this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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Phones are for talking, navigating, and casual content consumption. Desktops (and laptops) are for actually getting things done. Both are useful, but the former is not a substitute for the latter.
Tablets are oversized phones that can't even phone. I don't see any use for them that isn't better served by something else. They'd actually be useful if they ran a desktop operating system, and some early ones did, but modern ones don't.
Tablets do have a singular purpose, being drawing.
Of course, most tablets that aren't specially built for it (or are from Apple) are terrible at it, but I definitely wouldn't want to draw on a phone or with a mouse.
I seem to recall there being purpose-built drawing tablets that are only drawing tablets, and act as a peripheral to a computer rather than a computer unto themselves. That sounds good on paper, since then you can still use the keyboard and mouse for everything other than drawing, but I've never used one, so I wouldn't know.
Also, there are laptops with touchscreens and full-range hinges. With that, you could do your drawing on an actual, fully-functional laptop. I haven't used one of those, either, though. I do have a laptop with a touchscreen, which could in theory be used for drawing, but it has a normal laptop hinge and can't be held like a tablet or paper notebook, so actually drawing on it is cumbersome at best.
I will never buy another laptop that does not become a tablet, whether by turning the hinge all the way around or by pulling the screen off. I prefer the latter design but most of the industry seems to have settled on the former. My favorite laptop I've ever owned from a hardware design perspective was a Thinkpad Helix.