[Coco] The early days of Hacking and Coding a CoCo Was: Here's a CoCo 1 ...

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 11:29 PM, Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com> wrote:

> I use my iPad for 95% of everything I do these days. Certain times of the year when I start doing a bunch of audio/video/web work, I use my computer most. I use a bluetooth keyboard, though, and with Airplay, beaming to a large monitor is nice.
>
> Robert X. Cringely has mused that this is the future for most of us -- your phone, a keyboard and mouse, and monitor on your desk. It's always with you, and has most power than most of us need. High end games, video editors, etc. will be the ones with the full computers.
>
>> java.  Again, I don't know why.  Even the cheapest laptop or desktop would
>> make a much more suitable tool.  I guess its one of those "because we can"
>> things.
>
> "Because we can" is what led me to not using my computer much. I manage my wordpress blogs, my webhosting cpanels, can ssh in to my home Pi, VNC to the home computer, etc. And a few years ago I would have told you that was just stupid and useless and pointless except for an emergency.

I didn't mean to imply anything was stupid or pointless.  Tablets just
are not efficient at many of the things computers can do.  SSH is a
good example.  That is something I do quite a bit and have tried on a
tablet.  While you technically can do ssh, the experience is one of
"making do" and constant compromises.  Imagine the very real scenario
of needing to refer to a couple emails and a google search for some
online documentation while working on a remote linux box via SSH.  On
a tablet you can never see all three at the same time!  Better develop
a strong short term memory.  Forget about trying to follow an online
"how to" as you work through some process, and if your task involves
multiple servers... argh its just not fun.  Even something as mundane
as referring to one email while replying to another is incredibly
tedious.  I pity a student trying to write a paper using a device that
cannot even show you reference materials and your own text
simultaneously.

For the cost of an ipad plus bluetooth keyboard and mouse, you could
have a very nice laptop capable of so much more than an ipad is, and
when you compare traveling with ipad + kb + mouse, there isn't much
gained in terms of portability vs a small laptop either.

Cringley's vision of the future may be spot on, but today's tech isn't
delivering that experience.  Tablets are fun, I have several and enjoy
playing with them, but I really can't see them as any more than a
stepping stone towards something better.

$0.02
-Aaron