Alternatives to the Apple iPad for Tablet Computing

We’ve said poo poo to the iPad

With the release of the Apple iPad tablet, I didn’t have much nice to say other than “it’s a tablet.” Some have speed read and missed that we have been talking about tablet computing as the next step for quite a while and we have said repeatedly that in the third generation, we believe the iPad will be a game changer, but in its current state (which has no flash, and no multi-tasking, so you can’t have your email open and use a web browser at the same time), it is absolutely useless outside of being a great e-reader.

So what else is out there?

There are a few technologies on the horizon that look like they could be real competitors to the Apple iPad. They don’t do the exact same thing and they’re not built to be the exact same tool, but they will likely cut into iPad’s market share when they hit shelves.

What do you think of these three tools, the iPad, the Courier and the Mini5? Let us know in comments what you think about them and how they add to the evolution of the laptop or the cell phone sectors.