Tablets are the hot item in mobile communications today. During the Christmas season, millions of them flew into the hands of willing consumers. My son reported that so many students returning to his university from the holiday break had new iPads that, when they all turned them on, they crashed the dorm’s wireless network.
The iPad is the leader, with over 50% of the market, but a flood of new Android models are grabbing market share. While these devices offer some unique advantages for mobile connectivity, gaming, social networking, and entertainment, are they practical for agricultural applications? There is not a lot of research on farmer adoption of tablets. Farmer use of Smartphones is on the rise, and there is some indication of tablet use, but it is just too early to get a good read on if farmers are moving to this new platform. For the past month, I have been working with a tablet from Verizon and have a few thoughts on tablet application for farming operations.
The first and obvious advantage is the screen size. Ten inch screens are the standard today, but there are several new models with 8 inch and 5 inch displays. These areas which are much larger than a Smartphone screen provide vast improvements in reading data, entering data, and in viewing charts and graphs, weather radar images, and videos. Most newer models have a front-facing camera that can be used for video conferences and other face-to-face communications. In addition, a tablet can do just about everything your Smartphone can do, except make a phone call. Although, if you use Skype or some other on line phone service, you could use the tablet for this.
While the extra viewable real estate is nice, it also means this is not a one-handed device like a Smartphone. This can be an issue when using a tablet and operating a piece of farm equipment. Tablets work very well while laying flat on a table or desk, but there are not a lot of flat surfaces inside tractor or combine cabs. The thinner and lighter models can be managed single-handedly after some practice, so keep that in mind when choosing a tablet. Perhaps some innovative farmer will invent an adapter for tablet and computer use in the cab.
Connectivity
Most tablets come with WiFi connectivity, while this is useful at Starbucks, in the middle of a corn field it is not. Thus, you will want a tablet with connectivity to a wireless provider like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, or others. The model I have been using the XYBoard by Motorola for Verizon. It has 4G LTE connectivity and is amazingly fast. Internet, e-mail, the HAT app, and video material had quick and reliable access. It has a built in hotspot so you can connect other WiFi devices and get 4G LTE speed. We used it to get our broadcast equipment on-line during the Fort Wayne Farm Show. While 4G is not everywhere today, it will be in the not too distant future, so in my opinion it is worth the investment.
Hardware connectivity is another matter. Most tablets use a micro USB connection and a micro SD card. Some have no provision for an SD card, so beware. If you want to move large amounts of data from your main computer to the tablet or vise-versa, this is an issue. Toshiba makes one of the few tablets with full size USB and SD card connections. Battery life is another issue. If you will be spending long hours away from the office, make sure your tablet has a long battery life. Six hours is sort of a minimum, with ten or more being outstanding. The speed of your processor and what you are doing with the tablet will have a big impact on how long the power will last.
With the exception of the iPad, most of the non-Apple tablets look very similar. The real difference is in the operating system. The Android marketplace is awash in new OS. Google has been cranking out a variety of yummy tasting systems with names like Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich. This is most likely one of the most important decisions you have to make when choosing a tablet because each OS has different capabilities and a different look and feel. The techies tell me each new version is better and closer to perfection. Microsoft is coming out with Windows 8, an OS for computers and tablets. It will be based on touch screen technology that is at the heart of the tablet.
So, is a tablet ready for the combine? For most farmers, I say not yet. If you check your e-mail, text, and follow the markets, news, and weather occasionally, then a Smartphone is cheaper and easier to handle. If however, you spend a lot of time on-line and work with spreadsheets, documents, do video conference calls, or like to watch movies or play Angry Birds during those long days in the field, then a tablet is worth the investment. As for which one, the iPad is a great product but Android is catching up fast and offers more choices and lower prices.
