With the iPad seemingly set for world domination and the rise and rise of the Android tablet thanks to the Nexus, will these portable pads overtake laptops anytime soon? There is no denying the power of the latest generation of tablets. The iPad is a capable productivity centre and the Nexus 7 even more so. The sheer power of these hand-held devices means they can handle just about anything the average business demands of them. While laptops are also becoming more powerful, there is a limit to how much power you need. If you use CAD, or need 3D rendering on the move, then there is no such thing as too much memory, or processing and GPU power. However, for the rest of us mere mortals who just use our laptops to write missives for blogs, answer emails and modify the odd Excel spread sheet, most modern laptops are more than we could ever need. The sheer portability and flexibility of tablets are seeing them eat away at the laptop market share. The fact that you can put them in your pocket, the batteries can see you through a day and you can do just about everything with them means the majority of business people can quite effectively work on a tablet as on a laptop. While the soft touch keywords do take a little getting used to, they work well enough. They are certainly comparable to a laptop keyboard. The ability to multi-task is also a bonus and was initially one of the limitations of tablets. Now you can browse email, modify a document while referring to the internet on a tablet too. The arrival of the Microsoft Surface adds more fuel to the fire. The tablet is due in January and will be capable of performing just about any task a laptop can do, in a portable package. It can even run a full version of Microsoft Office. The Surface will be the true test of the longevity of the laptop. While there are naysayers who prophesy the death of all sorts of technology, we don’t think the laptop will die completely. There will be those who prefer something meatier and those who need the processing power tablets currently cannot provide. While the price is high for the Surface, once it comes down a bit, it should sell well. It is this that will cause the laptop to fade from view. Why would you carry around a big laptop bag with several kilos in it when you could carry around something the size and weight of a book?

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