Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Tablet Hints: Virtual Keyboard, Camera, eBooks, More
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
For a $1K I'd personally want full OSX.. but I think we are going to have to settle for a beefed up mobile OSX.
If I'm carrying around this multi-media device.. at say 10", that has mobile OSX - personally, I'd rather carry around my laptop.
With all the rumors - 10", $1K, internet / games / ebook reader - I'm wondering what application / advantage this device will really have, over than a macBook? Sure it'll be more portable ( lighter ).
iPad / Slab / iWhatever is sure to be a high end tablet device, if $1K.
If I'm carrying around this multi-media device.. at say 10", that has mobile OSX - personally, I'd rather carry around my laptop.
With all the rumors - 10", $1K, internet / games / ebook reader - I'm wondering what application / advantage this device will really have, over than a macBook? Sure it'll be more portable ( lighter ).
iPad / Slab / iWhatever is sure to be a high end tablet device, if $1K.
The second one, of course! I think the iMac would be a natural for some touch screen functionality, such as moving and resizing windows and opening apps.
You are right. Still what percentage of books would they need converted for it to be a viable device for the school to adopt? How quickly can the book, most likely produced in Adobe InDesign, be converted over? How much redesign of the content would be required? And what do the schools need to do to their networks to support the device?
From my experience working in textbook publishing you are looking at 3-6 month production schedule per title. They might be able to have some quicker way to convert the text from the layout program, say with a program that converts it from a pdf to the new format, but you still need to re-permission all the photographs for the new distribution method to legally sell the book. Also, there will likely be at least some redesign of the pages that needs to be done, then there is adding in interactive features, updating the text, etc.
This is not going to happen overnight, and will likely not be ready for prime time for 2-3 years.
How Apple cuts the price
This will also be the thing that allows Apple to get the price of the device down to a reasonable level.
The cost of components says this thing needs to retail near $1000 if Apple's going to turn a profit on the hardware. But if they can collect a % of every dollar the user spends on media and apps, they don't need to turn a profit on the hardware itself.
This will also be the thing that allows Apple to get the price of the device down to a reasonable level.
The cost of components says this thing needs to retail near $1000 if Apple's going to turn a profit on the hardware. But if they can collect a % of every dollar the user spends on media and apps, they don't need to turn a profit on the hardware itself.
Glass screen= scratches = fail too?
What are you talking about? Do you even own an iPhone? I've carried my iPhone in my pocket for 1.5 years and there is not a single scratch on the screen. Apple uses a very scratch-resistant screen.
Question though... do you think it will just be an added feature? I can't imagine using touch interface on the screen and then moving back to the mouse and keyboard and vice versa. My personal belief is that this is why the Apple keyboards and mouses have been so pedestrian for so long -- because Apple has been working furiously for an alternative and that is what we are seeing right now. The tip of the touch iceberg.
I'm tired of these so-called leaks.
Obviously, they are highly inaccurate since one day the "insiders" say camera, the next day no camera. $700 one day, $1,000 the next. 7" screen one day, 10" the next.
I think they just like playing with the public.
Obviously, they are highly inaccurate since one day the "insiders" say camera, the next day no camera. $700 one day, $1,000 the next. 7" screen one day, 10" the next.
I think they just like playing with the public.
If you don't like these "leaks" then why are you going to site called MacRumors? Why not just stick to reading "hard news" sites? (To the extent they exist).
Obviously some of the reports are B.S., but as history has shown, some are probably more right than not. We'll find out Wed. It's up to you to weed them out and decide what seems realistic and what is unicorns.
Yes, but for Apple to gross say, $300 in "royalties" only from each user's iTMS purchases assumes an avg. user will buy $1000 of media over a two year period, excluding inflation.
