Tablet without Internet, is it of any value?

Now, this might not be a question that everybody has thought over but this is something I have had in my mind since a long time.

What is the value of a tablet without a net connection?

A smart phone too loses a lot of its value if it does not have a constant net connection but it is a phone after all. You can talk, message and utilize it as a phone. Also, listening to music on cell phones has become a de-facto almost.

A laptop or a PC might become crippled without a good net connection but does not lose its value much in a sense of its usage. The excel sheets, word files and presentations can always be made. Where does a tablet stands in a situation where there is no presence of a net connection, be it WiFi or 3G?

Frankly, not a lot can be raved about it…

We live in a world highly dominated by internet now. Of course in India the penetration is just 10% but that still means 120 million people who have tasted the blood. The ease of use of booking a ticket online, buying a book via Flipkart, sending a long mail in a matter of second without spending a rupee or of course and Facebook, the ultimate social connector, right now has gripped the people who use internet.

A whole breed of youth that goes to college comprises of people who have used internet because colleges give it for free. It is even a sort of USP for colleges to get students.

Thus, we have people who use internet and have become dependent on them. For example, I have not paid a phone bill offline since 2009. That is nearly three years!

In all this dependency, the tablet is expected to have internet connection. Tablet is basically a consumption device. The whole purpose that surrounds it is that you can get data from it. Be it a movie that you are watching, Facebook photos you are seeing or Wikipedia.

The problem is – It is not consistent in its delivery, atleast in India. This happens because of numerous reasons. First, WiFi hotspots in India are not prevailing everywhere. Second, the adoption of 3G is still slow because of its cost. It has reduced immensely, almost 70% rate cut by all companies but by Indian standards it still needs some slashing.

Besides, the connections are still not that reliable though that is improving so not that big a problem. The problem is GPRS. Using it on a phone is useful. The internet works and I have even booked a ticket via IRCTC app so fairly reliable as well.

As soon as the big screen comes in the picture though, it becomes unbearably slow. The whole point of using internet gets defeated almost instantly as the use that it can be put to is similar to phone and then why does a person needs a tablet for.

The only use then left is watching movies or reading books.

I have tried listening to songs but it just doesn’t cut while travelling. Now, just a simple calculation tells us that for the cost of a decent tablet (around 20KRs.) we can buy over a hundred books or go for less-than-half priced kindle as you cannot read books on tablet’s backlit screens for too long.

A person who has a laptop can always watch a movie on that. Suddenly, the tablet becomes nothing more than a decorative tray. Even a tablet below 10K with dongle using capability does not seem like a viable option unless you are skipping a laptop.

In my opinion, without a good internet connection, tablet isn’t really that useful, is it? What is your opinion on the matter?