Why are we suddenly gripped by tablet madness? It's not about the hardware. It's really all about the sci-fi future we've been promised, the ability to log on and get to whatever we want, whenever and wherever we want it. It's about swimming in the Internet like a goldfish in a bowl, so surrounded by connectivity we are oblivious to it.

(Also: What's with the castle with all those bubbles coming out of it? And can we get something else to eat besides those disgusting orange flakes?)

Trouble is, we haven't solved the human problem yet. Nobody has yet made a device big enough to read yet small enough to carry, with a reasonable way of putting information in so we can get useful information out. The iPhone, the Kindle, the netbook -- they're just baby steps, each with its own fatal flaws.

The geekerati look desperately to Apple to solve this, because, well, that's what they do. Nobody else seems to have a grip on how to give people the devices they really want (and some, like the Apple TV, they really don't want). But if Apple can't or won't give them the UberTablet, they'll take it from anyone who can.

Me, I do think people want to surf the Web on the toilet. And in bed and while eating breakfast and, god help us, while driving. But it probably won't be just one device that does all of that.