When a new tech product comes along that sells really well, it isn’t long before the market becomes flooded with accessories, or add-ons that supposedly improve your interaction with that product. Accessories are a bit defunct in the case of tablets, though, because they’re pretty-much meant to be used as a portable, stand-alone piece of kit. Here are some of the accessories that the manufacturers really shouldn’t have bothered with.
1. The tablet bag
The Assero Defender is bag that sort-of acts like a baby-carrier, but for your tablet. By opening the bag, you can operate your tablet with one-hand, which might come in use if you want to stand up on the subway and hold onto a rail with your other hand. It’ll totally change your life forever.
2. The jacket
Want to carry your tablet around town, but don’t want to carry a bag with you? Buy a custom jacket with a tablet-sized pocket built into it. Simple.
3. The shoulder strap:
Or maybe you don’t want to wear a jacket. In that case, use a shoulder strap to convert your tablet into its own shoulder bag. Warning: we think this might encourage theft, seeing as that’s what you’d pretty much be asking for with this accessory.
4. The glove:
We’re not too sure about what this tablet glove by Wacom is for. Maybe it’s to prevent repetitive strain injury from tablet over use? We also don’t know why they picture the glove with a pen.
5. Waterproof cases:
It’s clear that all tablet users must also be big fans of swimming, because AquaPac have created a fully waterproof case for the iPad. Because who wouldn’t want to surf the web and check their e-mails whilst chilling in the pool?
6. TV cables:
Scosche have made a cable that links your iPad to your TV, for you to display your pics and vids. This makes sense for phones, but surely the whole point of a tablet is that the screen is large enough to show high-quality pictures to your friends? Pointless.
7. iCade:
Turn your iPad into a miniature arcade. Slam! That’s the sound of me rushing out the door to get myself one.
8. The bed
This is a WHOLE BED that integrates the iPad, with built-in speakers, etc. Seriously. I’d love to meet someone who’s actually bought one of these.
9. Car accessories:
There’s a few car mounting and car charging accessories around at the moment. It doesn’t make much sense right now, but this may change in the future, as tablets may completely replace satellite navigation units in the future. However, we don’t think mounting a tablet in your front windscreen is particularly safe…
10. The bamboo case:
OK, fair enough, there’s a lot of different tablet cases in stores right now, but one made out of bamboo? Really?
This guest post was provided by Danny who loves to blog about the best Android tablets at his blog: Android Tablet Fanatic.
I wanted to comment on the waterproof bag idea. I think its great because the iPad can be used in severals ways on the job…in the rain. I don’t own an iPad but if I did I would want to make sure that NOTHING happened to it while I was on a jobsite doing whatever I needed to do with it.
Why wouldn’t a waterproof case be a good idea? Ever hear of iTunes? You know while in the pool or spa you want to change or select music? You sarcastically state about checking email in the pool. What’s wrong with that?
The Wacom glove is for digital artists and graphic designers, so they can rest their hand on the screen without activating multi-touch while they draw with a stylus. It makes using a touchscreen to draw much less of a learning curve because it makes it more like drawing on paper, so, it’s incredibly useful and saves your wrist from aching as you try to avoid your hand touching the screen and draw at the same time. The picture you have seems to show an actual pen, which would be stupid, but that doesn’t take away from the glove. Do more research before you rag on stuff.
And, BTW, not everybody uses a tablet because they think it’s cool; some people use them for work. A shoulder strap for someone who uses it in the field for actual work, like a project manager, might be really handy.