It was 7:20 am Central European Time +1 and I was still on West Coast (as in L.A.) time. No, I haven’t been out of Germany since I landed here in 2007. I just have real weird hours.

Because of these weird hours, I was able to catch Sascha Pallenberg of netbooknews.com ‘s Friendfeed post:

The world doesn’t need an Apple tablet, or any other |.. Betanews http://bit.ly/5QvwaM

I was intrigued, so naturally I clicked the link.

… an Apple tablet — no matter how innovative — faces three distinctive market challenges: The greater desirability of smaller devices; overlapping functionality with devices above and below it; and functionality too limited without a physical keyboard. The question everyone should ask: What would you use an Apple tablet, or any other, for?

Of course, the cartoon was inspired by the bolded sentence in the above quote.

When I heard the rumor last  year that Apple may come out with their own tablet I wasn’t too excited. You have to know, that I was a professed Mac-Addict. I still am, only my attention has also wandered over to the Android side of the digital life. I wasn’t too excited by an Apple tablet, because frankly, I wouldn’t really know what to do with one.

I still have my old 12 inch Apple Power Book, a Dell XPS m1210 (that’s been put out of commission temporarily), a 10″ Eee PC 1002HA, a Nokia n800 that is waiting for an Android port and other stuff .. that I can’t imagine wanting something else that would allow me to do what I already do with the other devices. Mind you, it IS an Apple brand, but, as the business of tech continues to grow … lines are starting to be blurred, just a little.

I can do pretty much the same thing on each of the devices that I already have, give or take, video editing, gaming and running Second Life. But I don’t video edit, game and use Second Life everyday. The only four things I ever do everyday is browse, check email, tweet and facebook. I can do all four on all the devices. An Apple tablet isn’t enough to  get me excited. Then again, I’d have to really get my hands on one to put that sentence to rest.

Even if I did get my hands on one, I’d be worried about the price. And even if Jobs sets up a pretty alluring price point, I’d still be worried if whether or not Jobs will announce a tablet upgrade in the next 3 months of the first tablet launch, that would be much better and probably the same price as the first. Then again, that’s the tech business for you, but more so, Apple’s m.o. (mode of operation).

2010 will certainly be an interesting year, if not a redundant kind of year for devices in general. How many more eBooks will come out? How many more types of netbooks? Luxury tech brands, like Apple, Nokia, whatever are seeing more and more replicas. Not to say that other devices are FAKE, like the fake Rolex watches we can buy for $20 dollars off the sidewalk (and bargain down to $5), but now that Google’s stepped into the Device creating game, it’s really starting to level off the playing field, or rather, upset it.

When I think of Google’s Android OS, I can’t help but think of a virus. An entity that invades hosts and changes the hosts m.o. to suit their own agenda. When I speak of virus, I speak of one that is more positive than destructive. Either way you look at it, Android is definitely invading the mobile and device sphere forcing the big players need to re-asses their game play.

And the word tablet? I’m not a fan of that word at all. Being an ex-nurse, “tablet” makes me think of pills or Moses coming down from Mount whatever .. with two tablets at his side. Hmmmm.

Hypothetically speaking, since there has been no solid confirmation of Apple launching a tablet this January ….

What would you do? Would you consider getting an Apple tablet or any other tablet for that matter? Do you care?