Slideshow: The History of Tablet Computers

Love them or hate them, tablet computers are here to stay. With over 100 million units sold in under three years, the

iPad has become a cultural icon and its domestic competition has established itself as well: Words like "Kindle Fire" and "Nook" have entered the American lexicon. However, how tablet computers progressed from utter failures to a Dot-com boom era fad and beyond is a story in and of itself. The humble beginnings of today's tablet predecessors, such as the first e-readers and the personal digital assistant (PDA) highlights just how far we've come from the seemingly ancient monochromatic technologies of the 1990s. Take a trip with Benzinga down memory lane and check out just how far the development of tablet computers has come.