I’ll freely admit that I almost – almost – bought an iPad 2, literally the minute they went on sale. I must’ve been gripped by some sort of temporary insanity.
Fortunately for my wallet, the iPad 2 immediately appeared online with an estimated delivery time of several weeks. As such, the fun was kinda sucked out of the potential impulse purchase, and ultimately I decided against it.
Since then, I’ve contemplated buying a tablet on occasion. It seems somewhat inevitable, given that I have one of just about every other portable thingy; smartphone, Kindle, Nintendo DS, PSP, laptop... The glaring omission there is a tablet.
Also, my mate recently picked up an iPad 2, and it’s hard not to be impressed by the Apple slickness. Damn it.
However, I’m a logical type of guy, and don’t really see the point in tablets to be honest. I figured I’d outline my reasoning in this handy feature. I can refer back here in inevitable moments of weakness.
Choice
There’s not a whole lot to choose from at the moment, and I’m reluctant to give Apple more of my hard earned. In the past five years or so I’ve bought an iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook, MacBook Pro and iMac from Jobs and Co. Sigh.
I had high hopes for the HTC Flyer after coming tantalisingly close to it at Mobile World Congress in February. Alas, it’s an over-priced Gingerbread-running disappointment. I can’t imagine anyone but HTC diehards forking out for a 16GB HTC Flyer when they could have a 32GB iPad 2 for the same price.
While we’re on the subject of the HTC Flyer, it’s still not out yet, and there’s already muchos talk about the 10in Honeycomb-running HTC Puccini. Not cool, HTC. Not cool.
Price
I’d probably (reluctantly) go for an iPad 2, or possibly an Eee Pad Transformer. Either way, I’d be looking at £400+. That’s a lot of money. In fact - to give that figure some context - you could buy a 42in TV, or an Xbox and a PS3 for the same price.
Or maybe booze is your vice? How does 20 bottles of Jack Daniels sound?
Functionality
What do tablets actually do? Well, quite a lot, to be fair. I think the problem is that they do a lot of stuff quite well, but there’s always something better.
- Browsing? I’ve got my MacBook. Even if I’m on the move without it, I’m perfectly happy using my 4.3in HTC Desire HD.
- Gaming? Admittedly titles like Infinity Blade look pretty awesome running on the iPad, but I’ve got an Xbox, a PS3, a PSP and a Nintendo DS. Oh, and not forgetting my HTC Desire HD and iPod touch. I don’t really need another gaming outlet, thankyouverymuch.
- eReading? I’ve got my humble Kindle for that. And I can use it in the sun, too. Er, not that there’s much sun up here at the moment, but, y’know.
- Film and TV? You can read my thoughts in Size Matters.
Yet somehow, despite my own irrefutable logic, I still kind of want a tablet. Maybe. Sometimes. I’m no psychologist, but I believe this is an example of cognitive dissonance; holding two conflicting opinions simultaneously. Or perhaps 'indecisive moron' is a more fitting term.
So I can not buy a tablet and live with the niggling feeling that maybe I should, or give in to temptation and secretly hate myself for the rest of time. It’s a tough life, huh?
