How do you view TPU & the internet in general? (With poll)

[lexluthermiester]

Here we are a week later and the results are a bit surprising. I had no idea so many TPU users were on phones most of the time!

 

[lexluthermiester]

I'm going to give this a bump..

 

[Scattergrunt]

I view most of the internet on my computer. Anything video related goes onto the phone, depending on what type of video it is and how I wanna watch it. Anything related to forums is dedicated purely to the PC. I keep my internet activity to a minimum outside of my home.

 

[John Naylor]

This is a bit tongue and cheek as the father of 3 boys ... who never put their phones down.

I use a phone to ....er ...make phone calls. When the 1st useful Smart Phone came out,I used to feel very cutting edge sitting in a hotel lobby, doing emails ... then I started getting files sent and the idea of thumb typing on my phone seemed to by the ultimate in inefficiency with a laptop in my room with a a full size KB,I could type with all my fingers. And I Tunes ? really ... how about focusing on "i-Work ?

I hosted a job site meeting with 8 people at the table ... 2 of them spent the entire meeting with their phones on their laps doing tappity-tappity tap the whole time. When the consultant sent a bill, I crossed out and deducted the time they charged to "Site Meeting". Never saw them again.

That being said,when I'm stuck in a car, I have been known to stream a college football game. But nothing that involves typing. My kids watch movies ... really ... a 4"screen and $15 sound subsytem.

So my answer, is ... I'm here to accomplish something, get it done and move on to the next item on the list. Only time I'd do that would be say, sitting at a ferry terminal waiting for the boat to dock. There's not enough time in the day as it is, and unless I's stuck somewhere with no other option,don't have the time and don't want to invest the effort..

 

[Princess Garnet]

Basically all of my internet use is on a PC. None of it is through touch enabled or mobile devices. I have a phone of course, but I really only use it for calls or texts. That probably makes me sound a bit older than I am.

A lot of this comes down to my habits and preferences.

I feel far more comfortable/productive with a keyboard and mouse.

I spend a lot of time at home too, and if I'm ever away from home, it's probably for a specific reason. I might be shopping, running an errand, or visiting someone. During such times, I don't like to preoccupy myself with short form internet access.

It also helps keep the internet a "place" (remember when it was just that?) that I go to and then leave, rather than something I'm constantly attached to. Although that's only half true because I still spend a lot of time on it anyway.

Basically, my reasons are I prefer a keyboard and mouse over a touch screen, I typically dislike short form methods of content/interfacing with the internet, and it helps keep it compartmentalized or as a "separate place" in my life.

 

[Bill_Bright]

the idea of thumb typing on my phone seemed to by the ultimate in inefficiency with a laptop in my room with a a full size KB

A laptop and a "full size" keyboard? LOL I assume you mean an external USB keyboard. I have never seen a laptop with an integrated "full size" keyboard - despite what some laptop marketing weenies want us to believe.

I feel far more comfortable/productive with a keyboard and mouse.

That plus my two 24" monitors and my THX surround sound speaker system. And yes, I mean "surround" sound with the rear channel speaker wires running through the floor and up inside the wall behind me to the wall mounted rear speakers!

I have a phone of course, but I really only use it for calls or texts.

Well, not sure how to describe me. I've been involved and into "high tech" electronics professionally since the late 1960s. But involved and into is not the same thing as adopting, buying and using for "my own" personal use.

I've been called a high-tech Luddite. I suppose that fits. I keep up, as best I can, with the state-of-the-art in terms of understanding the technologies. And I even support clients wishing to implement it.

But "for me"? I wait for the "cutting edge" to scab over or even start to scar up before I consider jumping in for my own use.

For example, I'm an avid cyclist (NOT ebikes, but ones you have to actually pedal yourself). I like to carry my cell phone with me, in case of emergency. But in recent years, the trend for cells phones is for them to be the size of tablets! Where am I supposed to put a table when riding?

After discovering my 6 year old "compact" Samsung smart phone would not stay put on the back bumper of my truck for a 10 mile trip to a bike trail, I bought a fancy Samsung "Z-Flip 3" phone because it folded and would easily fit into my pocket. A cell that fits my pocket, what a concept? HOWEVER, I bought the Flip 3 after the Flip 4 came out.

I too use my cell mostly for texting, then occasionally for phone calls. But everyone who knows me knows to call me on my landline. Yes, I still have a landline. But I also occasionally use my cell to check the weather radar if I'm riding or going to ride. And if stuck in the doctor's waiting room, I might play Drug Wars or Hearts on my cell. All that other fancy stuff goes to waste.

