Apple to Release Subsidized Tablet Through Verizon Later This Year?

[Bjohnson33]

If the rumors of a Verizon sponsored Apple tablet is true, here's what I'd like:
-the option to go without a Verizon contract (i.e., able to purchase unsubsidized)
-slot for SIM card for mobile broadband service from Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc.
-no bigger than 10"; beyond that you get away from a netbook
-keyboard-less touch screen; essentially an iPod touch on growth hormones
-Full size or light version of Leopard/Snow Leopard
-app store
-one USB port (minimum)
-wi fi
-ethernet port
-headphone jack
-hard drive options (SSD, standard hard drive)

I agree with all of this. I wonder how many people would be ok with paying for their home broadband, but then also paying for their iPhone data package, plus a data package for their tablet? Paying for internet access 3 times per month is stretching it. If I could buy it unsubsidized, I would be much more likely to use it.

All of those ports you mentioned seem right on too. I would bet they would do away with hard drives and go SSD only. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[WLS]

I agree with all of this. I wonder how many people would be ok with paying for their home broadband, but then also paying for their iPhone data package, plus a data package for their tablet? Paying for internet access 3 times per month is stretching it. If I could buy it unsubsidized, I would be much more likely to use it.

All of those ports you mentioned seem right on too. I would bet they would do away with hard drives and go SSD only. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I can tell you one thing with some certainity - it will NOT have an ethernet port. Youre just not gonna see that. Also a USB port is very doubtfull.
The iphone and Ipod Touch both do not have this so why would the tablet. Flash chips for the memory of course. They have this already so why would they put in a SSD? Flash memory could easily be 64gigs but I doubt it would be more.. Get a grip on those fanboy fantasies- just take a deep breath and say "Its not a NetBook" 10 times..

 

[notacon]

I am new here, so excuse me if I am hurting anyone's feelings....what a bunch of narrow minded whiners!!!!

I must have read about 100 posts here telling me what people don't want and what others won't buy. You people don't have a clue as to what people want and what they would buy.

Why?

Because of myopia and limited vision. You look at your life, and how you use devices and figure that everyone thinks and works just like you.

I have been using and buying computers for almost 20 years. Dedicated PC guy until 2 years ago, now, my self and my whole family is turned over to Apple. I own a 24" iMac, a 13" aluminum MacBook, a 3GS 32GB iPhone, and too many ipods to count.

I am a salesman on the road and have tired just about every configuration of laptop on the planet. My last PC laptop was the ultra compact Fujistu P1500. 7.9" screen, swivel screen that converted into a tablet. Biggest problem with this device?

Windows.

Windows stuff just is not reliable and is much too clunky to depend on day in and day out....with low levels of frustration.

The MacBook Air was TOO BIG, and had too many limitations, like only one USB (what...are they nuts!). It was nice and thin, but that is not as important, for portability, than width and length. My present MacBook is heavy...heavy...heavy. I STILL love it because it simply WORKS!!!!

To those gripers that say they would "never" have two cell bills....and anyone who did so is "crazy"

NONSENSE!!!!

I have AT&T, of course, for the three iPhones in my family. Before then, I was a dedicated Treo guy. iPhone brought me flexibility and compatibility with Mobile Me. Just the push syncing of my calendar, address book, email and bookmarks is worth the price of admission.

I also have a Verizon MiFi card that I pay $60 a month for 5 GB of data. There is a $40 plan for 250MB.

This device produces a 5 user portable WIFI that I can hook up my laptop and iPhone anywhere I am. Tethering is a future option for iPhone for sure, but the ability to share my 3G connection, cross platform is priceless.

Additionally, the Verizon data network is MUCH better than AT&T's. When my iPhone is getting slow 3G, or worse yet, EDGE, connection, I start up my MiFi and I get close to WIFI speed.....anywhere.

For a salesman on the road, the $60 per month is a bargain.

It is still pain to bring out my laptop. I would never bring it out on a plane since the seat configurations are getting tighter and tighter. I use my iPhone for entertainment on a plane, but, the iphone lacks full MacOS capability. Typing on an iPhone is a trick, but, I would rather compose an email on my iPhone than pull out a big laptop.

