Whats a first gen ipad good for?

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abkaz:
We have an old tablet on the coffee table in our living room. It has a nice dock that holds it upright and keeps it charged. The screen is always on and it's our info-center for things like:

* the family calendar
* family lists and notes (groceries, etc...) using a google keep account that is synced to our personal phones
* weather info
* skype
* TV / media control (using a chromecast & xbmc)
* music control for the home audio system
* Telephone / voicemail: We ported our rarely-used landline to a google voice number so voicemails appear on the tablet and we can also make/receive calls
* security camera viewer
* Google now / Siri general info requests
* Sprinkler control (using opensprinkler)
* Home control (lights, garage door, etc...)

yotsuya:

--- Quote from: abkaz on May 01, 2015, 11:44:24 am ---We have an old tablet on the coffee table in our living room. It has a nice dock that holds it upright and keeps it charged. The screen is always on and it's our info-center for things like:

* the family calendar
* family lists and notes (groceries, etc...) using a google keep account that is synced to our personal phones
* weather info
* skype
* TV / media control (using a chromecast & xbmc)
* music control for the home audio system
* Telephone / voicemail: We ported our rarely-used landline to a google voice number so voicemails appear on the tablet and we can also make/receive calls
* security camera viewer
* Google now / Siri general info requests
* Sprinkler control (using opensprinkler)
* Home control (lights, garage door, etc...)
--- End quote ---
I wish I could give you rep for this.

abkaz:

--- Quote from: yotsuya on May 01, 2015, 02:04:08 pm ---I wish I could give you rep for this.

--- End quote ---
Thanks - I guess that's how I always envisioned that phones and tablets should be used.

If anyone is going to do something like this, we found that if you're going to use a tablet for something like this Android tablets work the best - mostly because of the on screen widgets. They're cheap too. With the widgets you don't have to touch the tablet at all to start an app to see the weather, missed messages, calendar agenda, etc... they're all on screen all the time. And the screen is almost 100% customizable. Apple tablets can do most of the same things, but you have to launch/switch apps too often and that doesn't work as well for an information center. (not intending to start and apple vs google war... I've owned both)

Howard_Casto:
There's not really a war to be had. Anyone who's used both can probably come to this conclusion...... Apple typically makes a better tablet (now if it's worth the price tag is a different debate) but the android OS lets you actually use a tablet better.

I always recommend android myself simply because any tablet you buy is almost instantly obsolete.... they are worse than computers, and you can get a decent android tablet on any budget.

BorgDog:
hmm, I wonder if my 8" winbook tablet would work good for this as well. the live tiles are somewhat like widgets, and windows can do pretty much anything, just not necessarily best at the touch (which is the one thing about the winbook I don't like, the touch response/accuracy).

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