Monday, April 25, 2011

PlayBook for Business

After a week of travel and several presentation, my PlayBook has performed admirably.  It connected to WiFi hot spots (including my iPhone) like a champ.  The web browser has rendered every site I pointed it at. I also watched at least a half dozen legally ripped TV shows (Mad Men season 2). As a portable media device, the PB is a contender.

Now I am back in the office. I struggle to find a compelling reason to use a tablet of any kind at my desk where I have 2 full size monitors and a real keyboard,  For meetings, I have MacBook Air that also trumps most tablet functions.  I get the feeling that many people who are carrying tablets to meetings today will revert to notebook computers in the near future.

Proof? This posting took 50% longer to type versus my notebook.  That's faster than my phone but really too slow for work.  This creates an interesting paradox.  The business market for tablets is wide open.  But how big is it?  Meanwhile, the consumer market is bigger than any of us expected.

3 comments:

  1. I agree with the notion that if a notebook is an option, most users will revert to a notebook after the novelty wears off. It's just a LITTLE to hard to type and drive for most business meetings.

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  2. Agreed. I think tablets work in informal settings like lunch or caffeine breaks. Other business use cases may be harder to find.

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  3. I don't take copious notes at meetings. Generally a few words per minute at the max. Therefore, I would rather carry something smaller than my MBP.

    Mind you - the new air might be a good alternative. I just don't have the coin to buy yet another device. Yet.

    I hope to try a tablet - either an iPad or PB - soon. Just to see how much I miss the keyboard.

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