Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2011 > June > 09 > Entry
Tablet transition tips #1: typing
Update, 6/13: you can read the American-Statesman version of the story here.
On Sunday, we’re running a piece I wrote for the Statesman’s Life & Arts section that contains advice on how to move from a desktop PC or laptop/netbook to a tablet device like an iPad 2 or a Motorola Xoom.
If feels like we’re just starting to see people ditch their computers for tablets full time and I spoke to John Muehlbauer, who has been using iPads as his main computing device for more than a year, and usability expert Dave Yeats at Sentier Strategic Resources, LLC for the piece. Here’s a condensed preview of some of what’s in the story.
John Muehlbauer used to own a bulky, heavy Toshiba tablet computer back when a tablet was basically a laptop with a touch screen. But the latest tablets, including the iPad 2, Motorola’s Xoom, the BlackBerry PlayBook and dozens of others appearing this year, have made it possible for early adopters like Muehlbauer to do most of their computing on a slim, light device.
Muehlbauer is part of a shift that hasn’t quite hit the mainstream yet, but that probably will very soon. About 230 million laptops will be sold worldwide this year, according to the research company Gartner Inc. But sales of tablets are expected to reach 50 million this year, and sometime soon those sales are expected to surpass laptop sales, at least in the U.S.
Already, netbooks — small notebook computers that were hot among casual web surfers and college students in recent years — have taken a huge hit from tablets, which typically cost $400-$700 and can download powerful touch-screen apps and do many of the tasks that PCs do (and sometimes even do them better).
But those who plan to give up a laptop, or even a home desktop PC, to spend more time with a new tablet should realize that there are still some roadblocks involved in this transition.
“I think that the portability and the novelty of it has a lot of appeal,” said Dave Yeats, an Austin-based partner and researcher with Sentier Strategic Resources, LLC, where he studies user experience. “But there are some brakes on there that will keep people from moving in that direction all the way. I still think we’re in the phase that people have to recognize there’s barriers to use.”
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to making a tablet your main PC is that touch screen. It’s great for watching movies and browsing the Web, but, as Yeats says, “if you wanted to write a report on a tablet, I think you’d jump off a bridge.”
Touch typists aren’t likely to keep up a fast word count on a tablet, but hunt-and-peck typists may find there’s not much difference between a physical keyboard and a virtual one.
And depending on the size of the tablet, it might not be easy to thumb-type (as you would when texting on a smart phone) and hold the tablet from each side at the same time.
Muehlbauer said typing was the hardest part of migrating to an iPad. “Anything over a paragraph was tedious at first,” he said. “It was hours and hours of practice. After a year, I’m faster than on a keyboard because I do so much on an iPad.”
Another challenge is finding the right way to position a tablet for typing. Muehlbauer says he prefers to keep the device on a desk, tilted up using the iPad 2’s Smart Cover (which doubles as a stand) or to prop it up on a tilted knee.
He refuses to buy an external wireless keyboard.
“I wanted to use it as it was,” he said. “If I was buying an external keyboard, it was defeating the purpose of buying something thinner and lighter; I’d be carrying all this junk around.”
If you’re a writer or student with a need to type documents, long emails or reports, however, an external keyboard might be a good fit. They’re typically small and light enough that, combined with a tablet, they still weigh less than most netbooks or laptops.
You can read Part 2 and Part 3 of this series of posts.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Computers, Gadgets, Internet
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.