Tablets finally have had their run?

I recently came across an article that was labeled with the infectious title:

Our Love Affair With the Tablet Is Over

 At first, I was curious. Surely, after a mere four year run tablets were not on the out. After reading the article, linked here, I had some significant misgivings. I feel as if the article, from a technical standpoint, could be proven true in the future. From a personal standpoint, and the fact that I reside on a campus, the article seemed to take some serious standpoints too far. For example:

The first issue I had was cellular vs. wi-fi. He states:

As phone apps improved in terms of quality and speed, users abandoned their tablets for the device in their pocket that could access the Web anywhere and anytime from Wi-Fi or cellular connections.

As a phone and tablet user myself, I find that I use both almost equally. Second, combining wifi and cellular connections seems presumptuous. Wi-Fi isn't everywhere or available anytime. I hate watching videos on my phone without a Wi-Fi connection because it eats up my valuable data limit. The larger screen real estate on a tablet allows me to watch YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Vevo all on full HD. Why go to my phone? If I have Wi-Fi, I have my tablet. That simple. Granted, some restaurants have Wi-Fi these days, so if I were out to lunch I won't necessarily bring my tablet along. The point remains, if I can use my tablet I would rather do so. Not only is it easier on the eyes, fingers and typing in general (mine has an attached keyboard dock), but even now apps optimized for tablets are simply great looking. Which brings me to my next point.

The writer said:

Based on the momentum of the phone, Netflix decided to merge the tablet and phone UIs.

I find this akin to stating that our love affair with PC's are out because it is now considered standard business practice to have mobile optimized pages. Just because one is used, doesn't mean the other isn't. With the emerging tablet market, only four years in, they are becoming household items. It isn't out the question to see either ten inch or seven inch models around the house. Combining phone and tablet UI's isn't unprecedented, indeed it would seem like the logical next step.

Bringing it back to the cellular connection, the writer stated:

Conversely, only 12 percent of tablets have cellular connections, instantly making them non-mobile devices.

I believe this is because of design issues, but much like the iPod without a data connection...it hasn't gone anywhere. The iPod is still being readily developed. It still sold even though the brand new iPhone C was quickly reduced in production. A device far older than the newest iPhone is still being produced and it has no cellular connection. Where the niche remains, the companies produce. One would think that should cellular connection be an issue, Apple would have eliminated the newest iPod. Not only do they have the iPod, they have four versions of the device with no cellular connection. Obviously these are not tablet devices, they they do share the characteristic of not having a cellular connection. Non-mobile devices are limited, granted. They need a Wi-Fi to fully operate. In the end though, data intensive apps should be used on Wi-Fi. It's logical, as many mobile plans limit data. So, data intensive is negated through Wi-Fi, larger screen real estate to play with, often real keyboards to type...tablets are not only convenient they are more useful when Wi-Fi is around.

Finally, size. This has always been a point of contention for any company, as Samsung has demonstrated. A rule hasn't been established on what is the "best" size. The Nexus 4 is perfect in my mind, but someone else may want something smaller. The Note is well known as the "phablet" as the article mentioned. Personally, this is huge. It doesn't fit comfortably in the pocket, so maybe that's why Samsung came out with the Watch. Either way, anywhere between four to five inches seems to be the zone. Any larger and you're in tablet territory, any smaller and you're dealing with fonts being too small to see, assuming the phone may not have the processing power to display it correctly. I see size as the most fluid of concepts in this article, since it's really left to opinion.

In the end, this article may be right from possibly an enterprise point of view. Then again, maybe not. iPads are being used in schools, can be appropriated toward certain restrictions and are easier to play with concerning apps. Android is trying to make headway into this market, so it remains to be seen what will happen there. It isn't the Samsung Galaxy S[insert number here] that they are marketing to businesses and schools though. It's the tablets, whether it's the 8 or 10 inch versions.

Hopefully, tablets can be seen not as going away, but changing the way they are used. They aren't just for personal use.