And also, speaking of history – manufacturers have been making tablets for 10 years before the iPad ever debuted.  The failure of “Windows on a tablet” for such a painfully extended period of time is particularly key to why the iPad was commercially successful to the public, where Microsoft was repeatedly forced to fall back on “we only intended it for specialized uses” to save face when sales were disappointing, including the following:

- Windows complexity/instability is unappealing to most people
- People found the iPad to be an “escape from Windows” headaches.
- People found the iPad to be intuitively simple – Windows is not.
- People found the iPad priced at half of Windows tablets at the time.
- People found the iPad aimed at their casual uses, not “professionals”.

The “only reason this sized tablet” is popular is certainly not just because of the significantly lower price.  I’ve got a 4.5″ smartphone, and just sold a 10″ iPad2 that I received from my company as a Christmas gift, and bought a 7″ tablet to replace it for numerous reasons.

One, of course, is the silliness that would be living in two completely different ecosystems, inability to share between them (and really we’re talking about two tablets – one 4.5″ and one 7″ – would be like having a PC and a Mac for no particular reason, and trying to share programs between them because your usage for both devices was actually the same use case). Many people (particularly with 2x of the number of Android devices in the wild compared to iOS devices) would find themselves in this boat also.

But many of the reasons are tied particularly to size:
- You can hold a 7″ tablet with one hand and use it. Ergonomic advantage.
- You feel a need to set a 10″ tablet down to use it, limiting its usage.
- A 7″ tablet is more portable.  Think about where you are “on the go”:
- A 7″ tablet opens the door to use cases in-car – note in-dash screens are 7″.
- A 7″ tablet has the right compromise of size to allow for phone app compatibility.  Apple had to fall back on developing tablet-exclusive apps for their 10″ version.
- a 4.5″ screen is already almost-make-do-size, there’s no hurting for screen size with a 7″.  It strikes a balance between the portability and ease of handling of a phone-tablet, and the larger screen and clumsiness of handling a 10″ tablet.

The 10″ device wouldn’t have much in the benefit column to check off. 

I’d been holding out on buying a tablet, waiting specifically for a 7″ tablet.
I’d say the sales successes of the Playbook, and Galaxy Tab 7″ variants would counter your point, neither represent a “significantly lower price”, in fact the 7″ Galaxy Tab Plus costs more than an iPad.  And now I’m a 7″ Galaxy Tab owner – reasons having nothing to do with price.
Certainly I’m not alone.

I’d suggest a more open minded approach than starting sentences with “The only reason…” because any of those “only”/”always”/”never” statements pretty much (if not “always”) show an inherent ignorance of ANY use cases where the absolute claim simply isn’t true.
And in this case – it doesn’t even take much to imagine the advantages.

Apple brought the GUI concept to the world, period.  

My company gave me an iPad2 for Christmas this year, and one of my coworkers who also received an iPad2 happened to have a Galaxy Tab 7.  So I sold my iPad2 for $450 the next day, and bought his Galaxy Tab 7 off him for $200.  It was a better fit for me and my existing Google/Android accounts, I didn’t have to create iTunes account and walk through that walled-in gateway, I didn’t need to jailbreak, I could download apps I’ve already paid for to the tablet, and I ended up with a tablet and $250 in my pocket.  Win/win.

Granted, it’s pretty big for a phone, but I use a bluetooth handsfree earpiece most of the time, even when not driving. The Note is always in a small waist-pouch while I’m on the go, and using it for browsing and media consumption is definitely a better experience than my previous Nexus S and iPhone 3G before that. Might not be as big as a 7″ or 10″ model, but the form factor (coupled with high-resolution) is perfect for me.

So I guess it varies from person to person.

I would use the 7inch for reading books in bed, on the train as well as for watching movies on the train. If apple had a 7inch tablet, I would actually leave my 10inch ipad at home and just move around with the 7inch in my bag around the city.

Well, until apple comes out with a 7inch ipad, I will stick to my trusty Agasio Dropad A8. The Dropad is an awesome 7inch tablet with a Cortex A8 Samsung processor and capactive screen. It is as snappy as the Ipad retails on Amazon for around $180. Great deal.

So Apple, please hurry up with the 7inch Ipad so my Apple stock can get a boost!! :)

The 10″ size is nearly twice the surface area of the 7″ tablet – significantly larger, literally two of my tablets side-by-side.  It is more proportionally awkward to hold and use.

Likewise, the 4.5″ smartphone I have – pretty big by most smartphone standards today – is roughly half the size of the 7″ tablet in terms of screen area.  And like you said, easiest to hold by far.  
So note that is a very large difference going from the 4.5″ device to the 7″ device (double the screen area), and equally large jump going from the 7″ device to the 10″ device (roughly double).
  
…You feel occasionally cramped on the 4.5″ device, although it’s truly large enough to make due for nearly everything.  Like I said, it’s remarkable for a device you can fit in your pocket.
But the 7″ seems perfect for most things, certainly versatility is a key advantage to this size.
The 10″ just seems too large – not screen per say, but the whole device.  Holding it.  Or, rather, putting it down, as you are inclined to do.  
I don’t find myself hurting for screen size on a 7″ device (particularly since the 4.5″ is an almost-make-do size as is for most apps and uses), so the trade off in clumsiness of handling a 10″ device wouldn’t have much in the benefit column to check off.

