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Apple Working on Tablet Since At Least 2003
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It's nice to know I've got something in common with Steve Jobs.
That's what I was going to say; Steve knows me all too well.
Maybe they will make it big enough that if you are surfing in the bathroom and drop it, it will not submerge all the way in the toilet.
What i really want is a magazine sized colour e-ink ebook reader that downloads the latest issue of my magazine and i can type in a books ISBN number to buy it and automatically download it. Make it so that you flick your finger on the edges of the screen to change the page and perhaps 4 fingers up to get to the chapter list.
Business Applications
I know I am one of the minority, but I actually run my small business on OSX, and believe this product could be extremely useful. SL Server already integrates very well with iPhones in the field, and this product could really take that to the next level, especially for an office like mine that tries to eliminate as much paper as possible.
I know I am one of the minority, but I actually run my small business on OSX, and believe this product could be extremely useful. SL Server already integrates very well with iPhones in the field, and this product could really take that to the next level, especially for an office like mine that tries to eliminate as much paper as possible.
I believe that Apple learned from the Newton. The final version of the Newtion, the 2100, was a fantastic device for it's time.
The problem was the original Newton and the 110 were limited. Handwriting recognition was terrible and very slow. Then came the Newton 120 and 130. Big improvements, but the form factor was too small to be effective. Then came the Newton 2000. While a nice improvement over the 130, unfortunately the 2000 had some limits which were solved with the updated 2100 model.
I remember I was at a conference when the Newton was cancelled by Steve Jobs. A sad time for me but I understood his efforts in focusing the company which at the time was going too many ways at once.
At the conference members of my team were Pocket PC and Palm Pilot users. With the news, many expressed interest in my Newton 2100. So I provided them a great demo on what it could do and it's handwriting recognition. In short, they were impressed and surprised why Apple cancelled it.
The problem was that the Newton was introduced to the market before prime time and it never overcame the negative reputation. Had the Newton 2100 been the original model introduced to the market, I firmly believe that the Newton would have been a huge success.
Looking back at the lessons learned, Apple definitely doesn't want to repeat the Newton experience when it introduces the Tablet computer. The 64 dollar question is who will use the tablet and what will be it's purpose.
I could see the tablet being a huge success if it has these features:
- Runs Mac OS X (Snow Leopard)
- Support all iPhone/iPod touch apps.
- 10.4 inch screen.
- Long battery life.
- USB port.
- Mini DisplayPort.
- BlueTooth
- WiFi
- Optional slot for 3G receiver or tethered to an iPhone.
A device such as this would support full Mac OS X compliant applications in addition to being able to run iPhone/iPod touch apps. The Mini DisplayPort would allow for easy connecting to an external device to show a PowerPoint presentation, movie, pics, etc.
Add pen support to the already good touch interface and you have the best of both worlds for data input. Plus with Bluetooth, an external keyboard and mouse could easily be used if needed.
A device like this could be used for so many things, replacing a laptop in many cases for those who don't need the specific features of a laptop that are not supported with the tablet.
I understand Apple's caution on getting it right this time. I would rather wait and have a solid device than go through the same stages that we did with the Newton.
The problem was the original Newton and the 110 were limited. Handwriting recognition was terrible and very slow. Then came the Newton 120 and 130. Big improvements, but the form factor was too small to be effective. Then came the Newton 2000. While a nice improvement over the 130, unfortunately the 2000 had some limits which were solved with the updated 2100 model.
I remember I was at a conference when the Newton was cancelled by Steve Jobs. A sad time for me but I understood his efforts in focusing the company which at the time was going too many ways at once.
At the conference members of my team were Pocket PC and Palm Pilot users. With the news, many expressed interest in my Newton 2100. So I provided them a great demo on what it could do and it's handwriting recognition. In short, they were impressed and surprised why Apple cancelled it.
The problem was that the Newton was introduced to the market before prime time and it never overcame the negative reputation. Had the Newton 2100 been the original model introduced to the market, I firmly believe that the Newton would have been a huge success.
Looking back at the lessons learned, Apple definitely doesn't want to repeat the Newton experience when it introduces the Tablet computer. The 64 dollar question is who will use the tablet and what will be it's purpose.
I could see the tablet being a huge success if it has these features:
- Runs Mac OS X (Snow Leopard)
- Support all iPhone/iPod touch apps.
- 10.4 inch screen.
- Long battery life.
- USB port.
- Mini DisplayPort.
- BlueTooth
- WiFi
- Optional slot for 3G receiver or tethered to an iPhone.
A device such as this would support full Mac OS X compliant applications in addition to being able to run iPhone/iPod touch apps. The Mini DisplayPort would allow for easy connecting to an external device to show a PowerPoint presentation, movie, pics, etc.
Add pen support to the already good touch interface and you have the best of both worlds for data input. Plus with Bluetooth, an external keyboard and mouse could easily be used if needed.
A device like this could be used for so many things, replacing a laptop in many cases for those who don't need the specific features of a laptop that are not supported with the tablet.
I understand Apple's caution on getting it right this time. I would rather wait and have a solid device than go through the same stages that we did with the Newton.
