Issue 31.15
The two biggest selling items in the electronics arena are cell-phones and tablet computers. There are a number of reasons for this but there is no denying their presence on the technology scene. Probably the biggest reason for the high sales is the life of product cycle. Most cell-phones are replaced every two years on average. Tablets usually last a little longer, but both are short term purchases and are damaged more frequently than items that are not carried around with you. When you consider the cost (smart phones run from $400-$700 dollars and higher end tablets run from $200-$1000) this is a significant investment for such a short lifespan.
Laptops, on the other hand, are usually more durable and less likely to get damaged. They last longer as a general rule and may be a better investment ($400-$1200) even though they generally have a higher price tag than a similar tablet. The screens are larger (7 to 10 inches for most tablets – 15 to 17 inches for most laptops) and for me, the laptop keyboard is much easier to type on.
Some considerations are that the laptops have DVD/CD and even blu-ray players usually included and have fairly easy connections to large displays such as flat panel TVs or monitors. Most tablets use software that is different than your desktop which makes file transfers and other work problematic at times. Taking those things into account, it seems that a laptop is usually the better choice.
In reality though, this is not often a this-or-that decision. Many if not most of my clients now have a laptop that they use at home and when they travel, but also have a tablet that they carry with them to church, around town and when they are just hanging around or shopping, going to lunch, etc. They like the screen that is larger and easier to read than their cell-phone and they like the ease of accessing the internet, emails, facebook, you-tube and many other things they use often. If you can afford it, having both is very nice.
Manufacturers are working to make it easier to combine concepts. For example Microsoft’s Surface is basically a computer in a tablet form. The screen is still small compared to a regular laptop but they do provide a detachable keyboard and you can buy an external dvd if you want to carry it around. Other companies such as HP and Dell are doing similar things.
On the cell-phone front, many manufacturers are making larger cell-phones with screens that approach the same size as small tablets but still have the wireless phone connection. They call them tablet phones or other names that indicate the additional functionality.
Technology will continue to evolve and manufacturers will try to anticipate what you want to do and make it more possible. Research is being done into audio only computers that you can wear. In other words you would simply state what you want or who to call and it will speak the information back to you or make the call or type the document. Many cell-phones already do some of these things. There are obvious limitations to this approach but they are still working on it as a possible way to sell you more stuff so keep an eye out for new innovations – and always remember to back up anything on your computer that is important to you.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 33 years, 26 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently works as a computer consultant. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or shaun@musicomp.net.