Every time a new device comes around, the self-proclaimed techsperts start declaring the death of older devices. It’s boring to keep hearing critics say things like the Smartphone is the “death of laptops,” the Kindle is the “death of books,” and the iPad is the “death of PCs” and the “death of e-Readers.”
I can see the iPad being nice for lying on the couch, flipping through websites and comic books, or playing relaxing video games that aren’t too intense. As appealing a toy as it is, I don’t find it very hard to resist buying the Android tablet equivalent. I get whatever it could provide me between my existing devices, my laptop, e-reader, and Smartphone. Like a lot of other technologies on display at Best Buy, the tablet pc doesn’t fit any particular need in my life.
The idea tablet-pc will replace the personal computer is just silly. For being productive, a sit-up, lean-forward device like the workstation, with a keyboard and a mouse for faster input, is the best medium. I suggest anyone who thinks the iPad will replace the laptop try coding for eight hours on one.
Likewise, the tablet-pc won’t replace the Xbox, Nintendo, or Playstation either. Those are also lean-forward media. People don’t lay back for a nice relaxing afternoon of first-person shooters, they lean forward to kick-ass. Hardcore gaming requires a gaming console, with a ergonomic controller, big-screen TV, and sound-system. That’s why PCs are no longer the best medium for gaming either; you want to lean forward on your couch, not upright at a desk.
The Kindle and Sony e-Reader aren’t going anywhere either. Tablet PCs are not quite relaxing enough and lacks sufficient battery life to completely fill this niche. The liquid ink display is a much more relaxing medium than a backlit display, making the e-reader more conducive to the lengthy, meditative attention novels demand. Plus I can take my e-Reader on a week-long camping trip and catch up on my summer-reading without having to worry about recharging.
Prehistoric Life, The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth
DK Publishing
The e-reader won’t replace all the books either. There’s no tablet or e-reader with a screen large enough to replicate Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Curiosities or Prehistoric. I can’t imagine an electronic device that would replace the coffee table book, unless it were a screen built into the surface of a coffee table or an absurdly large and cumbersome tablet.
We live in a world of increasingly specialized techofauna. As our options for digital solutions increases, the market share each new device can claim grows smaller. The long tail is getting ever longer. The tablet pc, e-book reader, and Smartphone are all niche items, rather than serve all our needs as they are advertised, they serve increasingly specialized needs. Any of these devices can serve as our phone, web browser, game console, mp3 player, video player, personal planner, etc, etc, but each of them provides varying degrees of comfort in our consumption of those services.
None of these are the death of the PC, put they do make the PC into more of a niche item, serving a specific, lean-forward purpose for productivity, just like my light-weight, thumb-sized MP3 player accompanies me on my morning jog, my FM radio accompanies me on my ride to work, my workstation keeps me focused all day at work, while video displays keep me entertained on the cardio machines at the gym afterwards, and my Smartphone serves as a niche-item for keeping me entertained while I stand in line at the grocery store. : )