Rumors of Dell Tablet PC Prompt the Question--Why Didn't the Tablet Take Off?

Whatever became of the tablet PC? A few years ago, back in 2003 when Toshiba released the first of these beasts, they seemed to be wonderfully cool things that promised to forever change mobile technology. Now, four years later, as rumors fly that Dell is going to enter the market, we notice that although tablets are still here, they have not really taken off. Certainly they have gotten better, but they have never really caught on on a large scale. Why not?

Tablet PCs are essentially small laptops whose screens swivel around so that the computer can be held like a notebook and written on with a special stylus. People can use them to take notes, read text off of, or use like a regular computer. Just swivel the screen around, and you have a normal laptop. It sounded like amazing technology when it came out, but it never really became popular. I suppose that price, for one thing, is to blame. I have personally always been a fan of small laptops, which can easily be slipped into your bag and taken wherever you are going, and then used for six hours on one battery, but the fact is that small laptops are expensive. Mine cost about $2,000, while a larger computer with the same capabilities would have cost half that. Tablets, by their very nature, have to be among the smallest of all laptops, so price has always proved to be a limiting factor.

Speed was, too, up until fairly recently. Although I could never quite explain it, it is clear that the smaller a computer, the slower it goes. Every time I get a new laptop, I am surprised that it runs slower than a desktop with the same specifications. I can't explain it, but everyone recognizes it to be the case. Dual core processors have helped a lot to make laptops more powerful, but there is still some differential. Nobody wants to spend $2,500 on a computer if they will still need a desktop.

Another factor is the lack of affordable mobile broadband. While WIFI is nice, it does not do all around, and it would be really nice to be able to check one's email while riding the train. WIMAX, however, the new cell phone technology, is on the way, and it promises to make mobile broadband a reality for many more people. Perhaps that will change some things.

Also, I would speculate that a book-like computer would catch on much better if it was usable as a book. If ebooks ever really came into being, tablet PCs would likely be a popular way to read them.

Finally, as Mark Orchant pointed out in his blog, Office Evolution, if Apple ever came out with an "iTablet," we would likely see the technology take off.

Sources:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Orchant/?p=419

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,2379,00.asp