Resource Article: Rugged Tablet PCs: Marrying Popularity With Strength

By Alan Horowitz, Field Technologies magazine

If you named one technology product most coveted today by both business and consumer users alike, it would probably be the Apple iPad. Nearly 15 million were sold last year after its introduction. Upwards of 500,000 additional units went out the door within days of the March 11, 2011, introduction of the iPad2. Besides the huge success of the iPad, smartphones, led by the Apple iPhone, are also helping spur tablet growth. Smartphones have made users more comfortable with touch screen input, which has lowered end user resistance to tablets.

While tablet PCs are white-hot, let's not forget they have been around for years, and field service workers have been carrying them around just as long. But Apple didn't build the iPad for heavy-duty fieldwork, which is why rugged tablet PCs have their place in certain situations.