No, there are many tablet PC's that dont have a keyboard. Two of my co-workers each have a different one
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More Apple Tablet Rumblings
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The thing about those TabletPC's is that they seem more like regular Windows notebooks with some extra pen input features slapped on. And since they're more expensive, they will then only sell into niche markets. The big driver seems to be the pen input thing to differentiate the form factor. Bad choice...
IF Apple does a tablet type device, I think they will have a completely different design goal. It's not going to be for vertical industries, it will be for regular consumers (but of course can be used at work and home.) And they won't start with a Windows XP notebook and go from there, they will start with a blank piece of paper. The basic idea I think is this-
1. Cheaper, smaller, lighter than a notebook but offering 95% of the same functionality that people actually use in their notebooks.
2. Designed from the ground up to go beyond basic PIM tasks, which is all the small PDA form factor is really effective at. I mean there are some people who do Office and email and web and programming on a PocketPC or Palm PDA, but I don't think most people are interested in that, the screen size and interface is way too confining.
Basically a roughly 5 x 7 tablet is what I'm thinking, in iPod/iBook white. In that size you can have a nice 800 x 600 screen and a good battery. Some of the random features that I was thinking about-
1. Some sort of 'Smart Agent' type software interface, to make the user experience really nice. Not just Zen of Palm, but something people will really enjoy using. Power users could still use faster shortcuts for doing stuff.
2. Thin client (already discussed here). Connect to your Mac or to iMac easily and seamelsssly. This would also give media-center Mac control.
3. Dedicated hardware for multimedia processing (faster and saves battery vs. everything being done by the CPU). The Sony CLIE TH55 is a great example, it does great movies and music with only a 123 MHz CPU.
4. Maybe a 20-30GB hard drive for storage, with a super-stripped OSX that runs in RAM (really doesn't have to be OSX based though. Having a Aqua-ish interface is more important.)
5. Works just like an iPod, with the touchscreen being used as a scrollwheel. Connects to a Mac/PC just like an iPod. Can stream music wirelessly (to and from) via Airport Express, etc.
6. Dock connnector for compatibility w/ many iPod peripherals, including the iPod Photo Camera connector
7. Wifi/IR/BT built in (of course), as well as ethernet port for wired access.
8. Support for Apple wireless keyboard and mouse, as well as 3rd party devices (Stowaway BT keyboard, Palm Wireless keyboard)
9. Streaming radio and podcasts
10. Simpler version of iPhoto, or maybe just iPod Photo functionality
11. Built in iChat with voice and maybe low-res video chat
12. Email, RSS, web (duh)
13. Skype Client
14. Some iWork or MS Office compatibility (like a version of Dataviz Docs To Go)
15. Dashboard widgets for all sorts of extended functions (in some ways they could be cooler here than on a Mac.)
16. Spotlight-like functions, with OS indexing. Automatic journaling of what you do, so you can go back to any date and see what you did.
17. Comes with a nice-looking 'man bag' to address portability (since it can't fit in your pocket.)
Most of these are very Mac OSX or iPod features (except for the man bag), but realistically don't need a G5 and Tiger to pull off (no ripple widget effect though!) But they can leverage both the Mac and iPod as much as possible here. So you can leverage a lot of this cool Apple software functionality in a small tight package. It's a lot of features, but not necessarily a lot of expensive hardware.
My brainstorm is somewhat half-assed, as I have been mainly brainstorming functionality and features, rather that starting from a end user perspective. But that would take too long, and I'm not a designer anyway..
This could come out at maybe $649 or so (probably $699 but can't be more.) But the cost would also drop over time, in a couple of years this would be a $299 device. At that point I think it could become pretty compelling for more widespread penetration.
Also, the lower the price point, the closer this becomes to actually being the 'video iPod' that we've all been speculating about.
IF Apple does a tablet type device, I think they will have a completely different design goal. It's not going to be for vertical industries, it will be for regular consumers (but of course can be used at work and home.) And they won't start with a Windows XP notebook and go from there, they will start with a blank piece of paper. The basic idea I think is this-
1. Cheaper, smaller, lighter than a notebook but offering 95% of the same functionality that people actually use in their notebooks.
2. Designed from the ground up to go beyond basic PIM tasks, which is all the small PDA form factor is really effective at. I mean there are some people who do Office and email and web and programming on a PocketPC or Palm PDA, but I don't think most people are interested in that, the screen size and interface is way too confining.
Basically a roughly 5 x 7 tablet is what I'm thinking, in iPod/iBook white. In that size you can have a nice 800 x 600 screen and a good battery. Some of the random features that I was thinking about-
1. Some sort of 'Smart Agent' type software interface, to make the user experience really nice. Not just Zen of Palm, but something people will really enjoy using. Power users could still use faster shortcuts for doing stuff.
