Re: [tlug] Smart phone vs Tablet: app on sd

[Jim Breen <jimbreen@example.com>]

On 21 August 2014 10:39, Bruno Raoult <braoult@example.com> wrote:

> I would like my tablet to be a computer, Google decided decided it won't.

That really goes to the heart of it - is a tablet a computer, or is it an
overgrown phone.

We faced a decision last year when we decided that the little Asus EePC
(with a broken old Debian distro) which we had taken around the world
a few times had reached its use-by date. The browser was so old that
lots of sites no longer worked, etc. etc. Would we get another small
notebook and install Linux, or get a tablet. We decided to try a tablet
and since my wife really wants a proper keyboard, we got an Asus
"Transformer" with a plugin keyboard (which has an extra battery, USB,
SD slot, etc.)  It was much the same price as a notebook would have been.

I have to say it has worked out pretty well. Having ready access to all
the Android apps has been a plus, and there's not been too many times
when I've wished we had a "real" computer.

I think the point to keep in mind is that tablets are really stretched phones,
i.e. there are a lot of smarts in the UI, but a fairly restricted ability to
get at the internals. Maybe one day they'll merge more. These days I
mostly do the grunt work on servers, and if I'm on the road I find a
good SSH app on the tablet is all I need.

Jim

-- 
Jim Breen
Adjunct Snr Research Fellow, Japanese Studies Centre, Monash University