I used to agree with you but I think you are missing it. 95% of all computer users use it for only the most basic of abilities. The same goes for many students as well and the laptop is still not the perfect solution for note-taking in lectures.
It remains to be seen what how deep this OS is. I doubt it will have OS X but I do believe it will be more powerful than the iPhone OS. Will it run iTunes? It's hard for me to believe that it will be a 10 inch screen that you will have to sync to a Mac.
I look at what the Courier video is offering and I believe that is where we are headed.
I never understand how everyone strggled to find a niche for this product. Like all successful computers, it needs to be a Jack of all trades.
First off, it needs to appeal to those who already own macs. This is clearly the market which will build your device some positive press. While they are no way a majority, they do control mindshare, which is the biggest battle for new devices.
All macs come with an iLife suite, all good programs begging for better user controlled manipulation. Start with iPhoto, allow you to make adjustments to photos using virtual sliders. This device would be perfect for photo manipulation, with a large flat screen you can rest in your lap and play with. Suddenly playing with your photos will be much more tactile and fun.
Then GarageBand is the most obvious beneficiary in my mind. GarageBand is great, but for all of us who have been mixing on huge tables for years, the trackpad and keys are not elegant solutions. Give us a full page layout with our tracks and effects laud out as handy sliders that we can flick with our fingers. Add in a software drum machine, a perfect match for a tablet form figure, now the drum sounds themselves can be represented on the digital buttons. Allow third party develoiersbto make spinning dj wheels, what a wonderful toy.
iMovie again begs for a more tactile contoll method, slide over video clips with our finger, drag and drop frames where you need them. Everything nice easy and fluid.
Then just add an app store full of games, add text documents and textbooks to iTunes, continue HD movies and shows, and bam you have a device most mac owners could cherish.
Now at first, you'll have to target consumer level artists, hobbyists, a large portion of apples demographic. Give it a couple of years as more powerful tech is available for the form factor and the software irons out and then release a pro model fit for all the professional artists who want to expand their art.
People seem to think the laptop form factor is pennultimate, but honestly the clamshell design has many drawbacks when your doing anything that doesn't require typing. Keyboard shortcuts are no match for a well laid out GUI with touch controls.
First off, it needs to appeal to those who already own macs. This is clearly the market which will build your device some positive press. While they are no way a majority, they do control mindshare, which is the biggest battle for new devices.
All macs come with an iLife suite, all good programs begging for better user controlled manipulation. Start with iPhoto, allow you to make adjustments to photos using virtual sliders. This device would be perfect for photo manipulation, with a large flat screen you can rest in your lap and play with. Suddenly playing with your photos will be much more tactile and fun.
Then GarageBand is the most obvious beneficiary in my mind. GarageBand is great, but for all of us who have been mixing on huge tables for years, the trackpad and keys are not elegant solutions. Give us a full page layout with our tracks and effects laud out as handy sliders that we can flick with our fingers. Add in a software drum machine, a perfect match for a tablet form figure, now the drum sounds themselves can be represented on the digital buttons. Allow third party develoiersbto make spinning dj wheels, what a wonderful toy.
iMovie again begs for a more tactile contoll method, slide over video clips with our finger, drag and drop frames where you need them. Everything nice easy and fluid.
Then just add an app store full of games, add text documents and textbooks to iTunes, continue HD movies and shows, and bam you have a device most mac owners could cherish.
Now at first, you'll have to target consumer level artists, hobbyists, a large portion of apples demographic. Give it a couple of years as more powerful tech is available for the form factor and the software irons out and then release a pro model fit for all the professional artists who want to expand their art.
People seem to think the laptop form factor is pennultimate, but honestly the clamshell design has many drawbacks when your doing anything that doesn't require typing. Keyboard shortcuts are no match for a well laid out GUI with touch controls.
Hey . . hey! Watch the irreverence lol. No but seriously, I agree with you on your other points.
I hear you. Would it work for you to have a dock or dongle with RJ-45, VGA, USB, additional storage, and have the device have video camera with microphone and speaker, 64GB SSD drive, network storage?
I presume a soft keyboard and a bluetooth keyboard for "special times" would actually do it. You don't need the RJ-45, VGA or keyboard in the car, and you cannot do without it at the site, well unless the display was better than VGA which is likely.
For the Full OS is a must crowd, iPhone OSX IS OSX. It will run MS Office just fine. Now all you need is a mouse, a keyboard and a WXGA display. Office 2008 is NOT rewritten for touch screens.
So you will need some form of pointer, soft or hard keyboard, and the predicted 720p resolution.
Rocketman
Heck just make it a true multitasker and make it big enough to use as a cutting board -- with your recipes in full view of course.
Everytime a new piece of tablet rumor comes to light we get the same people asking the same question: What is it good for? Why not use a laptop instead?
The answer: Because a laptop is a flawd concept. It forces you to sit down, at a table (because the one place you can't use laptops over any significans period of time is your lap), hunch over and type.
Now although Steve Jobs has said that reading is dead, people read a lot - even the web is mostly text (in terms of time spent by users). But we want to red standing up or lounged back comfortably in a chair. We can do that with books & notepads. But we can't with a computer. Unless it has the form factor of a notepad - ta dah: the tablet.
