Market researcher Gartner has said in a new report that the computer industry is shifting to tablet devices, at the cost of PCs.
Multitouch on the iPad and other media tablets has liberated users from the hardware keyboard and the mouse, and as media tablets become more commonplace, users will expect the convenience and simplicity of multitouch user interfaces when they interact with other computing devices, according to Gartner.
In the Gartner Special Report "iPad and Beyond: What the Future of Computing Holds," Gartner analysts examine how the iPad has impacted the hardware industry, and how media tablets are changing what users will expect out of their computing devices.
Gartner research director Angela McIntyre said during the next five to 10 years, media tablets will instigate change in computing form factors.
She continued that "modular designs will enable tablets to take on new functions, becoming the cross-platform controller and brain for hybrid consumer electronics and computers."
"Tablets will be substitutes for several of the consumer electronics consumers often carry with them. Thin-and-light mobile PCs with tablet-like features will become mainstream, pushing out some bulkier PC styles that have been the norm."
McIntyre said, "One tablet can replace multiple dedicated electronics devices by connecting with different peripherals. Tablets docked in the dashboards of cars can replace dedicated navigation devices and in-car entertainment, and environmental controls. Wirelessly connect a blood pressure cuff, a bathroom scale and an oximeter to a tablet to create a home health monitor that can plot personal health trends and send the data to a doctor. Mount a tablet into a projector, and it becomes digital signage in a retail store or a device for streaming media via the Internet."
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