Personally, I don't spend anywhere near $500 a year on media. Maybe I'm atypical, but here is what I normally buy in the course of a year:
5 albums (50 songs) x $10 = $50
6 books x $15 = $90
1 newspaper annual sub = $125
10 movie rentals x $5 = $50
Total = $315
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
But in this scenario only Apple and the end user wins. To make this work, the publishers must sacrifice their lucrative profits in the established textbook business, and the 3G providers must offer discounted 3G or else Apple picks up the cost (or the student does). Why would the publishers or 3G providers cut their revenues & profits to help Apple justify why each student needs a Tablet?
The used textbook market is easily squeezed by regularly updating texts- whether they really need it or not- making used books somewhat obsolete fairly quickly.
Sure there is cost-savings for the publishers in delivering an e-version of a textbook vs. the printed version, but where else in existing iTunes media do you see savings passed on to the consumer for the e-version vs. the physical version? Are movies cheaper than "printed" DVDs? Are TV Shows cheaper than "printed" DVDs or their portion of your cable/satt bill? Is music cheaper than "printed" CDs? Why do we keep imagining that this new iTunes media is going to be priced differently- much cheaper- apparently solely because this new iTunes device is going to be launched? The other players (the content producers) won't shoot themselves in the foot to help Apple sell more Tablets.
The lone likely benefit for the student is the lite-weight (and cool, and thin), compared to lugging heavy books around. It seems unlikely that having to pay (my guess) $799 for a device that will then need you to spend about the same for the e-textbooks on top of that $799 will work out to any favorable financial ROI.
This technology has already been leveraged in iPhoto with it's facial recognition capabilities. I suspect for the tablet it's a modified version of this in that it will need to take/store an image of said user the first time the device is turned on and each time thereafter, matching said user face with the taken/stored image.
I love thinking about what this new tablet device (if it even exists) could/will be. Let's see what next Wednesday beholds.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
That is a great vision. Of course to realize it means that the hospitals will have to have the rest of that stuff (all that content) digitized in a way that it could get displayed on these Tablets (almost every hospital I use is still using proprietary and DOS-based applications for much of that kind of thing) and resolve the security problems of Tablet's going home with staff or patients (take a close look next time you're in the hospital and you'll see that their current "tablet" type solutions are things chained to other things on some kind of rolling contraption (hard for that to go home with anyone).
Or they are people who perform a time value of money calculation, take into account the likelihood that if they do not sign the service contract they will nonetheless monthly make payments to buy the service in any case, and take note of the fact that where Apple products are concerned carriers seem to ignore the length of the contract and allow new subsidies on updated products in exchange for a new contract and, after performing all this simple math, realize that it's cheaper for them to sign the contract and get the discount.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
One idea to make 3G free is use clever advertising.
For example: at home wi-fi is activated, once in a area without wi-fi, 3G is on by activating a ad banner for light use such as email or message boards, but if used in higher bandwith requirements such as youtube. A 30 sec video plays first ever 10 mins of viewing video.
This could be why apple bought that ad company, just a thought
Catrik007
Good idea, but don't count on it. If there was a way to get open 3G- even ad supported open 3G- then VOIP options becomes unchained from wifi hotspots, enabling true 3G phone-like VOIP. If one could get that in exchange for ads, then this would be the cheapest (free?) way to have a 3G phone service without a contract, and it would work just about as well. AT&T, Verizon, etc know this very well, so they won't structure a deal where they take a massive hit to their very lucrative businesses to help Apple sell more Tablets. Sure, there will probably be subsidies with 3G contract fees, but no free "open" 3G.
Just think about who wins and who loses with such ideas. When Apple & Tablet owners win at other company's expense, the odds in any of these kinds of ideas actually happening get very long.
Well there is only ONE carrier that I know where it may be benefical to not have a contract and that T-Mobile. Att it wouldnt matter because you have to pay the same money whether you bring your own device or not...
T-Mobile discounts $20 dollars a month if you buy a phone(or provide your own) unlocked with one of there plans...
So with ATT or Verizon you might as well sign a contract...
Price; very simple. From a pricing perspective, I predict Apple is going to benchmark the iPad against a Touch plus a Kindle. As a result, I predict 2 offerings: 7" and 10".
