I'm writing this post with one but like others, I don't forsee me using it to run my trains.
-Greg
I have a 6+ years old flip phone. My wife has an ipad that I read the paper on. I'm not a fan of apple or the ipad. I tried the LCS system on it and wasn't impressed. I sold off all of the LCS equipment. I'll stick with the cab2 and cab1.
No phone, no tablet and no interest. This is not to say that I don't believe in technology, because I plan to use a computer to help run my layout. I just don't use those devices.
I do have an iPhone 4 and an iPad, but I have no interest in using them to control anything on the layout. I do think it is a good question to ask to get an idea of what people are thinking about this.
Originally Posted by TexSpecial:
Cell phone's are killers if not used responsibly. Very few will admit to it but there are more drivers on the road texting and talking on their cell phone than there are drunk drivers. It's dangerous enough on the highways and roads let alone being distracted by texting or talking on a cell phone. Every time I stop at a signal light I can count one or two people doing this, some with children in the car.
Steve, Lady and Tex
Just wait until folks are running their trains from their phones. Somebody gets a call and while talking the train runs off the layout!!!
There is another thread about how to get kids interested in model trains..... give them an Ipad to run them and watch what happens. I have - it works....
When my company began using Computers to help speed up the Car Buying Process, (I Am With A Large Auto Dealership), it was mandatory to Learn how to operate Computers. At first, it was Frustrating, but after many years of adapting, it's Easy and Fast, and Fun. So, I, Purchased an advanced I-Phone, and I-Pad Air...The rest of the story is, I am Always Connected. I sell more Cars, Texting, send more Pictures, I-Pad, and It's a Blast. If you are not Playing with this New Technology, Your Missing out on a Lot Of Fun. I am 70 Years Young, and I want to learn how to use these New Devices to Enjoy the Hobby of Model Railroading to the Fullest....Good Question. Smart Phones, Smart TV's, Legacy Command, and Lionel Trains! Happy Railroading.
I have both a smart phone and a tablet.
I use a smart phone & a MacBook Pro.
Cheers from Michigan
iPhone 5
Still prefer laptop vs. iPad
Originally Posted by handyandy:
Just wait until folks are running their trains from their phones. Somebody gets a call and while talking the train runs off the layout!!!
That could provide some very 'colorful' conversation.
I have an iPhone 5s, an iPad Air 2, and a Macbook Pro. May try the DCS wifi when it comes out, but not sure. I'm quite happy with my DCS system and enjoy running my trains with it.
I have a galaxy tab3 that I intend to run my trains with once the mth system is running. When I acquired this device I specifically had this application in mind. As for reading things, like digital ogr issues, I wish it was a little bigger.
I have an iPhone 6, monster, an iPad Air for work and an iPad 2 for play.
I have the LCS WIFI and use my phone and pad to run trains.......the Cab2 is easier to use, however!
Peter
I don't have a smart phone or a tablet, because such devices don't fit comfortably in my pants pockets (in which i even carried my pager when those were popular because I repeatedly broke the holster clips attached to my waistband or belt).
My wife and I share a data plan, but I still carry an old-fashioned cell phone that works, and if it ain't broke ... I would like to have the photo/video capabilities of a smart phone.
What, me worry?
Originally Posted by TexSpecial:
Cell phone's are killers if not used responsibly. Very few will admit to it but there are more drivers on the road texting and talking on their cell phone than there are drunk drivers. It's dangerous enough on the highways and roads let alone being distracted by texting or talking on a cell phone. Every time I stop at a signal light I can count one or two people doing this, some with children in the car.
Texting and non-hands-free conversations now are illegal on the roads where I live, thank goodness.
What, me worry?
Picked up my first smart phone in December. Have tablets in the house. To run trains, no.
Personally, I find the android platform a PIA for internet. It leaves out a lot of things used on websites, even on the OGR. I prefer windows.
I got the dumbest phone on the planet. It won't/can't keep a call...and then it turns around and calls somebody all by itself. But the good part is that it is too dumb to entertain me for hours on end....looking at the itty-bitty screen.
Tablets are sorta ok. But they got no kahunas. I prefer my custom built real pc that can pretty much take on anything thrown it's way. It's got over 2 TB of storage and two 24" monitors and full range Klipsch audio. It's more working machine than just pretty cabinet.
Call me old. Heck, I've been called worse! 
Have an iPhone 6, iPad2 and an Android 7 inch tablet. I plan to try out the various apps, current and future, to run the trains at some point. It'd be nice using them as an extra remote.
