Living in the NYC metro area, I worry more about bad people backed by big money and an extremist agenda. I will refrain from using the T word.

For lightning protection I keep a Garmin battery powered GPS MAP476 in our boat's oven. That's our Faraday cage (whether it works or not). Yes, we have a 7-inch CP at the helm for radar overlay on charts, but that's used mainly as a "steering and orientation assist" for the helmsman. When we go out on overnight cruises we bring an iPad and a Windows 8 tablet/laptop convertible (a Samsung ATIV700t which is similar to the Microsoft Surface Pro). We also carry iPhones. The Windows PC gets its GPS and AIS info from an AIS transceiver, over USB and runs Coastal Explorer. I've considered making that a wireless connection, but for now I'm content to have the laptop/tablet in the sheltered environment of the nav table -- where it's also readable from the companionway. The USB cord is 7 feet and can reach into the forward end of the cockpit, but I've never felt the need to bring it out where it's exposed to sun/spray/people-movement.

While I agree with Tom that tablets are great to have aboard, the software I've seen so far for them doesn't yet measure up to Nobeltec or Coastal Explorer on the PC. I'm interested in testing the MaxSea TimeZero App which uses NOAA raster (or vector, but I prefer raster) charts and might be interesting. I find the tablet (finger) interface clunky by comparison to the mouse (or stylus) on the PC which has much better speed and precision, and the "touch and hold" selection of an iOS device is clunky and slow compared to Window's right-mouse-click and/or keyboard hot-keys for frequent functions. (Call me fumble-fingered but the "intelligent selection" of iOS often highlights the wrong thing). No doubt it will improve in the future, but there are connectivity issues with integrating instrumentation and radar that are much more easily and economically solved by USB than by an ad-hoc wireless network aboard, if you need to mix vendors. I acknowledge that is changing and it can be done now if you have the tech aptitude and spend enough time to learn what you need to know, but... not quite there yet. The average user needs to stay with packaged integrated (closed) solutions from one supplier.

The fact that iOS and Android are primarily designed as consumer tech toys doesn't help with some of the innovations that COULD happen if the full potential were to be exploited. iOS 7 moved forward in some ways but backward in others (intuitive usability) and I WISH they would have added arrow keys to the on-screen keyboard (like Windows8 has) to move the curser forward/back when iOS insists on selecting the wrong things. Apple keeps tight control of apps they will allow (and various aspects of the UI), and Android is not tight enough (ref: stability and security issues). The many different versions of Android along with lack of consistent updates on many distributions creates support issues for developers.

Still, on the plus side of these devices as consumer toys is that prices are much lower and versatility is much greater than dedicated marine devices, and adoption is so broad that the huge market encourages development of software apps and hardware accessories. Availability and size of the market potential creates a huge momentum for innovation. Also the cost of the device isn't a factor. People are going to buy and use tablets whether or not they have the nav apps, so the fact that the hardware/connectivity/gps are already aboard means that the function is added by software and dedicated marine hardware is going to go the way of the dinosaur. I predict that ruggedized/weatherproof cases and binnacle/dash mounts will replace most of that dedicated CP stuff, and we'll get better function and lower costs on tablets than on CPs as a result.