Is The Tablet PC Dead? No, It's Only Resting
from the quietly-getting-by dept
It's tough to remember a product that launched with more fanfare recently than Microsoft's Tablet PC. However, now that four months have gone by, you don't hear much about them any more. In all that time, I know I've only seen one tablet PC in action, and at that was at a technology conference. So, now David Coursey is looking into whether or not the tablet PC is dead - and says that it's actually doing quite well, in a quiet sort of way. Basically, the tablet PCs that are really just ultraportable laptops with a touch screen have found willing consumers. The touchscreen is just seen as a "nice to have" on top of the regular laptop. However, it's still not clear if there's a real market for strict tablets that don't have any keyboard input. Either way, Coursey seems to think that the second and third generation of tablet PCs will be a lot more compelling - especially combined with advances in wireless connectivity and software designed specifically for tablet machines. I have no doubt eventually they will catch on, but I still see the concept as simply an additional feature for laptops. It's just that, eventually, all laptops will be "Tablet PCs".
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