It's the interface, stupid...

So I just spent 20 minutes on the phone with a potential iPad user, and I realized something during that conversation. The "amazing and magical" hype about the iPad isn't the device itself, it's about the interface. HP has a device quite similar to the iPad (at least in initial visible review) coming called the Slate, but it runs Windows. That will be the actual downfall of the device - because a desktop OS isn't a true touch-tablet interface. I've used the HP all-in-one desktop touchscreen - it's a novelty but you really need a keyboard to use Windows effectively. That's what iPad has going for it, along with the other iPhone OS devices, as well as the Android OS devices - the UI is a unique experience focused on a touch-based interface, not a mouse and keyboard.

If you've never really used a touch-tablet interface like the iPad, or a Surface device, you can't understand - even if you use one of the tablet based PCs out there like the Lenovo X200. The interface and the way you interact with the device is what makes or breaks it - so although I am optimistic about the Slate for those Windows-only environments (like the hospital I work in today), I'm afraid that it will fall flat, with a mouse/keyboard UI that fails on a touch based device. Only time will tell, however, if HP and Microsoft "get it" with touch interface PCs beyond the shiny nature of a Surface....