Thread: iPad alternative

Originally Posted by tripzero

brave move to go with win7, especially in light that HP dumped win7 in favor of webOS for their tablets.

but... I suppose if people really want to run non-touchscreen apps on a touch-device and pay extra for that bug/feature this may be the tablet for them!

that aside, it does look nice hardware wise.

Win7 rocks. I'm going to assume you haven't used it on a tablet yet. If you have, you must not be a very good at it.

I think the OP makes a valid point. The seemingly next step to car computing is going to be a device that can go with you everywhere, and do everything. I mean eventually all these devices are going to have to become one universal device with attachments to achieve different things vs a different device for every job.

I could see having a device the size of a moto droid/iPod and a different inexpensive dock for different jobs. A desktop dock with keyboard/mouse/LCD/nic-wifi/USB/Firewire/etc. A car dock with radio/OBD/antenna connectivity. A portable dock w/LCD screen and smaller laptop keyboard for use in hotels or coffee shops (a dock that looks like a netbook maybe, just drop the device inside it somewhere). A waterproof dock w/sunlight readable LCD and waterproof keyboard for the beach or boating.

It's gotta be the future... aye? Some way to consolidate all your devices into one device, not have to worry about data syncing across devices.

Originally Posted by Tidder

Win7 rocks. I'm going to assume you haven't used it on a tablet yet. If you have, you must not be a very good at it.

I used win7 in a VM for like 5 mintues before I couldn't take it anymore. I can only take so many dialogs saying "is it okay to do [insert random action here]". IMHO, the job of a real OS should be to get out of my way and let me do my thing.

The way I use a computer desktop is with a mouse and a keyboard. I use the keyboard to do things like typing, shortcuts in apps and quickly switching between windows. I use a mouse to click on stuff.

On a tablet, you don't have a keyboard. If your OS is built with a keyboard in mind to do things quickly, than you are forced to click on little graphical things that are designed for a precision pointer (which would be a mouse unless you grow out your finger nails and sharpen them... oh that doesn't work on a capacitive TS, that sucks...) and go the long way through a series of graphical menu's and dialogs to get the simplest of tasks done. THIS IS WHY THE TABLET HAS BEEN AROUND FOR AGES AND NEVER TOOK OFF. They just aren't sexy or fun to use. Let's face it, Apple made a tablet sexy and fun and now it's selling like hotcakes. Win7 and even Win7 mobile isn't the solution and HP agrees with me (as does a billion other companies who are using android instead of win7).

It's gotta be the future... aye? Some way to consolidate all your devices into one device, not have to worry about data syncing across devices.

That's what the cloud is for. That aside, I do like the idea of a tablet being your device and it's what I'm kinda going for in my modular connected car setup. I have a headless, cheap, low power device gathering and providing information to another computer. That computer right now is a "standard" carpc, but it could easily be a tablet of some sort someday.

Originally Posted by tripzero

I used win7 in a VM for like 5 mintues before I couldn't take it anymore. I can only take so many dialogs saying "is it okay to do [insert random action here]". IMHO, the job of a real OS should be to get out of my way and let me do my thing.

The way I use a computer desktop is with a mouse and a keyboard. I use the keyboard to do things like typing, shortcuts in apps and quickly switching between windows. I use a mouse to click on stuff.

On a tablet, you don't have a keyboard. If your OS is built with a keyboard in mind to do things quickly, than you are forced to click on little graphical things that are designed for a precision pointer (which would be a mouse unless you grow out your finger nails and sharpen them... oh that doesn't work on a capacitive TS, that sucks...) and go the long way through a series of graphical menu's and dialogs to get the simplest of tasks done. THIS IS WHY THE TABLET HAS BEEN AROUND FOR AGES AND NEVER TOOK OFF. They just aren't sexy or fun to use. Let's face it, Apple made a tablet sexy and fun and now it's selling like hotcakes. Win7 and even Win7 mobile isn't the solution and HP agrees with me (as does a billion other companies who are using android instead of win7).

Hence the reason they use a custom UI not the actual win7 UI.

Originally Posted by tripzero

That's what the cloud is for. That aside, I do like the idea of a tablet being your device and it's what I'm kinda going for in my modular connected car setup. I have a headless, cheap, low power device gathering and providing information to another computer. That computer right now is a "standard" carpc, but it could easily be a tablet of some sort someday.

Its going to be a long long long time before the cloud has any true impact on car computing...

Originally Posted by justchat_1

Its going to be a long long long time before the cloud has any true impact on car computing...

Bookmarked for future reference.

I'm with Kev on this one. At aft fest we'll demo the connected car idea. Not really so much as a current replacement for a car pc but as an idea whose time will be here sooner than later.

Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Bookmarked for future reference.

I'm with Kev on this one. At aft fest we'll demo the connected car idea. Not really so much as a current replacement for a car pc but as an idea whose time will be here sooner than later.

The idea of multiple connected devices certainly has short term possibilities but as someone who's actually tried to use wireless internet while traveling across the country (and hearing about the huge investment cut cell phone companies made) reliable wireless internet is a long long way away. For an internet connected carPC thats not a big deal but for a cloud based car thats a HUGE issue. With that explanation, I stand by my above statement.

I don't see it as an all or nothing situation. The more likely state will be a combination of cloud and local storage.

Originally Posted by tripzero

The way I use a computer desktop is with a mouse and a keyboard. I use the keyboard to do things like typing, shortcuts in apps and quickly switching between windows. I use a mouse to click on stuff.

My thoughts exactly. Imagine using a tablet for photoshop, CAD/CAM, 3D design and even printing. The low power CPU couldn't take it, the GPU couldn't either and impossible user interface. Small low power designed devices are best suited for simple entertainment and apps designed around the strong and weak points of the device. They will only replace the personal computer for users that don't need one for productive work. That may be a lot of them. For others it can perform the intended task as a gadget. Just like iPad/iPhone developers don't develop apps on them, and the engineers didn't design the iPad with an iPhone app. Use the right tool for the right job.

Originally Posted by Bugbyte

I don't see it as an all or nothing situation. The more likely state will be a combination of cloud and local storage.

so says Ford with their Built In (Embedded), Brought In (App Link Download) and Beamed In (Cloud) strategy.

But...Google would beg to differ. Their head of biz dev in Detroit last week said it was only a few years before they jumped over embedded applications to get to the driver through a web browser.

And Verizon's new LTE map shows continuous coverage throughout the US. I've got to real understanding of how true this is, but if it is the case, streaming you front end the whole time while on a cross country road trip should be no problem. (the case for OS Dash

Wow! A company can claim coverage for all of the US!
jeez, even Japan can't cover an area about the size of California....

I love the idea of cloud in the car but there are times that you'll be looking at dropped calls and just plain no service. 1.9 million people in town and I still get dead zones due to over loaded / underpowered cell towers, buildings and just plain dips in the topography ...

It'll be a few more years