7" vs. a 32 GB Touch + a 6" Kindle: $299 + $259 =$558
10" vs. a 64 GB Touch + a 9.7" Kindle: $399 + $489 = $888
I'm not saying Apple will set exactly those price points. Apple may position this as "better than a Touch plus a Kindle", and price it slightly higher; or (possibly but very un-Apple), they might price it more aggresively and beat one or both of those prices slightly. But I do think those will be the comparison points, and the approximate levels, give or take. If I had to guess at a specific price set, I would say $599 and $999-- one fairly aggressive point, and one high margin point.
7" vs. a 32 GB Touch + a 6" Kindle: $299 + $259 =$558
10" vs. a 64 GB Touch + a 9.7" Kindle: $399 + $489 = $888
I'm not saying Apple will set exactly those price points. Apple may position this as "better than a Touch plus a Kindle", and price it slightly higher; or (possibly but very un-Apple), they might price it more aggresively and beat one or both of those prices slightly. But I do think those will be the comparison points, and the approximate levels, give or take. If I had to guess at a specific price set, I would say $599 and $999-- one fairly aggressive point, and one high margin point.
Exactly. I can either pay $X per month plus $600 for an iphone, or $X per month plus $200 and a contract. Since I'm going to use the iphone on that carrier anyway, why wouldn't I take the contract, especially since AT&T will end up letting me update each year in exchange for a new contract anyway?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Think of it as a trick. Keep the rumors going at $1K, $1K, $1K, then roll it out at $799 and it will seem like a bargain... until, of course you realize for just a little more you could have gotten a slightly thicker, but more functional Macbook, etc. It's always a positive to get the buyers ready for a high price, then roll out a lower high price. "Wow, only $799... maybe I should buy 2 of them before they sell out"
Elementary/High School text books. Assuming 24 books per class 2 classes per school and 12 grades at $50 each. Apple's share at 30% is $15 or $8,640 per school. That would be a pretty small school by today's standards, and if you take into account more subjects and "workbooks" you could see a very profitable market for Apple.
Colleges would be potentially more profitable, even if there was a reduction of the cost of books. For example freshman English 101. 1 books at $50, $15 for Apple. Each semester a college probably has at least 200 students taking the class which comes out to $3,000 to Apple per semester or quarter for the school for one subject. And I think that I'm being pretty low with my estimates there.
It also opens up the potential for a commercial product or products to develop the books priced at a point similar to Adobe InDesign. This could be another revenue stream, though to get wide spread adoption they might need to have a low cost or "free" way of getting content into the format as well.
The tablet will be pretty and functional but...
The tablet will be pretty and functional but...
as is everything Apple puts out, will only be V1. They will intentionally omit many awesome features such as a built in webcam and 5mp camera because they can, knowing we will all but V2 a year later. Smart but VERY frustrating when we all know they can put out the most amazing tablet that includes the kitchen sink and then some.
The tablet will be pretty and functional but...
as is everything Apple puts out, will only be V1. They will intentionally omit many awesome features such as a built in webcam and 5mp camera because they can, knowing we will all but V2 a year later. Smart but VERY frustrating when we all know they can put out the most amazing tablet that includes the kitchen sink and then some.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
That's great for Apple & students, but why would the publishers to whom you have to pay 100% of the price now want to cut their revenues & profits to 50%? What's in it for them other than lower revenues & profits for their companies.
Depending on other players to make buying a Tablet make sense does not work very well in the real world. We shouldn't be pre-justifying a Tablet with thoughts like:
- all this new media will be heavily discounted since it doesn't have to be printed
- free 3G like the Kindle
- discounted 3G below current norms
- a cable/satt model replacement priced way below what I'm currently paying, yet delivering all my favorite shows
- etc.
These other companies want to make their money too. If they wanted to sell students textbooks at 50% less than current prices, they could just price the physical book at 50% lower now. Then, they would get to keep 100% of the profit they make at that price, rather than giving Apple 30% of the profits on that much lower price.