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Apple Working on a Tablet Mac?
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I need to make a few fixes here... My comments in Bold.
1. It should come in 9 inch,13 inch & 17 inchPortable, please?
2. Reversible/2-sided camera so you could shoot at other people while looking at your MacBook Touch.No. No freaking camera.
3. Black And white? Aluminium?
4. Express card support might not be necessary anymore because AirCard work on USB nowWhat does this even mean?
5. Ability to touch anything on screen like iPhone,however have a pop-out keyboard if you want to use a regular keyboard.No. Just... no.
6. USB, Firewire,SD Card SupportSD Card support? What are you? A PC manufacturer?
7. Bluetooth
8. Airport
9.20064 GB HDmininumSSD needed for power consumption and weight
10.42 GB ram maximum It's a portable, not a workstation
11. It would be awesome if it could scan. Not a "necessity" thoughscan? Is it 1995 in here or is it just you?
12. Speakers(quality)
13. Multi-touch padYou mean screen?
14. 8 hour plus battery life
15. GPS would be nice. Not a "necessity" thoughFor what purpose?
16. Much improved screen over current MacBook ProThere's nothing wrong with the MBP's screen, for a portable
17. SuperDrive with Bluray and HD capability. Bluray/HD Not a "necessity" thoughNo Optical! No! No! No! Please, stop using spinning media! Barbarians!
18. 360˚ turning screenConflicts with #19... unless you mean that you can rotate the entire unit in your hand, in which case, I'm all for it. I've always liked technology that I could move however I pleased.
19. One piece, not two. What I mean is the screen is the whole MacBook Touch, like iPhone.It would be cool though if there was a slide-out/pop-out credit-card- thin manual keyboard.A credit card-thin manual keyboard? on a 17" device? So if this thing is a tablet and you're typing with two thumbs, meanwhile holding the unit upright via the keyboard... what do you think will happen. Now I'm no physics major - no wait, yes I am - what would happen to a 5+ pound weight extending outward from a credit card? Let me help you with this one... SNAP
NO POPOUT KEYBOARD!!!!!!!!
20. If whole device could be no thicker than iPhone, bravo Apple. Bravo indeed, but that would be near-impossible, especially when that Superdrive you want is already 11mm thick, while the iPhone is 11.6
21. Universal iPod/iPhone Docking Station (maybe as a pop-out like keyboard)Why? So your iPod can fall out of the top of your tablet as you're riding on a bumpy bus? Just use the freaking cord.
22. Lastly, obviously an attached stand with a few height/positioning choices. First smart thing you've said in this post.
Welcome to reality.
-Clive
I don't want to upset you, since you're obviously just a teensy bit on edge, but I'd kinda like a built-in SD card reader myself. Instead of an optical drive. Load up my pictures on the road without that dang cord and without wasting camera batteries.
In fact, I want an SD card reader instead of an optical drive, and I want SD cards going for a buck a gig, and I STILL want random power-ups hidden behind trees and buildings like in video games so I never have to charge the battery. That would be SWEET!
Why couldn't both live in peace together?
Apple's computing devices from least powerful to most powerful (on a CPU level):
PDA Level: iTouch / iPhone,
Ultra-Portable Mobile Computing Level: Tablet / MacBook Mini
Low to Medium-Low-End Computing Level: MacBook / MacMini
Medium-Low to Medium Computing Level: MacBook Pro / iMac
Medium to Medium-High-End Computing Level: (huge gap [hmm... what goes here...])
Medium-High to High-End Computing Level: MacPro / Xserve
It interesting that for each tier of processing power, there's a slightly more portable model and a less portable model. I'm starting to see the uniformity in Apple's lineup once again.
-Clive
I don't use a digital camera very often, but how much power does it use to transfer pictures? Y'know, this is really a flaw of the camera designers, who need to add a low-power mode (powered by USB) to access SD content and initiate a transfer without requiring the camera to be "on."
Don't get them all started again!
Maybe it's obvious, but I am one of "Them."
