Apple's astounding success in the high tech arena has clearly given reason enough for a horde of imitators to follow suit - while most of the companies were already trying their best to catch up with the iPhone maker, the enviable success of CEO Steve Jobs' latest invention, the iPad, has further brought competitors to their toes.

That the rush for bringing tablet computers is on among the leading tech companies is evident from the fact that Technologizer's Harry McCracken has reported that at least 32, if not more, tablets are currently in the making from different manufacturers.

Noting that the chief criterion for an iPad apparently is `no physical keyboard and at least a 5-inch screen', McCracken, talking about the tablets being developed, said: "I found the Cisco Cius intriguing. Notion Ink's Adam also stands out from the pack. I'm itching to learn details about HP's WebOS device. And I remain extremely skeptical about Windows 7 as a tablet operating system."

Though the Apple iPad has taken the market by a storm, the device, incidentally, was the culmination of fans' long wait for a tablet.

Already, in 1979, a previous generation of Apple aficionados used a slightly different kind of Apple tablet called the Apple Graphics Tablet, which was designed by Summagraphics and sold by Apple Computer for the Apple II - the device was recently exhibited by Apple II fan Tony Diaz at KansasFest annual convention.