What Tablet Would You Buy Next?
When Bill Gates first introduced early tablet PCs some good 13 years ago (year 2000), the world was not ready for it. To be fair the tablet was too complicated and bulky for regular consumers who were at the time only beginning to consider buying their first desktop computers. Response was rather sad and nobody outside of really specialised industries ever caught on to the idea.
Fast forward about ten years and we saw Apple revisiting the tablet market with the iconic iPad. The world went wild. Revolutionary, some said. Genius, some said. The fact was too far from it. What Apple, or rather Steve Jobs, did was simply knowing exactly what consumers want and when to give it to them. By that context I agree he was a true genius. My Marketing God.
He took the conventional tablet, removed everything complicated in it and introduced it as a new product. Every consumer in the world were able to immediately relate to the product and actually want one. The rest is history.
What Apple did differently this time around was that instead of trying to pack a full on desktop OS into a small device, they built a mobile OS that could effortlessly fit into an ultraportable device. As the market saturates and tablet computers quickly become necessities instead of a luxury item just a mere 3 years ago, what will become of the iPad and others of its kind? What then will be the future of tablet PCs?
iPads, Nexuses and other such similar devices are quickly being reduced from a potential content creation device to a toilet and bedtime companion. Many can be done with these devices, but people would rather rely on more capable devices like laptops instead of barely scraping work through less efficiently with tablets. It became worse when 7-inch tablets entered the market, further stamping tablets as a mere e-reader and casual gaming device. Fewer are seen taken out of their homes as presentation tools and even fewer new devices were purchased to replace older ones. There is just hardly any motivation for any sensible person to continue pushing work forward with tablets anymore.
Then came the awkward hybrid called the Surface, both RT and Pro. It's rather bulky, albeit looking dashing, and spots the most controversial Windows Operating Systems of all time. The RT is a stripped-down version of the Pro, being able to only do one thing at a time. The Pro however, is bragged as being so powerful it can play Diablo 3 without sacrificing performance and experience. They obviously did not dare say anything about real estate.
The tech world thought Surface tablets were stupid and lost. They didn't understand what kind of people would buy into such a device. Some even likened it to the BMW 5 Series GT, which I would agree the latter is rather misplaced.
But as the second generation of Surface tablets hit the market, consumers are beginning to see the value of these hybrid machines. Sure these tablets are what some of call a Britney Spears: not a tablet, not yet a laptop, but as a machine one can actually bring out of their homes and get some real work done beyond browsing the net and typing in notes Surface tablets are really beginning to gain traction with the people. Proper spreadsheet creation and editing can be done. Proper photo editing can be done. It works well with the cloud and by itself. It also makes complete sense of the Metro/Modern UI.
Students are already beginning to ditch the half-assed looks-good-but-can't-do-squat tablets, preferring something they can actually do some decent school work in and light enough to lug around without killing their necks. They are turning their attention to Surface tablets. You too may want to reconsider before you buy that new and light piano player some liken to a pencil.
