Yesterday, we technophiles witnessed a very marked shift in computing. Apple announced their new 64-bit A7 processor and retina display, but in doing so, they pitched the iPad Air (9.7″ display) and iPad Mini (7.9″ display) as productivity tools. Whether you want to produce word processing, spreadsheets, or presentations, it can all be done in iOS . Produce music, movies, and photo books with it, also. Now, I've been doing that for some time, but now Apple is pitching these devices as mainstream productivity tools. I wouldn't want to part with the Logitech Ultrathin keyboard I'm using to type this, but together the keyboard and the iPad make a killer combo.
Also, occurring yesterday, Microsoft announced the new Surface Pro 2. This thing is like a MacBook Air with a touch screen instead of a keyboard. Both have the Intel Core i5 processor and 128 GB flash storage for $999. The 11″ Air has two USB 3.0 ports. The Surface Pro 2 has one USB 3.0 port but also has a microSDXC card reader.
We are closing in on being able to do anything on a tablet that we can do on a computer and just as quickly. Ultrabooks and MacBook Airs may still be the preferred mode of personal computing, but tablets are now approaching parity in power while continuing to become more portable and durable. I suspect that many will shift their personal computing from a laptop as their primary device to one of these new and awesome tablets. Computers in the old sense will be something we only use for work and even there will only have specialized applications. So, am I getting ahead of myself? Are we there yet?