If I like them enough I may get an iPad Mini dedicated to the layout operation. I just love running trains, no matter the process.
I used to own a cell phone only for in-car emergencies. I tossed it when I bought a Chevy with "On Star". I have always HATED 'phones. Any "social communications" are done by email, Facebook, on-line discussion groups, or "snail mail". I send 8 yearly Holiday card mailings to my 10 grandkids with $$$ inside.
I am probably one of the few with NO phone or I pad. I use the landline for ordering parts, and pitza. Oh yea, and call my 92 yr. old MOM once or twice a week.
Originally Posted by handyandy:
Originally Posted by TexSpecial:
Cell phone's are killers if not used responsibly. Very few will admit to it but there are more drivers on the road texting and talking on their cell phone than there are drunk drivers. It's dangerous enough on the highways and roads let alone being distracted by texting or talking on a cell phone. Every time I stop at a signal light I can count one or two people doing this, some with children in the car.
Steve, Lady and Tex
Just wait until folks are running their trains from their phones. Somebody gets a call and while talking the train runs off the layout!!!
Well, if they're dumb enough to actually take the call mid-run, then lesson learned... hopefully. Ignore it, stop the trains, redial, talk, restart. Or just use another device.
We may "like" our hand-held proprietary remotes (I don't... they feel primitive to me...) but it's much cheaper for the manufacturers to develop and update and App than a physical piece of hardware. The "update" part is important. What happens now when they want to add features or change something? We wait - a while, because you have to retool AND reprogram the remote. Moving to iDevices means that the hardware part is Apples/Samsung's problem. It's ultimately more cost effective for consumers as well - you can get a cheap Android tablet for under $50 these days - DCS and Legacy remotes are considerably more expensive. When MTH/Lionel want to update the interface/add a "button", or some other functionality, the update rolls quickly. Now, you can argue, and rightfully so, that things could get ugly FAST with buggy code, but QC has plagued our hobby for years at this point, so nothing really changes. Fortunately Apple and Google Apps do enforce some quality standards, so there might actually be MORE QC compared to what we have today
It's the wave of the future my friends, and I assure you that Lionel and MTH will swear on a stack of Bibles that they will continue to support and develop for the hardware remotes, and they will.... right up to the point where they don't, because at some point it just won't be worth the cost of development, and supporting two platforms that do the same thing is too much of a PITA. The demand will slowly but surely shift, and at some point it will either be iDevice or conventional.
We've all seen it before - its starts with parallel development, then some new features hit the new platform much faster, and then some new features aren't available at all on the old platform and are exclusive to the new. In time, the old platform is a mere shadow to the new platform, and the manufacturer pulls the plug on the old... and proceeds to announce a NEW new platform and the cycle begins anew. 
Conventional layout but I have a Dragon Touch tablet and Apple I5. Free upgrade from the flip phone.
I have had an iPhone for years and just got a new iPad from the wife for Christmas. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a use for the iPad. I use a lot of graphics programs for work, and as far as I can tell, an iPad is simply a Facebook interface. I don't bother trying to run my trains with it... I like my 990/Cab2.
Anyone want to buy it? NEVER been used.
I have both. Would consider using them to operate trains when MTH comes out with their app for DCS.
I guess I embrace technology; at least I am not paranoid of it like some. I decided technology was good when I went from flying C-130s with old WWII era mechanical round gauges to upgraded B-727s with all computer glass cockpits. I do have to admit it was fun to watch a new young pilot try to fly the B-727 without the electronics (simulated failures). (Before all you technophobic guys jump on this, I had several mechanical gauge failures in my flying career but never had an actual electronic instrument failure.)
Back to trains: I have an iPad that I'm trying to set up with Lionel's LCS as I wire my layout. I will have many TMCC switches (RCSs with DZ-2500s), turntable, complex yard system, and several industrial sidings on the layout I'm building so using the iPad for layout control will be a lot easier than the CAB2. Additionally, I like following the train around the layout so a fixed location for the transformer, block and switch controllers does not appeal to me.
I will continue to use the CAB2 to control my Legacy/TMCC engines because I like the feel of it. However, I'm thinking of getting an app to replace the DCS handheld because I do not like the thumbwheel.
If someone developed an app that seamlessly combined Legacy and DCS engine control, I'd definitely give it a try.
