Last week, Apple's boss, Steve Jobs, ridiculed the seven-inch tablets, which are poised to become the next thing in the computer market. Mr. Jobs said, "seven-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to compete with a smart phone and too small to compete with the iPad. The current crop of seven-inch tablets are going to be dead on arrival."

When someone who has more or less been single-handedly responsible for revolutionalising the smartphone industry speaks, you must listen. Again, his 10-inch product has sold almost eight million units since its launch less than a year ago. So, he must be on to something.

But before we go on, a disclaimer here. I disagree with Mr. Jobs, and I will explain. First, we must define what a tablet is, and why Mr. Jobs' comments are very important.

2011 is the year of the tablet. A "tablet" is a computer contained entirely in a flat touch screen that uses the fingers or a stylus as the primary input device in the place of a keyboard or mouse. It is a generally accepted precept in computing that there is a functional wasteland which manufacturers are struggling to fill because it is potentially very lucrative. This functional wasteland is the void between full productivity and pocketability.

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i have a very portable 11.6" laptop, a 4.3" touch screen smart phone, what do i possibly need a 10" or 7" tablet for?