01.23
Kindle Fire and iPad
I’ve been using a first generation iPad since Fall 2010, and am a new Kindle Fire user. I’m absolutely in love with my iPad, and the jury is still out regarding the Kindle Fire. While my tablet use is mostly limited to one product, I do have some thoughts on tablets overall.
They are wonderfully convenient.
Laptops are great for working on the go (for the most part, at CCP I had a monster of a laptop that was so huge (but very gaming powerful) I almost needed a suitcase to carry it around in when I traveled. On-the-go with this laptop was not convenient at all). My desktop? I can’t even lift that sucker.
Tablets are even better when it comes to use convenience. Why am I addicted to my iPad? Because I can sit at my desk and use it with it in my lap with my feet propped up. I can use it in bed with it propped up on my legs, are when rolled over on the side. I can use it when I’m on the shitter. I can take it anywhere in a reasonably sized bag, or even put it in my back pocket.
I don’t recommend using it on the subway, however, unless you’re the kind of person trying to see if you can become a new crime statistic. Tablets aren’t just convenient for the end user, but they can be easy to steal for the criminal, too.
They increase the possibility that I will explore or purchase new content.
I’m a big e-book reader (more convenient than reading books). I’m not too big on watching television or movies, but if I were, Netflix is there to let me watch them (if I had an account, which I no longer do… because I’m not too big on watching television or movies).
Apps can push content I want (the New York Times app is my most used app; I rarely ever went to the NYT site, but the app I use several times a day), entertain me via well-designed games, make me more proficient with productivity apps, or let me keep tabs on whatever it is I want to keep tabs on.
I am more likely to spend money on new content using my tablet than I am on my computer because my tablet is wonderfully convenient.
To me, those are the two big bonuses of tablets. Convenience and content. It’s why I use my iPad all the time, and a big reason why I dropped to C notes on the Fire (so I can access Amazon Prime content) even though I already owned a Kindle e-book reader. But the more I think about it, there is more bad than good with regards to tablets, and the convenience that I so love may not be so convenient in the long run.
They are closed systems hardware-wise.
Want to upgrade? Need to fix a component? You need to, most likely, purchase a new tablet. In my PCs and laptops (to a degree), I can upgrade a component or replace a faulty one with a new one. I can add new components, either internally (new HDD, new soundcard, new RAM modules, etc.) or externally via USB. With a tablet, you have no hardware control except to say, “I want my widgetWidget to have wifi and 69G, 16 gigs, and that sexy cover that smells industrial,” while pressing the “buy now” button on some Web site.
They are offensively closed systems software-wise.
You buy a tablet, you are married to whatever OS is installed on it.
You buy a tablet, you are limited in what software you can install (unless you root it or hack the OS), and not only are you limited in what software you can install, there are gatekeepers who determine what is and what is not appropriate for your device. In some cases, you can’t easily put your own content on your device. You may have to sideload somehow, if that’s even possible. For iOS, you might be able to upload your content to a specific app via iTunes, but you won’t have easy access to that file unless you have it sitting somewhere else, like your computer. Why? Because iTunes puts the content into the app itself!
Not all content is accessible to you. Want to look at a Web site that uses Flash? Sucks if you’re using iOS. Want to watch a video linked to on a blog? You might not be able to because your tablet can’t play that file format, and you can’t install the codecs for it because you are limited in what software you can install.
What’s even worse? DRM. You will most likely have the majority of your content controlled under DRM. Why is this “even worse”? Because DRM limits you to certain technology. That Kindle book you just finished, that song you purchased by your favorite band, will be DRM-protected. Don’t think this is a bad thing because it protects content creators? What happens when Apple goes under? What about if Amazon gets out of the e-book industry? What happens if the content creator or content distributor decides that they no longer want you to have the content you purchased? Think I’m crazy? It’s happened before, and will happen again.
You are not in control.
Not really. You are the credit card to your new, sexy toy, and that’s about it. How’s that feel, Consumer?
At the end of the day, convenience isn’t really convenient, and tech companies have more control over your device and content than you do. Millions of people have purchased or will purchase a new tablet and, for the most part, they will be unaware about how much control they do not have. If we, as tablet consumers, are not careful, we will be giving tech companies and content creators much greater control over the content we consume and how we consume it. This could be bad in the long run, especially as we, as content consumers, kick and scream our way towards free culture.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check on my Tiny Tower.
Update: 29% of Americans now own a tablet or reader device. (source)