The answer: Because a laptop is a flawd concept. It forces you to sit down, at a table (because the one place you can't use laptops over any significans period of time is your lap), hunch over and type.
Now although Steve Jobs has said that reading is dead, people read a lot - even the web is mostly text (in terms of time spent by users). But we want to red standing up or lounged back comfortably in a chair. We can do that with books & notepads. But we can't with a computer. Unless it has the form factor of a notepad - ta dah: the tablet.
If anyone can revolutionize the traditional print industries, it is Apple. A 10-inch reader seems ideal for magazine and newspaper reading. The touch technology will make one able to "flip" the pages, as someone else noted above. It will also be full color, unlike the Amazon Kindle.
The tablet will also surely become a gaming machine, beyond the obvious web browsing and media use.
Think of it as an e-reader/portable game system/movie player/media player all-in-one. I think it will be a success.
The tablet will also surely become a gaming machine, beyond the obvious web browsing and media use.
Think of it as an e-reader/portable game system/movie player/media player all-in-one. I think it will be a success.
count me in the crew that wants the thing to come with a writing instrument/stylus.... the ability to take hand-written notes would be welcome.
And now that you're in this position, a Tablet still doesn't make sense. When driving your car, pay attention to what you're doing, not to your iPhone or tablet or 3G enabled laptop.
I can't believe we have to remind people of this simple concept. Cars don't have auto-drives yet.
I don't have much use for a tablet. Though I think I would maybe consider it if it were more of a multi-touch terminal that would run the OS off my MacPro. Back to my Mac, or some sort of zero config VNC style - except with support for full audio/video streaming. Maybe even multiple logins to Users accounts - simultaneously connected to the same computer. In truth, a laptop could just be fitted to do all that anyway. I guess I fail to see what the tablet form factor has to offer other than the latest and greatest cool.
It's funny reading these threads and the specific "killer features" that various people identify. Nine times out of ten, those features are "killer" only for that person or a small niche group.
My interest in the Apple tablet is more what Apple finally figured out to do with the form factor rather than solving any particular need or desire I may have. I mean, sure, having a web browser and movie player on a Kindle-sized device would be pretty neat, but I'm with Steve on this: I can't see what use it is other than surfing the web on the can. And now I have an iPhone for that, so do I really need another device?
This product will never see the light of day unless Apple comes up with some other compelling use for it. What could a tablet do that you just can't do at all on an iPhone?
My interest in the Apple tablet is more what Apple finally figured out to do with the form factor rather than solving any particular need or desire I may have. I mean, sure, having a web browser and movie player on a Kindle-sized device would be pretty neat, but I'm with Steve on this: I can't see what use it is other than surfing the web on the can. And now I have an iPhone for that, so do I really need another device?
This product will never see the light of day unless Apple comes up with some other compelling use for it. What could a tablet do that you just can't do at all on an iPhone?
Heck just make it a true multitasker and make it big enough to use as a cutting board -- with your recipes in full view of course.
^^^
Yes, exactly
----
There's no rumor here, right? Apple -- and other companies of its sort -- surely have all kinds of interesting non-products in R & D. The idea is to be ready to go if/when such a product becomes viable in the marketplace. E.g., even the old PPC-based tablet might have been viable if some breakthrough in battery power had occured.
A difference between Apple and others is that Apple seems to want to be much more sure a product has a place in the market before releasing it as a product. Other companies perfer to thow their research projects out to the market to see what works.
It would be a much more interesting rumor if it said that Apple hadn't had a tablet in development -- would have indicated a dysfunctional R & D facet of the business (obviously, not a problem at Apple).
This is my issue. With all of the recurring monthly charges that we all pay these days, I really hope that this unit - whatever it is - doesn't force us into yet another new monthly charge. I already pay AT&T over $200/month. Add in Comcast (cable TV, telephone, internet), TIVO, NetFlix, ugh! Hopefully it will either tether or can be used with WiFi only.
It's funny, I've taken it into consideration whether or not it would be difficult to use a tablet for regular computing. We already use a track pad for everything and if you notice, on the newest Macs, the track pad even reacts as a button itself. There is no more button underneath it. I'm sure if they wanted to implement a track pad button on the tablet, we would probably just hold our finger in one place a little longer to activate it and then tap it. Notice the complete progression towards buttonless computing? In terms of large OSX apps like designing apps for example, there are tools to select from, and most people use the mouse to select and then use them. So as long as one has a track pad I think any app would be simple to use on a tablet. Think of the iphone and the progression of the track pad on the larger Macs as training lol.
hmm..I do not know. I don't think students would buy a device that is basically a note taker, even if you can put all your books on it. If you think about it, they won't buy a tablet AND a laptop. And they need the laptop to type papers and whatnot, so a tablet is an extra expense. The average college student has money for a computer and an ipod or zune, that's about it. They don't have an extra wad of cash to spend on a secondary device.
The only way this device is any good is if it is networked with 3G or something. But then again, I don't think this is a device anybody wants. They might think they want it, but they really don't.