Web browsing might be the one place I’d say “it would be nice to have a bigger screen”, if that’s your primary use.  But on all devices, the stock browser has gotten very good, very smart – a double-tap on any column of text, and the device zooms in to the width of just the item you picked, from where you can just slide the screen around with your finger. 
So smart developers help make the middle-size the best compromise, IMO.

All those who are lower-middle class, or mainstream white collar corporate (been using windows entire adult life) have enjoyed the access to an unlimited amount of software and low-cost of PCs and will continue to purchase lower-cost alternatives to any Apple product

Those of us who have woken-up and have been smart enough or fortunate enough to be exposed to Linux based OS (when in reality Mac & Windows are linux based as well) – have enjoyed the fruits of Open Source and know that Open Source is the future.

So it’s like the Vinzini (sp) debacle – you can’t choose the Mac wine in front of yourself, nor the Windows wine in front of them…  You must have built up a Linux knowledge over the past several years to survive either wine and move on… 

btw – anyone get the WINE reference

I don’t mind having my Pre + live in my pocket and my TP live in my folio w/ bluetooth keyboard, while I connect to my Ubuntu Desktop at home from anywhere in the world – OH yeah..  WHILE doing TRUE multi-tasking.

This is absolutely ridiculous – If you sell a product, let’s take Jaguar for example, that is over-priced yet does the same things as every other car in it’s class, but looks flashy, is still gonna have a high resale value…  but the Lexus’ of the world – ie ANY tablet capable of running open source software, will out do the Jaguar is almost every situation that the CONSUMER needs…

Yes a 7″ tablet will feel easier and more comfortable to grab and carry around than a 9″ tablet,  and by the same logic a 5″ screen smartphone feels by far more comfortable in your hands than a 7″ tablet with the major advantage than the later fits in your pocket.  So question here is whether spending hundreds of dollars for 2 more inches of screen real-state makes any sense. The main problem with tablets right now is that consumers are confused with the concept of what a tablet is and what it should be used for. Tablets are a market sector meant to replace netbooks and even laptops in the near future. Tablets are the new generation of portable computers.

7″ screens cant replace the experience you can get from netbook or a laptop. The screen is simply too small and for small screen tasks we already have giant smartphones. Add to this the fact that tablets have on screen keyboards that will take over most of the space you have to work with. It is comfortable to sit at a restaurant with an ipad and write an article with on screen keyboard, your hands land on a comfortable surface with enough space for both your right and your left. I wish I could say the same about a 7″ tablet.

Really its a matter of concept and people understanding what tablets are, many people cant figure out what to do with them I know a few friends who havent used their tablet that often just because they already have a computer or a laptop for the things they need. From what I understood in your reply, what you specifically were looking for was an e-reader not a tablet, you want a device were you can read comfortably and not get your hand too tired, you seem to have also limited your vision of the things you can do with a tablet. Eventually people will figure it out but as of now its a new concept and itll take some time to get there.

PS: We dont pay extra for tethering in Canada, blame it on your carriers not on Apple.

any reason why you chose the Galaxy Tab as opposed to the Galaxy Tab 7″ plus

I’ve got a Sprint Galaxy SII, which has a 4.5″ display – larger than the other GSII variants.

I received an iPad2 as an Xmas gift from my employer, as did all my other coworkers.
I sold mine and purchased a 7″ Galaxy Tab from one of my coworkers.

While my reasons primarily had to do with the principals under which Apple operates, needing to climb down the iTunes rabbit-hole that is the paid (and guarded) gateway into Apple’s walled in environment… and I wasn’t a fan of having to re-buy apps, and possibly not be able to access or share between devices…

But the bottom line is, I’ve had a lot of experience across all three devices in the past few days.
A phone is a phone. The GSII is remarkable in what it can do for something you can carry in your pocket, everywhere.
The iPad might be nice if you are already an iPhone owner – and don’t mind being committed to a device you need to use on a desktop or your lap.  The thinness particularly works against it in this respect, it was difficult to hold even when just standing.

The Galaxy Tab 7″ has already proven way more versatile, despite being slower, not as smooth, older single-core hardware.  Since we’re talking about form factor – I can hold it in one hand, and use it with the other.  My thumb-to-fingertips fits right around the backside of it, edge to edge, so I can hold it in the palm of my hand.  That means, sitting, standing, lying down – it’s not teetering, ready for me to drop it with the wrong poke on the edge of the screen.  It’s MUCH more manageable to use.

Also, it’s a tablet.  I’m not personally using the 3G in mine (and maybe never will – I could turn on the wifi hotspot in my phone and not pay the ludicrous extra fees), but if I wanted to use this on the go, a 7″ size is much more logical for use in a car.  As a matter of fact, 6.5″-7″ is the standard double-DIN  screen size used in cars.  Install a car dock app, and I’ve got a fantastic device to do anything from Pandora streaming to GPS navigation, without the $3K premium option in the car purchase (or $2K double-DIN replacement deck).

This is not the device I want to have to be chained to a desk to use – that’s what my desktop PC does.
I want to be able to bring my tablet with me, use it on the go – and with consideration of  all the places I am when I am on the go – not just my destinations.  Versatility.

only us richie rich’es can afford to change their device at will, not the average person.

Nook etc are cheaper

nothing and nobody else is influencing the market

its not the brand or the number of apps… its a question of affordability…