The proliforation of tablet offerings begs the question; What would it take for one of us to choose one of these alternatives over the iPad?  For me to choose anything other than the iPad there would have to be a demonstrable improvement on the iPad interface and availability of useful apps. A difference of $100 or even $200 will not do it.  Amazon’s entry into the market will undoubtedly expand the market as it will have the availability of apps and brings the tablet to the market that is more price sensitive.  As I noted in an earlier post, when I switched from an Android phone the the iPhone I found an order of magnitude difference in the ease of use.  I suspect, but have not tested it, that the competing tablet offerings running Android will face a similar hurdle.

Is a tablet a replacement for a full computer – be it a laptop or desktop?  For someone that does heavy word processing, spreadsheets or presentations the answer is no.  However for the average person that uses a computer to surf the web and handle email the tablet is a replacement for a notebook computer.  It brings all of the functionality they need in a compact, and more importantly, easier to use format.  Think of the difference in purchasing a new computer and it’s setup and purchasing an iPad and doing the same!

So, it should be fun to watch.  Post your thoughts on this topic and lets see if we can get a conversation going.