Comparing Apple's iPad 2 with Motorola's XyBoard and Amazon's Kindle Fire is fraught with peril. But here goes anyway.

Let me preface my review by saying that a few overzealous readers (I'm being charitable with that description) almost invariably call the writer (me) an idiot for not being as savvy and/or perceptive as they claim to be. That's par for the course. But let's get a few things straight here.

First, this isn't an official review. Like the kind you would find at CNET Reviews. Second, I don't favor one manufacturer over the other. So, let me state the obvious (though, I realize, this will never satisfy conspiracy theorists). If Product X makes what I need to do easier, then I will favor it over Product Y.

And, third, as a corollary to the above, I have personalized needs, like anyone. A graphic designer will place a very different set of demands on a tablet than I would. So, my use case doesn't necessarily apply to everyone.

That said, I have used the iPad 2, the Motorola XyBoard (aka Xoom 2), and the Amazon Kindle Fire long enough to understand their strengths and weaknesses for my particular needs.

A central feature of iOS5 (Apple’s new mobile operating system) on the iPhone 4S is Siri. Siri is voice recognition software, which has been built to function as a digital personal assistant. Ask Siri a question, and “she’ll” answer. Ask Siri to send an email -- done. Ask Siri what the weather’s like, and she’ll return a five-day forecast.

Siri streamlines the process of performing tasks, sourcing and disseminating information. It even responds to questions that traditional search engines can’t answer:

Me: “Is it going to be cold today?

Siri: “No, 37 degrees doesn’t seem all that cold.”

Me: “What sounds good for lunch?”

Siri: “I found 20 restaurants whose reviews mention lunch…16 of them are fairly close to you. I’ve sorted them by rating.”

If the digital revolution (search included) is a long-wave transition, as Gord Hotchkiss so elegantly observed in his Search Insider column last week, then Siri is surely a major ripple. In Siri, we have a glimpse of what the future of search looks like -- a future that should be both exciting and terrifying to search marketers.