Oh, I also use Calendar on my cell - but only to notify me. That is, I enter all my appointments in Google Calendar WITH MY "FULL SIZE" KEYBOARD (LOL) on my PC. Then Google enters it in the calendar on my cell.

That probably makes me sound a bit older than I am.

I say that makes you sound practical - and that's a good thing in my book.

 

[lexluthermiester]

A laptop and a "full size" keyboard? LOL I assume you mean an external USB keyboard.

I have both a 15" and 17" laptop, each with "full" size keyboard. They've become uncommon, but are not rare.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Well, I guess it depends on your definition of full size. To me, it means a separate number keypad for starters, as well as separate cursor keys. Because of my desk's keyboard tray, if I want to sit my mouse on the tray too, I need a relatively small (in terms of width) keyboard yet mine is still 18 inches wide.

If the number pad is integrated with the standard qwerty keys, I would argue it is not full size.

 

[lexluthermiester]

If the number pad is integrated with the standard qwerty keys, I would argue it is not full size.

For laptops, that's as close as they get. And for most people they're good(enough).

 

[Bill_Bright]

For laptops, that's as close as they get. And for most people they're good(enough).

Yeah, you are right. "For laptops" - that's very true. But that size limitation with laptops is one of the primary reasons (besides screen size and a real mouse) I prefer PCs over laptops and why they aren't really "full size" keyboards.

If I have to scrunch my wrists together in a painful, awkward position and dig my elbows into my ribs just so I can approach the keyboard properly to avoid further carpel tunnel-inducing stress irritation, its not full size.

At least today's 15 - 17" laptop keyboards typically have "full size" keycaps. My first laptop way back in the day was a 13" (closer to 12.5) Dell with tiny keycaps. I don't have fat fingers but I sure fat-fingered text a lot while typing!

***

Anyway, getting back to your topic, and reviewing the poll results, I find it interesting that laptops got only 2.4% of the votes. And even more interesting (to me) is tablets got 0.0%.

For me personally, I access TPU and the internet 99% of the time with my PC. But if I'm watching TV for example, and I see something I want to know more about, I pick up my tablet and do a quick search.

Even though my older tablet (with its virtual keyboard) is relatively small and slow compared to my newer, much faster and larger MSI 15.6" SSD based laptop and its real keyboard, the almost "instant-on" tablet allows me to get the information I'm seeking much quicker. I would have thought more folks might use their tablets the same way. Oh well.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Yeah, you are right. "For laptops" - that's very true. But that size limitation with laptops is one of the primary reasons (besides screen size and a real mouse) I prefer PCs over laptops and why they aren't really "full size" keyboards.

If I have to scrunch my wrists together in a painful, awkward position and dig my elbows into my ribs just so I can approach the keyboard properly to avoid further carpel tunnel-inducing stress irritation, its not full size.

At least today's 15 - 17" laptop keyboards typically have "full size" keycaps. My first laptop way back in the day was a 13" (closer to 12.5) Dell with tiny keycaps. I don't have fat fingers but I sure fat-fingered text a lot while typing!

I just measured the key pitch on 4 keyboards and 3 laptops, PC and Mac and all are identical. Laptops have the same key pitch as full size keyboards and have for decades. Maybe you were using a mini-laptop like those netbooks from years ago? I have used a "laptop" with a non-standard key pitch recently, a 10" MS Surface Go and the iPad keyboards are also compressed but both of those aren't laptops, they're tablets. Even the tiny screen 11.6" Macbook Air has a full size keyboard on it as it's a regular laptop.

If you feel compressed with a regular laptop keyboard there's loads of reasons for it from the ergonomics of placement, proximity to the screen, the trackpad being in the way and horrible to use, the missing extended keys and on some, the smaller F-Keys. But key pitch is standardized to the same as desktop keyboards and has been for a very long time.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Laptops have the same key pitch as full size keyboards and have for decades.

Huh? I'm not talking about key pitch. And sorry but you are incorrect to suggest they are the same across all boards. Note key pitch is typically defined by one of 2 ways.

First is the space between the edges of the keys. The second and more common is the distance between the center of one key to the center of the adjacent key. There are actually OSHA guidelines for this (as noted here) that that states,

According to OSHA guidelines for safe computing, keyboards should have a pitch (or horizontal spacing) of 18 to 19mm between key centers. Spacing between key rows should be 18 to 21mm.

OSHA also points out that pitches of 19mm or more may be considered "full size", but again, they could be 18mm or even less.

