Apples and Oranges

I’ve been testing Tablet computers for the past year and I’ve become infatuated with them. If you’ve read my blog posts and ePub articles then you know just how bedazzled I am. I have often argued that a Tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard is just as useful as a Netbook computer. I’ve tested so many of them that I started to buy into the hype.

Well, of late I’ve changed my mind. It takes a big man to admit he was wrong and I’m now admitting it. Tablets aren’t Netbook replacements, just as Netbooks aren’t full powered Notebook or desktop replacements. Each of them has a specific place and does some things better than the others.

I came to this conclusion while preparing for a trip. My plan was to just carry a Motorola XOOM and a Logitech wireless bluetooth keyboard and leave everything else behind. In preparation for the trip I tried using the XOOM as my day-to-day computer to see if it would work. Nothing brings out the problems with any plan faster than trying to implement it.

The biggest headache I encountered was dealing with email. Just as most other people do, I get scads of emails every day that I don’t want to read and usually just delete them. With the XOOM the only way I can delete an AOL email is to have it open and then click the trash can. What a pain that is!

The other problem is cutting and pasting articles I write in Google Docs for use in the ePub and this blog. It's simple with a Netbook but a tedious pain in the butt with a Tablet.

My plan has now changed. I’ll be carrying the XOOM for the tasks it does very well. But I’ll also be carrying a Netbook for the tasks it does better than a Tablet. Apples for when I want apples and oranges for when I want oranges.