I don't see how that works logically. A 7" tablet is just about exactly as much bigger than a 4" phone as a 10" tablet is bigger than a 7" tablet. Why is one quantum more important than the other?
I could just as well say "Double the size makes it really hard to argue that the iPad is notably better than a 7" tablet." with exactly the same justification.
I think it's very much taste-dependent. I've used an iPad and been broadly unimpressed with the form factor; you have to "put it on something" to use it, it's too big to hold for long periods in one hand. I've never used a 7" tablet but it seems like for simple browsing on a plane or whatever like it might be a better fit.
>Why is one quantum more important than the other?
I've owned both. Long story short, things like comics, magazines, non-mobile web, etc are terrible on a 7". Consuming this media often involves lots of tapping and zooming. Its annoying. Two people can sit together and watch a TV show or movie comfortable with a 10" tablet. With a 7" its almost like crowding around someone's phone.
Oh, and the 10" opens up this world of remote desktop/citrix apps that suddenly are usable.
I'd also argue that a 10" is just a sexier and more futuristic device. A 7" is typically fatter and has a larger bezel while a 10" has a lot more area to spread this stuff out. There's something really fun about having a thin 10" screen that weighs next to nothing in your hands. This is sci-fi territory here.
I'd also argue that no 7" is really pocketable. Unless you're a woman with a purse or are wearing massive cargo pants, you'll be carrying a bag anyway.
Well my Nook Color (first gen) is a 7" device, and I can easily slip that in the back pocket of my dress pants or jeans. Of course it is good to remember to remove it afterwards. Usually I would slip it in my back pocket on the way to the car, take it out, then repeat for entering the office -- no bag needed. It does work really good for regular books, but around the house I mostly use it to look stuff up online when someone else is at the computer. Things like checking the weather, looking up a channel listing, etc. The one thing that it really stinks at though is PDFs. For some reason, almost every PDF is formatted for 8.5x11 (or A4) -- even when there is a load of white space around the document. Now if I have the source for a PDF document and reformat it for this size screen, it works great.
What I think would be a killer feature is having a print driver on your desktop that sends formatted PDF printouts directly to your tablet device, sized for the screen. Then you would have a true replacement for your printer for many use cases (such as printing off some quick notes for a meeting, etc).
> Consuming this media often involves lots of tapping and zooming.
That depends on your vision. If your vision is good leave everything small and just read it.
If not, put on some supermarket reading glasses to magnify everything and enjoy.
If it has the resolution, you can make a small device appear big by magnifying it to your eyes with glasses, while still leaving the device physically small.
Right: taste dependent. I see what you're saying on some of that, but others just sound ridiculous (e.g. Watching a movie on 10" is bad enough, but sharing the screen? Not in my lifestyle, sorry.)
And some of your points (non-mobile web, remote desktop) mostly just amount to "10 inches is closer to a laptop", which prompts the question of why bother with the tablet when you already have a laptop?
And the rest just sounds like fanboism: why isn't it "really fun" and "sci fi territory" to have a 7" screen that weighs next to nothing in your hands? (And as I stated before, I have to quibble with the weight comment: the iPad is definitely not a one-handed device; I get tired using it like that.)
I'm not really defending the "paperback" form factor, as I haven't used it. I'm just very surprised at the level of resistance. It looks cute to me.
I've read arguments claiming fullsize pages can be read from 7" (or that the reflow of pdfs works well). I've never seen anyone do that regularly in real life and don't really expect to.
But sure, if you're rich, retired and only read literature -- not documentation, documents, code, etc... :-)
I routinely read full-size PDFs in duplex on my laptop screen, which is barely larger in physical size than a 7" tablet and actually lower resolution. That's a clear functional use case, right? So by your logic that makes you objectively wrong, not simply subject to different taste than me?
Stop it, this kind of flaming is beyond dumb. To claim that you prefer a 10" screen is fine. To claim that you can't read a PDF on a 7" screen is absurd.
> A 7" tablet is just about exactly as much bigger than a 4" phone as a 10" tablet is bigger than a 7" tablet.
I'm surprised that nobody else has pointed this out, but that's not true at all - we measure screen sizes by the diagonal, but the actual screen size is a quadratic function of the diagonal. If the aspect ratio were such that the screen were a square (it's not), this would mean that a 10'' screen would be more than twice as large as a 7'' screen, which would be three times as large as a 4'' screen.
That said, the screen size is really only part of the picture. At least for me, I like the size of the Kindle Fire (also ~7'') - it fits perfectly in my hand both when traveling and when reading. A 10'' screen to me feels massive enough that I'd just as rather have my computer (heck, 10'' is almost the size of some ultrabooks or the Macbook Air!)
I could just as well say "Double the size makes it really hard to argue that the iPad is notably better than a 7" tablet." with exactly the same justification.
I think it's very much taste-dependent. I've used an iPad and been broadly unimpressed with the form factor; you have to "put it on something" to use it, it's too big to hold for long periods in one hand. I've never used a 7" tablet but it seems like for simple browsing on a plane or whatever like it might be a better fit.