Tablet Mania! Part 1.

Hello!

If you don't have a tablet already chances are you know someone who does. What is a tablet and what is all this fuss about? Well, let's go back to a popular tv and movie franchise. Yup, Star Trek. Many of us who watched that show would have spotted various crew members on the ship bringing, what at the time looked like an electronic clipboard, to the Captain to sign. (If they were wearing a red shirt, they seldom made it to the end of the show!) It had a pen, or a stylus, which is an electronic pen. We've all used one when you sign for your UPS package or at the register at Target. What a cool gadget! Fast forward to a few years back, smaller laptops with pivoting screens appeared, where you could lay the screen flat against the keyboard and use it as a touch screen device. It never really caught on at the consumer level. Everyone talked about how cool it would be to have a stand alone touch tablet, but no manufacturer could ever seem to get it going. Then smaller notepads appeared and became fairly popular for a while.

Of course, Apple produced the first wildly popular tablet, The Ipad. And when they produce something, it's usually very good and the new cool thing to own. Bam! Everyone had to have one. And I found in my day to day business of repairing computers, that they became wanted by everyone in every age bracket. They are easy to use, fun and portable. They seldom have any of the problems that a desktop pc or laptop have. You can surf the web, play games, check email, video chat and so much more.

And now we have tablets from many other manufactures, like Samsung, Blackberry and others with the Android operating system running a close second in popularity to Apple's. Very similar to what is on a lot of smart phones. Microsoft is going to make a big splash later this year or next with the new Windows 8 operating system designed for computers and tablets.  They are making their way into every segment of our lives and work. Airline pilots use them. The Air Force just got their first batch. Car dealerships have them and  take them on test rides and pull up information the customer may ask about. Hotels, Cruise ships, banks, the list goes on. And hopefully soon, our student's will use them to replace those heavy and outdated text books.

They turn on instantly and usually run for more than 7 hours or more on a single charge. And they can connect via  free Wi-Fi or with a cellular data plan.  The screen size is usually 10 inches with the 7 inch models becoming very popular. Thin and light weight, there is a lot to like about them.

Next week I'll continue with Part 2. I'll talk more in depth about cool things you can do with them and whether or not  you should consider one to replace a computer or laptop. And also touch base about the very popular Ebook readers like, the Kindle, which are turning into full blown tablets as well.

Ok, gotta run. I have to clean those fingerprints off my tablet. Grrrr...