itworld2

By Brooke Crothers







I'll avoid the dicey proposition of naming what I think is the best product of the year. But I can say with certainty that Apple's iPad was the most disruptive.

Beyond the iPad's well-chronicled popularity, impressive shipment numbers, and reported theft of Netbook market share, the disruption for me was very personal: it played havoc with my own computing habits and with people around me who bought the iPad.

As I've written before, initially, I could do little more than paw at the screen in a vain effort to figure out how I was actually going to use the device. But that changed fairly quickly. Within a few weeks, I found myself taking it everywhere (I have the 3G version) and using it instead of my laptop at airports, on planes, and in the car . Not to mention using it at home when relaxing on the sofa.

So, here's why it's disruptive: I always thought that my MacBook Air was the ultimate portable computer and I would never need anything else. Wrong. It turns out that a laptop--because of its relative weight and keyboard-centric clamshell design--is not always the ultimate machine when traveling or when there is a need to some quick home computing. The iPad showed me that there is a better form factor and interface (touch) for a surprising number of tasks.

And that seemingly trivial feature known as instant-on (and almost-instant 3G connections) combined with its 1.5-pound weight makes all the difference in the world.

In short, when I go from using my laptop most of the time to only about half of the time, that's disruptive. Moreover, I think, it's safe to say that I'm not alone.

Finally, I'm anticipating the next iPad ( thinner , lighter, dual-core processor ?) like I would previously anticipate a new laptop. And can't wait to see what first-tier companies like Motorola and RIM have to offer.

May 2011 be the year of the tablet.