Anyway, like it or not, the tablet is going to CHANGE THE WORLD forever. Apple by themselves are going to sell a billion of these tablets and the Googles, HPs and Microsofts of the world will sell billions more. Yes, I said BILLIONS. Might as well put up one of those "McDonalds" signs, only instead of billions of hamburgers, it will be billions of tablets.
I have seen the future of computing and the future of computing is with tablets. In ten years, the concept of a "home PC" or even a "laptop" will seem as ancient to us as a VCR seems to us today. The Apple tablet is a revolutionary product and consider how polished it is for a first generation device. Future generations of this product with have capabilities that are sure to stagger the imagination, especially when other major players (other than Apple) get into the game and the race is on to innovate further.
Eventually everybody will own several tablets (that is why I am predicting they will sell in the billions), all of them synced together so whether you use the one at work, in your car or on your back porch, you will have instant access to all your information. You will be able to buy one at the store (most likely in the checkout section of your supermarket) and by the time you get the groceries loaded in your car, your new tablet will be completely synced up with all your other ones. In other words, these tablets will become a commodity item. You drop one on the sidewalk and crack the screen? No big deal, just pick up another one next time you are at Wal-mart or the gas station.
Within our lifetime, buying a new tablet will be no different than picking up a tube of toothpaste at the local CVS and the computing power on one of these will exceed all the computing power that exists in the world today.
I doubt that -- there's no substitute for a proper keyboard if you're writing anything longer than a grocery list.
I don’t think tablets are ever going to get down to $10, which is what it would have to be to fulfill your toothpaste prophecy.
I doubt the future of computing will ever be primarily tablets. Tablets have a few major issues that will prevent them from becoming function machines, game and amusement machines sure but not function. The screen size is small, they generally have either no keyboard or a very small button style keyboard. Try typing a 30 page document on one of those things. Then of course there’s storage space, the have remarkably little of it. They’re just plain not useful for business, home sure but as business it’s a non-starter.
Why would people need multiple of these things synced together. Their big reason to exist is portability, nobody really needs more than one. Everybody in household might have one but if the things are useful enough to take over the industry nobody would need more than one.
I think you got a lot of pipe dream in there but the basic reality is different. You’re basically predicting they’ll become to the next generation what disposable watches were in the 1980s. But between the cost (it’s never going to be that cheap) and the functionality (they really aren’t that useful) it’ll never happen. These things might replace portable gaming, they might even replace e-readers, they might replace desktops for the “e-mail and internet” crowd, but that’s pretty much the outside limit.
Well said! I was skeptical about what an iPad could offer me when I bought mine. It exceeded my expectations. I use it daily, prefer it over my laptop, and rarely use my desktop PC. The iPad travels around the house with me, from the breakfast table, family room, the outdoor deck, workshop, and even out outings away from the home.
I ported over dozens of DVD training videos, pdf reference documents, books, thousands of songs and photos, and have dozens of apps. This, in a first-generation Apple tablet. I salivate at what is coming in future tablets from Apple and other companies.
Was it a Hyundai?
I forget. But I saw an ad for a new car. And instead of an owners manual, it comes with an IPad.
Not just for the hi tech info on the car, but also for scheduling service and maintenance.
Okay, I choose not to want one and I choose not to need one. My everyday life has no requirement for one and the older I get the less use one will be to me. Enjoy yours though : )