the idea of the general purpose mechanical vehicle died a long time ago, the idea of the all purpose computing device should also. while these ARE general purpose machines as far as their internals go, even with pcs and laptops different tools are required to perform different tasks.
Artists use wacom pads and cintiqs to "create" audio experts use mixing boards and MIDI instruments, 3d artists use even more specialized tools (this is my proffession so I happen to know more about it than the others) a lot of what is happening with tablet computers is that the keyboard/mouse combination, once a first class input device used by coders and office employees is becoming a peripheral just like all the others I have been talking about.
Great comparison. If you look at things like Garageband on the iPad, you can certainly make music with the touchscreen only. But any musician would probably still be more productive when using the real instrument as the input device. Same with office work: yes, you can write on the virtual keyboard, but can still attach a physical one if you want
Artists use wacom pads and cintiqs to "create" audio experts use mixing boards and MIDI instruments, 3d artists use even more specialized tools (this is my proffession so I happen to know more about it than the others) a lot of what is happening with tablet computers is that the keyboard/mouse combination, once a first class input device used by coders and office employees is becoming a peripheral just like all the others I have been talking about.