My Frustration when trying to use a tablet for something productive.


Recommended Posts

:D

I don't know about anyone else, but I share this kids' frustration. Give me a laptop and a mouse any day of the week over a tablet. I just want to throw it, but I never do.

 

 

  • +Warwagon changed the title to My Frustration when trying to use a tablet for something productive.

My feeling dealing with things that I know but that don't work how I want:

full

I understand the kid's frustration. I would never do it in person though, that's a client's piece of hardware!

  • Like 2
On 31/12/2022 at 08:08, Nick H. said:

My feeling dealing with things that I know but that don't work how I want:

full

I understand the kid's frustration. I would never do it in person though, that's a client's piece of hardware!

Yep, I personally just always feel like throwing it. Never have though.

On 31/12/2022 at 15:09, Warwagon said:

Yep, I personally just always feel like throwing it. Never have though.

I get a good laugh from the user when I say, "ok...we have two more options left. I can try <option A>, and then if that doesn't work...yep, we're high enough in the building, I'll just throw it out the window." :laugh:

so no good and valid use case for using a tablet!`?

i use mine 
for note-taking, 
YouTube, 
e-mail, 
reading documents, 
ssh to my home server, 
face time sometimes, 
looking for cooking recipes, 
watching the cooking shows while cooking,

cheers 

v. 

On 05/01/2023 at 07:36, vaticano said:

so no good and valid use case for using a tablet!`?

i use mine 
for note-taking, 
YouTube, 
e-mail, 
reading documents, 
ssh to my home server, 
face time sometimes, 
looking for cooking recipes, 
watching the cooking shows while cooking,

cheers 

v. 

I use mine for 

Occasional reading Facebook
Reading Emails
Messenger video call with the girlfriend
Looking stuff up on youtube (rarely because of aids)
looking stuff up online (But then I just grab a laptop)

consuming information is great, creating is what annoys me, using the on screen keyboard.

On 05/01/2023 at 15:47, Warwagon said:

I use mine for 

Occasional reading Facebook
Reading Emails
Messenger video call with the girlfriend
Looking stuff up on youtube (rarely because of aids)
looking stuff up online (But then I just grab a laptop)

consuming information is great, creating is what annoys me, using the on screen keyboard.


fully agreed - 

Quote


 

consuming information is great, creating is what annoys me, using the on screen keyboard.

 

i agree fully -  thats why i sometimes take the Thinkpad 13 inch  - instead of the tablet. 

Just find that a tablet is basically designed for a certain type of use and application - and that's where it can show its advantages: In my opinion, it has to do with the properties:
In my opinion, a T. is smaller and lighter than a notebook and larger than my 5-inch cell phone. - you can easily record content, share (communicate) or read in social networks

 

vaticano ;)

On 05/01/2023 at 09:05, vaticano said:


fully agreed - 

i agree fully -  thats why i sometimes take the Thinkpad 13 inch  - instead of the tablet. 

Just find that a tablet is basically designed for a certain type of use and application - and that's where it can show its advantages: In my opinion, it has to do with the properties:
In my opinion, a T. is smaller and lighter than a notebook and larger than my 5-inch cell phone. - you can easily record content, share (communicate) or read in social networks

 

vaticano ;)

I hate phones just as much but having a camera in your pocket to quickly take good quality photos and share them.. is amazing.

On 05/01/2023 at 09:47, Warwagon said:

I use mine for 

Occasional reading Facebook
Reading Emails
Messenger video call with the girlfriend
Looking stuff up on youtube (rarely because of aids)
looking stuff up online (But then I just grab a laptop)

consuming information is great, creating is what annoys me, using the on screen keyboard.

"Looking stuff up on youtube (rarely because of aids) "

Huh? LOL

Would never even consider using a tablet or phone for something productive because I WOULD throw it!

On 05/01/2023 at 09:56, cork1958 said:

"Looking stuff up on youtube (rarely because of aids) "

Huh? LOL

Would never even consider using a tablet or phone for something productive because I WOULD throw it!

Aids are my nick name for "Ads"

On 31/12/2022 at 08:35, Warwagon said:

I don't know about anyone else, but I share this kids' frustration. Give me a laptop and a mouse any day of the week over a tablet. I just want to throw it, but I never do.

 

 


I can relate.

Once I had to log into the web-based back-end of a Wordpress website on a Surface Pro... without the Surface keyboard and trackpad.  Only touchscreen.

It was extremely frustrating!

