To ‘tab’ or not to ‘tab’?

Okay, the post title was a terrible attempt to coin a phrase that will never come to fruition. To ‘tab’ is referring to using some sort of tablet (larger than your phone) in your day to day life. 2011 is definitely shaping out to be the year of the tablet as the iPad is expected to begin it’s second cycle while major players such as Google, RIM, HP, and others enter the scene with their own slate offerings. Are tablets really the future of computing though? Will a thin piece of glass, metal and plastic replace our precious laptops and desktops?

This post isn’t about a general forecast of the future of tablet computing, but more of a personal reflection to the cheesy question asked in the post’s title…am I tablet material? This is a query I have pondered for years as I have followed various rumors and murmurings of a slate-laden future. The idea seems exciting as I’m all about new technology that is portable and minimal. However, I have wondering with many others of what could I accomplish in that tiny space between my iPhone and MacBook Pro?

This evening I ran across two articles on Ars Technica that really caused me to consider this question again. The first was written by Jon Stokes, titled “Why I don’t care very much about tablets anymore” and the second, being an obvious rebuttal to the first was titled “Why I care about tablets: iPad offers huge opportunities for competition” by Ben Kuchera.  Reading both articles felt like the classic devil and angel on my shoulders with each persuading me their way as I contemplate if I should purchase an iPad or stick to my working iPhone/MacBook Pro setup.

Here are my thoughts. When the iPad first came out, I came to the conclusion that it was pretty cool but really didn’t have anything to offer me personally. It had it’s small niche markets here and there that it would fulfill as a novelty since it didn’t seem to serve as a “necessity” in this world of ours. Imagine my amazement when I learned that the iPad was considered the fastest selling consumer electronic of our time. That’s right, this piece of (in my mind) non-essential hardware was flying off the shelves faster than anyone had ever seen.

Since then though, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to several people and their experiences with the Apple device and even observe those close to me incorporate a tablet into their lives. I’ve run across situations that I’ve thought that it would be nice to have an iPad over my current tech arsenal and pondered other ways it could fill in gaps in my increasing desire of productivity.

The conclusion I’ve come to is a moderate, but I feel accurate representation of the tablet category: it’s not necessary, but in some ways can fulfill or improve current aspects of your life. Essentially, more of a toy than a necessity, but a more productive and handy toy than most.

In the end, after reading both articles (I suggest you do the same), I could really connect with the words written, but feel I will in the end join the amassing masses and purchase an iPad to serve my tech “necessities” and chalk it up as a hobby. What do you think? Are you a fan of tablets or do you see it as a mark of our glutenous generation and nation? Do you agree with the points given in the articles? Sound off in the comments, and please, be kind :)…

Image Source: GadgetSin.com