Who needs tablet computers anyway?
Posted in Main on December 14th, 2009 by Devindra Hardawar
Ask yourself this: “What would I use a tablet for?” Regardless of the recent drama surrounding the Crunchpad’s untimely end – and the disappointing Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet taking its place – it seems that the entire tech industry is ready to embrace tablets with open arms. There’s the never-ending hype about the possible Apple tablet, Microsoft Research’s Courier project, and netbook companies like Asus announcing they’re developing tablets in the coming year. We’re also seeing articles predicting 2010 as the year of the tablet, and others espousing why tablets signal the end of netbooks.
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Last week Google finally unveiled their much-talked-about Chrome OS, and subsequently worked the tech community into a frenzy. The operating system certainly lived up to Google’s initial promises of being browser-centric – it is basically just the Chrome web browser atop a custom Linux kernel.
It used to be that you’d pay a significant price premium for a slim ultraportable laptop – machines that were smaller and lighter than typical 5-6lb laptops. In the days before netbooks, they were really your only option for getting a thin and light laptop. But now that netbooks have carved out a segment of cheap and portable computers in the $200-$500 range, the ultraportables needed to adapt as well.
Now that the computer industry has delivered what the users wanted – less capacity and less size at a lower price – the popularity of miniature laptops, netbooks, just keeps on growing. 
