Actually my M10 arrived on 20th April so it’s been a little over the month now but never let it be said that I rush to conclusions!

By now, you will no doubt have read many a mixed review of the first Ubuntu tablet so perhaps first I should declare something of my background. I’ve been a pretty keen Ubuntu user for a decade now but I wouldn’t want you thinking I’m an insider, far from it. I don’t even really think of myself as a techie. Though I have written software and lead software teams all my career computing is for me just a tool to solve problems. A powerful tool to sure but in my job (or vocation) I’m solving problems that allow small companies to compete with large ones and to make all of us tread more lightly on our fragile planet.

I tried Ubuntu out of frustration at losing 50% of my computing power to Windows and Mcafee even though we bought high end Lenovo laptops for all staff in those days. I was persuaded to try a Mac a few years back and I tolerate it as an adequate tool but no more. My only real gripe with Ubuntu (and a few other distros that I’ve tried) is that WiFi can still be a bit hit or miss if you pick the wrong hardware.

So, why would I shell out for an Ubuntu tablet?

For me, every tablet thus far has been a consumption device. It’s a handy way to check email or watch a tv show on the train. I love being able to read both web content and books without lugging a laptop but to be honest a phone is just as good for that. I’ve been super-grateful for JuiceSSH on more than one occasion to kick a malingering server back into life or do an emergency database fix on the go, but honestly you wouldn’t plan to run your life that way, would you?

But with Ubuntu Touch we have the promise of running ‘normal’ applications on the go with minimal compromise and no compromise at all if you can find yourself near a screen and pull out a bluetooth keyboard.

So what will I do with it? Email, iPlayer radio, web and ebook reading, social media, Content Management (WordPress), Business modeling (BPMN, DMN, UML), internal and customer meetings (mostly voice but some screen sharing) and project management (Freemind, Github, Gitlab). In other word everything that is not actually sitting in front of heavy development tools like Eclipse or XCode.

Now I know that some of those are not going to be straight foward but let’s see how I get on…