2. Thin client (already discussed here). Connect to your Mac or to iMac easily and seamelsssly. This would also give media-center Mac control.
3. Dedicated hardware for multimedia processing (faster and saves battery vs. everything being done by the CPU). The Sony CLIE TH55 is a great example, it does great movies and music with only a 123 MHz CPU.
4. Maybe a 20-30GB hard drive for storage, with a super-stripped OSX that runs in RAM (really doesn't have to be OSX based though. Having a Aqua-ish interface is more important.)
5. Works just like an iPod, with the touchscreen being used as a scrollwheel. Connects to a Mac/PC just like an iPod. Can stream music wirelessly (to and from) via Airport Express, etc.
6. Dock connnector for compatibility w/ many iPod peripherals, including the iPod Photo Camera connector
7. Wifi/IR/BT built in (of course), as well as ethernet port for wired access.
8. Support for Apple wireless keyboard and mouse, as well as 3rd party devices (Stowaway BT keyboard, Palm Wireless keyboard)
9. Streaming radio and podcasts
10. Simpler version of iPhoto, or maybe just iPod Photo functionality
11. Built in iChat with voice and maybe low-res video chat
12. Email, RSS, web (duh)
13. Skype Client
14. Some iWork or MS Office compatibility (like a version of Dataviz Docs To Go)
15. Dashboard widgets for all sorts of extended functions (in some ways they could be cooler here than on a Mac.)
16. Spotlight-like functions, with OS indexing. Automatic journaling of what you do, so you can go back to any date and see what you did.
17. Comes with a nice-looking 'man bag' to address portability (since it can't fit in your pocket.)
Most of these are very Mac OSX or iPod features (except for the man bag), but realistically don't need a G5 and Tiger to pull off (no ripple widget effect though!) But they can leverage both the Mac and iPod as much as possible here. So you can leverage a lot of this cool Apple software functionality in a small tight package. It's a lot of features, but not necessarily a lot of expensive hardware.
My brainstorm is somewhat half-assed, as I have been mainly brainstorming functionality and features, rather that starting from a end user perspective. But that would take too long, and I'm not a designer anyway..
This could come out at maybe $649 or so (probably $699 but can't be more.) But the cost would also drop over time, in a couple of years this would be a $299 device. At that point I think it could become pretty compelling for more widespread penetration.
Also, the lower the price point, the closer this becomes to actually being the 'video iPod' that we've all been speculating about.
There's some good ideas on this thread. There really isn't much choice in the market at present for those who want something more functional than a top end pda, but don't want the bulk and cost of a notebook pc. I thought Psion seemed to be on the right lines, but they bottled it a few years back and pulled out of the market.
Excellent point. Most posts here start from the principle of present understandings of either PDAs, Newtons, iPods, Remote Controls, or Computers.madmaxmedia said:
The only thing I have to add is that the communications industry is changing far more rapidly than the computer industry at present. One key is seamless portability between home networks, 3G, and other wireless providers.
I raise this for 2 reasons
1) the potential for new devices is huge. What we use and How we use them will need fresh insight.
2) mobile phone companies currently subsidise a phone based on people using the phone on their network. Within a year you'll be able to buy an Ericsson or Motorola mobile phone and leave it in your house as a handset and never use the mobile network. Current sales and bundling methods will change, and more opportunities for Apple technology will arise.
I'm not really talking about phones here, more mobility and connectivity. Whatever Apple designs today may be a step towards that future.
( http://www.btplc.com/Innovation/Mobility/Global/index.htm )
I'm curious as to how big this thing will be. I'm not interested in a full tablet but am interested in a PDA type thing.
GregA said:
3G would definitely be a possibility, with possible carrier subsidized discounts as well. 3G would address the problem of intermittent Wifi coverage.
A year or so down the line, I think unlimited 3G plans will be the norm. That changes things a lot too (from current pricing schemes.)
anyone seen this?
http://www.pepper.com/products/pepper.html
it's pretty much exactly what everyone is talking about except no OS X. it does not however appear to be running a flavor of windows either.
http://www.pepper.com/products/pepper.html
it's pretty much exactly what everyone is talking about except no OS X. it does not however appear to be running a flavor of windows either.
I use a tablet PC
All the designers at work use Tablet PCs for doing freehand sketching / rendering etc. using Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
We'd LOVE to be using Macs for this. In fact, I'm sure we would have purchased Macs... 'cause I made the purchase decision (!) So that would have been around $20K worth of computers all in one shot.
I'll admit, the Motion Computing tablets we're using that are running WinXP are pretty slick... I'm sure Apple could do MUCH better.
