The line between traditional PCs and tablets is beginning to blur, as evidenced by Microsoft's swipe-friendly Windows 8 interface, or Intel's recently unveiled "Letexo," an ultrabook-tablet hybrid with a detachable touchscreen. When asked about the emerging trend in consumer electronics during Tuesday's earnings phone call, Apple CEO Tim Cook offered one of his more memorable quips in the post-Jobs era, firing off a thinly-veiled jab at longtime rival Microsoft: "Anything can be forced to converge," he said. "You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user." Cook also decried unnecessary "tradeoffs" in the battle to create the perfect hybrid. Is the Apple boss right about the future of hybrid-tablets?
I hope Cook's wrong: The iPad is "terrific," sure, says Jared Newman at PC World, but tablet capabilities are still lacking in comparison to fully-realized desktop interfaces. What makes Cook's comments so worrisome is that if Apple "continues to gobble up more of the market, there's less room for a wide variety of phones, tablets, laptops, or hybrid devices from the competition." Other companies will struggle to launch anything other than low-budget Apple clones instead of experimenting with new ideas. "For the shrinking number of people who don't agree with Apple's viewpoint, that's discomforting."
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