Apple shareholders are going to have a Merry Christmas if the holiday gift buying polls are correct. All most kids want under the tree is an iPad (31%) or an iPod Touch (29%). That 31% figure for the iPad beats every other device on in the poll, including Microsoft's Xbox 360, which is a measly 12%. But wait, there's more coal for PC makers, who are being told that the iPad and other tablet devices are depressing computer sales; overall, sales are still increasing, but at a lower rate as tablets cannibalize PC sales. Apple is largely exempt from this, because it's market share for computers (laptops and desktops) continues to expand at the expense of PC makers.
The iPad is probably the most significant innovation since the rise of the Internet in 1994. It's breaking every sales record on the books, and it is likely to single-handedly save the newspaper (now the "newspad") and the magazine. It will change the way kids learn (good-bye to the textbook), and it will continue to throw gasoline on the raging bandwidth fire that is creating grief for the cable and phone companies. And while there are some good Android-based tablets that will give the iPad much-needed competition, right now, Apple is selling 75% of the tablet devices.