As much as I’m looking forward to the potential of the Apple tablet, I’m also a bit pissed. I wanted a slate/tablet PC ages ago (early 2000s) and at the time they were all Windows-based (which I don’t necessarily mind…I’m not a Machead any more) and they didn’t offer a thing that was compelling over a regular laptop–plus they were more expensive than a more powerful laptop/desktop replacement.
Now, Apple comes along and Jobs swings his mighty wand. BLAM! The tablet market is reborn (though probably for the majority of people out there, it’ll be more like the big bang of the tablet industry).
You could argue that Amazon’s Kindle started this mess but it’s not like the Kindle’s anything but a book reader…or is it?
I don’t know about you but I forgot what it was like to use a monochrome monitor and black and white TV back in the 90s. Why would I want to play some EA game on a Kindle? Unless they unveil the “color” Kindle tomorrow, I’m not biting. It’s a friggin book people…
Meanwhile, the fervor over Jobs’ master creation that he’s so anxious to unveil continues to mount (I’m telling you, I would have to laugh if the Jan 27 announcement has nothing to do with the tablet…that would be typical Jobs dangling the carrot in front of all us asses).
A tablet renaissance is coming and it could eventually mean the end of the laptop. After all, the netbook craze came and sort of went (it’s still out there but the news isn’t covering it like it used to). But, that already created a sort of subniche off the main portable computer industry. With the tablets–which had been relegated to the fringes of PC land–you’re going to see (assuming Apple’s designers did the right thing) a huge rush to make tablets and carve out a piece of the “new” market.
The thing is, though, are we really getting anything worthwhile? So, what if we get some fancy Mac tablet (and eventually some updated PC tablets)? iPhones did a great job of opening up the smart phone market to people who probably wouldn’t have bought an HTC and didn’t care to hassle with Windows Mobile. iPods made MP3 players hip (and took them away from the geek alpha dogs). Will the iTablet/iSlate/iFlatiMac change the PC industry as a whole? Probably. But not by as much as the other devices. Most people already own a computer of some kind. Of course, they might decide to go Mac now and make Apple the 2% marketshare company (as opposed to 1%).
One thing it might do, though, is kick the PC industry in the pants again. And that’s always fun to watch…
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