I must admit that I thought last year was the year of the tablet after we kicked off 2010 unveiling the Dell Streak at CES and Apple created a storm (amidst some initial product naming controversy) with its iPad. Don’t get me wrong – I knew we’d see a lot more tablets at this year’s CES, but I really didn’t expect there to be 80 different tablets on show!

As SlashGear rightly points out – every CES has its unofficial theme – but 80 tablets? I feel kinda sorry for those that you know will never make it. But I also worry that if some of the best manufacturers out there don’t get it right, and get it right fast, then this immense choice will be stripped away from us.

The gadgets that will sell well are the ones that do the job without any faffing about, look good, and generally give a great user experience. I’m sorry to say that it’s also the gadgets which are backed by a decent marketing spend to get them onto the collective mind of the consumer conscience that will become dominant (assuming they’re not made out of a button, soil and 3 matchsticks).

But I really badly don’t want what’s happened in the MP3 player (or should I say PMP) market to happen to tablets. I’m currently trying to upgrade my very old Creative Zen Vision M. I want a device with a large capacity (in the realm of 60Gb if not more), that has excellent video playback but fits in my pocket. My Zen still does the job but at 30Gb I have to keep deleting stuff, the screen is very small (and scratched), and let’s face it...it’s massive. But what are my options other than Apple’s iPod touch?

I tweeted out the question, and one of the most helpful (and telling) replies was “A timemachine to go back to 2005 when there was actual competition.”  A few other suggestions, like the Zune HD (although being UK based the apps side of things raises a question mark for me) were a little more ‘me’ but if you go in store to see what’s available it’s iPod or nothing. There are a few obscure brands with players that have a maximum 8Gb capacity, so not what I’m looking for, but nothing else is carried in store for me to play with.

I really don’t want what everyone else has got, and if I am going to have what everyone else has got I want to feel like I got there because I had the choice not to.

My one hope with this tablet boom is that there’ll soon be a device for me out there, with a big capacity, wonderful UI, probably Android based for the apps...oh wait...that sounds much like the Galaxy Player that Samsung unveiled at this year’s CES. Based on its Galaxy tablet devices, I had high hopes when it was rumoured. But it seems from first looks that I may have to wait a little longer.

So my plea to my beloved manufacturers of luscious technology is, don’t let me down. I’m just asking for options and choice... (but please don’t make me choose the Reebok Classic* of the PMP world).

*a great device, looks good but let’s face it – everyone else on the estate has one.

Kate