I thought 2011 would be the year I bought a tablet computer. Now I’m not so sure. The first decent Android tablets are starting to dribble out and, to my surprise and shock, they cost as much (or almost as much) as iPads. That’s a guaranteed recipe for failure.

I would think that a computer that used a free OS, had a relatively weak processor and video (by PC standards), and had no hard drive or CD or complex power supply would have a chance at coming in a lot cheaper than an iPad. You can buy a PC laptop for the price of an iPad and a netbook for half the price. Keeping that in mind and given Apple’s pricey ways, I was under the working assumption that we’d see good $250 Android tablets right away and that soon you’d been able to get good $150 tablets.

None of that has happened. Android tablets all seem to be aiming at that $500 price point, but they don’t use Apple’s superior OS and lack the elegance of an iPad. They appear to work fine — a memorable comparison I read somewhere said that they are Fords compared to Apple’s Mercedes-Benz — but they don’t come with Ford prices.

As a result, they aren’t making much of a dent in the market. Android isn’t entirely ready for tablet prime time yet, either, which doesn’t help. Apple has improved its iPad and still charges what it charges, but I still can’t figure out why I’d pay so much money for so little computer. And so I’ll keep waiting on the world to change.