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Raise your hand if you want a Windows 8 tablet just so you can use that cool new Start screen. Wait, first put your iPad down. Now raise your hand.

After two public previews of Microsoft's new Windows 8 technology, the one major difference we've seen thus far in what it does, compared to its predecessors, comes from a few of its cloud-reliant apps, including Pictures. You can store your pictures on Microsoft's SkyDrive and have them automatically sync across your (Windows-branded) devices. That's very nice, but no longer new. Come October, it may even be old hat. ReadWriteWeb asked the Panel of Esteemed Grown-ups (who reminded me to say thank you for the esteem) to deduce what kinds of functionality might make you consider purchasing a Windows 8 device, whether or not you have an iPad. Joining us for this round are (left to right):

Ross Rubin, Executive Director and Principal Analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence
Al Hilwa, Program Director for Applications Development Software, IDC
Sarah Rotman Epps, Senior Analyst for Consumer Product Strategy, Forrester
Carmi Levy, Correspondent, Yahoo Finance Canada; Contributing Technology Analyst, CTV

Assume for a moment that you don't own an iPad. Which device do you want more: a new, multitouch-endowed Windows 8 notebook computer, or a new iPad with the vastly improved resolution? Okay, so the latter is available now and the former is not. But if you have already acquired that iPad, or are just about to, will you want that Win8 Ultrabook come October?

These are serious questions for serious people, and it's a good thing that ReadWriteWeb knows their numbers. We've convened the Panel of Esteemed Grown-ups (PEGs) to take up the issue of Windows 8's success against Apple's iOS-based steamroller. Joining us for the discussion (left to right):

Ross Rubin, Executive Director and Principal Analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence
Al Hilwa, Program Director for Applications Development Software, IDC
Sarah Rotman Epps, Senior Analyst for Consumer Product Strategy, Forrester
Carmi Levy, Correspondent, Yahoo Finance Canada; Contributing Technology Analyst, CTV

It seemed like everything was going so well. Holiday mall traffic was said to be brisk, consumer sentiment seemed to be thawing a bit, even the unemployment numbers made a U-turn just before critical mass and started heading nicely downward. Then came reports of exceptions to the general rule of an improving U.S. consumer economy in Q4 2011, most notably from big-box retailer Best Buy, which reported lower same-store unit sales for the quarter and flat revenue.

So what happened; did a piece of the sky fall and someone forget to blog about it? Some clues came this morning from analyst firm NPD Group, which reported a 6% overall drop in holiday consumer electronics sales compared to the same period in 2010. Sales were sharply lower for MP3 players, digital picture frames, point-and-shoot... whoa, whoa, wait a second! MP3 players? What decade are we talking about again?