I always have a mouse with me... even on my traditional laptops.  I'm not a fan of touchpads either.  (though I will use my Macbook Air touchpad in a pinch... it's great for short uses)

:) 

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
On 06/01/2023 at 05:04, Warwagon said:

Aids are my nick name for "Ads"

Ain't nuffin uBlock origin can't vaccinate against  it works great just don't use uncle googles chrome I use vivaldi on my phone and tablet no aids infected YT for me thank you very much 

  • 1 month later...

I just don't understand why mobile apps have to suck and give you fewer features than using a computer. Facebook is a PERFECT example. If I want to see how many times someone posted on my swap, on a desktop I can just click their name and see a posting list with the date and times. 

On Mobile it just shows me a bunch of pictures just like you are browsing the Facebook Market place, it's completely worthless!

If I want to see how many members my group has, on the desktop I click members and on the next page I see a total member count! On the phone ... I can go to the member's section but it never gives me the total number of member number.

.............

To search for a post on a Facebook business page, on a desktop you click the search button and type in what you want to search for. 

On a mobile app, I can't even remember how to do it, there are over 4 steps. My sister finally found out how to do it and when I watched the video she sent me, I laughed.

not long ago someone asked me why I have a high powered workstation for coding... they said "you can just do that on a tablet, why have a desktop? Who even has a desktop anymore?" why? because coding anything is a nightmare without a keyboard and mouse, preferable multiple screens, and a high power processor for compiling....

  • Like 2
  • Love 1
On 10/07/2023 at 08:51, tmorris1 said:

FWIW, you can usually connect a bluetooth keyboard or mouse to a tablet.

I'm the guy with the keyboard and mouse on an iPad and a Steam Deck. Heck, I've even connected a mouse to my phone.

Sometimes you just need them.

On 10/07/2023 at 13:28, Joe User said:

I'm the guy with the keyboard and mouse on an iPad and a Steam Deck. Heck, I've even connected a mouse to my phone.

Sometimes you just need them.

Heck, I even use a wired keyboard and mouse on my laptops! Don't care for wireless devices like those. My fingers feel like they're cramped up when using keyboard on a laptop.

Wouldn't dream of doing anything productive on a tablet or phone.

You do realise that there are TONS of Windows and Android tablets that have thin, light attachable keyboards and can use mice, and in the case of Windows tablets like the Surface, they ARE laptops?

They can also use pens if you don't want to lug a mouse and like to draw/sketch.

Perhaps the problem isn't the tablet, but the way you've chosen to use it?

I mean, even the iPad can have a keyboard attached, although it is heavier and clunkier than the other options. Mouse - 'sort of'.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Posts

