The Future of the Laptop

On the day of the introduction of the Ipad and maybe the beginning of a shift of the computer market, I am beginning to wonder what is in store for the future of the laptop market. It has not been long since Apple changed the smart phone market with their app friendly Iphone. It seems to me that Apple seems to have a leg up on the competition in terms of innovation and the Ipad, although eerily similar to an Iphone, may just have the potential to change a market that has been pretty consistent for the last decade. Besides the shrunk down laptops, or "netbooks," which have been on the market for the last few years, laptops have all contained a material keyboard and monitor. The Ipad is trying to integrate the two and make a user friendly computing device that you can stash away in your briefcase. I like the idea of a touch screen computer, but I think that market share that apple will get on the laptop market will be rather small with this device. I see it as a useful computer for viewing textbooks and surfing the web on the go, but only as somewhat of a novelty. I cannot picture students in the next few years trying to type up term papers on an on screen keyboard.