The tablet revolution continues ...

Yesterday the iPad 2 from Apple was revealed. The first generation iPad was a huge success with Apple's usual slick user interface and superb design. It defined a new genre of computing devices - the tablet. Basically an over sized smart phone - who'd have thought it?

The truth is tablet PCs have been around for over 10 years - defined basically as a computer with the main interface being a touchscreen. Microsoft first came up with the concept but it was never very popular. The fact is these early devices probably tried to do too much. The iPad is fairly basic in its capabilities. At launch it didn't even support multi-tasking. It has no USB ports, no memory card slot, no camera, doesn't support Flash (which many websites use to display video and other content) and has no keyboard.

So why has it become so popular? It's all about implementation and marketing. What the iPad does do, it does very well. It's the perfect device to consume information (not create it), whether it be reading emails or newspapers online, viewing web pages and films, playing games, trying out the latest app etc. And Apple very clearly explained what it was for in their marketing messages - they showed it being used to browse the web, watch videos etc. No one was ever quite sure what the original tablet PCs were for.

There's no doubt the iPad is a nice device to own. It's great for having on the coffee table for a quick browse of the web. Or in your hotel room to amuse yourself. But it's very much a secondary device - you'd still want your laptop or desktop PC and your phone - it's won't replace either of them.

So what about the new iPad 2? Well it adds a camera, is thinner and it's quicker (but the iPad is pretty nippy). It has an £30 add on that lets you connect it to a TV. None of these things are groundbreaking. But Steve Jobs very proudly boasted that it will cost the same as the original iPad.

And for me that is the problem. If someone can come up with a device like the iPad that costs between £100 and £200 I'd probably get one. But with the new iPad 2 also costing from £430 to £700 it's still too expensive. If I were Apple I'd have concentrated on getting the price down, not adding features that whilst nice are probably not necessary.