Apple Tablet Speculation

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by mcrain
My only problem is that people are going to tend to use these things while on the go. Doctors, lawyers, inventory people, etc.

I know that a lot of these people are more worried about what they are doing than the "thing" they are holding.

If they come out with this thing, there will likely be thousands of them in the shop every year merely from being dropped. Laptops suffer from dings and bumps, but by design are typically used while stationary. Something that you can hold across your non-writing forearm while writing with your other hand begs to be used while walking, working, moving, etc...

Timber! Crash! Time for a new iPad.

Correct.

Hence: remove the CD-ROM. Nix the fans if possible. Maybe even move to solid-state flash memory instead of an HD, although that might be a cost issue. Do your damndest to protect the crown jewels of the device (the screen/digitizer).

Fewer moving parts means much less to break when dropped. Solid state devices can withstand torture that would incapacitate a laptop in seconds.

 

[kenohki]

Originally posted by arn
Prototype Newton Messageslate

That is my dream come true. If it came in color and they updated Newton's Assist feature to use voice recognition as well as pen input, I'd pay out the waz for a tablet like that and then I'd sell my iBook.

 

[multifinder]

My gut feel is an iPad would sell like a pillow full of glass. Outside this forum, and a few niche markets, sales would be abysmal--there's a recession going on, and not very many people are shelling out $ for a main computer, much less a second computer that's a PDA-laptop mutant with better (but still sorry) handwriting recognition. I think Apple realizes this, which is why we haven't seen one yet. To me, the iPad and tablet PCs in general are a perfect example of engineers saying "wouldn't it be cool to build X" because they'd want it themselves, forgetting that 99+% of consumers aren't engineers.