speleoterra said:
yeah but one can dream can't they?? Steve also said no flash based ipods either, people do change their minds eventually
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Apple Tablet Computer Design Patent
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yeah but one can dream can't they?? Steve also said no flash based ipods either, people do change their minds eventually
I kinda think you may be on to something there. I would very much doubt this product will see much in the way of daylight.areyouwishing said:
A PDA may get my ears twitching, but I see nothing special here beyond novelty.
Thin Client
This guy has got the idea. Light, portable and usefull in all kinds of
ways a big heavy PC Tablet isn't.
In your home, sit on the toliet, read the news streaming from your MacMini in your home office.
Or hell, Velcro it to your refrigerator and use it as a internet appliance like the 3com AUDREY. (Got one. Love it! Getting long in tooth though)
Jalexster said:
This guy has got the idea. Light, portable and usefull in all kinds of
ways a big heavy PC Tablet isn't.
In your home, sit on the toliet, read the news streaming from your MacMini in your home office.
Or hell, Velcro it to your refrigerator and use it as a internet appliance like the 3com AUDREY. (Got one. Love it! Getting long in tooth though)
no flash based iPod
Ahhh, that was just clever "brilliant Bill Gates saber rattling marketing"
They knew the market and were waiting for the tech to evolve to the price point that they could do it. Would you want to let the cat out of the bag to Creative? They did it right; misinformation so the competition was asleep at the wheel. Now, like another thread mentioned; 50% FLASH market share with the Shuffle (luv mine!) in under 2 months!
God/Jesus/then you. F'king brilliant Stevie.
PlaceofDis said:
Ahhh, that was just clever "brilliant Bill Gates saber rattling marketing"
They knew the market and were waiting for the tech to evolve to the price point that they could do it. Would you want to let the cat out of the bag to Creative? They did it right; misinformation so the competition was asleep at the wheel. Now, like another thread mentioned; 50% FLASH market share with the Shuffle (luv mine!) in under 2 months!
God/Jesus/then you. F'king brilliant Stevie.
This could be a great design tool. However, it would need to have a quality tablet pen and have the power to do large Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark files. And upto 2Gb Ram would be cool. 
Bubbasteve said:
You mean this? (attachment)
I don't think it was an actual rumor, just a mock-up of a 10" tablet.I think it will take a long time before tablets take off. They are priced high, and are under-spec'ed. And you don't see them in stores, because they don't sell much, and they don't sell much because you don't see them in stores..
it's a vicious circle. I want one.
CANT WAIT UNTIL WWDC
COOL!!!
New iBook? These tablets usually act as laptops and then the screen slides over keyboard and bob's your uncle, you've got a tablet!!
HEHEHEH Happy now cos im in market for IBook
COOL!!!
New iBook? These tablets usually act as laptops and then the screen slides over keyboard and bob's your uncle, you've got a tablet!!
HEHEHEH Happy now cos im in market for IBook
It would be awesome to have a tablet mac but im not so sure how useful it would be to the average joe. As of this time, the writing ability is still very flawed in the few i've seen, often writing different words than desired. I think professionals specializing in medicine/treatment, or all of science for that matter, would find this very useful for recording notes without a lot of work and having them in a permanent source. For the rest of us, eh.
Maxiseller said:
Yes i know! I just think the tablet will be a transforming iBook. Where else would it fit in? Unless its gunna be über expensive and sell for photoshop people and have good specs?
Engadget
Anyone else see this popup today:
Echostar buys into Archos
...the company has come up with a fancy new portable DVR, they call AV 700 which resembles the old Newton in size and shape. It works with all sorts of video formats like Divx, MPEG4 and Windows Media, even though it is a linux-based device, with a nice 7 inch screen. It can record television shows with nary a computer in sight....
bring on the tvmac
edit: oh, and they have an aricle on the tabet mac...
Anyone else see this popup today:
Echostar buys into Archos
...the company has come up with a fancy new portable DVR, they call AV 700 which resembles the old Newton in size and shape. It works with all sorts of video formats like Divx, MPEG4 and Windows Media, even though it is a linux-based device, with a nice 7 inch screen. It can record television shows with nary a computer in sight....
bring on the tvmac
edit: oh, and they have an aricle on the tabet mac...
