In 1994 the European Union initiated the 'OMI-NewsPAD' project (EP9252), inspired by Clarke and Kubrick's work.
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The sci-fi TV series Star Trek The Next Generation featured tablet computers which were designated as "padds".
Adults could also use a Dynabook, but the target audience was children.
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In 1968 Alan Kay envisioned a KiddiComp, while a PhD candidate he developed and described the concept as a Dynabook in his 1972 proposal: A personal computer for children of all ages, the paper outlines the requirements for a conceptual portable educational device that would offer functionality similar to that supplied via a laptop computer or (in some of its other incarnations) a tablet or slate computer with the exception of the requirement for any Dynabook devise offering near eternal battery life. Clarke's NewsPad, in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the description of Calculator Pad in the 1951 novel Foundation by Isaac Asimov, the Opton in the 1961 novel Return from the Stars by Stanislaw Lem, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in Douglas Adams 1978 comedy of the same name, and the numerous devices depicted in Gene Roddenberry 1966 Star Trek series, all helping to promote and disseminate the concept to a wider audience. Tablet computers appeared in a number of works of science fiction in the second half of the 20th century, with the depiction of Arthur C. In addition to many academic and research systems, there were several companies with commercial products in the 1980s. Throughout the 20th century many devices with these characteristics have been imagined and created whether as blueprints, prototypes, or commercial products.
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The tablet computer and the associated special operating software is an example of pen computing technology, and thus the development of tablets has deep historical roots.Įlectrical devices with data input and output on a flat information display have existed as early as 1888 with the telautograph. Main article: History of tablet computers
Among tablets available in the market in 2012, the top-selling line of devices is Apple's iPad with 100 million sold by mid October 2012 since it was released in April 3, 2010, followed by Amazon's Kindle Fire with 7 million, and Barnes & Noble's Nook with 5 million. Internet users were reported to have a tablet, which was used mainly for viewing published content such as video and news. Tablets have also appeared in a foldable Booklet format that offer the user dual-touchscreens, and can be used as a notebook by displaying a virtual keyboard on one of the displays.Ĭonceptualized in the mid 20th century and prototyped and developed in the last two decades of that century the devices only became practical and affordable in the early years of the present century.Īs of March 2012, 31% of U.S. Though generally self-contained a tablet computer may be connected to a physical keyboard (or other input device), and a number of Hybrids that offer a detachable keyboard have been marketed since the mid 1990s, as have a number of convertible touchscreen notebook computers that offer an integrated keyboard that can be hidden by a swivel joint or slide joint, exposing only the screen for touch operation. Available in a variety of sizes, tablets customarily offer a screen diagonal greater than 7" (18 cm), differentiating themselves through size from functionally similar smart phones or personal digital assistants. Devices typically offer a touchscreen, with finger (or stylus) gestures acting as the primary means of control, though often supplemented by the use of one or more physical context sensitive buttons or the input from one or more accelerometers an on-screen, hideable virtual keyboard is generally offered as the principal means of data input. A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a one-piece mobile computer.