So there's a market opportunity that Apple could totally own - tablets used for graphics, design, art, etc.
cheers,
zymurguy
All the designers at work use Tablet PCs for doing freehand sketching / rendering etc. using Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
We'd LOVE to be using Macs for this. In fact, I'm sure we would have purchased Macs... 'cause I made the purchase decision (!) So that would have been around $20K worth of computers all in one shot.
I'll admit, the Motion Computing tablets we're using that are running WinXP are pretty slick... I'm sure Apple could do MUCH better.
So there's a market opportunity that Apple could totally own - tablets used for graphics, design, art, etc.
cheers,
zymurguy
Even though I'm an insane early adopter, after reading all these posts and all the possible uses for a tablet, I still have no interest in one. I hate writing by hand -- I can't even read my own handwriting -- I use a keyboard for everything. No thanks, I'd rather tote around my 12" PB than a tablet, no matter what functionality Apple builds into it.
...ok, so I totally fell for the whole "Rotate your screen" thing. It took me 3 reboots to get it back. Is there a quicker way to get it back.
PADD
Hey, I am going to go reall geeky here for a minute, what about a PADD from Star Trek... It's been some time, but didn't those things just interface to the main computer???
Maybe something like that? I mean you can't really do much other then say access your email or control itunes or something...
End geekyness
Hey, I am going to go reall geeky here for a minute, what about a PADD from Star Trek... It's been some time, but didn't those things just interface to the main computer???
Maybe something like that? I mean you can't really do much other then say access your email or control itunes or something...
End geekyness
Think Different, wontchya?
Apple's new pod lineup:
iPod Shuffle and iPod mini
Take your music with you.
iPod and iPod Photo
Take your music and files with you. OR take your entire User Identity with you. Dock to any Mac and turn it into your Mac.
MacPod
Somewhat larger than an iPod; the entire front face is a touch screen.
A stripped-down Mac (no optical drive, one docking port for FW, USB, VGA).
Take your computer with you in your pocket, use it anywhere. Dock to a Mac to use it's greater power. Dock to any monitor and use a BT mouse and keyboard to have the full personal computer experience.
PowerPod
About the size of a 12" or 14" iBook screen.
Probably no optical drive, but as pimped out as they can make it while making it very thin and light.
A great tablet computer for any use. Can also be docked to another Mac or plugged into a monitor, etc. for a desktop experience.
The basic idea: Have an iMac at home, with your Pod docked to it. When you leave the house, take your Pod with you, and all your data travels with you (with a syncable backup on your iMac; yes this is a feature of Tiger Server). With a MacPod or PowerPod, you can compute anywhere, and net-communicate anywhere you can get signal (WiFi, or perhaps GSM/etc.). With any of the larger Pods, you can plop down in front of someone else's Mac, dock up, and use "your own" computer to your heart's delight. De-dock, and your identity hasn't touched their computer. Go home, dock to your iMac, and your account syncs to the local backup.
Nothing above is invented... this is all existing technology. It's just a matter of marketing. I would think something like "MacPod" would leverage the two great names "Mac" and "iPod" into one kickin' portable product.
Apple's new pod lineup:
iPod Shuffle and iPod mini
Take your music with you.
iPod and iPod Photo
Take your music and files with you. OR take your entire User Identity with you. Dock to any Mac and turn it into your Mac.
MacPod
Somewhat larger than an iPod; the entire front face is a touch screen.
A stripped-down Mac (no optical drive, one docking port for FW, USB, VGA).
Take your computer with you in your pocket, use it anywhere. Dock to a Mac to use it's greater power. Dock to any monitor and use a BT mouse and keyboard to have the full personal computer experience.
PowerPod
About the size of a 12" or 14" iBook screen.
Probably no optical drive, but as pimped out as they can make it while making it very thin and light.
A great tablet computer for any use. Can also be docked to another Mac or plugged into a monitor, etc. for a desktop experience.
The basic idea: Have an iMac at home, with your Pod docked to it. When you leave the house, take your Pod with you, and all your data travels with you (with a syncable backup on your iMac; yes this is a feature of Tiger Server). With a MacPod or PowerPod, you can compute anywhere, and net-communicate anywhere you can get signal (WiFi, or perhaps GSM/etc.). With any of the larger Pods, you can plop down in front of someone else's Mac, dock up, and use "your own" computer to your heart's delight. De-dock, and your identity hasn't touched their computer. Go home, dock to your iMac, and your account syncs to the local backup.
Nothing above is invented... this is all existing technology. It's just a matter of marketing. I would think something like "MacPod" would leverage the two great names "Mac" and "iPod" into one kickin' portable product.