Does Tablet PC technology have to lag?

I’ve heard from more than one person that Tablet technology is destined to lag behind their computing cousins. The reason, I’m told, is simple: Since Tablets are mobile they have to conserve power. They have to be the technological slow pokes. You can’t fight physics, the argument goes.

But I’m not so sure. Not about the physics part. But about the lagging nature of Tablet PCs.

To me, Tablets are an ideal platform for innovation. They hold the promise of breaking into new usage scenarios and smashing our biases about when and how to use computers.

Here’s just one example of where I think Tablets should be leading: in EVDO (or similar) wireless technologies. Most Tablets should at least be optionally equipped with this new broadband wireless capability. Right now. Tablets and EVDO are a natural match. They belong together and ought to be paired up and leading the market.

The story ought to go: You want mobility? You want to stay connected? Then you need a Tablet.

Winding the clock back to last week at PDC where the WiFi was quite often overloaded in crowded areas, EVDO, however, could get through. So if the new Tablets were to come with EVDO, imagine how many happy Tableteers there would have been at PDC?

Yeah, EVDO can be added to any device–and it is being added to many. But the Tablet is an ideal first place, because mobility is so central to its use and EVDO keeps you connected as you move about.

EVDO is one technology where Tablets should be leading the way.