What are we Prosumers supposed to use? Non-upgradeable laptop-powered iMacs?! Okay, I'm done, I'm done.-Clive
Clive, Speaking as someone with a physics degree from back in the days when Isaac Newton roamed the earth - you're thinking like an engineer, NOT like a physicist. YOU'RE TOO CLOSE - STEP AWAY FROM REALITY NOW!
Maybe it's obvious, but I am one of "Them."
-Clive
Hehe me too bud, me too.
*Jumps back*
Whew. That was close. Thanks for the warning!
So how're your eigenvalues today? Wave Function-liscious?
Good times.
WiFi SD cards are the future
Hey, isn't that just a WiFi card that fits in an SD slot? Where do the pictures go?! Lame. We need a tiny chip-sized device that can do anything and everything.
42.
-Clive
OK, but...
Whose reality are we stepping away from? And are you really moving away from it or towards it? What's "quantum" about Quantum Physics anyhow?
Whose reality are we stepping away from? And are you really moving away from it or towards it? What's "quantum" about Quantum Physics anyhow?
Plausible features & SMALL expansions on what we already do:
1) GPS (totally agree!) and an amazing navigation (find anything).
2) All iPhone functions esp. data (phone via earphones or bluetooth headset)
3) Book reader (slightly larger size feasibly can replace existing books)
4) iPhoto with sync, USB port plus ability to import from a real camera. And publish to WebGallery
5) Note taker with pen input (perhaps Leopard mail.app's new "Notes" feature on the yellow notepad paper, is intended to be on the tablet with pen input, synchronised back to mail.app)
6) Create mail using stationery, handwriting?, and internal photos
If an Apple 'tablet' is merely 1.5x the size of an iPhone I sense a great wave of fail. Not like it won;t sell at all, but Apple will be missing a giant leap into a new computing area people need; true tablet for notes, art, display, that is about letter size.
Making iPhone 1.5x larger wouldn't be bad. Or make it just a little longer for more display on internet/writing. I think iPhone + slightly bigger tablet would be dumb. Almost two identical devices, but one would be taken seriously and the other left to rot.
The apple notebooks should all be 'iPhoned' to be note/art tablets, internet CHUD, and all around portable data workers. Just divide them up with non-mech. and mech. versions. The thin factor of a notebook without a lid, without a keyboard, without the thick drives, would be spoodge-a-licious.
Making iPhone 1.5x larger wouldn't be bad. Or make it just a little longer for more display on internet/writing. I think iPhone + slightly bigger tablet would be dumb. Almost two identical devices, but one would be taken seriously and the other left to rot.
The apple notebooks should all be 'iPhoned' to be note/art tablets, internet CHUD, and all around portable data workers. Just divide them up with non-mech. and mech. versions. The thin factor of a notebook without a lid, without a keyboard, without the thick drives, would be spoodge-a-licious.
Damn, don't you hate it when you lose something you've posted! SOrry, I can't quote whoever I was replying to.
To the person who thought the Tablet device need to be OSX compatible... NO.
When you create an OSX compatible (or WIndows compatible) tablet, what you get is a traditional laptop running traditional applications, but without a keyboard. The natural response for EVERY USER of such a tablet is "this would be great if it had a keyboard".
Apple needs to break people's expectations significantly if a Tablet is to be a real success. This sometimes means removing functionality it COULD have (clumsily), just to make sure that the device fits and defines a new paradigm. Apple can take what it's learned from Newton, iPhone, and MacBooks and come up with something new - the whole experience from the form to the apps on it (the apps should parallel with iPhone, of course).
As such... even if the Tablet has PC power, I would predict that Apple will either not allow 3rd party apps or will enforce rigorous interface guidelines and simply not allow 'desktop' class applications. They have to break the paradigm and they have all the pieces to do it.
To the person who thought the Tablet device need to be OSX compatible... NO.
When you create an OSX compatible (or WIndows compatible) tablet, what you get is a traditional laptop running traditional applications, but without a keyboard. The natural response for EVERY USER of such a tablet is "this would be great if it had a keyboard".
Apple needs to break people's expectations significantly if a Tablet is to be a real success. This sometimes means removing functionality it COULD have (clumsily), just to make sure that the device fits and defines a new paradigm. Apple can take what it's learned from Newton, iPhone, and MacBooks and come up with something new - the whole experience from the form to the apps on it (the apps should parallel with iPhone, of course).
