Apple Tablet Rumblings (again)...

not the tablet again...

I don't really see the point in Apple doing this unless they can introduce something remotely interesting that separates them from every other tablet - handwriting recognition and the like. Doesn't seem very useful to me...

and this is on the main page because....?

Steve said the market isn't right for tablet PCs.

The problems are two fold...handwriting of some people is not
consistant. The screen that is readable is usually not the one that will fit in your pocket.

Until OLED replaces LCD completely in most environments, don't expect tablet PCs from Apple. OLED offers the ability to fold the screen. Now that would be something to see. Apple started the market with the Newton, and we all know how that ended.

Re: Apple Tablet Rumblings (again)...

Originally posted by Macrumors
Several readers have noted that Gizmodo.com has posted a small blurb that TaiwanHighTech.com:



While Gizmodo's story is dated today (June 30, 2003), it's unclear when TaiwanHighTech's story was posted. The story is similar to an old (April, 2003) rumor originally reported by a Chinese news article (udn.com).

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Uggggh.

I hope this is just a rumor.

Apple, quit f***ing with me already and make my 15" Aluminum PB.

jizz-modo's "reporting" is notoriously sloppy -- which accusation its writers seem to feel insulated from on account of the site's being a blog. lame.

boooooo! hissssss!

i would MUCH prefer to see a 15in. powerbook upgrade. i'm not putting much stock in the rumor.

Apple Tablet?

I surely dont have any use for an Apple tablet. That is, unless it had an attatched keyboard(which would pretty much make it a notebook). My handwriting isn't very good, so I doubt if it had handwriting recognition software it could recognize my handwriting. Apple doesn't need to make a tablet. It already has alot of mobile machines. Maybe this is one of those monitors that you can dock and undock. Undock it and take it to bed and do some work, then dock it, and the information that you just entered is saved. There are already some PC monitors that can do this. That would be cool.

Looks like someone is smoking crack again...

Originally posted by gopher
Steve said the market isn't right for tablet PCs.

The problems are two fold...handwriting of some people is not
consistant. The screen that is readable is usually not the one that will fit in your pocket.

Until OLED replaces LCD completely in most environments, don't expect tablet PCs from Apple. OLED offers the ability to fold the screen. Now that would be something to see. Apple started the market with the Newton, and we all know how that ended.

Click to expand...

Yes, if I recall, it ended with Jobs announcing in Christmas the opening of the Apple on line store and gleefully buying 2 Newtons because they were so "terrific". Then he axed it 2 months later (right after I bought mine). I dont believe a word he says. There is still a potential market for another gadget/videoiPod/homeAVor whatnot, because it will not compete with either Palm or laptop. Just another "must have" gadget.

Hmmm.....maybe its a tablet with a keyboard attached!! Yeah, that's right!! Hey, then Jobs can call it the 15" Powerbook!!!

Originally posted by Bettista
separates them from every other tablet

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What I would like is a bare minimum system: an LCD screen, a small CPU, small memory, a wireless card, and a stripped down OS that supported a TCP/IP protocol stack and code to draw to the screen. The price should be relatively low too.

It would essentially be a wireless X terminal (for those who remember those). The applications would actually run on a regular macintosh, and display information would be sent over the wireless connection to the MacPad.

Target audiences: (1) home users who would keep the MacPad in their living room and their mac in the den; (2) professionals (executives, researchers, sys-admins) who need to look up something quickly while away from their desk.

In short, it replaces the laptop for activity while you are still "in the building" with your desktop machine.

Dang I wish this were true, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. The PC tablets are expensive and underpowered. It would make sense for it to come out this year since they aren't coming out with any G5 pbs yet and apple is gimmickless. Heck, maybe for once I could actually use Ink.

I think these tablets are a terrible idea. i mean the keyboard was invented so we didn't have to write. And paper was invented so we can draw. So why don't you you just take a powerbook and glue a pad of paper to the back of the screen? <In the voice of comic book guy> Best Tablet EVER!

P-Worm

RE: JoeRadar

JoeRadar I think your on the right track, but you missed the best target audience of all: Education.

The cost of putting these things into schools would be much cheaper than laptops. Then you just buy a couple Xserves to do all the data crunching via Airport Extreme.

Originally posted by Abstract
Hmmm.....maybe its a tablet with a keyboard attached!! Yeah, that's right!! Hey, then Jobs can call it the 15" Powerbook!!!

Click to expand...

Ya, only if it was a tablet with a keyboard attached, you would still have to use a stylus(it wouldnt have a mouse), thus making it ........ a tablet. This has been doen on the PC side for people with bad handwriting. Maybe he could call it the 15 inch touchscreen powerbook with no mouse.

Maybe it isn't *just* a tablet...

... because that would be stoopid.


How about this:

. Assume that the previous thread re: the Powerbook ID #s is based in sort sort of reality and there is no plan for a 15 inch Pbook.

. Apple has 15 inch screens in production.

. If there are two versions of the 12 and the 17, where the high 12 and low 17 approximate the performance of the 15 everyone's been looking for.

. A tablet doesn't necessarily mean "a screen you can write on" and nothing else.

. There are a couple of Tablet PCs that are implemented in a pretty slick way that can function as a notebook, as a tablet (and even as a desktop) - there's an HP one that was in the most recent I-D magazine.

So...

Could Apple release a notebook with a 15 inch screen that can flip around, etc... and be used to sketch/write on, detached to use as a standalone screen.

And it could be touted as an ideal machine for the Creative Professional in 2 weeks in NY?

... ok we can all wake up now ...

RE: JoeRadar

JoeRadar I think your on the right track, but you missed the best target audience of all: Education.

The cost of putting these things into schools would be much cheaper than laptops. Then you just buy a couple G5 Xserves (hopefully soon) to do all the data crunching via Airport Extreme.

I see the tablet taking off only in places where people are still filling out tons of forms on a daily bases and access to information is critical. A doctors office, hospital, and possibly a shipping company (All the major shipping companies are already using some form of it)

Originally posted by Chef Ramen
and this is on the main page because....?

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I'm pretty sure the someone on this forum...ahem...who will remain anonymous...has a tablet fixation.

Originally posted by Macpoops
I see the tablet taking off only in places where people are still filling out tons of forms on a daily bases and access to information is critical. A doctors office, hospital, and possibly a shipping company (All the major shipping companies are already using some form of it)

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For a great treatment on this, read "startup" by Jerry Kaplan. While the book is about 8 years old, and the period of time it covers is over a decade old, it still seems relevant to the discussion of tablet PCs. Kaplan's GO Corporation looked at markets very similar to what you describe.

good lord. just make the damn PowerBook and be done with it Apple. dont need no stinkin' tablet. if I want a tablet, i'll reach for the advil.

Originally posted by Chef Ramen
and this is on the main page because....?

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Slow news day. Next up, something from MacWhispers!

Just as the buzz from WWDC starts to die down a bit, here come the tablet rumors again
I'll put money that by the end of July we'll hear a pda rumor too