Please help me understand today's tablet craze?!

WHAT makes children happy these days.

For a really good scare, watch the first few episodes of Syfy's 'Continuum'...and think of just how far away that future really is! Computers mounted to your eyeballs like permanent contacts.

On the other hand, maybe 'The Walking Dead' will win first...then who will care?

Point being: how many 'Simon Sez' machines or even '8 function Calculators' do you know have survived? There is always a "New" iphone on the horizon, and a plethora of 'gotta have its' in line to be first. Use what works for you, and they will be happy to fill up the landfill for you.

the big dig on tablets follow

1. because it's there,
2. the media hype and the "Look at me,I'm Kool oope spell check cool"
3. because some of the early hand held gamers are growing up and the tablets remind them of the kiddie toy they had
4. they think the paperless way is the way to go. No books or papers to rustle with. Ever run out of TP???
5. on the rare occasion that a tablet is really the best option, like working in dirty, tight, or other difficult to function work areas and a laptop is not a viable option
6. Probably the most realistic use is because everyone else has one so I don't want to be left out.

My wife has one and uses it to play games. I have a laptop for word processing. we each have what we want and that is the bottom line. She can drop her pad in her purse when we travel and I carry laptop in a suitcase with a shoulder strap.

A pad has limited function for me and even though I carry a load I get more functionality.

It's part of the dumbing down of computing. There are a lot of people who still don't (and may never) understand the difference between RAM and hard drive space. They can't navigate a directory tree of folders, and don't want to learn. They just want to press a button, and have it work.

These are the people who have a desktop full of shortcuts and could never organize them if they had to. Problem is what happens when the desktop is full. Tablets answer that question by letting you slide to the next desktop.

I have a tablet because I like to read in bed, and it's easier than a laptop, but I only have a couple dozen apps. Most of what I do is in the browser.

Lee: When I read your opening question, I had to do two things: 1) check the actual date of your post, because it read as something written two years ago, and 2) I had to make sure that no one was spoofing you. (and this is said with utmost respect). Like everything else Tech, I was literally the first in my circle to own any of it. I was laughed at for owning a cell phone, a laptop, an MP3 player, a e-reader and finally a tablet. It took years and years for any of my friends to catch up, because they called each and every one of these devices, "a toy" or "gadget". I knew differently; these devices were "speaking my language."

This is the only way that I can describe to you how tablets make me feel: Have you ever personally experienced or seen a movie where a person comes in contact with computers when they first were available? And that person's eyes shine brighter and they exclaim, "I finally have something that thinks like me!!!!" (I imagine that this is how hackers and developer's feel: they literally are in sync with a computer's language: imagine Root or Finch in Person of Interest). Or, that scene when Helen Keller finally makes the connection that what Ann Sullivan is signing in her hand is identical to the water she's feeling?

Well, that's how dramatic tablets have been for me: I feel that I've lived long enough that FINALLY something has been made/developed that taps into the exact way that my brain processes material and I'm finally set free!

I never owned a computer until laptops became available, when they cost a solid gold brick. Why? I couldn't stand the feeling and thought of being "chained in place" to a single spot and I hated with a drooling passion, the blank-green-blinky screen. Everything about a computer, back then, felt hostile and non-organic; it felt like sensory deprivation, to me. And don't get me started on that crazy **** thing called a "mouse".

Then, along came the laptop, with a touch keypad. I was MOBILE, like I live my life every single day! And, the touch pad, for an artist, was responding to my fingers, just like the art materials I work with every day! There was still no Wi-Fi, but with a long enough ethernet cord, I could go "anywhere and everywhere", stringing the darn cable out my living room window to sit in my garden, which is my inspiration for projects and my blog.

Then, Wi-Fi came along! The world was coming closer and closer to integration into how I think and move! I do NOT work in an office! I do NOT sit at a desk for a living! I do NOT sleep in the same bed each night, but often a different bed each night for a week when I am lecturing! This is MY lifestyle and it suits me to a "t", but for others, they'd shrivel and die. Now, I could take 100% of my life's information, stored ON the computer instead of stupid "floppy disks" (which were NOT floppy nor a disk!) and if I needed exta space, I had a flash drive. Instead of hauling a projector and slides around, I could use my laptop for Powerpoint demonstrations. I could sit in ANY restaurant in ANY city in the World, and my office was WITH me, not stuck in some dreary, dusty corner of the house!!!