As such... even if the Tablet has PC power, I would predict that Apple will either not allow 3rd party apps or will enforce rigorous interface guidelines and simply not allow 'desktop' class applications. They have to break the paradigm and they have all the pieces to do it.
(Oops, forgot the other part of my lost post)
Look at the Appleinsider scale pictures though... and get a better idea of what the size increase means.
1.5x means that the landscape mode of the Tablet is as high as the current iPhone in Portrait mode. It's just 2.25 times wider.
ie: 2.91 x 1.94 (iphone portrait) -> 2.91 x 4.365 inches (Tablet landscape)
It seem to me that this is a good compromise size (And perhaps using an existing iPhone dimension makes porting apps easier)
Look at the Appleinsider scale pictures though... and get a better idea of what the size increase means.
1.5x means that the landscape mode of the Tablet is as high as the current iPhone in Portrait mode. It's just 2.25 times wider.
ie: 2.91 x 1.94 (iphone portrait) -> 2.91 x 4.365 inches (Tablet landscape)
It seem to me that this is a good compromise size (And perhaps using an existing iPhone dimension makes porting apps easier)
now, that's a pie-eyed apple fanboy wetdream of a description if i've ever heard one!! such anromantic as you surely are on SJ's speed dial.
Yea and he makes me pay for dinner every time. His pants are too tight with all the iPod Nanos and iPhone to cary his billfold.
The idea of having the desktop version of OS X is to have all of the frameworks that come with it. You don't need to cripple the OS in order to change the interface. But if you really want people to not use a keyboard, you can't simply take it away from them. You have to replace it with something better. Unless you have some brilliant idea you're not telling us, the keyboard remains the most efficient way to input text.
Furthermore, there is no purpose to specializing what is basically a computer. Despite constant predictions that general purpose computers are dying, nothing has appeared to replace them. Why? You need a reason to give up the flexibility. The only reasons that currently exist to do that are to get performance or portability; in other words the only successful special purpose computers have been game consoles (performance), super computers (performance), and PDAs (portability). Even then, the game console and super computer realms have their share of technology in common with general purpose computers. (Some super computers are just clusters of general purpose computers. The XBox was a PC.) And now portability no longer means giving up flexibility. The days of specialized PDA platforms are over. (The iPhone is part of changing that. The iPhone is OS X. It is Unix. Even if Apple is trying to hide it, it is still running a general purpose OS.)
So you say the tablet can't use OS X because it will reduce the experience, yet you then say that in order to be successful the tablet has to have a reduced experience. Ridiculous.
It's the same reason Apple took away the Function Keys when the Mac came out. They wanted to break the old habitual ways of doing things, in order to get another way going. For those trained... the Function keys were a much more efficient way... the mouse & menus wasn't BETTER per se... until you looked at the big picture.
Absolutely, flexibility is very useful. So why do you think Apple didn't have function keys AND the mouse... so that the traditionalists and the newcomers could both be happy... eh??
Ultimately, it is difficult to make a change in people (which is my work)... and if you give people choice they will do it the familiar way because familiar is easier in the short term. I'm pleased that Apple isn't afraid to break with the past though... despite the grumbles it generates.
In terms of you as a user - in what practical terms is it OSX?
Portable systems are increasingly powerful, and that power will be needed for the next generation of user experience. I'm just arguing that in order to make a keyboardless device, Apple doesn't need to invent a better keyboard, they need to break our habits and show alternative ways of meeting our needs (existing needs and needs we didn't know we had).
(edit: I'm not saying an absolute replacement for a keyboard ... but a reduction in the keyboard's importance and role such that the new system + pseudo-keyboard is more effective than the old system + real keyboard for the tasks you use it for).
Nice deletion of my argument
I say the tablet can't run OSX applications because it will then be used as if it is a laptop (...people would rather have a laptop for that, and a tablet would be a flop). In order to be successful the tablet needs to have a re-invented user experience.
Be careful of thinking that "removing a keyboard" (and technology which needs it) is the same as "reducing user experience".
