True history of the tablet
Clearly the etch-a-sketch was the first tablet computer, and set the bar high for the tab and the streak. Microsoft, on the other hand, ignored the valuable user interaction model evinced by the groundbreaking etch and decided that a pen and windows XP on a paving slab would be the defining paradigm for just about mobile computing.
Fischer Price meanwhile were working on their UMPC-killer vtech range. Plasticky, thick, with low resolution graphics and little ram, these magical and revolutionary devices are the true DNA of the Xoom and Playbook. RIM and Motorola built on the success of the vtech range to deliver the same proven form factor, but with higher resolution graphics. Now the field is wide open, with the etch based streak and tab, and the Fischer Price antecedents of the Xoom and Playbook, Apple will have a real challenge in the Market place not laughing its ass off.