    • GitHub removes manual model selection from Copilot free and student plans by Karthik Mudaliar GitHub is removing the ability to manually select an AI model from its Copilot Free and Student plans, making its automatic routing system the default and only way to choose a model. This means users on these tiers will no longer be able to deliberately select a particular OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, or Microsoft model for a task. In its announcement, GitHub said Copilot Auto will dynamically choose what it considers the best model for each request. Free and Student accounts will retain access to models from multiple families, although the available selection will continue to depend on the restrictions attached to each plan. GitHub did not identify a fixed pool of models that Auto will always use, and its documentation warns that model availability can change over time. GitHub describes Auto as more than a random fallback system. On supported surfaces, its task-optimization technology evaluates the complexity of a request alongside real-time information about model health and availability. Straightforward prompts can be routed to faster and less expensive models, while more demanding coding tasks may be sent to higher-cost reasoning models. The company says this approach should reduce rate limiting, latency, and failed requests. Auto generally selects one model along natural prompt-caching boundaries rather than repeatedly switching models during a session, as GitHub found that mid-session changes increased costs without producing sufficient improvements in output quality. Users can still check which model generated a response. In Copilot Chat, the information appears when hovering over an answer, while Copilot CLI and the Copilot cloud agent display the selected model alongside their output. Auto is available in Copilot Chat, Copilot CLI, and the cloud agent, with the exact implementation and release status varying between supported development environments. The latest restriction follows several months of adjustments to Copilot’s individual plans. GitHub temporarily halted new Pro, Pro+, and Student subscriptions in April as it sought to manage demand and service reliability. It later introduced token-based billing and began gradually reopening individual-plan registrations on June 17. Alongside the picker change, GitHub is retiring the “Preview” label from Microsoft-developed models. It argues that the label is no longer necessary because Auto handles model routing and models are continuously updated behind the scenes.
    • Look up 'inflation' kid. Ask an AI for the numbers between both games.
    • Google reportedly set to lose two key Gemini and DeepMind researchers to Anthropic by Karthik Mudaliar Google is reportedly preparing to lose two more prominent artificial intelligence researchers, with Gemini contributors Jonas Adler and Alexander Pritzel planning to join rival AI developer Anthropic. According to a report from Bloomberg, both researchers are viewed internally as important contributors to Google’s flagship Gemini model family. Adler worked on Google’s AI coding efforts, while Pritzel was involved in the process used to train AI systems. Neither company has publicly confirmed the moves. The report also does not say when the researchers will formally leave Google or what positions they will hold at Anthropic. Training a large AI model requires decisions covering its architecture, data preparation, distributed computing infrastructure, and post-training methods that shape how the finished system behaves. Researchers with experience operating at the scale of Gemini are consequently difficult to replace quickly. Both Adler and Pritzel have previously contributed to Google DeepMind’s scientific research as well. They are listed among the authors of the company’s work on expanding AlphaFold protein-structure predictions across entire proteomes, alongside AlphaFold researchers including John Jumper. The reported departures arrive shortly after another important change within Google’s Gemini organization. Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer is leaving Google for OpenAI, after returning to the search company in 2024 through its deal with Character.AI. Shazeer is particularly well known as one of the authors of the Transformer paper, whose architecture became the foundation for most modern large language models. Anthropic, meanwhile, has been recruiting recognizable figures from other leading laboratories. OpenAI co-founder and former Tesla AI director Andrej Karpathy joined Anthropic’s pre-training team in May. His move, followed by the reported recruitment of several Google researchers, suggests Anthropic is strengthening the research teams responsible for the core capabilities of future Claude models rather than concentrating solely on product and enterprise sales. The competition is complicated by the companies’ extensive commercial relationships. Anthropic competes directly with Google’s Gemini models, but it also relies on Google as an infrastructure partner. In April, Anthropic announced an expanded agreement with Google and Broadcom covering multiple gigawatts of next-generation Tensor Processing Unit capacity. TPUs are Google-designed accelerators used to train and run large AI models. via Bloomberg
    • This article makes my head hurt. Lots of confusing words
    • Google adds built-in computer control to Gemini 3.5 flash by Karthik Mudaliar Google has added Computer Use as a built-in tool in Gemini 3.5 Flash, giving developers a single model that can reason about a task and operate graphical interfaces across browsers, mobile devices, and desktop environments. The feature is available through the Gemini API and Google’s Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, although it remains a preview feature for now. Computer Use enables an AI agent to examine screenshots and return actions such as mouse clicks, scrolling, and keyboard input. A developer’s application must execute those actions, capture the resulting screen, and send it back to Gemini, creating a continuous loop until the task is completed. Google says the integration can be used for activities including repetitive form filling, application testing, research across multiple websites, and longer enterprise workflows. Gemini 3.5 Flash can work with browser, mobile, and desktop environments, whereas Google’s earlier standalone Computer Use model was primarily positioned around browser interaction. The main change is consolidation. Computer control was previously offered through the separate Gemini 2.5 Computer Use preview model. As Neowin reported when that model was introduced, it was designed to interpret a visual interface and generate actions without requiring a website-specific API. Google later brought Computer Use to preview versions of Gemini 3 Pro and Gemini 3 Flash in January 2026. The latest release now incorporates the tool into the stable Gemini 3.5 Flash model rather than requiring developers to select a specialized model solely for interface automation. Gemini 3.5 Flash itself was announced in May as Google’s latest fast model for coding and multi-step agent workflows. It supports a one-million-token input context window and up to 65,000 output tokens, along with adjustable thinking levels that let developers trade additional reasoning for lower latency and cost. Google also added that Gemini 3.5 Flash received targeted adversarial training for computer-use scenarios. The company is also offering safeguards that can require user confirmation before sensitive or irreversible actions and automatically stop a workflow when suspected prompt injection is detected. Its developer documentation describes configurable protections for areas such as financial transactions and changes to sensitive records. Google isn't the first to bring Computer Use to its platform. Anthropic has made computer control available through Claude, while OpenAI has continued improving computer-use performance in its recent models. Microsoft has also applied the concept to business workflows, including a Computer Use capability for the Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Dedicated
      Scoobystu earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • First Post
      Tom Schmidt earned a badge
      First Post
    • One Month Later
      D0nn13 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Rookie
      +ChiefOfNeo went up a rank
      Rookie
    • One Year In
      Tom Schmidt earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      463
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      177
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      124
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      79
    5. 5
      Xenon
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!