In a report of global and US PC sales released by UK research company Gartner, growth of netbook sales slowed significantly in the second quarter of 2010, the same period that Apple’s ‘magical and revolutionary’ touch-screen device dropped from the skies.

Gartner say the iPad’s release “temporarily cannibalized mini-notebook sales to some degree” but that with the current high price point of tablets the future remains uncertain. The big question is whether the iPad and the inevitable wave of portable tablet computers that follow will permanently curtail the humble netbook, which as consumer electronics trends go has had a rather brief lifespan. Tablet PCs have been around for years but have never really taken off in any significant, game-changing way. Will the iPad now do for tablets what the iPod did for mp3 players and consign mini-laptops to the same rubbish dump as CD Walkmans?

Some would say that with the netbook’s inability to deliver true power or the level of portability an iPad affords, it is a mish-mash of compromises, constantly serving mini-bites of mediocrity on every front. But considering that you can grab one for under £200 ($300) it is hard to see them going away anytime soon without a lot more competition within the tablet market driving prices down there.

So perhaps the netbook’s polo-neck-wearing grim reaper is kept at bay for now. But why not dig out your Asus Eee PC and futureproof it anyway by converting it into a tablet using this ’simple’ DIY tablet conversion tutorial?