iPad 2 proves tablets are here to stay

No matter how you feel about the iPad 2 or Apple, the long lines at launch and the efforts hopeful buyers were willing to undertake to get one prove that the tablet is here to stay. I hear from quite a few people who contend that the tablet is nothing more than a fad that will fade away over time. These comments are usually accompanied by statements that tablets are not real computers that can be used to good affect. Guess what? Tablets are not going away any time soon.

Apple sold millions of original iPads in just a year, an impressive feat by any standard. The tablet form was a totally new type of device for most of those buyers, who realized it fit the way they lived. While it may have been considered a fad in the beginning, one of the statistics coming to light about the iPad 2 launch puts that notion to rest once and for all. Of the hundreds of thousands of iPad 2 devices sold in just a day or two, 70 percent of those are reported to be to new buyers.

That number is significant, as it proves that a tablet is what lots of consumers want. While those upgrading from the original iPad could be written off as Apple fanboys, and detractors certainly will, the number of new buyers plainly indicates that is not the case. People want tablets, and that is not going away any time soon. That is why the competition is rushing to market with tablets. Whether they can compete with the iPad 2 is another thing.