Any mobile device can be plugged with peripherals to provide a desktop experience, so tablets' only advantage in this field is their size. I'd actually love using a Raspberry Pi for this.
Tablets, with their touchy-touchy interface (kinda amazing that this technology took almost 10 years to get popular) are simple enough to use that they appeal to a larger number of people. Being small, you can take them anywhere - an ideal thing for someone who has to be on-line all the time or doesn't have anything to do during the long hours on the subway. They may have more uses in everyday life for an average person, but that's about it.
Computing power may rise, but so does resource usage, so I wouldn't expect mobile devices to become desktop-level powerful anytime soon. And even if we eventually reach a level where everything can be computed in no-time, there's this little thingy: ergonomics. So, as much I can image computing power reaching such ridiculous levels that a pocket-sized device will be powerful enough to serve as a workstation, I think desktops will still exist - at least in the form of an army of peripherals with a small slot to insert your PocketPC.
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