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Jonathan Snyder
steve-jobs-and-ipad
When this year began, we were feverishly speculating about an Apple tablet, looking forward to 3-D TV sets, and optimistically waiting for the end of the cable companies' cruel grip on our wallets.
We had to settle for one out of three. While manufacturers did release a handful of 3-D TVs, there's just not enough content (either on cable or Blu-ray) to justify purchasing one yet. The heavy, expensive glasses you need to buy don't make the proposition any more attractive, either.
And as for getting all our video from the sweet, ever-flowing bounty of the internet? Sure, we still do that — when we're at work. But at home, internet TV is still struggling to stand on its own. The gadget we'd pinned our hopes on, the Boxee Box, is unfinished and buggy. Google TV is hampered by the unwillingness of the TV networks to play ball. Apple TV remains locked into its own little iTunes-centric world.
So that leaves the Apple tablet. If you'd told us in December 2009 that we'd be using the word "iPad" every day without giggling, well, we would have giggled at you. But there it is: There's no getting around the fact that the iPad, silly name and all, has completely and successfully redefined what a "tablet computer" could be.
But the iPad was far from being the only big gadget news of the year. E-readers, cameras, and even exoskeletons made huge strides in 2010. Here, then, are the 10 gadgets that were most significant in 2010.
