Ask AnandTech: Tablets at Work, What are Your Experiences?
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 12, 2013 3:13 PM EST
The tablet market has grown tremendously over the past few years. What started as a content consumption device for consumers has transformed into a device that has started to pull sales away from traditional notebooks. The obvious next step for tablets is towards the enterprise and business users.
As my usage models tend to be a bit unusual, when tasked with finding out how people use tablets for work my initial thought was to go to you all directly. So, how do you or could you use use tablets for work? What possibilities do you see for tablet use in work going forward? Respond with your thoughts in the comments, a lot of eyes will be watching this discussion and you could definitely help shape design decisions going forward.
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abazigal - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
Here's how I am using my ipad in my role as an elementary school teacher.1) In the classroom, my macbook air is hooked up to the projector and running airserver. This let me to mirror my iPad to the macbook, which is in turn projected onto the screen. Thus, I am able to teach and manipulate my ipad while circulating around the classroom.
Apps I use in classroom teaching:
a) Notability: I have all my teaching material in pdf format, which I open in notability as need be and annotate directly.
b) Educreations / showme: whiteboard apps which let me write on like a normal board. They also let me effortlessly record my own screencasts and upload for my pupils to view. Sorta like a flipped classroom setting. I also the camera to take snapshots of my pupils' work for discussion (for those of you who cannot fathom who might need a back camera on a tablet).
c) Misc apps: Wordpress (I maintain a class blog), Google Drive/Iworks: Office-like tools for tasks like keeping track of grades and assignment submissions, Mail, Safari, assorted education-themed apps.
In short, my ipad has formed the centerpiece of my teaching in school. :)
Azethoth - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
As a software developer I would like a nice app for bug / feature / priority tracking. This still needs to also be integrated in the IDE, but taking it mobile is nice so you never miss an opportunity to enter a feature or bug or plan your work. Also, the web based ones suck (Looking at you Atlassian) so this is a real need for me.Adul - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
At my Job some of our system engineers make use of a variety of tablets to us in place of laptops in meetings or when they do not need their laptop. We do this because we each have our own VDI sessions to use which allows us to have a full windows OS and run it on anything that we can load the citrix receiver on it. Good stuff really.beginner99 - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
I don't see any use for a tablet in my work. I need at least 1 large screen, a mouse and a keyboard. So yeah, a dock is the minimum requirement. However here I'm with Apple. Instead of having a "device for everything", makes more sense to have dedicated devices that can all access the same data and applications, securely. And since that data is on the server, it's less of an issue if your tablet or laptop gets stolen. Hence each device does not need to make any compromises.andrewaggb - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
My issue with this is how to share the data. I've got multiple apple, android, and windows devices, xboxes, several laptops and desktops. for the life of my I don't have a good answer to the data problem. Sure office 2013 makes using skydrive easy for your office documents, and there's dropbox, and I have a file server and a nas and a srviio media center etc. I use bitbucket to cloud share code, but my testing databases and video file samples are too big to cloud around... Too slow to upload... slow and inconvenient to copy. If I lost them it's not the end of the world, but it's hard to continue where you left off if you don't have the last version you worked on.So I'd love an ultraportable fast machine I can leave all the data on. A few years ago I used to use a mini-external hard disk for the files, which worked ok, but was still a bit of hassle.
beginner99 - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
I did not say it was easy. That's exactly why research in that direction should be made and not into tablet docking stations. A port/connector for a dock is not a big issue in laptops due to there size but in a tablet? IMHO not that easy. Requires something like thunderbolt. USB3 is not fast enough.davidbec - Friday, June 14, 2013 - link
There are fast tablets with internal 500GB disk drives available.Rick83 - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
I use my Note 2 for two things at work.1 is obviously Note taking. Useful when giving a presentation myself, and I want to note audience remarks, or questions, so that I can work them into my presentation, or prepare canned replies. Of course, when in the audience, I note inconsistencies, questions, remarks, important facts, references, etc. Note taking is more powerful than just recording, because it allows me to put down my own thoughts.
2) As an off-(main)screen way of doodling. While the Note 2 is a bit small for this, it's still useful enough, that during a brainstorming session I can quickly jot down my thoughts, do some illustration, explore some equations. With the advantage of the notes not ending up in the paper jungle that is my desk, but rather on the device, where there's some hope of me finding them again, should I ever need to look something up.
Downsides on the Note 2 for that task: Stylus is still way too thin. Button is ridiculously small. Impossible to rest wrist. Pressure sensitivity isn't great. Samsung doesn't do very well at showcasing stylus-aware 3rd party apps.
On the other hand I'm reluctant to go any larger, as the Note 2 is (screen-size wise) just the right size to carry wherever I go, without encumbering me. If I ever were to buy a laptop, it would have to be a Thinkpad X60s-convertible-like model, only slimmer still, while retaining the 1400x1050 screen resolution, 12" 4:3 size and sturdy build quality. A touch screen would be optional.
I currently have no use for anything in between 6" and 12", as it combines the drawbacks of both formfactors, with the upsides of none (ie. not truly portable, low processing power, screen too small to be truly usable, non ten-finger keyboard size.)
Morelian - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
I am a hospital based physician and I've used both the Ipad and Ipad mini. The Ipad got taken to work for about a year but use was light. Too large a form factor.When the Ipad mini came out it was perfect. Slips in the lab coat which I always wear and now I always have it with me.
Use of the Ipad mini is as a consumptive device. Checking emails, web searches and use of a few medical apps. With Ipad mini there is no longer any need for a textbook. Drug and disease date will come right up.
I use 2 specific apps for my job on the ipad mini, one is a charge capture program that lets me enter in charge date on patients as I see them. The other is a lab portal that lets me check patient data when I am not next to a terminal. Sadly the lab portal won't pull up xrays-showing films to patients is something I really wish to do. As it is when the granddaughter wants to know what the patients potassium is I can fish it out rather promptly.
An app for electronic data entry isn't there yet.
I feel naked now without my ipad in my coat pocket.
Sushisamurai - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
It's so useful isn't it? Sighs, I wish we could view and manipulate X-rays and other tests, as well as writing prescription orders directly, to better facilitate care and not have things lost in vacuum tubes...