Problem was, the tablet itself sucked. The touchscreen was wonky and unpredictable, it required a stylus for most reports – which could easily be lost – and it wasn’t cheap, either. My father ended up going another way with the project.

That was 10 years ago, and touchscreen technology has come a long way. Multi-touch operating systems and thinking outside of the box has created a group of users that aren’t afraid to touch the screen and manipulate things with their hands. The question is, do people really care?

The iPad will sell millions, there’s very little doubt about that. Right now, I expect that mostly the Apple fanboys and elitists are scooping them up like crazy, but I’m not as positive about the common man. The person who thinks that the iPad should do all the things their laptop does but with multi-touch, or the teenager who drops everything they touch. It is an inexpensive device by Apple standards, but it’s not cheap enough that it’s an impulse buy. I’m positive I’ll see lots of these in the hands of consumers over the next few months, but I’m not sure whether the product will become the next iPod or the next AppleTV.

Regardless, the imitators and wanna-bes are coming out of the woodwork, all with their own version of the same thing they put out 10 years ago. Admittedly, the Dell Mini 5 might grow some legs, as it’s a legitimately cool product, but HP’s tablet won’t succeed just because it has Flash and the iPad doesn’t. For any tablet to succeed, iPad included, consumers worldwide need to embrace the concept. Embrace it enough that it doesn’t become a fashion faux pas or tool for douchebags.

Prime example: Bluetooth headsets. Technically, the newer models tend to work fairly well. It’s a great way to communicate without using your hands, plus it’s light enough to wear at all times, just like a modern Lieutenant Uhura. But that’s where the problem lies. wearing a Bluetooth headset nowadays anywhere else but the driver’s seat of your car is considered a joke. Douchebags, suits and, well, geeks are the main users, and even then, mostly in private. It’s good technology, but it’s now “uncool” to wear them.

That’s what the iPad and every other tablet out there has to overcome. It has to be acceptable to pull out your tablet at a business meeting, over lunch, or even in the library, just like it is with a phone or a laptop. If it’s not, then eventually, the concept will die out again.

The iPad, and its upcoming competition, have a lot of hurdles to overcome. Next month we’ll see lots of hype over the big release day, but the big issue is going to be whether or not at this time next year we have another winner from Apple on our hands or another flop.

For the record, I’m betting on winner for iPad and Dell, not so much for HP and others.

Not to be outdone by Acer with their Ferrari One comes Hewlett Packard’s limited edition dot VR46 netbook computer designed for Moto GP world champion Valentino Rossi.

Though the main reason you’re likely to buy this is for the brand association and design, it’s not a pushover when it comes to specifications either. The 11.6-inch display sits atop a full-size keyboard and multi-gesture touchpad. With 1,366×768 resolution on the Diamond View TFT LCD, you can watch high definition content with ease, or port out via HDMI.

Under an inch thin, and weighing in at 1.35kg, it features a six-cell battery claiming up to eight hours of use on a single charge. There’s also the usual additions you’d expect: Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, webcam, and card reader, plus Dolby headphone technology and 640GB hard drive.

The case design is by Aldo Drudi and features the sun and the moon as worn on Rossi’s racing helmets. And if you didn’t know, 46 is the number he races under.

Available in the UK “soon” for £449.99.

I was viewing my podcasts this morning when from CNet’s gadget review shows I saw the HP Mini 1000 review. Quite impressive piece of engineering here, looks like HP has learned a lot from the early netbook developers and well ironed out some of the “flaws” to birth the HP Mini 1000. Heard from Veronica Belmont over Twitter that she’s currently playing with her HP Mini 1000… ohhhh… so jealous she’s got one!

Anyway, the HP Mini 1000 is one of my current faves, I’m putting that in my wishlist! It’s got a wide keyboard that I think fits my big hands, and has got a glossy edge-to-edge screen like my Macbook. It’s made of hard plastic, so that makes it ultra light… and with the work I do, the lighter the load on my backpack… the better.

Here’a a runthrough of it’s basic specifications:

Processor 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270
Memory 1GB, 533MHz DDR2
Hard drive 60GB 4,200rpm
Chipset Mobile Intel 945GM Express
Graphics Intel GMA 950 (integrated)
Operating system Windows XP Home Edition SP2
Dimensions (WDH) 6.6×10.3×0.95 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 10.2 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter 2.5/3.1 pounds

The only thing I didn’t like about that is the HD space.. 60GB man, that’s too low! I’ve worked with an Acer One Mini and the base model has about 140GB to start with.