Tablets should replace paper

Tablet Preference

  • I would buy a paper-like tablet described

    Votes: 2 33.3%
  • I prefer the style of Android tablets already available

    Votes: 4 66.7%
  • I would buy both, for different uses

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    6

bsm117532

Member
Apr 15, 2011
1
1
I have been using a linux tablet PC for years, and am extremely frustrated that the use-as-paper use case is being completely ignored by this new crop of tablets. From what I can see, all new tablets since the iPad are basically glorified toys, and cannot be used for anything but web surfing and watching movies.

To be specific, I want to do with a tablet what I do on paper: write on it. Load pdf's and read them similar to paper. To accomplish this, tablets must have several features currently being ignored. I hope that some manufacturers read this, and take advantage of this ignored market, because I won't be buying a tablet until it has properties superior to paper:

  1. Aspect ratio should be similar to that of paper (US Letter: 1.3, A4: 1.4). Movie screens (1.77) are too tall and narrow for paper-like use in portrait mode.
  2. DPI should be high enough that small fonts (sub/superscripts) commonly appearing in pdf documents can be read in portrait mode. I find 150 DPI to be an absolute minimum. Some 300 DPI screens exist on phones and would be dreamy, they just need to be big enough. Documents should be zoomed so that one page fills the screen. That's a minimum UXGA resolution (1600x1200) at the size of paper.
  3. Visible screen size should be similar to that of paper (US Letter: 13.9", A4: 14.3")
  4. An active digitizer and stylus are an absolute requirement (Wacom, N-Trig). Capacitive touch screens just don't have the resolution or response time to make for accurate writing.
  5. If a capacitive digitizer is included also it must have palm detection, because when writing, people rest their palm on the screen, and it shouldn't cause clicks.
  6. Extremely hard surface like Gorilla glass.
  7. Super bonus points if you make it a dual-screen device like a paper notebook, so that it can be opened and written on both left and right. (see the Acer Iconia Touchbook for example) e.g. reading a document on the left, take notes on the right.

Other than that, it should have the features of modern tablets: thin as an iPad, instant-on, runs Android, wifi, 10+ hour battery life, light, bluetooth keyboard dock. Rear-facing cameras are NOT useful on such a device. I'm not going to hold up my notebook computer to take pictures either. Use your camera-phone. I would prefer to forgo a front-facing camera as well, in favor of a small bezel around the screen.

A suite of document-oriented software would be tremendously useful. Such as: create pdfs from photographed documents, wifi/network printer discovery and printing, collaborative document sharing (shared whiteboard), handwriting recognition, intuitive quick-zoom tool, editing tools a la xournal (cut/paste/move/insert space, highlight, colors, etc).

Such a device would be a dream for students, scientists, lawyers, and business people, anyone who reads documents. (Who doesn't read documents?)
 
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