Hold it, prop it, and stop the picture spinning
Sit comfortably with the tablet for an hour, stand it up on a table by itself, and stop the screen turning over every time you lean back.
People say a tablet is heavy, or that it hurts their neck, or that the picture keeps turning over. None of those is a computing problem. They are all about where the thing is sitting.
A tablet weighs about the same as a hardback novel. Held up in one hand for twenty minutes it becomes tiring, exactly as a hardback would. Propped against something at the angle you would hold a newspaper, it stops being tiring at all.
Key points
- Prop the tablet up at a reading angle instead of holding it in the air
- Lock the picture so it stops turning over when you lean back
- Turn the brightness down from the store setting to something restful
- Set a folding cover to put the tablet to sleep when you close it
What to remember
- Rotation lock is the single most useful switch on a tablet, and it lives in the panel at the top, not in Settings.
- A folding cover solves three separate problems at once — the angle, the scratches, and remembering to turn the screen off.
- Both kinds of tablet have this — on an iPad it is called Lock and Unlock, and on most Android tablets it is under a heading like Cover screen.
- Honestly — how much has the tablet been used since it arrived?
Try this
Slide the panel down from the top corner of your own tablet and find the rotation lock — a little padlock inside a circular arrow. Turn it on, then lie back and see the picture stay put.
Practice: Hold it, prop it, and stop the picture spinning. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.