Tablets – A backseat for creativity?

A torrent of new tablets are about to be unleashed at Mobile World Congress next week, with the vast majority of them running Google’s new tablet-specific Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). operating system. Also on show will be devices using HP’s WebOS, as well as the Blackberry Playbook and probably some misguided Windows 7-based efforts.

All of these newcomers have come to do battle with the device-defining iPad; hoping to repeat the success that Android smartphones have had recently against the almighty iPhone. All this competition is a good thing, but what it also indicates is that the tablet format is going beyond its initial hype – put simply, the tablet looks to be here to stay.

That comes as a bit of a surprise to me, as I was dubious as to whether consumers needed a third device for accessing the internet, one that sits between laptops and smartphones. This stance was supported by the high cost of the iPad in an uncertain economic outlook. Somewhat naively maybe, I even thought environmental good-sense might prevail, preventing consumers from adding yet another gizmo to their carbon footprint.

At the time, all this negativity could have been taken as anti-Apple rhetoric, but with a wider range of devices about to be unleashed, I can now talk about the tablet in a more platform agnostic manner.

Now it’s still not proven that the tablet will break out of its current Mac ghetto – I mean, do you know anyone who actually owns one? And if so how many other Apple devices do they also own? Still, with so many big names bringing models to market this year, it’s hard to bet against the tablet right now. Given this, what does the new format add to our lives, and should it be welcomed with open arms by all, or viewed with caution.

The core design of the tablet seems to be a series of compromises aimed at making it as small and stylish as possible. These compromises come at a heavy price though compared to laptops.

There’s been much talk about the tablet replacing the laptop, but I can’t see that happening soon. Students will still need laptops, because they’re great for doing school work and just try passing a degree without one, the same goes for many jobs. Younger kids may benefit from the intuitive interface a tablet can offer, and yes those touch-based paint programmes are very cool, but I’d rather young kids got to get messy with finger paints, and then spent the afternoon building an ant farm, than spend more time on a computer, be it a laptop or a tablet.

So given these limitations, why are tablets the big new thing?

Even with the best touchscreen in the world it would still have taken me ages to write this article, let alone touch up a photo accurately, or edit some video footage for upload to YouTube. The lack of a proper keyboard inhibits communication and creativity, yes it’s fine for the odd Facebook updates and tweets, but you’re not going to write a novella or a decent business plan on it. The lack of general-purpose processing power certainly limits what you can do with a tablet, you certainly won’t be editing HD video on a tablet any time soon; watching it, for sure, but not editing it.

Tablets represent the great hope for the publishing industry, most notable in the launch of Murdoch’s Daily for the iPad. They provide a new way to sell traditionally printed content, which has been struggling against the ad-driven web for a number of years now. Dennis Publishing itself is involved in tablet publishing, as it’s a great opportunity to provide high-quality, visually rich content in a digital format.

Software developers will also be happy, as tablets expand the lucrative app market onto faster devices, hopefully allowing more complex apps to be sold at higher prices. Many apps are genuinely useful and innovative pieces of software, but many others simply repackaged free content from the web in a more easily digestible form. It’s that word, digestible, that sums up the tablet for me, it’s a device for consumption of media, not the creation of it.

This makes tablets the new industry darling, with practically everyone in the media, and the consumer electronics business, cheering for them. The consumer tech companies get to sell you a device which you use in addition to your current devices, and the media companies have a new outlet to sell content on.

There’s no doubting that tablets are very lovely pieces of kit, and they can provide some intriguing and imaginative new ways to interact with content, as well as a great way to communicate with others. But amongst all the hype it’s worth reiterating that our existing desktops and laptops are far more flexible tools, than these new upstarts.

After all, you can guarantee that the tablet’s technology was designed on a desktop PC, and it’s shiny shell was imagined on one too. The shiny promotional photography was touched up on a desktop, and then used by marketing executives carrying laptops to sell the product to retailers; who in turn will track their stock levels using yet another traditional PC.

The tablet may change the way we all consume media, but it’s unlikely to be the tool that designs the next technological breakthrough.