The Members Forum

Why are iPads selling as fast as Apple’s Chinese subcontractors can crank them out? In part, it’s because the iPad has a suddenly-hot product category pretty much to itself. Before scuttlebutt that Apple was working on a tablet started to heat up, no major PC manufacturer seemed to think that consumers wanted a general-purpose, touchscreen-only computing device. Now almost all the big names–and lots of little ones–are furiously playing catch up.

End result: Starting later this year, the iPad will be confronted by an army of other touchscreen machines, from potentially worthy opponents to shameless wannabees. Call ‘em iPadversaries, and read on for my first stab at accounting for (most of) them.

I cheerfully admit that I’ve defined the term “iPadversary” loosely. Some of these gizmos are very much meant to compete head-to-head with Apple’s tablet, including a bevy of Windows 7 “slate PCs.” Others won’t do so at all–such as the OLPC XO 3.0 and “$35 Indian tablet”–but I found them intriguing for one reason or another. And a few (such as RIM’s BlackPad) are unconfirmed rumors which may or may not pan out.

There are also a few tablets that are already for sale here, all of which have one thing in common: Most of the reviews of them range from so-so to profoundly negative.

I considered only devices with touchscreens–and only screens that are at least 5?. I didn’t include any product which definitely has a physical keyboard, although some of the upcoming Windows slates which we know almost nothing about will reportedly have them. (If so, they’ll be Tablet PC offspring more than iPad counterparts.)

PC World has the details HERE!