Let the tablet wars begin

As first out of the gate Apple’s iPad has a distinct advantage over comparative tablet computers with release dates in the future or to be announced. Already the iPad has sold millions and by the time HP’s Slate comes out (supposedly in June), the iPad will have probably sold almost 3 million units.

iSuppli Corp. is forecasting that iPad sales will double next year and then 2012 the number of iPad’s sold will triple from this year’s, but the number at roughly 21 million sold. This year there will be a lot of buyers because of early adopter fever. The numbers for next year really depend on one thing: what the second generation iPad is like. Also, what the price does will really affect how many are bought. If the price drops, then yes, I do believe iSuppli’s numbers will be accurate. If the number stays or only dips an insignificant amount, then people might start to look in other places.

Of course I mean the tablets I mentioned earlier. There are going to be so many competing tablet computers soon, that the iPad’s numbers might be seriously affected.

The HP Slate is the obvious competitor with the price supposedly at $500. The advantages the Slate has are Flash and a front-facing Web cam, something many were surprised the iPad didn’t have.

Then there’s the adorable Dell Streak. It’s sleek, has front- and rear-facing cameras, runs on Android, and, like the iPad, doesn’t run Flash. It seems to be a real competitor in my opinion, except for one thing. It’s tiny. Like almost the size of the iPhone, tiny. The Dell Streak is only 5 inches. The HP Slate is double that at 10 inches and the iPad is just under 10 inches.

The Dell Streak might have an advantage because people might enjoy something slightly larger than a smartphone, but not quite as big as a laptop screen. There’s no known price yet, but I’d have to imagine that the Streak will be a lot less and therefore might capture the market of people not sure how they feel about tablet computers. Then, the Streak will come out in a slightly larger model. It would be a nice stepping stone up to that more expensive model for those who know they like smartphones but don’t know if they need something else.

Waiting for the tablet explosion

When I first heard about tablet computers I didn’t know what they were and I didn’t see the purpose. But slowly tablets are becoming the newest technology that people are keen to get their hands on and companies all want to create one of. Tablets, for those who don’t know, are touchscreen computers and all sorts of companies are making them, such as Intel and Dell, Apple, and TechCrunch.

I can’t help but wonder if tablet computers, while interesting, might be obsolete almost as soon as they become big. With how much phones are able to do and the affordability of netbooks, tablets might have no place in the market. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch and the creative force for the CrunchPad, had one thing in mind when he began to conceptualize his tablet “a very thin and light touch screen computer, sans physical keyboard, that has no hard drive and boots directly to a browser to surf the web.” It seems as though tablets are a mix between smartphones and netbooks; the size and capabilities of netbooks with the physical attributes (namely being touchscreen-based) of most smartphones.

They do look nice though.

The CrunchPad is thin and sleek. It seems that netbooks and tablets will eventually merge together to become one. And I believe that all computers and phones will have touchscreens a few years down the road. It can’t be denied that touchscreens are the technology of the future, they cut down on bulk and can actually make working faster (provided the touchscreens are top of the line and not just average). Some day we might all be just like the characters of Star Trek.