The Evolution of Tablets - Are we going in circles?

This hub mostly just food for thought. I've noticed trends in how we evolve electronically. Several things once thought old have been reborn and other things once thought revolutionary have been remade to simulate things old. There are a few key examples of this that I'll discuss as I go.

Our current generation of technology is all about tablets and smartphones. The smartphone has revolutionized how we communicate and interact with information. This is a good step forward I think because so far I've not noticed much redundancy with old ideas. Tablets on the other hand, are more interesting.

I don't propose that we're completely lost in a loop of redundancy. There are a lot of fun and interesting developments being made. However, in other areas, it seems we're stuck. 

The tablet has certainly taken the world by storm with its way cool design and ease of use. That last one is very important to this idea I am trying to propose. The Apple iPad and iPad 2 are certainly the cream of the crop when it comes to tablets. Then there is the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The iPad runs a proprietary operating system that is very similar to how the iPhone works. The other two, the Xoom and the Galaxy Tab, both run a version of Google's Android, which is more common on smart phones.

So what am I getting at? Well certain peripherals are starting to appear on the market for these tablets like keyboards and it got me thinking. What else has a screen and a keyboard? A laptop! or a netbook!

One key innovation with tablets is their touch screen. It makes interaction and feedback much more exciting for lack of a better word. So why are we adding keyboards back into the mix? Carrying a big tablet is simple sure but it is kind of large and you'll need a bag or something to carry it with. Now add a peripheral or two such as that keyboard and you've got the same problem as carrying a laptop.

I'm not ignorant of the differences. I am certainly not saying that a tablet with a keyboard is exactly the same as a laptop. But what are the differences? The operating system and its touch screen capacity are the two biggest. So why not just add these features to a laptop?

It was not too long ago that we had tablets on the market in the form of convertible laptops, most running on Windows. Does anyone remember those? Most of them had touch screens too, and a keyboard. So why are we back there again? How is it those older models didn't do too well and all but disappeared and now we're back? We've gone in a circle.

In many cases some would argue that a laptop is a lot more versatile when running full fledged operating system like the Mac OSX or Microsoft Windows. However it is that mobile OS and it's simplicity that sets a tablet apart.

So what has changed? Everything else around the tablet has changed which has allowed it to be more practical. Wireless, 3g/4g data, a simpler operating system, cloud computing, smaller chips and parts, smaller designs, ease of use, software and applications, etc. None of these were ready for the older tablets. The older models were ahead of their time and in many cases just a novelty laptop. Some would say that is what these current tablets are but again I say look at what's changed around them in the world.

In the end it's all about what you, the user, needs essentially. A laptop has it's uses and is great and the same applies for tablets.

In the end I would argue that it's the operating system; the mobile OS that many tablets have and their inherent simplicity, that set them apart from laptops. There is this great story of a 100 year old woman who got an iPad for her birthday. She got right into it and started using it immediately. Check out the video below! This leaves me to ask, could she have done the same with a normal laptop running Windows or Mac OSX? Plus I would argue that it is probably easier for some elderly people who may have hand problems to touch a screen than to pound on a keyboard.