We've seen threads here comparing the tablets with the iPhone, with Android, with Ubuntu Mobile etc. etc.

But which kind of device is the real competitor in the long run? I found that (while I still think the tablets are pretty much unique) I'd rather compare them to Moblin-based hardware than to Android-Phones or a PMP like Archos.

But what's your opinion? Which one is the true competitor?

nokia e71.

The competition for Nokia lies in phones I think, as they are becoming so powerful that the need for a separate media player/ebook reader/pda/etc becomes less. People don't buy a MID instead of a phone, but to complement it. And Android because ultimately what makes a platform successful is the number of useful applications (as seen from average consumer perspective) , and it seems to attract more new developers than Limo, symbian and Maemo.

The real competitor is anything inessential that might cost the same price as a tablet. The tablet is competing FOR a small bit of disposable income. Cell phones are considered essential these days, and something that is "not a phone" and is "not food" and is "not transportation" etc, is NOT essential and competes with other non-essential items.

The only hope for the tablet to get into another category would be for it to become a phone or to become accepted as a computer substitute.

You could also argue that since the phone market has become pretty much saturated Nokia et al try to get disposable income in a different way. I predict that in 5 years you'll be seen as an anti-social outcast if you're not online 24/7, so there will be a new 'need' that will eventually be seen as important as transportation and calling.

First you say phones are becoming so powerful that there's no need for a 2nd device; then you say ppl. buy MIDs to complement a phone. What exactly?

I agree that phones become more powerful, but still I think of my N800 in terms of a very small laptop rather that a bulky phone without, ahem, phone. We'll not see laptops disappear any time soon because phones become powerful, will we? So I think it's the niche of "small computers" (laptops, only much smaller) that we're talking about. And in this area, it's certainly the tablets and the MIDs. (Except the tablets are even smaller and - well, available.)

So far, there isn't one.

PMPs are too limited and useless; MIDs and UMPCs are too big, expensive and power hungry; and on the other side, the iPhones, Android stuff, and OpenMoko are too small and cellular.

True. I couldn't go and say "Well, my N800 is too old now, I want something similar, but more modern, let's buy a device with the same features from..." - There's no device that offers what I have with my old N800. They don't even come close.

(I have to say that I don't like this situation. I'm not a Nokia fanboy. I like what they have, but I always consider buying other brands as well. Choice, you know. There's no choice here. Nokia has a monopoly.)

I still think that *if* there'll ever be an alternative (which I hope for), it'll not be from the cellular front.

Well, the best "alternative" is probably going to be the Pandora, since it's basically an N900 except a few months early. With the N900 being as far away as it is, I'll almost certainly be getting one (well, assuming they actually do end up being available around November).

Just drop some combination of Maemo or Debian + Hildon on there and away you go.

MIDs are the closest. Some PDAs, too, but Dell quit the Axim, so not much current. There's also some competition from netbooks. None of these are the same market, but there's some overlap with each.

With the 3G, the N9xx will be cutting closer to HTCs, but they're so expensive... I hope the N9xx doesn't fit nicely in that market!