This is some sort of a confession by a person bitten by the net bug. Some days back I was smitten by another love – the Tablet. As it always happens, when you’re in love rationality takes a backstreet. I learnt this lesson the hard way. But then there are some takeaways nevertheless.
An Android to begin with
Though I wanted to buy the sleek iPad, I went for an Android tablet, which my neighborhood tech shop told me was selling like crazy. Here I was, trying to figure out what this tablet could do better than my Laptop. The 7” screen was disappointing to say the least. I realized that in spite of the hoopla created by Android, my tablet worked at best like a crippled laptop. The great downloads from the Android market are mostly games, music and stuff which I rarely use.
The iPad craze
Having bitten once, I didn’t go for an iPad straight away. I went from one place to another getting a feel of the legendary stuff. There were two revelations which I must share. The user interface, by which I mean the frontend, is much much better in case of an iPad. This can make a whole lot of a difference, especially for the non-tech guys out there. Second, the iStore is a much better place to shop for stuff. This is where Apple (makers of iPad) scores over others. The entire ecosystem (the machine, interface, applications, storage and seamless integration) is perfect. The downside is the cost, which is high.
The Kindle offering
Let me share another confession – I am a bibliophile. In simple words, I read while awake, read while in bed and read in my sleep. Carrying a laptop to bed is quite clumsy which must be obvious to those who have tried it. Moreover, my other half, on the other side of the bed, protests rather loudly if there are more than two in bed. Kindle seemed to be a good solution. It’s great for reading books. The visual interface replicates paper which means there is no glare or reflection. The Kindle I am talking about is a simple Black & White model with WiFi . It’s cheap and affordable. The downside is that there is no great market for applications. If you are the type who simply wants to read books, Kindle is the way to go.
Conclusion
If you are the tech type, who knows his way around the tech world, Android tablet should work for you. iPad on the other hand is lots more costly but has a great interface. If you can afford one go for it. Kindle is purely for reading books. If you don’t care for games, music and stuff like that – if you are as boring as I am – you can buy a Kindle. It’s great for reading in bed.
Victor Solovey is the owner of crazyxhtml, where they do crazy stuff including ‘psd to html’ and ‘psd to css’ conversion. Victor is a bibliophile and also likes to write on the sly.
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