So while your anecdotal examples may all be the same, that does not suggest all keyboards are the same.

Key cap sizes themselves are NOT standard either.

Plus, as I pointed out above, for me full size also means a separate number key pad and separate cursor keys.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yeah, you are right. "For laptops" - that's very true. But that size limitation with laptops is one of the primary reasons (besides screen size and a real mouse) I prefer PCs over laptops and why they aren't really "full size" keyboards.

With you on that point. It's also why I prefer 18"+ "laptop" models. I have always preferred portable desktop-like systems. Screen size and keyboard size are the main reasons.

 

[r.h.p]

ive already voted but will add i use my pc(desk top) for everything related to Word processing, Emails,Games ,Printing docs,Searching for info,Listening to music (unless in my car which is generally the radio)
Web cam interviews ( and then disconnect it ) Learning new Computer related interests, Reading comments on forums like this one ! , etc..
I hate using my phone for pretty much any thing apart from calling people ,Texting if i have to and using banking app..lol

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

I would be fascinated to see the results correlated with the age of the responder.

Do I love random useless data? Yer dang right I do.

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

I would be fascinated to see the results correlated with the age of the responder.

Do I love random useless data? Yer dang right I do.

I would too, but frankly the type that leans towards phones probably doesn't visit this website anyway so it wouldn't show much difference.

Also, I voted PC.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

I voted phones.

I don't do social media so this is my obsessive scrolling.

I use PC as well if I happen to be at one.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

TPU is one of my "morning coffee" stops so I tend to access with my phone.

I also drop in once in a while over the course of the work day when I'm on my work laptop just to see what's new.

When im on either of my home PCs, it's typically to actually do something, so I don't really spend much time there browsing anything.

 

[Bill_Bright]

It's also why I prefer 18"+ "laptop" models.

I agree but suspect not many road warriors, as in people who have to lug their laptops (and chargers and perhaps external drive and extra battery) around everyday, would appreciate the extra weight and size.

Sadly (or is it ironic?), IMO, the user demand for lighter and thinner laptops is one of the biggest forces driving competition among the makers and that, in turn, is THE driving force that results in the laptop industry being such a "proprietary" industry.

Imagine what the self-build laptop environment would be like if all laptop batteries were of just 1 or 2 shapes and sizes and used the same connectors. And if all laptop motherboards were the same shape and size, as well as keyboards, and in particular, cases. Imagine the user having the option to swap in a different motherboard, knowing it will fit the case and connect to the battery/charger (physically and electrically).

I know, I'm dreaming.

That would benefit the consumer and not the big corporations who can charge more (to buy, upgrade and repair) simply because their parts are proprietary and not standard. So we will never see an ATX Form Factor type standard for laptops.

Oh well.

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

Imagine what the self-build laptop environment would be like if all laptop batteries were of just 1 or 2 shapes and sizes and used the same connectors. And if all laptop motherboards were the same shape and size, as well as keyboards, and in particular, cases. Imagine the user having the option to swap in a different motherboard, knowing it will fit the case and connect to the battery/charger (physically and electrically).

The worst part of that is that ITX would work pretty well for all 16:10 laptops bigger then about 14 inches (if you get rid of the most of the time fairly useless VRM heatsinks), yet it will never happen because the average user just wants their thinness. As for batteries, I wouldn't really mind proprietary ones as long as they're like the old ones with 18650s inside, and they made the 18650s swappable.

 

[r.h.p]

I voted phones.

I don't do social media so this is my obsessive scrolling.

I use PC as well if I happen to be at one.

i dont do social media At All

They can jump in the lake as far as I'm concerned

 

[Bill_Bright]

As for batteries, I wouldn't really mind proprietary ones

I would and do. Wouldn't it be nice if you could pull the battery from your Dell and stick it in your HP and know it will physically fit, use the came connectors and supply the same standard voltage? Then pull it out of the HP and stick it in your self-built laptop's standard case?

Proprietary simply means fewer options at a higher cost.

 

[Visible Noise]

iPad is my primary media device.

 

[Kwadratowicz]

I use pc in home and work as primary device to look in network and tpu , but I'm trying to learn how to use smartphone to use with tpu

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

I would and do. Wouldn't it be nice if you could pull the battery from your Dell and stick it in your HP and know it will physically fit, use the came connectors and supply the same standard voltage? Then pull it out of the HP and stick it in your self-built laptop's standard case?

Proprietary simply means fewer options at a higher cost.

I agree, but that severely limits the options for form factor. I do agree with having a standard voltage and connectors, though.