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Comment by sgk284 | Hacker News Reader

For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad.

I love Linux, but there really is no beating an iPad if you need a PC-approximate that is absurdly low maintenance.

There's also CloudReady, it's based on Chromium OS. I installed it on a relatives computer after making sure they just needed a browser, and so far so good. It's been around 4-6 months and they said it's working fine.

https://www.neverware.com/#introtext-3

An iPad is an expensive solution if they've already got a PC, and Linux is a great free way to resurrect computers that the commercial operating systems have left behind.

That depends on how much you value your own personal time setting their system up and maintaining it. An iPad might have a greater up front cost, but the time savings could make it a comparative bargain over the lifetime of the device.

iPads are not maintenance and support free.

I would personally rather support a linux machine that I can remotely connect to, give them icons on the desktop, etc, than an iPad.

Not so expensive when you consider support.

A chromebook is cheaper and, IMHO, better for most users.

What do you think makes it better? It's not unusual to see non-technical users of all ages using an iPad. You never see them using a chromebook.

- Built-in keyboard,

- many times desktop browser will be more compatible,

- you can install additional safety browser extensions beyond adblocker,

- Chrome Remote Desktop for remote service,

- updates on ChromeOS are entirely seamless - just reboot the machine every once in a while.

Almost all of this is of no practical importance to 'many users'. They're nice-to-haves for technical users.

Built-in keyboard - this depends how often or how important for a person text entry is. Certainly for older users that type often or value it more physical keyboard would have very high practical importance [1]. For younger users that write a lot it would also be important.

Desktop browser compatibility have high practical importance. There are many sites that are important (i.e. government sites), but either are hard to navigate or can't be displayed properly. Users may use 20% of sites 80% of time. It does not matter then when they stumble upon a site that is important, but does not work. This sounds like a classic argument of FOSS proponents - everything works except: this game or that printer. In many cases it will be unacceptable.

Additional safety browser extensions and Chrome Remote Desktop are indeed for technical users. However it is meant to cut needed service time - that is of value to the normal users.

Seamless updates are important in a sense that the device is not bugging them and device is always ready to use. That also ensures that device is safe to use. It may be not of high importance to users, but it certainly is of practical importance.

I did not include price previously, but it was mentioned here above. The price is not practical importance per se, but it often overrides everything.

[1] http://web.ist.utl.pt/hugo.nicolau/publications/2012/assets1... - it's a small study, but nice place to start

Did you mean to imply there was a logical connection? I'm not sure how 'perceived usage' relates to 'quality'? Surely the two questions are orthogonal? i.e. the less used solution might still be 'better'.

No, I was asking what I typed. It wasn't a cleverly veiled challenge to derive what I could have meant from first principles.

Well either you were asserting an invalid logical connection or you phrased it poorly. Reading your reply I'm still not terribly clear which it was.

My parents hardly ever use a desktop computer since getting tablets and smart phones, but they still need and use one for business activities (self employment Excel entries, scanning and emailing documents, taxes). So while I wholeheartedly agree with you, I don't think the tablet can necessarily 100% eliminate the need for a desktop computer.

> For folks who mostly just need a browser and for whom malware is a risk, you really can't do better than an iPad.

Yup, I agree, but some folks prefer a physical keyboard and an Ipad + bluetooth keyboard is not really super convenient.

A chromebook is a pretty good alternative.

True. But Linux distros can run on more hardware I believe.

iPads are great. But what beats it is a Fire HD8. I got one for me and for my mother-in-law on CyberMonday for $56 each. That's about 1/10th the price of an iPad. I did not login to Amazon. I did install Chrome and VLC so she has music, videos, and the web - all one needs on such a device. Hopefully it gets rooted soon so I can install a generic Android ROM.

What sort of OS support updates is that getting?

OTA OS updates still occur on Fire tablet even if you don't register. I've disabled them via OpenDns in case the current OS version becomes rootable.

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