This years C.E.S show has featured more tablets than your local pharmacy. It seems tablets are the future of computer design…

The computer world is going through a real shift lately. It seems every man and his dog is releasing a tablet. The one time gimmick and expensive extravagance is now the hottest piece of consumer electronics kit out there. They’re, on the whole, pretty good looking things too. Not since Apple launched the iMac line back in 1998 has the computer world witnessed such appealing innovation. It is Apple that we have to thank again for this latest splurge of pretty portable computers: the iPad has opened up a monumental potential market and everyone wants a piece. It is a beautiful thing, lets face it.

But whose tablet is the sugar coated goodness we’ve all been waiting for…

There is certainly no shortage with over 100 on show at C.E.S. Companies like Research In Motion, Motorola and a dual core beast from Acer, have made big waves at the show. There is a great round up of the competitors jostling for the iPad’s crown here. Time will tell what tablet is the best, but for now we can at least talk about why these tablet devices are not only beautifully designed, but will also become incredibly useful tools over the coming years.

For artists, creating and sharing a piece with a tablet can be a seamless and wonderfully convenient way to spread art in today’s modern world. This type of new art could well become a new genre of its own. The power of an artist to create a piece, send it to their website and sell copies with a few clicks could provide a hugely liberating step for today’s artists. The way an artist uses a tablet links in perfectly with the potential for designers. Artists use apps like brushes to create their works. This is where the designers step in.

The future of computing looks to be based around developing and selling apps. Apps are such a huge market that Apple have sold over a billion through iTunes. The potential reach of apps is likely to explode with the emergence of a million and one tablets flooding the market. What with Apple launching their new Mac App Store and Amazon launching their own App Store for Android based devices, the market for Apps appears to be pretty massive. This has to be a designer’s dream! Design yourself a massive selling app like Angry Birds and you stand to make over $10m. Nice work if you can get it.

What do you think of the tablet and app phenomenon? The future or a gimmick? Let us know your thoughts…