It was just over five years ago that we were waiting with decreased breath for Apple’s table!computer(平板电脑)．The company delivered．released its new creation，and set about redefining what a “tablet”could be．Remember?Table computers used to be heavy，folding laptops that ran Microsoft Windows and much terrible sofeware．The release of the new creation helped redraw that too1 in consumers’minds．No．this wasn’t the weighty thick of steel powered by UPS(不间断电源)any more；this was the future of the computer．

    I was always doubtful about them．Sure．they seemed wonderful and light and perfect for bed-based computing．But they weren’t the right type for a lot of the ways I used a computer．They were great for a meeting but less so for my desk．When I needed to finish a report carefully or design a page，I needed the accuracy of my otherwise anachronistic(过时的) mouse．And，most important of all，I already owned a laptop．like most people．Buying another computer seemed more of a“nice to have”than a“must have．”

    New figures from IDC，the market research firm，suggest that we’ve reached an upper limit for the modem tablet computer．According to the firm，shipments(发货)of the tool in the second quarter of this year dropped 7％worldwide compared to the same time last year．Apple and Samsung，the market leaders(41％ combined market share),each experienced a drop year over year as competitors like LG and Huawei exploded．

    But the overall market is minishing，just five years after it appeared．For good reason：Laptops continue to decrease—have you seen the latest Macbook?——and smartphones continue to grow,even as both get lighter and longer-lasting in terms of battery life．Tablets．stuck in the middle,still have their place．But the meaning of that place is decreasing.Not very encouraging for a young，new computing type．

    Are tablets dead?I don’t think so．They remain important to specialized uses，from hospitals to delivery trucks to sales meetings．Hundreds of millions continue to be sold every year．And some of their best qualities have been absorbed by the latest generation of laptops．(What is the new Macbook if not a touchscreen-lacking iPad with a keyboard and IOS X，Apple’s desktop operating system?) But from the looks of these numbers．tablets have an identity problem that can’t be ignored．