I suppose entrenched consumer preference /resistance persists even when rooted in technical constraints which no longer exist, such as the ‘QWERTY’ keyboard layout (and mechanical keyboards in general) or ‘Desmodromic’ valve gear in Ducati motorcycles.

I now use a Samsung ‘Omnia’ smart phone for virtually everything while on the move, as it is basically a miniature tablet PC.

I acquired it for half price, (after my first one blew out of my pocket off of the bike!)as the original owner traded it in after two days for ‘anything with a keyboard!’

Obvious constraints are that it is just too miniature in screen size and capacity, having been designed as a ‘phone’ rather than a ‘computer’

A tablet device will likely fail because it would not include design features which would address niche markets which certainly exist.

It will probably end up being too big, not rugged and waterproof, and fail to capture the imagination as something desirable and of special quality, say like a ‘Hummer’ (or a Ducati!)

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