IN PICTURES: Happy birthday, iPad! RIP, pretenders

The amazingly resilient two-year-old: As the iPad triumphs in its second year, a lot of would-be iPad killers are themselves dead and buried. Before the iPad debuted -- when it was just a rumor -- many pundits dismissed it, saying people wouldn't find any value, that it would just be a glorified e-reader, and that Windows tablets were the future. Yet many hardware makers hedged their bets by announcing tablets more than six months before Apple confirmed there was an iPad.

The pundits were wrong, and today Apple sells more iPads than even Hewlett-Packard sells PCs. Most would-be iPad killers have faded, after proving to be poorly conceived and executed. As the iPad begins its third year, it's the only child in the room that matters. Happy birthday!