And then, Dream Upon Dream, came the tablet. How blessed I am to live long enough to experience it! Here was a device that got into my DNA: it understood me and how I think. I could TOUCH the screen and make it work...I no longer needed a dumb keyboard to lug around, as I took to SWYPE like a duck to water. Rather than tilting a laptop screen back and forth and back and forth for the right angle, I simply moved the tablet just like a book or magazine. And then there was the weight of the unit on your lap or your arms growing stiff on the table...ugh! It simplified my life, beyond measure!!! This is what I had to haul around with me when I traveled: laptop, laptop case, alarm clock, stop watch, digital camera and cord, address book, tons of books and magazines to read, at least 3 photo books showing my work, C.D's to listen to, DVD's to play on the optical drive, maps of towns I was in and going to, and some family photos to remind me of where to return back to. Now...100% of ALL OF THAT CRAP was on a 7" x 5" device...ALL OF IT!!! I could stream Pandora or switch to my downloaded CD's or better yet, stream my music from the Cloud. I could look at 100's of photos of my family, take photos with my tablet (Samsung Gal-Tab 7") and immediately mail them to clients, friends and family. I could find out exactly where I was going by looking at Google Maps and have it talk me there. I could hit "Places" and find the best Thai place in Boston or the best Pizza joint in Chicago. I could sit in a restaurant, save $2.00 each time by NOT buying the local paper and catch up on all the news around the globe. At night, rather than renting pricey hotel movies, I can stream from amazon...for free! And at night's end, read some more pages of my favourite book, set the alarm app, turn on the Pandora app, and fall asleep to music. All. On. One. Single. Device!

I've heard tablets called "The God Device" because it "knows all and does all." For someone in my position, who travels extensively, has their own business, is an artist and wants to stay connected, my time has finally come, with the advent of the tablet.

And Lee, if you still don't "get" why the tablet is so popular after reading my post, then Bless You for our differences.

It's a fad. Most tablet users are not using them as PC's. Speciality items are the main reason. For businesses they are light and portable for on site data entry (replaces paper and provides instant upload to home base computers). The housewife loves them for showing off photos on the bigger screen, much better than a pissy Iphone.
i believe they are a halfway house to better PC's that provide the best of both worlds.
Microsoft are heading in this direction with the new Surface PC and others are following. I'm waiting for the next generation which should have it all (at least a proper detachable keyboard).

I did not think I would like a tablet. Now, it is my most used piece of electronics. I am typing this reply on my touch screen now while lying on my back on my couch. The battery life is about 3 times that of my laptop. The ease of carrying it around is tremendously greater. I open the Smart Cover and it is ready to go.

I handle all my emails and texts from the tablet. I do not print anything anymore. Most of my documents, forms and other paperwork is available as PDF files which I store in my iBooks library. A contract, policy manual, or technical bulletin is best created on a laptop or desktop but can be more easily accessible to be referenced by the user on a tablet.

When I am researching online, I can usually just snap a photo of the screen. Yes, I know you can do a screen shot on a windows laptop. But it is more effort and I can not as easily just quickly flip through my images on the laptop with the flick of a finger. I rarely make notes on paper anymore, instead I grab the tablet.

In my leisure world, I use the tablet for watching movies and TV shows as much as my actual tv. If I need to go to a different room or a different city the tablet and the movie can move with me. Audio books, financial podcasts, and Internet radio also move with me and audio plays with the screen shut down, drastically extending battery life.

I have a desktop computer that gets used a couple of times a month. I just do not like sitting at a desk. A laptop i use when I need to do a lot of typing and creation of content or need to use advanced software. A phone for the smallest form. But this tablet is by far my most frequently and consistently used device.

By the way, I do not play games, have never sent a tweet, and can reimage a computer or set up a network as needed.

In my opinion Tablets are overpriced and yet another device that the sheeple "must" have...they`re hooks,much like a hook in a good song...dinnae be fooled Jim lad !