Can a Tablet Replace Your Work PC?

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that 80-90% of his computer time is spent on an iPad.

This comment lead tech journalist Mike Elgan to wonder: “Could 80 percent of the corporate workforce do 100 percent of their work on a tablet?”

His article sets out arguments for and against, but basically concludes that tablets would be sufficient for many.

For me personally, for what I need it for, while you would have to pry my tablet out of my hands, it is not adequate to replace my PC. For too many things it is just not quite good enough, or efficient enough. But depending on what one’s role is, a tablet may indeed be sufficient.

What do readers think? Is anyone using a tablet while their PC gathers dust?

 

Comments

  1. For those who produce a high volume of or complex content or who work with big spreadsheets, it’s hard to imagine not having a PC or Mac. These tasks call for (1) full-featured apps, (2) full-size keyboard, and (3) not just a bigger monitor but ideally dual monitors.

    Apple’s recent financial reports showed iPad sales slipping. Some analysts say the tablet market is being squeezed from above by ever lighter weight notebooks and from below by phablets.

  2. David Collier-Brown

    What I actually want is a bunch of tablets with a program like google docs that can let me cut from one reference and paste into the document on the machine with a keyboard and a large (two-page, actually) screen.

    For now I use a stack of books, a couple of yellow pads and one machine with a a keyboard and a two-page screen. Alas, it’s hard to cut from a book and paste to a screen.

  3. I have a first gen Surface Pro, and it is equally my desktop replacement and a great tablet. If my firm would allow me full network and VPN access on the device (which they don’t), I’d gladly throw my work PC away and never look back. And I’m in lit support saying this!

  4. Though tablets have improved drastically they can not replace my desk computer as I use voice dictation and tablets are not adequate for such types of use. For working long hours on complex documents I would never give up my large screen high resolution monitor.

    There is a downside to tablets as they make parents with pictures even more dangerous as we can load thousands of pictures to share with everyone.