The idea of a tablet style Mac device, with 3G or 4G capability built in, that is smaller than a laptop, with full touch screen elegance of an iPhone, that syncs with Mobile Me is KICK ASS!!! I would buy it in a heartbeat!!!

So would many, many business orientated people too. The touch screen, and built in wireless would attract anyone who needs fast interface with internet capability wherever they go.

Salesmen
Retailers (accomplish sales while at a trade show)
Real estate salespeople
Photographers
Graphic Designers
Architects
Stock Traders
Insurance adjusters
Real estate appraisers
Tech Reps

These are just a few that come to mind. Too many ultra compact devices are just too clunky and need the Apple touch of elegance.

Don't underestimate the ability of Apple to design a product that changes everything. I can buy a piece of crap Wintel laptop for 70% less than a MacBook.

That one time "savings" is something I will pay for YEARS in aggravation and lack of compatibility.

You guys think $100 per month for wireless data on two devices is "too much money".

All that means is that you don't have a job that pays enough and where the value of having what you need, when you need it, at ALL times makes even a $200 a month expense a big fat bargain!!!

 

[LagunaSol]

I must have read about 100 posts here telling me what people don't want and what others won't buy. You people don't have a clue as to what people want and what they would buy.

Great post! (And welcome!) You're absolutely right, of course. People are predicting doom for this device (if it actually exists) based purely on rumor and innuendo. Hilarious.

I remember when the first iPod came out. I thought "Wow, $400 for a portable music player - who in the world will pay that?" They had this big media event and I was expecting some mind-bending new computer or something, and Apple announces a Walkman??? Frankly I thought Steve Jobs had lost his nut. But I kept an open mind and watched the proceedings with curiosity. Others sputtered and raged (just like now, regarding the iTablet rumors).

I wonder how that little "overpriced niche product" ended up doing.

(Me, I didn't climb on board until the 3rd generation iPod. But I didn't make the same mistake with the iPhone - I was in at launch week.)

People fail to realize just how much thought Apple puts into these things. Unlike most hardware and software companies, they don't just throw things out there to see if they'll stick. They pore over these things relentlessly until they 1) determine that a market is actually viable and 2) create a device actually worthy of purchase.

Does this approach guarantee success? Of course not. But Apple's flops are so few and far between (compared to other companies) that they have as close to a guarantee as you can get in this industry.

Other companies simply watch what others are doing and throw out their own feeble attempts (Microsoft is the king of this, of course). Take Dell. When the iPod caught fire, Dell threw out their line of forgettable, half-baked generic little toads. They didn't sell (of course) and Dell folded up the tent. Now the iPhone is burning up the marketplace and what does Dell think? "Hmm, maybe we should make a mobile phone..." Classic reactionary development that is doomed to failure. And Microsoft is now realizing (too late) that their pitiful attempt at mobile computing (Windows Mobile) is now being ignored by the marketplace. The next big wave of computing and Microsoft didn't even see it coming (or care). Unbelievable.

Don't be surprised when Windows 7 looks amazingly similar to the iPhone and Palm Pre. Again, reactionary development at its worst.

How did Apple approach the iPhone? Did they ape someone else's device just to get into the market? Nope. They thought "everything sucks, we don't want to own any of this garbage, let's make our own."

And look at all the tablet PCs and UMPCs that went absolutely nowhere because 1) they were in the game only because their competitors were and 2) Windows was a millstone around their necks.

That one time "savings" is something I will pay for YEARS in aggravation and lack of compatibility.

Some people weren't taught by their fathers (as others of us were) that you really do "get what you pay for." And that fact isn't always borne out in hardware specs.

Others are so blinded by Windows pain (or Apple hate) or just a flat out lack of imagination that they refuse to recognize a great idea when they hear one.

Me, I wait with curiosity to see what this device will be (or if it will even be at all).

 

[twilcoxen]

Verizon WTF?

