Tablets Will Win Because Pain of Resisting is Higher than Pain of Adopting

Tablets aren’t the most powerful computing gadgets, but are convenient, "cool," and work because many of the core "computing" requirements people have today are related to content consumption and some light communications, rather than heavy content creation. 


They’re portable, easy to use and suitable for content sharing and working in groups. Screens are large enough to display content, and the disadvantages of computing power if balanced by better battery life. 


Tablets will gain wider user because much of our "computing requirements" now consist of content consumption, not content creation. 


Some of us would also argue that something else is at work. When looking at adoption of any new technology, a good rule of thumb is that the "pain of changing" has to be less than the "pain of not changing." 


But part of the "pain of not changing" has nothing to do with technology, as such. "Pain" can be social. The pain of not buying a tablet occurs when all your friends have one, and you don't. Don't  discount that sort of "pain." It happens with all important consumer technologies. There simply is a point where a person feels they must have something "most other people have," so long as the innovation is useful.