Ever since the iPad came out, a tablet has been an integral part of my tech setup, both for personal and work purposes.. Whether it’s been an iPad itself, an Android tablet, or a Chromebook running Android apps, a tablet has put the “product” in my “productivity”. A couple recent YouTube videos have had me start to question whether I truly need a tablet in my technology rotation.
The first video comes from Apple aficionado Luke Miani. I’ve enjoyed Luke’s videos as he covers a wide range of Apple topics, from the latest Apple products to hacking, upgrading, and re-using old Apple tech. In the above video, Luke talks about the new Apple iPad Pro, which he has purchased, and discusses the pros of the latest iPad as opposed to whether it’s worth upgrading as opposed to his continuing to use his 2018 iPad Pro. I myself own a 2018 iPad Pro along with a Magic Keyboard, but I have all but retired it as I have a 2021 iPad Mini 6 which fits in my hand better and is much easier to carry around. My problem, though, is that I already spend a lot of my day staring at a bright LCD screen, and my nearly 50 year old eyes, which aren’t great to begin with, are already telling me that’s a lot of screen time.
This brings me to the second video I saw. This one is from Kit Betts-Masters, a British lover of tech. While Kit talks about a lot of tech in general, his primary focus is on e-ink devices. You’re probably familiar with devices such as the Amazon Kindle or the Kobo lines of e-readers, devices with e-ink screens that don’t shine a ton of light in your face. E-ink technology has come even further since the Kindle first came out, and now there are devices we can use as full tablets. I now have one of those, the Onyx BOOX Note 3C (same brand as the Palma Kit talks about). This has become my primary reading, writing, and productivity device, plus it is so much easier on my eyes.
The question is now: Do I really need a tablet? I could switch back to a standard e-reader, use a notebook for my journaling, and use my phone for anything not covered by the rest. I will say that my iPad Mini is great for when I’m shooting photos and want to post or edit photos quickly, and my Note 3C has gotten me reading much more than ever before, but these are nice to haves, not need to haves.
Do you use a tablet? If so, how do you use it? If not, do you think you ever will or are you good without one?
