Elusive tablet PC a touch away

The faster you buy some great new technology, the sooner it gets pushed aside for something faster and better. But in the case of tablet computers, IT executives have been waiting and waiting for the debut of something new. They have been holding out for the next great thing.

The New York Times reports that several high-tech companies are ready to deliver versions of these keyboard-free, touch-screen portable machines in the next few months. IT execs expect Apple to start selling these devices early next year.

Tablets have been around for more than a decade but so far none of them have taken off in the IT market. They cost too much and were very limited in what they could do. But this time things are different: Executives now think it will be a new way to watch television and movies, play video games and revive the newspaper and book publishing industries, and the price will be right.

"Desktops, laptops--we already know how those work," said Brian Lam, editorial director of the popular gadget site Gizmodo, which reports and hypothesizes almost daily about these devices. Tablets, he said, "are one of the last few mysteries left."

There have been plenty of advances to help this along. Integrated microchips now combine wireless connectivity and support for features like multimedia, GPS functions and rich graphics. Energy efficiency is the name of the game.

For more on the rebirth of the PC tablet:
- check out this New York Times article

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