We've all heard the criticisms about the iPad. This was a useless device for Apple fanboys. It's an iPod Touch on steroids. Best Internet experience? It doesn't replace anything. It isn't powerful enough to replace a laptop and it's too big to be as portable as a smartphone. There is no flash, USB, external storage, etc...

However, now that reviews have come out those of us who own one realize all that negative speculation was nonsense. The iPad is a wonderful device and is the future of casual and entertainment based computing. Video looks great, surfing is fast and fun, more and more sites are switching to HTML5, reading books and magazines at once, you can use it as a productivity tool and gaming is great.

There is already talk of competition. A slate device that can do everything the iPad can and all the things it can't. Only one of the items has actually been released.

The unfortunately named joojoo Internet tablet. This little known company went through a name change and promised to release a device with Flash and all the the things the iPad doesn't have. On top of that it was going to be released before the iPad. Well that sort of still did happen. I haven't actually used one but I have read the reviews that are out so far. All of them are lackluster and talk of the joojoo as missing the mark and not delivering on what was promised. Not surprisingly a less than polished product seems to have been produced.

Some credit should be given to the JooJoo. After manufacturing issues they did manage to deliver a tablet to compete with the iPad before the iPad was released. A host of other tablets are due to come out. However, only two tablets have the potential to actually compete. The real competitors have not been released yet. They are still being developed and tested under lock and key. Part of the reason they are real competitors is that they haven't been released yet. Real competitors would not release an unpolished product to compete with a device as polished as the iPad is. Here are the real competitors:

The HP Slate

This Windows 7 based tablet should actually be able to put a dent in the tablet market. I'm sure we all know people who refuse to buy the iPad in anticipation of this device. It has everything the iPad doesn't. The problem is that one of those things is Windows 7. Windows 7 is a fine operating system but It wasn't designed as a touch screen OS and I worry that this might be a problem that will be difficult to overcome.

That being said, while skeptical I am still very curious to see how HP and Windows get around this. I would expect them to have come up with something by the time it is released. Hopefully boot up time will not be PC-like.

The Google Tablet

This Chromium and/or Android tablet is the real competition. Google has shown that they can compete with Apple. No smartphone came close to the iPhone until the Android 2.0 powered Droid was released. Yes, Apple fanboys, the Droid is arguably as good as the iPhone. Chrome OS looks light and exciting. The problem is that we don't know what it really is. I could see Android running beautifully on a tablet. However, it can't be that easy. Otherwise Google would have gotten together with HTC and already released this thing. When the Google tablet comes out I expect it to be polished and ready to battle. I am really excited to see what Google and Adobe produce in an effort to "crush" the iPad.

So there is no real competition for the iPad yet. These contenders are still being tested behind closed doors. The exciting thing is that they are being designed with the developers holding an iPad right up next to them. Competition is wonderful and consumers and nerds alike will ultimately benefit.