Only laptops and smartphones survive

Which computing device you prefer depends wholly on what you use it for. For gamers and hobbyists, nothing but a desktop will suffice. For those on the go that need real processing power coupled with portability then only a laptop will do. For the casual user, a tablet will probably suffice.

I have and use desktops, laptops, netbooks, smartphones and tablets. If I had to choose one to give up, it would be the tablets because, to me, a tablet is more or less a toy. It's too big to really be portable, I use my phone in that role. If I want something that's portable but has a big enough screen so I can accomplish the things I want to do, I would choose a laptop or a netbook before a tablet.

It's a personal thing and my preference probably won't match your preference. I realize that I am not an average user since I have worked in the tech sector since the early 70's.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 2 is looking like a nice desktop replacement. In fact, drop it in a docking station, and it can do everything a Windows desktop does, barring running the latest games that require the high-end video cards.

I have the newer NOOK HD+ with the big screen and lots of memory. I can do most anything on it instead of my laptop. It doesn't take pictures. A few android app will not run on it, but I don't need them anyway. The biggest thing is that it was about $300 cheaper than any of the other tablets, and does everything I need. And the screen is much better for reading than any of the tablets or laptops. The $300+ difference is the difference in having one or not.

Didn't B&N spin off Nook recently. That usually means that they are getting ready to sell it or send it off on it's own to thrive or die. I had a cheap Chinese 7" Android Tablet. I liked the features and that I could have Kindle, Overdrive and Google EBooks. It dies after about 10 months. I got a Kindle HD for Christmas. Nice sound and picture. However, it is heavy and when you try to download Google Play, it blocks it. That really bothers me.

I say the Nook is NOT the proverbial canary for the tablet market. Most folks I know use laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Desktops seem to be the one on the endangered species list. Not sure if I'll buy one of those again.

I can say that I really like a laptop for RV use. Built in keyboard, Apps, and DVD player make if quite useful and versatile. Funny thing is you can buy an HP Laptop at Best Buy cheaper than an Ipad.

There is the fact that a Nexus 7, which is a full tablet isn't that much more than a Nook that doesn't have BlueTooth, a camera, and other items. I like my Nook HD, especially with a 64 gigabyte MicroSD card, but I find I use my Nexus 7 a lot more.

wildtoad wrote:
B&N never really knew how to market the Nook against the Kindle or other tablets.

Not true. The hardware of the early Nook Color and Nook Tablet were far superior to the Kindle Fire. B&N made 2 fatal mistakes. The first was they had very few decent apps in their own store. The Nook Tablet was nothing more than a flashy reader with only a few useable apps. The second mistake was that they came out with a software update that locked out the ability to side android load apps. Sales dropped immediately.

Last year they added the ability to use the Google Play store. My Nook HD is excellent and I love the connection to Google Play. Unfortunately by the time they realized their mistakes, many buyers have moved on to other options.

The Phablets (Large screen smart phones) are very popular as you can use them for both. I think they are too big for a phone and too small for browsing the web.

Exactly.

B&N never really knew how to market the Nook against the Kindle or other tablets. They do have a lot of ebooks but I can read them on anything. I have a nook but it is boxed up now that I have a IPad Mini.

I have an IPhone 5s, IPad Mini, and a Windows based laptop. I keep the latter primarily to do my taxes, run MS Excel, and for the times I want a decent sized monitor. Excel on a tablet especially without a mouse is worthless. I find myself using the Mini for most things web related while at home, The IPhone when on the road.

The Phablets (Large screen smart phones) are very popular as you can use them for both. I think they are too big for a phone and too small for browsing the web.

I think Nook did needed a better design team is all... Now I did not have a Nook, I do have a friend with one and she loves it.. (She was not happy with a few Kindles before the Nook) but all I have is "Applications/Programs"

The "Kindle for PC (or Android) are both very nice, I use them often, they work well.. NOOK installed Sony Reader,, which I did not like one bit.. in fact I saw no advantage in it over other softeare I had that reads the same files. Pagnation was crappy, It made the books hard to read.. I dumped it.

So if I'm going to dump the PC app/program.. It is for sure I do not want the device.

Although tablet sales may be faltering a bit, we love our 10" Samsung and when RVing it is are go to device, many times the laptop never leaves it's case. Have the latest Samsung smartphone with 5" display, still too small for enjoying the content we prefer. Tablets won't completely replace laptops or smartphones and don't think their intended to, they do fill the void between the two and in most cases are faster and easier to use for our purposes. I use our tablet to access RV.net all the time and am currently using it to respond to this post. Investing in tablet futures may not prove fruitful, but they have carved out a niche of their own and doubt they will vanish completely.