Windows Phone Thoughts: Why Do People Compare the Pocket PC to a Tablet PC?

I cannot tell you how many times on this site and in other places I see comments like "Who is planning on buying a Tablet PC (ie, instead of a new PPC)." I am not trying to pick on any one person, and that poster actually clarified himself/herself a bit later. :) I even hear this comment from fellow Microsoft MVPs in other product groups. What I don't understand is why the thought would even come up. Is it a fundamental misunderstanding of what the PDA is, the Tablet PC or am I totally missing something? To me, asking the question "$1,800 Tablet PC or $350 Pocket PC" is like asking "$250 DVD Player or $1,400 PC." Yes, the PC can play DVDs, so in that regard they are similar. Yes, the Pocket PC can do some things a Windows XP machine can do, including the common feature of handwriting recognition on the screen, but I just don't see anyone at Microsoft, HP, Dell or anywhere else marketing these as alternatives to each other.

Can you see walking up to an airline counter after a flight was cancelled and changing your itinerary by lugging out your Tablet PC? Or being on your cell phone and whip out your Tablet PC to check on tomorrow's schedule to create a new appointment? Either you do those types of things or you don't, and using an Etch-a-Sketch sized device to do that makes so little sense to me. Conversely, I could go on for hours about things a Tablet PC can do that you would be insane to try on a Pocket PC.

So, where have I missed the boat on this one? Small footnote here - I do see great things for the Tablet PC. If the software takes off, like the Office XP and Windows XP mods to support the Tablet PC's unique form factor and the hardware vendors come through, I think the laptop is a device relegated to a niche market in 3-4 years.