On 04/23/2012 10:25 AM, Will Stephenson wrote:
I'm very interested in hearing how those of you with tablets + keyboards get on with them as general purpose computing devices, to see where the market is going. How useful are they? What tasks do you need the PC/laptop for? Is it just for better performance, or are there some things that are just not possible? Are those 'legacy things' like playing optical discs that can also be carried out using more current technology like streaming video, or things that are intrinsically impossible on a tablet?
I am concerned about the future of the consumer Free Software 'market' as tablets displace PCs and locked down proprietary or only notionally Free operating systems replace general purpose OSen and platforms. It would be a great pity if the effort we've expended over the last 15 years to fight a monopolist was wasted because the userbase skipped happily into a totalitarian state's walled garden while we were fighting each other over widget sets.
Will
I have two desktops, a full size laptop, an EeePC 900 Netbook and a Dell Inspiron Duo. At home I really love my desktops. Wouldn't even consider giving them up for a laptop. One is set up for dual monitors. The other shares one monitor, keyboard and mouse with the other through a KVM switch. The full size laptop is used when we travel in place of my desktops at home. Dual booted Linux and Windows 7 Home Premium At 2 pounds the Eee is great for just running around and at coffee shops and such. Light weight and doesn't take up a lot of space. I can also take it to libraries and such when doing my genealogy research. The 9 inch screen size is a big hindrance for many things. Just not enough real estate. Kubuntu 11.10. I looked at a lot of tablets and just couldn't find one I *really* liked all that well. Finally decided on the Dell Inspiron Duo instead. Has the "flip screen" to give it the functionality of a tablet while still has all the features of the Netbook. Nice big hard drive [ but not huge by any means ]. Good size keyboard. A bit heavier and bulkier than a tablet. More features than a tablet alone. I can flip the screen around and turn it length wise to have a nice big screen for reading e-books. Bigger screen than any tablet or e-book reader I've seen. Its still running Windows 7 Home Premium at this point. Last summer I was streaming the Womens World Cup from our Slingbox at home while we were in Wichita for the week on it. -- “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government lest it come to dominate our lives and interests”. - Patrick Henry - _ _... ..._ _ _._ ._ ..... ._.. ... .._ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org