[citation][nom]LuckyDucky7[/nom]@azncracker Tablets and smartphones, while cool technology, don't have much of an actual purpose (browsing the web, making calls, and playing Angry Birds does not a useful device make).So manufacturers can charge what they want and don't have any real incentive to push prices down. Laptops, on the other hand, actually have a real use and real demand exists for them (i.e. to do work, playing games is usually an afterthought)- which is why you see many of them at the 450-dollar price point since there's actual competition.There isn't a real business use for them either, apart from replacing some paper and demonstrations- I don't believe elkein knows what he's talking about. You can't replace a PC with an iPad; PCs do work, iPads are screw-around devices whose primary capabilities center around media consumption, not production.It's primarily why people don't choose tablets over laptops, especially when money gets tight. Do you choose the cheaper do-it-all laptop, or do you pick the more expensive, less-capable tablet? The answer, for many, is obvious.[/citation]
Why I don't think a tablet will replace an actual laptop/desktop anytime soon, they actually do have quite a lot of use.
They are exploding on the POS (point of sale) scene. You can get very good, and very inexpensive POS apps, set up the ipad or Android tablet, and you have almost an instant business with inventory tracking, accounting information and everything. Receipts can be texted or emailed to customers, or a wireless receipt printer can be used. I've even seen iPod touches be used by waiters and waitresses when combined with a restaurants POS system.
A very cheap attachment can be gotten to allow the use of credit cards on a tablet, even a smart phone. So these are pointless devices.
Now that said, the price is ridiculous. Amazon did something that Apple was very stupid for not learning from. They sell the Fire at a slight loss and count on app and content sales for their profit. I think if Apple were to come out and sell a 64GB iPad for $200, they may lose some money, $110 initially but hardware costs would soon come down quickly, but the increase in sales would mean more people buying apps which would make up the difference, probably allowing for even more profits to be made over time.