Susan, I am in the same situation and I bet a lot of people are trying to make decisions that are similar. I do have a laptop -- desktops are out of the picture -- but I like the ultra-portability of the tablet so I am trying to decide which one to buy rather than whether to get one. It's been a long slog looking at all the products out there and because my company supports the Blackberry phone, I am seriously considering the Blackberry Playbook. Maybe we are all gadget freaks but I must confess to loving the options.
These are the kind of situations computer and tablet manufacturers as well as their suppliers must be aware of in planning their future capacity, sales and marketing strategies. It's also one of the factors keeping supply chain and procurement managers awake at night. Happy hunting.
Hawk, Maybe standing is not the best way to try to use a tablet? I can understand it can be tiring and uncomfortable. Then you should think of what kind of situation you would actually use it.
Mr.R, I have a laptop and a netbook and trying to decide on a tablet and see if I can use it as an alternative for my netbook. I am not going back to desktops. For someone like me who can find herself working anywhere a desktop is just useless. A good laptop is a need in my case, and something lighter and thiner for carrying always with me as I never know where I am going to end up working. :)
I believe that tablets will overcome laptops in term of volume. It's a matter of when. How many laptops are being sold each year? has that number been increasing? etc?
While they don't have the same funcionalities (and never will), they aren't really substitutes -- some people NEED a laptop, but most people don't ... they just want to chat while on the road, send emails, etc.
I don't think a tablet can replace a laptop so yet. To be able to choose a tablet over a laptop the tablet needs to offer the functionality a laptop offers to people who carry their laptop all the time and work in any place where they have a WiFi connection available.
Tablets may evolve to that point of functionality, though.
What was the main reason why you couldn't wait to put the tablet back on the shelf? Was it the sole reason that you were probably standing and using the tablet was then not too comfortable or there was something else you didn't like?
Simple devices and sophisticated remote services sound like a likely pairing. The simpler and more convenient something is, the more attractive it seems to be. Maybe that's why people like convenience foods so much, even though they taste so horrible.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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