Quantum Physics deals with discrete levels of energy, my friend. Particles (which act as waves on small scales) can only exist in a certain states, the quantity of which is described as a "countable infinity." In large-scale physics, object's energy can be any real number (an uncountable infinity).
-Clive
Alright...
Thank you, Clive! Every time there is a rumor like this there is a grocery list produced with the most ridiculous, fantastical wants and desires. Thank you for doing a point by point reply. Simplify, simplify, simplify. A tablet should be minimalist with the opportunity to add peripherals through cables (USB, Firewire) or wireless (Bluetooth, WI-FI). Adding all of the hardware into the tablet or ultra-portable would only makes it more expensive and larger. Even a hardware keyboard can be optional with a tablet. Make it capable to use as a smart wacom-like tablet and/or slave drive on other systems and you add to its value. None of these things call for any thing other than software additions. This is the route Apple has taken with the iPhone, so why wouldn't they do so with future products. iPhones and their offspring will soon become remote controllers/gauges/testing devices/sensing devices etc. None of this should require any physical mod to the device, only software and any external piece plugged into the iPhone or using its wireless abilities. Okay, you see, there I go making a fantastical list. We are all capable of losing control
Thank you, Clive! Every time there is a rumor like this there is a grocery list produced with the most ridiculous, fantastical wants and desires. Thank you for doing a point by point reply. Simplify, simplify, simplify. A tablet should be minimalist with the opportunity to add peripherals through cables (USB, Firewire) or wireless (Bluetooth, WI-FI). Adding all of the hardware into the tablet or ultra-portable would only makes it more expensive and larger. Even a hardware keyboard can be optional with a tablet. Make it capable to use as a smart wacom-like tablet and/or slave drive on other systems and you add to its value. None of these things call for any thing other than software additions. This is the route Apple has taken with the iPhone, so why wouldn't they do so with future products. iPhones and their offspring will soon become remote controllers/gauges/testing devices/sensing devices etc. None of this should require any physical mod to the device, only software and any external piece plugged into the iPhone or using its wireless abilities. Okay, you see, there I go making a fantastical list. We are all capable of losing control
No not exactly. I'm looking fro apple to produce a family of devices, the current IPhone filing one postion in that family . What I'm looking for is something a little bigger that can more effectively compete against something like Nokia's N800. I would fully expect this family to also have a larger machine that doesn't fit the pocket.
Sure it does. As long as the result fits into a pocket it will fulfill the need.
I'm thinking about display that would be about 4 to 4.5 inches. Yeah not a huge increase in size but doable with todays technology.
I still don't understand this attitude the stuff is coming on line real soon. Now that doesn't mean we get all of it but I think you will be surprised with what your smart phone dollar will buy you the same time as now next year.
In any event try: http://www.pmptoday.com/?s=venus for one example of a video device in this class. Look up Sony Walkmans and other Personal Media Players for other examples. I believe the LCD is the least of our worries. I'm actually surprised that Apple hasn't been more aggressive in getting into true HD play back on its I devices.
Err this is one variant of the tablet touch family. The target is devices like nokias N800. In any event I'd expect exactly the same interface as we currently have.
Dave
I agree with you sentiments regarding an ebook reader. This is another market which is serious lacking in any quality offerings. The U.S book publishing industry had net sales of $24.2 billion in 2006. E-books saw a 24.1% increase in 2006 at $54 million, with a compound growth rate of 65% since 2002. To me it parallels the music industry before you know who came along and gave the public an ecosystem that was easily understood and reasonably priced. This would slot in nicely with the existing offerings on the iTunes store. Sony has their somesuchorwhatever and there's that other company with their thingamawhatsit. No one really knows or cares what these guys are doing. Apple please change the game again!
What I do know is, if I have an iPhone, I don't need something 1.5x the iPhone. A sub notebook with a 10" screen is portable and considering whatever the tablet device is, it won't fit inside anyones pocket why wouldn't an ultrathin subnotebook do the job?
good comments; I think the laptop is the worst invention in the last 20 years.... just plain awful. Its not really portable, they weight too much and are difficult to use........ the entire concept needs to be reinvented... I think it starts here and we shouldnt look to the traditional tablet or laptop as a guide to what we may see come January or beyond....