I wonder if this is where Leo Laporte is these days, what with his Note 4 Nexus 6 and waning enth...

[G+_Paul Fidalgo]

I wonder if this is where Leo Laporte is these days, what with his Note 4/Nexus 6 and waning enthusiasm for the iPad.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/imortal/2015/01/02/whither-the-ipad-oh-its-way-over-there-never-mind-ill-just-use-my-phone/

[G+_Paul Fidalgo]

I like the comparison to the Star Trek devices. I wonder if we're biased to aim for that even though it's fictional.

[G+_Dave Trautman]

Paul Fidalgo, yes, it is natural for geeks like us to want it like Star Trek.

[G+_Stephen Styffe]

Dave Trautman I agree with your comparison to an extent. It's accurate. But I think the reason for skepticism around the future of the tablet is that it solves only first-world problems. Smartphones are not exclusively first-world devices.

 

The future of growth in devices is going to be in the third-world where people have just started getting online. Smartphones are perfect in that they are the tool that many in the third-world are going to rely on more and more. They've never owned computers (in the traditional sense - like a desktop or a laptop) but they will own a pocket computer (a smartphone) that will get them online. This is the trend we're now seeing unfold and this is the trend that will ultimately yield the most profit for tech companies going forward. Of course Apple isn't going to be a competitor in those markets because Apple prefers the high profit margin user base, but there is still a lot of money to be made in making devices for the third-world. 

 

Tablet sales are slowing because everyone who wants one / can afford one already has one. That's the real reason why tablets are not devices that are as critical to our lives as much as our smartphones. I think Leo's opinions about tablets are not unwarranted. The trend is supporting his hypothesis that tablets are luxury devices that in the long run won't sell anywhere near the number of smartphones being sold.