For the curious, I have just sold my tablet and used the money from the sale to purchase an inexpensive laptop. I am writing this post on my tablet before shipping it off.

Of the three categories listed in my last post, I would consider myself a power user. As you can understand, getting by with just a tablet wasn’t cutting it for me. I will write one last post sometime soon, which will be an overall wrap up of my experiences using a tablet as a primary computer. I will be writing it on my laptop, and as it is being shipped to me now, it will understandably take a little while before I start writing it. In any case, thanks for reading.

There are three general types of users as far as tablets are concerned. Casual users, Power users and Light users. In my humble, yet experienced opinion, only one of those groups can be happy with a tablet as a primary computer. Let’s break it down, shall we?

1. The Casual User: This is the main target for manufacturers of these products. The casual user is a consumer of all kinds of media. They love watching videos and having plenty of options for sources as long as they can see what they want, when they want it. Music, books, games and clever apps all appeal to the casual user. They will pick up their tablets to watch an episode of their favorite show or fling a few disgruntled avians while they have some time to kill because for them a tablet is an item of convenience. They will use their tablet when it is easier than using a PC, quick tasks such as checking email or social network updates happen much quicker on a tablet and it’s much lighter than a laptop. For the casual user, their tablet is a secondary device. It fills in for a PC even taking on some fun tasks, but the heavy lifting is still done by a PC. For this type of user, the tablet comes second.

The Power User: Like the casual user, the power user loves to consume media. They do all the same tasks as the casual user and then some. Power users know the differences in meaning between rooting, jail breaking and unlocking a tablet. They can tell you all of the specific differences between one tablet and another, in some cases because they own two or three(or more) different tablets. Power users also have a tendency to be fiercely loyal to one brand or another. While that last statement isn’t always the case, finding an unbiased power user can be a difficult task. These are the tinkerers. They are the ones that like to “get under the hood” and make modifications. For them, getting the most out of their device is a hobby in itself and they are emboldened to try risky techniques on their tablets because they have a PC to fix it if something goes wrong. They may spend most of their time on their tablets, but they also have their PC’s to fall back on.

The Light User: This group is filled with the people who really want the bare minimum required to keep in touch. They want to receive emails from family and friends and share status updates on Facebook. Reading books and listening to music are just lovely perks of the device to them. They might even find themselves watching videos on YouTube that someone sent to them via email but for the most part they use their tablet as a means of keeping in touch. They could be retired and don’t t need much from a computer anymore. They could be young and just not very technically inclined. They aren’t attracted to computers and gadgets in general but a tablet appeals because of how minimal it is. Of the three, this is the only group that can be happy with just a tablet.

As of this date in early 2013, we are still clearly PC dependent, though those days are waning. Calling this the Post PC Era is a bit like scheduling a funeral for someone who just announced their upcoming retirement.

On that note, this blog will no longer be updating. It will remain up for the benefit of anyone considering purchasing a tablet for themselves or a loved one and I will also continue to respond to comments, if any.

Ubuntu, a popular distribution of Linux, announced today that they are releasing shortly a version of their OS that is optimized for tablets. While this may not seem like big news to the casual consumer, I can’t help but think that it is. Why? Well, for one, it means the same software that runs on your desktop can run on your tablet and vice versa.

Sure, an app store is planned for their tablet OS, but users are in no way limited to a specific library of applications. This is somewhat true for Android tablets as well, but many device manufacturers actually lock down the devices so that you can only install apps from their approved libraries. If you are a casual consumer, these restrictions actually help more than you might suspect as they mean that there is a certain level of quality that can be expected throughout the experience. If you are looking to create content or simply enjoy getting under the hood at all, these restrictions can be frustrating at times and crippling at worst.

So how would Ubuntu’s open garden approach be a good thing for general consumers and content creators alike? Well, Ubuntu has been making their desktop OS for a while now, they’ve had plenty of time to build up a significant repository of applications that are not only capable of running on their OS, but designed specifically with their OS in mind. This isn’t a compromise effort like Windows 8, where there are a limited number of tablet apps in their new store that use the new UI and the concession that is the classic UI allowing you to run your older software. Ubuntu apps will all work under the same interface, the same list that’s been growing for years already.

Admittedly, it has been several years since I last used Ubuntu. What I do remember of it is that it was the most user-friendly version of Linux I had ever used*. I liked the software and what I have heard about their updates since then have been encouraging. I’m intrigued by their tablet OS and tempted to install it on my Nexus but also a bit hesitant for a few reasons. 1. I am not sure if I need to root my tablet or not. This can be easy enough, but it also requires a PC to do which is not something I have easy access to. 2. I would want to back up the current configuration of my tablet before attempting to install a new OS. This also requires a PC, either to backup everything directly to or to use the best backup apps which require root access. 3. Making the switch most likely means getting assistance from a friend. On its own, that’s not bad, but if I try it out and there is any absolute deal breaker or worse, I’m stuck until my friend can help switch it back. It’s funny, if I had a PC, I’d be more than willing to root my tablet, install a brand new OS onto it and try it out but I wouldn’t be evaluating it in the same way. It would be a toy to tinker around with. But since I lack a PC, I may not be able to try it at all. Needless to say, if I do try it somehow, I will be letting you know all about the experience.

*For the curious, the full list of Linux distributions that I have tried over the years: Red Hat, Fedora, Fedora Core, Mandrake, Mandriva, Gentoo, Puppy, JoliCloud, Ubuntu, SuSe and similar enough to mention but not actually Linux: Solaris and FreeBSD.

Daily updates have obviously ceased. My schedule has dramatically changed this week, so maintaining my posting schedule has faltered as a result. I will be providing updates sporadically until I can adjust to this new schedule. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Most of the time I love the diminutive size of my tablet. Having one of the 7-inch models means it is very easy to throw into a coat pocket, hold with one hand for reading and it’s lightweight enough that I don’t mind holding for lengths of time. There are other times where I wish it was much larger.

The times that I find the size lacking are few in my case, but frustrating when they occur. The first time I wished to have more screen real estate was working in Photoshop Touch. I’m thrilled they made the app available for 7-inch tablets but there is only so far that you can zoom in for the detailed control that I had grown accustomed to from years of desktop use. Having a physically larger screen means that you have finer control, as selecting single pixels is no longer trying to pick up a single grain of rice and more like picking up a pebble.

Web browsing can also be a bit of a hassle on a smaller screen, not always because of the size of the text. When you happen to visit a site that feels the need to greet you with a virtual popup, the little ‘x’ to close it out can seem like an awfully small target.

The most recent frustration is not a direct result of the screen size, but rather a complete lack of control over displayed text. If you are in a browser, you can always zoom in closer to make the text easier to read. EBook apps also have the ability to adjust the font size for easier reading. Every once and a while you may come across an app where the developers have decided that the font size they provided is good enough. Take a look at this screen cap below.

Paused, the text is clear enough, but when it starts scrolling at full speed those numbers just become a tiny blur among symbols. There is a lot of unused space on that screen. It would be very easy to enlarge the text into that space to make it easier to read at a distance, such as one might do when holding a guitar. Unfortunately, this particular app does not provide any means of adjusting the size, and even if it did, having a larger screen would still be beneficial in this kind of application.

Owning a larger tablet certainly has some drawbacks as well. Its larger size means less portability and greater heft. You might not want to read a book for an extended period on a larger tablet for that reason. Given the situations that you will be using your tablet due consideration before deciding on a size, and if at all possible, handle them in person beforehand.