Cell phone and a ZW. LOCOMOTION
Originally Posted by thestumper:
Originally Posted by handyandy:
Originally Posted by TexSpecial:
Cell phone's are killers if not used responsibly. Very few will admit to it but there are more drivers on the road texting and talking on their cell phone than there are drunk drivers. It's dangerous enough on the highways and roads let alone being distracted by texting or talking on a cell phone. Every time I stop at a signal light I can count one or two people doing this, some with children in the car.
Steve, Lady and Tex
Just wait until folks are running their trains from their phones. Somebody gets a call and while talking the train runs off the layout!!!
Well, if they're dumb enough to actually take the call mid-run, then lesson learned... hopefully. Ignore it, stop the trains, redial, talk, restart. Or just use another device.
We may "like" our hand-held proprietary remotes (I don't... they feel primitive to me...) but it's much cheaper for the manufacturers to develop and update and App than a physical piece of hardware. The "update" part is important. What happens now when they want to add features or change something? We wait - a while, because you have to retool AND reprogram the remote. Moving to iDevices means that the hardware part is Apples/Samsung's problem. It's ultimately more cost effective for consumers as well - you can get a cheap Android tablet for under $50 these days - DCS and Legacy remotes are considerably more expensive. When MTH/Lionel want to update the interface/add a "button", or some other functionality, the update rolls quickly. Now, you can argue, and rightfully so, that things could get ugly FAST with buggy code, but QC has plagued our hobby for years at this point, so nothing really changes. Fortunately Apple and Google Apps do enforce some quality standards, so there might actually be MORE QC compared to what we have today
It's the wave of the future my friends, and I assure you that Lionel and MTH will swear on a stack of Bibles that they will continue to support and develop for the hardware remotes, and they will.... right up to the point where they don't, because at some point it just won't be worth the cost of development, and supporting two platforms that do the same thing is too much of a PITA. The demand will slowly but surely shift, and at some point it will either be iDevice or conventional.
We've all seen it before - its starts with parallel development, then some new features hit the new platform much faster, and then some new features aren't available at all on the old platform and are exclusive to the new. In time, the old platform is a mere shadow to the new platform, and the manufacturer pulls the plug on the old... and proceeds to announce a NEW new platform and the cycle begins anew.
Great thoughts, and your signature made my day. Long live the C64.
iPhone & iPad. I prefer Apple devices because there are several aviation apps I run that are just not available for Android. I've had a PC before they were called PCs - 1978. My wife prefers her Mac & MacBook - they suit her side of the brain. Before retirement, I had 30 years of developing embedded aerospace avionic systems. All of this just to say that I'm comfortable with technology. Yet I don't feel I'm enslaved to it. My iPhone is a 4S; would kind of like a newer phone just for the larger screen, but everything I need runs just fine on the memory & processor in the 4S.
I have not installed iCab; didn't even know that was what it was called until I read it in this thread. Haven't checked into it yet. For all I know, it may only work with Legacy, as I'm still running TMCC and conventional.
I'd really like to cut the landline, but for the same reason why I'm not yet ready to control my trains from wifi is that pesky feature installed in most technology - the "criticality detector." You know; it's the feature that, when you're running out the door, late for an appointment, and you realize you have to print out a form to take with you, that the wireless printer decided to go offline, requiring a reboot. Or, when there's a fire/storm/explosion, that you can't get a cell call to go thru because the towers are max'd out. I want to know that if I hit the phone/pad equivalent of the red triangle, there's no network latencies because my wife is downloading a movie (and I have 60mbps service...).
But I'm sure we're slowly marching to device-driven trains.
I have an iPhone and an iPad. I am 65 years old, and I love some of the newer Technologies.
However, I am not really enamored with the thought of running my trains with either of those devices.
I have a Legacy 990 system and will use that or run conventional. I just don't desire to run my trains through another device. But, heck, that's just me.
Like many others, I have both with no interest in running trains with either when the purpose-built controllers do the job so well (esp. in the case of the Cab 2). What does excite me is seeing the manufacturers working toward this technology and what new controls this might open up in the future without being limited by the remote (i.e. adding the quillable whistle to MTH engines without the DCS remote having that ability). I have to believe developing/updating an app is nothing compared to developing a new controller. On the other hand, there's a certain excitement I get every time I take that Cab 2 remote out of the cradle and push the little red button.
I'm a computer tech with an Iphone 5, Ipad Mini, a Laptop, 3 PC's, an iMac and 2 CAB-2'S but I haven't invested in the LCS because I'm still in the developing stage of my Mancave/Train room. I probably will see how it feels to run my trains with the software but more than likely will try to enjoy my CAB-2's for a while.