Jalexster said:
Clearly, you have no idea what you are talking about. I have worked on thin clients. (I did my final thesis on LTSP), and they work very, very well. just because Windows doesn't work with them that well, doesn't mean that the idea is bad. Fact is that thin clients and remote X has been used for LONG time. Thin clients have been used for long times, and they are used even today. And they work very well. Of course they are not suitable for every occasion, but they have lots of uses.
In my tests, my "server" was my 800Mhz AMD Duron machine, and the client was a 120MHz Pentium with 32MB of RAM. And it ran up-to-date version of KDE (version 2.2.2 back then) just fine. Hell, I could even watch near DVD-quality movie on the client without any problems, and the performance was VERY good!
Using a tablet for thin client might actually work. Wireless LAN makes it possible. They could sell if for few hundred bucks, and it could act as an terminal to a more poweful Mac.
speleoterra said:
Exactly. I had a tablet, a nice top-of-the-line HP. Pretty nice, but slow, cumbersome and it didn't really increase or even ease my productivity or complement my creative work. At all. I mean AT ALL. Apple I'm sure has seen the stats on tablet sales and SHOULD stay away from the current concept. But I'm sure if Apple DOES introduce one they will change that concept to something only Apple can dream up.
clayj said:
It's a design patent, which protects the appearance of a product from copycats. On the positive side, this means that Apple is very likely to release this product substantially as shown. Yay!
And I'm saying that that particular appearance has already been used by many other tablet-style devices. Hence, I don't understand why the USPO would issue a patent, other than the usual excuse of "we're overworked and we let stupid crap slip through, like one-click ordering".cubist said:
clayj said:
I have an idea: Maybe it's the finger. Did you notice that this fing get's used with your index finger instead of a (damn) pen?
That's what I found to be the most interesting bit about this Device. And it could explain for the patent (even though I haven't read it and don't know the legal system/laws concerning patent applications). Imagine if that thing is to be used with fingers only...
Patents are all but meaningless....
Before people start saving their money...realize that many patents do not stand the chance of being developed into commecial products. You do not need a prototype to even get a patent. All you need is an idea and some 'prophetic examples'.
All this patent means is that Apple came up with an idea, patented it, and only they can use it. This is very common in industry. Patent things and let them rot in the patent office so no one else can do them. (think fuel cell cars...guess who owns those patents now) Some countries do not allow this and even let patents lapse if the owner does not try and bring the idea to market.
This is likely just apple expanding the patent space. The larger their patent space, the less room competitors have to work in. Patents are often more defensive than offensive moves.
Before people start saving their money...realize that many patents do not stand the chance of being developed into commecial products. You do not need a prototype to even get a patent. All you need is an idea and some 'prophetic examples'.
All this patent means is that Apple came up with an idea, patented it, and only they can use it. This is very common in industry. Patent things and let them rot in the patent office so no one else can do them. (think fuel cell cars...guess who owns those patents now) Some countries do not allow this and even let patents lapse if the owner does not try and bring the idea to market.
This is likely just apple expanding the patent space. The larger their patent space, the less room competitors have to work in. Patents are often more defensive than offensive moves.
A thin client would not be able to do everything a fat client does. It would also be far cheaper. I think video is possible since there are already wireless devices with streaming video, but I doubt Apple is thinking of video for their tablet.mvc said:
Now IF the tablet was a very thin client... I started asking myself - what wires would be useful for the wireless client? Firewire? Power charging? (maybe a charging dock?). Would Apple put a connector like the iPod connector on their tablet?
... which reminded me.... Does anyone remember the write-ups on how the Mac Mini has what LOOKS like a dock for the iPod on its top? (hidden below the case now). I wonder if Apple, a year ago, was thinking of docking a larger tablet/screen on top of the Mini. Like an iMac with a screen you could disconnect and keep right on working in a different room. While docked you'd have a high data connection to the screen.
Of course, if Apple a year ago was building their Mini, and their Tablet, and got a patent on the tablet, and built the Mini with a dock, then decided not to release the tablet - the question is did they simply say "nah, it's not worth it!", or did they say "the remote screen isn't responsive enough, we need Quartz Extreme and some dashboard apps before this is worthwhile!"