Hula hoops. Pogs. Crocs. iPads?

Despite the tablet-computing craze, some are unconvinced that Apple’s slate has staying power.

There are those who say tablets are just a passing fad and not a PC-laptop killer. However, the naysayers also are the same Apple rivals who have yet to come to market with credible competition to the iPad.

Last week, Acer’s chairman, J.T. Wang, became one of the more high-profile skeptics, proclaiming that “tablet fever” was coming to an end.

The Chinese tech-maker is betting the future on the latest computer form factor: Ultrabooks.

In fact, a number of tech-industry players consider tablets flawed without keyboards and lacking in computing power.

“The tablet market has a great deal of energy around it right now, but from a practical standpoint the number of tablets sold -- even with iPads -- is a tiny fraction of total PCs and laptops,” said tech analyst Charles King, the head of Pund-IT. “I am more than skeptical of prognostications of tablets taking over the world.”

Ultrabooks are as light as netbooks, but with the power of laptops.

Not only is Acer banking on the next-generation device, but Lenovo, Asus and other major players are also launching ultrabooks powered by Intel’s chips.

Still, ultrabooks are unproven, whereas tablets -- especially the iPad -- are flooding the marketplace. The iPad already has put so much pressure on PC sales that it played a role in Hewlett-Packard abandoning the market.

A recent analysis put tablet sales at 250 million by 2017.

On Friday, according to The Financial Times, Asus chief Jerry Shen said he was uncertain if Intel’s ultrabook goals -- 40 percent of notebook sales by the end of the year -- are attainable.