There is no question that the introduction and use of computers has completely changed the way people live their lives. In comparison to the slow, monotonous, and personality driven culture of the 1950’s, the changes experienced by the public in the last two decades of the 20th century are mind boggling. The incredibly rapid advancement of technology has allowed a complete revamping of business ideologies and, similarly to the effects of industrialization at the dusk of the 19th century, the market again began concentrating on increasing the manufacturing rate, and satisfying the numerous needs and demands of its consumers. While considered ridiculous at the time of the idea’s inception, it did not take long for personal computers to become popular and demanded by a large portion of the market. As is often the case, the massive profits that resulted further fueled the progression and development of these devices, leading to continuously more and more powerful machines. In the beginning on the 21st century, the computer market started experiencing a change, driven by consumer demand for more portable and user-friendly machines.
While portable laptop computers were already available on the market, they were often large and impractical, and accessible only to the tech-savvy consumer base. Many people – especially the elderly – often found themselves overwhelmed by these complex devices, and there was still a demand for more user friendly systems. It took until the introduction of the first table PC, for the majority of these issues to be addressed and for this consumer demand to finally be met.
Currently, anyone who has ever watched any news channels or visited the internet knows of the existence of tablet PCs. The introduction of the first of these devices in 2010, the Apple iPad, started a massive revolution in the computer market. These devices offered numerous advantages over their laptop counterparts. First and foremost, the user interface was far more user-friendly and no longer required the use of the often-cumbersome touch pad. Instead, the devices implemented touch-screens, and any and all user selections were done by simply tapping on the desired area of the screen. Even the QWERTY keyboards, common to every laptop and desktop computer, were replaced by their on-screen counterparts, making these devices far lighter and more portable than any available laptops.
While the first tablet models had limited input ports and were far less powerful in comparison to laptops, the demand of the market caused further development into these machines. The newest models, in addition to being more powerful, allow for external devices such as USB Flash or memory cards to be connected, making them similar to laptops in terms of performance, while still implementing all of the interface benefits that made them popular in the first place. Additionally, battery life of these devices exceeds the one provided by virtually all laptop computers, and it is easily possible to exceed 10 hours of operation on certain models, even while using the internet connectivity at the same time. Better and more innovative models of these devices are constantly being developed, and it is only a matter of time before tablet PCs become more popular than laptops and notebooks, and become the leading force in the computer market.