Bubble?

Will Tablets go the same way as the 'Netbook' ?

I'm not saying the Netbook has 'vanished', but rather, the general public was Wowed by the cheap price and cute small form factor & the market got saturated pretty damn quick.

But the Netbook fits perfectly into a smaller, niche market. The 'Road warrior' who needs a little more than a smart phone, but wants to travel light. They need to input text easily, so a keyboard is essential. They need long battery life, so the minimal power consumption is a bargain.

Programmers / web devs on holiday - I've met loads who love their netbooks. Heck, they'll sit on the couch and hack away on them - niche market.

After the dust settled, the Netbook found it's niche markets and the general public was no longer 'wowed' by them. For most people, the desktop computer or laptop made more sense.

The tablet has now replaced the Netbook as the new consumer Wow factor device - it's cool, it's touchy feely, it's fun... but ultimately, is it a passing fad?

The niche market for Tablet devices is pretty obvious - a digital clipboard that can be adapted for any sector which requires rapid input and feedback.

What I'm attempting to say is that there's an immediate bubble here until the dust settles - there's a saturation point that will be reached pretty quickly, until such point that tablets find their niche markets, of which, there will be many.

Ultimately, the smart phone will probably remain the primary mobile interface and for most people, it fits their needs, rather than their gadget grabbing dreams.

Lets face it, the average smart phone is portable, powerful and does everything a tablet can do and more (it's a phone), except on a smaller screen.