Tablets… an interest of mine, one of great intrigue! Why are they so popular? They do not provide the best of anything but they supply us with an unsaid “necessity” that must not be denied. Kids, adults, professionals and royalty have all expressed a deep seeded desire to wrap their digits around a sleek case and gaze in amazement at beautiful high definition graphics, dragging their fingers and stretching the limits of input devices. When did this happen? Wasn’t it somewhat recently when we unearthed non-back lit, graphite displays we could read books on?
It is my opinion that tablets are so popular because of the types of interaction you can get from them and in such a small, portable container makes them almost as seductive as your favorite chocolate waving at you from across the room in 1080p.
Big boys like Forbes, expect tablets to reach astronomical sales and double this next year over what they currently are. Doesn’t that surprise you? Well I can’t say that I am blown away by such a big number but I am curious as to why now? The new iPad is undoubtedly a beast among tablets, boasting huge popularity and technological superiority, with a small insignificant drawback being the heat generated during peak performance. It is this in a nutshell that tells me that the need for tablet devices are growing past the industries means to create them. In other words, the technology still isn’t perfected and in the meantime during a storm of sales, it is us, the consumers, that fuel tablet manufacturers with more reasons to create “the ultimate tablet”. But can they? After all tablets are only so big, offer only so many relevant features and still will never be the ultimate gaming platform, will never last as long as we hoped, are still susceptible to screen damage which renders them useless and cost just as much or more than dedicated platforms that perform much more demanding tasks.
We may have the best tablet currently, Apple may have that battle won, but if there is more to come… when will it be here, what new can be done and just how much are we willing to pay to play our games on the go with the next, best thing… $1000???