboard and mouse around to be productive on a tablet. The tablet, being a mild content creation / consumption device should have the full functionality to complete it's implied design purpose.
Allowing people to easily create content on it, while if they choose also consume content.
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@DustinB3403 said:
Something like this I/O Magic MagicTouch Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard built into a tablet would be an amazing step in the right direction for consolidating the hardware platforms into 1 device.
As this device is now, its just another peripheral device. It may fill a need, but seems rather wasteful by it's representation. Of a persons hands only a few feet from it.
A better explanation of what I mean is, this device certainly fills the need of a keyboard on a device, but it seems ridiculous to have to carry yet another device around for the keyboard. It should be integrated.
But if it is integrated, isn't it now a laptop and not a tablet and now we are back to not being good at being a tablet?
I prefer my devices discrete, each doing what it is good at. Not for everyone, but I like getting to select best of breed and having an awesome experience, even though those experiences are different.
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@DustinB3403 said:
@Dashrender the point is that the tools to use the device (and to be considered a full OS, as this subject has digressed to) need to be built in.
OS and device are unrelated. OS is software, device is hardware. The OS cannot be defined as to what it is by where the end user chooses to install it.
A car is still a car even when dropped off pier.
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@scottalanmiller No Scott
In this example of technology, I am specifically referring to the technology of projection keyboards. As a piece of tech that should be better developed for mobile tablet platforms.
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@DustinB3403 said:
A peripheral device although standard on a desktop device (keyboard & mouse, speakers, webcam or whatever) all need to come into the main system, and be built into it.
No idea what you mean. My desktop needs me to plug in a keyboard, as does my tablet.
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@scottalanmiller Does your tablet not have a built in on screen keyboard which can be used?
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@DustinB3403 said:
@scottalanmiller No Scott
In this example of technology, I am specifically referring to the technology of projection keyboards. As a piece of tech that should be better developed for mobile tablet platforms.
That's just silly. It's a neat idea, but it is just a toy. There is a reason why people typing all of the time don't want to even use laptop keyboards.
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@DustinB3403 said:
@scottalanmiller Does your tablet not have a built in on screen keyboard which can be used?
Sure, every modern OS does.
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Then you're not required to connect a keyboard to it.
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@DustinB3403 said:
Then you're not required to connect a keyboard to it.
Huh? Sure you are. You HAVE to connect some device for input, whether it is a touch screen, keyboard, mouse, etc. Doesn't matter what OS you have.
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I think you continue to try to blend the mobile device with the OS. They are discrete things and cannot be treated in that way. You are making yourself confused by referring to a keyboard driver or display at one moment and built in hardware in the next and having hardware requirements to define software. It just doesn't make sense.
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My goal, if I were designing a tablet, for the purpose of mild content creation & content consumption would be to build an all inclusive device, which doesn't require any external device to use the device "easily" as an onscreen keyboard would consume the majority of the display of any mobile device.
Which is why many people opt for the external keyboard.
But build a better projection keyboard. Build better tech, rather than falling back to already existing models.
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@DustinB3403 said:
My goal, if I were designing a tablet, for the purpose of mild content creation & content consumption would be to build an all inclusive device, which doesn't require any external device to use the device "easily" as an onscreen keyboard would consume the majority of the display of any mobile device.
I feel like you are describing a laptop. What aspect of this isn't "a laptop"?