So the millions of people with iPhone's would have to get a contract from two wireless providers?

Yeah, my thought exactly -- not going to happen for me. In a perfect world this would coincide with the end of AT&T's exclusivity with iPhones and we'd have a choice.

 

[notacon]

Great post! (And welcome!) You're absolutely right, of course. People are predicting doom for this device (if it actually exists) based purely on rumor and innuendo. Hilarious.

I remember when the first iPod came out. I thought "Wow, $400 for a portable music player - who in the world will pay that?" They had this big media event and I was expecting some mind-bending new computer or something, and Apple announces a Walkman??? Frankly I thought Steve Jobs had lost his nut. But I kept an open mind and watched the proceedings with curiosity. Others sputtered and raged (just like now, regarding the iTablet rumors).

EXACTLY.

The iPod is what brought me into the Apple family. Before that device, I thought that Apple products where overpriced and overblown.

Even at my advanced age (54 years) I can recognize a winner when I see one. So, I bought the original 512MB shuffle. FANTASTIC. Portable, easy to use, relatively cheap....elegant in it's simplicity.

Then I bought another one....a nano, so I could pick out the songs I wanted. Then I bought a 30GB "video" one so I could watch movies and load up all my music. All the while my kids (teenaged girls) are going through their own progression of iPods...shuffles...Nanos.

When my oldest daughter was coming up on her 16th birthday (almost two years ago), all she could talk about was a Mac. She was scheming how much birthday bucks she would get from her grandfather, and her savings, and my contribution (I always split cost of new devices with my kids).

My wife and I decided to just go ahead and buy her a 20" iMac for her sweet 16th. When it came to setting it up, I offered to help her. She looked at me like I had three eyes.

When I saw how simple it was to set up, and, from the very first second turing it on was internet ready and JUST WORKED! I put my order in for a 24" iMac within a day. At the time there were five working PC's in my house. The movement to the Intel chip, and the ability to run Windows on Parallel had my transition worries minimized. It did end up taking me almost two full years to move all my programs over to Mac only.

When I first got my iMac, I was still using my windows laptop when I was on the road (120 overnights a year). The iMac at home made my Windows "experience" on the road even that more painful. Took me about 4 months to give up and buy my first MacBook....a white 13".

Then, I was determined to change the whole house over to Mac since I was the one saddled with administering the crappy PC's. I was pushing my wife to allow me to buy her an iMac, when the new aluminum MacBooks came out. She suggested that she take over the white MacBook and I should but a new aluminum.

My youngest daughter begged for her 16th birthday present 16 months early, so she kicked in $300 from her savings and bought the new 24" iMac when they dumped the price to $1499.

Now, my eldest is off to college with her high school graduation present of a nice new 13" MacBook PRO.

This stuff just WORKS!!!! No more headaches of incompatible or ditzy external accessories. Mobile Me allows everyone to have seemless interactivity. The iPhone just brought it to a different level.

I got mine and my eldest daughter our first. Had to move over from Sprint, so I delayed until my contract was up and was rewarded with the 3G. My wife did not think she would use all the capability....until she saw how great our were.

So....I added another line....gave her old phone to my mother-in-law (the $10 a month is worth it just to have a 80 year old cell safety) and now we exchange pictures, email and texts easily. My wife thinks the ability to play Scrabble is worth the price of admission.

Having a happy computing family is just PRICELESS.

Some people weren't taught by their fathers (as others of us were) that you really do "get what you pay for." And that fact isn't always borne out in hardware specs.

Others are so blinded by Windows pain (or Apple hate) or just a flat out lack of imagination that they refuse to recognize a great idea when they hear one.

Me, I wait with curiosity to see what this device will be (or if it will even be at all).

Cheap price does not necessarily mean value.

Like you, I will wait with curiosity to see what the supposed device will actually be. I am open minded enough to realize that sometimes you just have to change the way you work and play.....and pay for the privilege of not being aggravated all the time.

 

[LagunaSol]

Having a happy computing family is just PRICELESS.

Consumers like you are keeping Microsoft (and Aiden Shaw) awake at night.

