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Comment by dankoss | Hacker News Reader

The initial tablet market struck me as a very boomer focused device, one that made computing easy for a limited subset of tasks.

I think he's wrong that tablets have peaked. As the software and hardware on tablets catches up to the capability of a full laptop, they are a much more compelling device for use at home or at work. Content creation, software development and file management are still a challenge but these can be fixed.

I really hope the Surface and derivatives catch on in the enterprise, because I'm tired of lugging a 7lb laptop to and from meetings.

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I'm a Linux user and very much addicted to the CLI. For any kind of work, a tablet isn't really right for me. I'm getting by okay with two laptops at the office: An MBP that weighs at least 7 lbs and a 2.2 lb ThinkPad. All my work stuff is on my MBP which stays on my desk. I take my ThinkPad to meetings, and if I need to reference something off the MBP I simply ssh into it. That would be a pain without a keyboard.

So being a Linux CLI guy puts me at something like 1% of computer users. I agree that the tablet content creation interface can be fixed for most of the rest of the 99%. I expect that soon the only distinction between a tablet and a laptop is whether or not the keyboard is attached.

I am very much a Linux user and addicted to the CLI and my plethora of tools, doing heavy work (like compilation) on servers. I buy the lightest computing devices as I don't really need anything with a lot of processing power; so battery life and actual weight win it for me. I had a heavy MBP before I bought a Chromebook and I don't see me ever doing that again. As for tablets; I like to have them laying around for content consumption but for everything else I really do need a keyboard and I don't really know how that could be replaced. I tried the keyboards on tablets (including the surface 2) and they are a joke for coding imho.

I wonder if there'd be any market for bringing back the keyboarded smartphone in the phablet scale - that is, something that splits the difference between a Nexus 7 and a Blackberry Q10. For people who need to type standing-up but don't want a tiny smartphone.

Then again, you'd still be restricted to thumb-typing, it would be hard to come up with a sweet-spot size that allows both thumb-typing and proper keyboard touch-typing - this is something the software keyboards excel at, since you get both form-factors by rotating the device.

If you're addicted to the CLI why the MBP? A MBA would serve you just as well, and be lighter.

Legacy, mainly. You're right, I'd be just as happy with an MBA or my ThinkPad and a bunch of server space. As a CLI user, that's an easy trade-off. I suspect it's slightly more difficult for GUI users to make the transition because applications are usually written with the expectation of running on a local machine. As the GUI moves to the web it will become irrelevant.

I really liked the desktop/phone combo in the movie Her. The main character buys an "Operating System" that sort of takes over his desktop at home and at work and also his phone. I don't know that it's something we'd want to call an OS the way Windows or Linux is an OS, but there's a lot of sense to a user interface that follows you on whatever device you happen to be using.

Probably because until recently, only the MBP was retina - and that's a big advantage (to me).

I agree.

2-in-1 PCs are great, Windows 8 notwithstanding. I just got a Thinkpad Yoga and being able to work in tablet mode when I'm stuck in cramped seat on a train or plane is fantastic. I'm also encouraged by the return of pen-based digitizers. I know it's a small niche, but for designers and artists, it's quite nice.

My yoga 2 pro has completely allowed me to replace two devices. The only possible advantage a dedicated tablet has would be size/weight, but I've yet to encounter that in my purely anecdotal usage

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