Not since Moses
Oct 22, 2013, 5:47 AM | Updated: 10:32 am
And it's hard to believe that we are talking of a thing that didn't even exists until January of 2010 when Steve Jobs stepped on stage to ask a question, "Is there room for a third category of device, something that's between a laptop and smartphone?" (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
There are three new tablets being unveiled Tuesday by the silicon gods – from Apple, Nokia, and Microsoft – they join the tablets from Amazon, Google, Samsung, and Dell.
And it’s hard to believe that we are talking of a thing that didn’t even exist until January of 2010 when Steve Jobs stepped on stage to ask a question, “Is there room for a third category of device, something that’s between a laptop and smartphone?”
Of course, he already knew the answer.
“And we call it the iPad,” said Jobs.
Last year alone, 120 million tablets were sold, which means you either have one or are near one. I don’t have one, yet, but I can still remember my first tablet encounter. I was with relatives, having an idle conversation about crazy airfares and suddenly, someone says, “let’s look them up right now” and out came the iPad.
And now, depending on the crowd you’re with, you can’t have an idle conversation anymore because there’s someone doing real-time footnotes, and sometimes you just feel like shouting, “DID YOU CARVE THOSE TABLETS TO BECOME A PRINCE OVER US?!”
Yeah!
But there’s no stopping it now. The latest survey shows 80 percent of Apple iPad owners use them 10 or more times a day. Sometimes it’s used as a companion to the TV or some other screen they happen to be watching. Even leisure is multitasked. People want email replies instantly – while you’re at a party, while you’re at the beach, while you’re waiting for healthcare.gov to load.
In fact, I’ll bet 25 percent of your inbox is from people who, right after they hit “send,” pressed “flush.”
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