 

[peterjhill]

Without AT&T option, tablet would miss out

As someone on their third iphone (2g,3g,3gs), a tablet with cellular internet that can't be added to my existing at&t account would be hard to justify.

I am not going to pay both AT&T and Verizon every month.

One has to sell a lot of units to justify the dev time to support both HSDPA and EV-DO radios. Then you have the issue that a customer has to either pick the right model for their service, and never be able to switch from one to the other, or add both radios, increasing the manufacturing costs.

I'm no fan of AT&T (though I do hate Verizon), but find it hard to see the business justification for supporting Verizon.

The one thing I could imagine swaying Apple's decision would be if Verizon offered Apple some crazy deal where Verizon would subsidize the unit cost. If Verizon paid Apple $400 per customer per unit, Apple would have to think twice. Apple loses out if they offer a Verizon only tablet, gain little if they offer an HSDPA/EVDO model, and then only with hefty subsidies... YMMV

 

[kdarling]

As for paying multiple carriers or utilities ... a lot of us, perhaps most, do that already.

Each month, I pay a cable company for broadband. And two or three carriers for landline and cells and long distance.

Electric and gas are separate bills as well, although I could've gone all-electric.

Consolidation is good if it saves money, else what does it matter?

 

[peterjhill]

As for paying multiple carriers or utilities ... a lot of us, perhaps most, do that already.

Each month, I pay a cable company for broadband. And two or three carriers for landline and cells and long distance.

Electric and gas are separate bills as well, although I could've gone all-electric.

Consolidation is good if it saves money, else what does it matter?

The above are all different services. You would not buy electricity from two different providers, would you? For phone access, that is a choice you make, one that many people do not. Many people are happy to only have a cell phone. I do have vonage, and that covers landline and long distance in one provider. I think the days of the landline phone business as an independent entity are short lived, except for rural customers. In the population centers, landline is not really necessary.

Justification for two cell accounts, one for an iTablet and one for an iPhone is hard to comprehend. Cellular internet access is the same for both. The iTablet likely won't need a voice plan. I could be wrong.. these are just my opinions.

 

[kdarling]

The above are all different services. ...

To me, so would be a tablet data service vs. phone service vs. home broadband. Especially so if the tablet data service was LTE, of course.

Justification for two cell accounts, one for an iTablet and one for an iPhone is hard to comprehend.

Ah, wait... are you thinking that we should be able to use both devices on the same cell account at the same time? For the same single user data price? Not going to happen.

Or are you just opposed to paying separate bills? (Which I addressed above... lots of people have multiple billing accounts for cell data, cell voice, home data, etc.)

Cheers !

 

[peterjhill]

Ah, wait... are you thinking that we should be able to use both devices on the same cell account at the same time? For the same single user data price? Not going to happen.

Or are you just opposed to paying separate bills? (Which I addressed above... lots of people have multiple billing accounts for cell data, cell voice, home data, etc.)

Cheers !

I'm not naive enough to think that ATT is only going to charge me for one data plan for two devices. An iTablet data cell plan should use a providers standard dataplan for internet enabled devices.

http://www.wireless.att.com/busines...LinkName=AvailableDataRatePlans&wtLinkLoc=BDY

ATT charges $30 a month for a personal data only plan. $60 if you add tethering.

What this price does not include are any tariffs just for having an account. If you have two accounts, each with a different provider, are you paying extra fees or tariffs that are per account and not per device?

Also, there is opportunity for family plans. Though I don't imagine an iTablet would have a cell phone built in, SMS/MMS is not out of the question. I already have unlimited messaging for my family plan. There is definite feature parity between an iTablet with cell service and an iPhone. Paying for the same feature from two different companies does not make sense to me.

As for LTE, it is still just a flavor of cellular internet. It is not like the difference between "electricity" and "gas". You can't power your computer with natural gas (easily). There are logical reasons for having both. Electricity is obvious. Natural gas is often cheaper to heat your home.

As for EVDO vs HSDPA, they are basically the same (except for HSDPA has much more global support)