Dramatis Tabula 2011

There’s been a lot of talk this December about how the tablet was one of 2011’s defining characteristics. About how the whole world will have a tablet soon, and how our lives have been transformed forever. And maybe that’s true. But wasn’t it the same case last year? Wasn’t 2010 "The Year of the Tablet"? In fact, come to think of it, PCWorld just ran a story called 2012: The Year of the Tablet (Finally)?

So we here at Portfolio.com have opted to set aside the hype—perhaps we’ll go into the subject in greater detail if we end up hearing talk of the Decade of the Tablet in a couple years.

Instead, of a review of the drama that was this year’s tablet market, we thought we’d take a look at the characters that played the stage, and the conflict that defined its plot.

Dramatis Personae:

By most accounts, the Samsung Galaxy Tablet is an impressive tablet, and it may have actually benefited from some free publicity thanks to an ugly legal battle with Apple. After losing the suit, Apple changed tactics and has recently filed suit for infringement of the phone's case.

Motorola kicked off 2011 with the first Android 3.0 tablet: Xoom. And by the end of the year, Xoom 2 was already out, a sign of dissatisfaction with the original product. The new Xoom, with all the improvements, costs over $600 and has left many a reviewer wondering if the price was really worth it.

And then there is the Transformer Prime by Asus, with its detachable keyboard and imminent upgrade to the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. This tablet has many of the makings of a strong tablet character, save one small issue. Hasbro is trying to sue it right off the shelves, claiming Asus has infringed on five trademarks relating to the Transformers franchise.

The BlackBerry Playbook earned many headlines in 2011 for what many consider a failed launch, including being unable to run email without the assistance of a BlackBerry phone, and for presently being forced to lower its prices to $199 in some stores. Earlier this month, Research In Motion wrote off almost a half-billion dollars in unsold or discounted PlayBooks.

And then there is the Hewlett-Packard TouchPad, which after dismal sales and a series of price drops was declared “dead” many a time—until the famous $99 “fire-sale” attracted customers with the frenzy of an Apple opening. Alas, it was too late. And by most accounts this tablet is now dead, though experts seem reluctant to say so without the clause “barring some unforeseen miracle” or something of the sort. All in all, the tablet's lifespan was just barely a month.

Enter Stage Left:

The iPad 2 launched in March with many of the same features as the iPad—similar software, similar hardware, and similar lines of customers around the corner. There was more memory, a pair of new cameras, and a few other bells and whistles. But the original iPad defined the market, and was still far ahead of much of the competition. The subtle changes of the iPad 2 led to a design that had many users talking about how the tablet “felt” in their hands. A strange phenomena for a computer to elicit—but less surprising from a manufacturer who’s users are so reluctant to discard outdated technology that they reincarnate such items into things like a home for a family pet using a process MacLife calls Macsidermy. And for a while, the iPad 2 reigned supreme, essentially unchallenged.

Enter Stage Right:

That is, until November when Amazon launched the much anticipated Kindle Fire, making an immediate splash in the tablet market. In fact, the Fire’s splash started even before impact, preselling a reported 1.5 million units before October 28.

And yet, from the day before the official launch experts had already raised concerns about the speed of the Fire’s supposed extremely fast Silk browser, which shares much of its heavy lifting with Amazon cloud capability. In spite of such misgivings, sales skyrocketed, and for a few short days all seemed forgotten, and in many ways, remains forgotten. By December 15, 3 million units had sold, roughly a million a week, and it is currently selling at a faster rate than the iPad did when it launched in early 2010, admittedly in a much different marketplace.

But the sales insanity did eventually wane and reality set in for many new Kindle Fire owners. This device may be a tablet, but it is a $199 tablet. Complaints included a lack of external volume control, an easy to (accidentally) hit power button, the slow load-time of the supposedly fast Silk, and a history log that couldn't be cleared.

A fix released by Amazon has been met with mixed reviews, and of course, can’t change the hardware problems—still no external volume control, still the same power button.

But for $199, many asked if the complaints weren't unfair.

“Just like Apple created the tablet market between the smartphone and the laptop, Amazon is trying to do the same thing between the iPad and the smartphone,” said tablet consultant Gio Rivera of Data Securities. “They are not apples to apples, they are apples to oranges. It [the Kindle Fire] bridges a gap.”

With the dust settling on 2011, it seems neither the iPad 2 nor the Kindle Fire have changed many minds—which is no surprise, with each product’s market being so different. The casual user, the subway reader, the frequent Amazon purchaser, will probably love the Fire and feel like they got a great deal. The grad student, the entrepreneur, and the professional, on the other had, will demand more of their tablet, and should almost certainly fork out the extra money, or risk feeling like they don’t have a usable product.

And after such a year and so many characters, my fingers are weary—and my computer is too. So I will bid you a good New Year and clear discernment of next year's class of tablets!

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Michael del Castillo is a freelance reporter for Portfolio.com.