Is There An App For That?

The war between the tablets has been raging fiercely for months now, with newcomers finding it difficult to get a foothold in the market. One of the key talking points for one tablet over another is the number of available apps.

I find the whole app argument laughable. Oh, I know: who wants to buy a tablet with a limited number of apps when there are literally hundreds of thousands of apps available if you chose (name) over (name)? But let's get real here. Does the number of apps REALLY matter all that much?

I took my iPod Touch and did a quick search in the app store (or is it "App Store"? Where DOES that copy write fall?) for the word "flashlight". The results? I got to 400 before I lost count. Now tell me, who cares how many apps one has if there are that many duplicates of (c'mon, really) useless apps?

Me? I like productivity in my tools. I am currently using an HP TouchSmart tx2 TABLET that runs on Windows Vista Home Premium (I purchased it pre-Windows 7 launch). It has a touch screen (resistive - not capacitative) and allows me to do things like read e-books, keep up on RSS feeds, listen to music, edit movies and photos, AND more productive things like take notes during meetings (OneNote) and not have to use multiple apps for my calendar, email, and tasks (Outlook).

Oh, I can hear the argument now: That's not a tablet! It's a laptop with a touch screen. Yup. What is a tablet? It is a non-productive touch screen without a useful keyboard (I'm refusing to count the on-screen keyboard a keyboard. My TouchSmart has one too, but I have difficulty typing on something I can't feel. It's okay for short things like typing things in a search bar, but for things like this blog? Forget it!)

My wife has an iPad that I've played with a bit, but it really hasn't captured my attention. 

I'm holding out for Windows 8 and whatever Microsoft's creative team can come up with in their RE-introduction to the tablet market (they DID create the first tablets, after all). Not saying I'm buying one, but I'm hoping that the form-factor will be conducive to productivity (I know the OS will be) and portability. The best form-factor I've seen so far was my first tablet: an HP/Compaq TC1100. The tablet was the computer and the keyboard was removable. The screen size was perfect for writing (stylus) and reading. If you're reading this Microsoft, "HINT, HINT!"

So, next time you find a cool tablet that is being dissed for a lack of apps, try looking up something like "flashlight". It'll change your perspective.

Oh, and one more thing: Before you start writing that comment about me being nothing but a Microsoft "fan-boy", I refer you to the third paragraph where I mention owning an iPod Touch. Get over your bad self!

© Emittravel 2011