Moving from a pair of 21" monitors to a 10" tablet screen with attached, terrible keyboard seems like a effort in trying to find a painful development environment.
There's been a large amount of research done on dual monitors and increased screen space and the effects on productivity - throwing that all out because it feels good seems like a ridiculous idea, let alone the ergonomics of hunching over a small screen.
Terrible keyboard? Android supports USB HID devices so just use whatever keyboard you normally use. I use my HHKB [1] when I am on the go which is 1000 times better than the on-screen keyboard.
I also have two monitors at home and at work, so I agree that replacing a real setup with 10" is terrible.
If you would connect that Nexus 10 to a 24" or so monitor at work that would be a much better solution.
I can get pretty much a better environment just by flashing a decent ROM that has a good terminal/ssh client and/or a modern port of VIM.
...and then using VNC is just the conclusion that his setup is not even close to optimal.
Sorry, but a netbook is way more feasible and less masochist than that ever will be.
Android/ios are not useful for general purpose by design. it's not something that you can 'improve' gradually. And that's why instead of punishing me like that, i'm excited about the other 'mobile' OSes comming, like ubuntu, mozilla, etc.
The good thing about this decoupled setup is that switching costs (in time, not in money) are amazingly low.
If something new and interesting comes up, I can just switch to that device and reconnect to my existing tmux sessions. Maybe Ubuntu will deliver a great tablet, or Google ship that rumoured Chrome OS tablet? I could be up and running on one of those in minutes
Moving from 11" laptop to a 'retina' 10" tablet however is actually an upgrade screen estate wise.
I can see the appeal of multiple big screens, but that has never worked for me. I spend much time on the road, and want to have the same working environment in the coffee shop as I have in the office.
Is far easier to zoom in a tablet. I use a 30" LCD for my main setup, but no problem when need to read code in a iPad 2. I simply put large fonts and zoom.
Why is remoting up to the dev machine in you office not an option then ? If the tablet is just used as a dumb terminal then it makes a bit sense. I do that all the time with mu surface.
Could you direct me to some of this research you're citing? it seems really unlikely to me that dual monitors would have any kind of significant impact on productivity. in fact don't they encourage multi-tasking which tends to decrease productivity?
How does it play on people who have ADHD?
I've been on a single 13" for three years and I don't want to go back to two 21" again.
Might go for an 15" just because of xCode, but that's it.
I think the emphasis was on mobility.
It is quite difficult to find a light enough laptop with a large screen estate.
I don't think I could go around with a laptop larger than 15".
There's been a large amount of research done on dual monitors and increased screen space and the effects on productivity - throwing that all out because it feels good seems like a ridiculous idea, let alone the ergonomics of hunching over a small screen.