Galery

1

Ivan Petkov 

Last year was perhaps the most successful for Apple, the company that managed to forever change the definition of music (MP3) player (iPod), smartphone (iPhone) ... and perhaps of what the PC is. With the emergence of the iPad last year not only a new type of device was created, but many analysts began to anticipate that we have seen how the ordinary user interacts with the computer and of our notion of the computer.

iPad, the undisputed champion

Interestingly, the rumours of its emergence appeared a year earlier. None of the other manufacturers, however, even monopolies in the PC operating systems like Microsoft did not respond in any way. As if no one believed that there is a room for another product type, let alone a successful product. Shortly before that netbooks had appeared - cheap small laptops that are just for everyday tasks like Internet, music, chat ... They were well appreciated and it seemed that the market niches are filled. But now that Apple developed and launched iPad, which despite the initial skepticism and criticism, for a short time became a very successful product without any competition. In no time IPad managed to establish itself as a great tool for reading online editions, for viewing photos, for Internet ... The tablet has proved so successful that it forced publishers and web site owners to comply with the lack of Flash and to use the newly born standard HTML5, designed for watching video on the Internet, as well as a substitute of the Flash technology. This is how the tablet was born.

Android - Google's proposal

Android OS is not a tablet. It is an operating system originally developed for smartphones. Thanks to Android, smartphones became very popular and beat the sales and popularity of iPhone. Android, however, was not developed and designed for tablets. It took Google almost a year to present a version of Android, which is optimized for tablets to allow manufacturers to offer a fully functional tablet, a competitor of the iPad.

More players: RIM and HP

Two other major players: RIM – the manufacturer of the popular Blackberry smartphones and HP - the largest PC manufacturer in the world, joined the competition for consumer interest in tablets. RIM offered an interesting tablet called PlayBook, which currently can not win popularity. HP bought the veteran Palm and are about to offer a full range of smartphones and tablets, which will seek a niche market. HP tablet is named TouchPad.

Microsoft: the sluggish giant

Microsoft was the first that developed an operating system for smartphones - Windows Mobile. However, they were not at the heart of the smartphones revolution, and they are totally behind in tablets. While some users have suggested tablets with Windows 7, they did not become popular due to the fact that Windows is not designed to work with your fingers on the small screen tablet. Currently, they are developing Windows 8, which will have a special optimized version for tablets, and the first devices are expected to be launched next year.

The future of tablets

So, we know the players but what can they offer and will the tablet become the preferred form of device with which we will interact with the Internet, write e-mails, read, and watch video online?

As I mentioned, many analysts believe that the tablets will affect not only the sales of laptops and netbooks, but also of desktop computers. What are the advantages of the tablets that make them popular among users of all ages:

• You use your fingers – no skills are needed to work with a mouse and a keyboard; even someone who has never had a tablet in his hands, gets used to it in a few minutes
• Their operating systems are easy to use and very intuitive. There are no hidden menus, no pop-ups, etc. The time to get used to and work with a tablet is very short.
• Tablets are lightweight and small, and therefore are ultra mobile - they can be used in bed, you can read comfortably seated on the couch, to place them as a photo frame.
• The lack of a mouse and a keyboard helps a lot for their easy portability
• Long battery life - 7-10 hours. This makes them suitable for use all day long, without seeking a socket for the battery to continue working.

Will tablets be able to displace laptops and desktop computers? No way! Their greatest advantages are also their greatest weaknesses. The lack of keyboard and mouse makes them suitable for certain type of activities, but also makes them absolutely unsuitable for other types of activities which require such peripherals. For many of the corporate tasks, tablets are not suitable – I, personally, can not imagine a person who has a serious correspondence or fills in spreadsheets using a tablet. Not that it is impossible, but it is real hell to do it.

Carrying their periphery makes their portability completely useless - in this case a laptop would be much more appropriate. There are many tasks such as processing of videos, photos, drawing using engineering programs, post production, etc.,  for which using a tablet is impossible.

Tablets have a great chance as portable devices for computer games, but there are also games that require much more serious hardware, and the pleasure of the big screen is quite different.

Tablets are definitely interesting and have great scope for development and application. They became popular and found their place, even in areas that are unusual - like photo frames, a menu in a restaurant, as a medical card, etc. The future will show in which areas they will be able to gain new positions and where they will not be applicable. Currently, they are a great addition to the rest personal and professional computer equipment, and they have no competition in some cases and in others they are irrelevant. But they are here and having in mind who the players are and how much effort they put into their development, they will certainly offer us many interesting things.