Apple Working on Tablet Since At Least 2003

[Mac4Brains]

That's what I don't get. I am using you as a proxy for hundreds like you, sorry. If you have an Ethernet cable going to your iTablet (ATNN) anyway, or a VGA cable, why not to a dock/dongle that is plugged into the device? You want what you want, but let's not forget Steve, the guy who decides what it WILL be, has very clearly stated and SHOWN it will be a one port device, or as close as possible.

So some people want Ethernet and VGA, others want serial and DVI, others still want Firewire and several USB ports, and there's always someone who wants component video out. Dongle/dock. Heck if only it could be done entirely over 802.11N to the dongle/dock, you would be in actual heaven, right? The wires have to plug into SOMETHING. Darn wires.

Rocketman

its just that when I need to carry around a tool belt full of stuff like crimper and heads and lotsa other stuff, the less I need to carry the happier I am. All that junk gets in the way when you need to worm around a cramped wiring closet and your 6'6". Its bad enough that I need to where cargo pants all the time to carry my Hackintosh, I don't want to be carrying around all the extra stuff I would need for a $1500 MacBook Air. The ASUS Eee has all these thing built in and I only paid $500 for mine, the entry model was only $300. This compared to the larger MacBook Air that would also require me to carry around a bunch of adapters with it as well. and since my Hackintosh gets 10 hours of battery, I don't need to carry around the power adapter when I am at work, i just leave it in the truck in case I do need it. The Macbook Air would require me to carry that around all the time as well with only 5 hours of battery life (2.8 if the airport card is turned on).

It seams to make since to me that people would love to have a 9 inch MacBook Air. That I would get the day it came out.

 

[TheSpaz]

its just that when I need to carry around a tool belt full of stuff like crimper and heads and lotsa other stuff, the less I need to carry the happier I am. All that junk gets in the way when you need to worm around a cramped wiring closet and your 6'6". Its bad enough that I need to where cargo pants all the time to carry my Hackintosh, I don't want to be carrying around all the extra stuff I would need for a $1500 MacBook Air. The ASUS Eee has all these thing built in and I only paid $500 for mine, the entry model was only $300. This compared to the larger MacBook Air that would also require me to carry around a bunch of adapters with it as well. and since my Hackintosh gets 10 hours of battery, I don't need to carry around the power adapter when I am at work, i just leave it in the truck in case I do need it. The Macbook Air would require me to carry that around all the time as well with only 5 hours of battery life (2.8 if the airport card is turned on).

It seams to make since to me that people would love to have a 9 inch MacBook Air. That I would get the day it came out.

If I had your job... I wouldn't be carrying around an Apple device... I'd be too worried about damaging it. I think your netbook works just fine for your field. Like you said... it has everything you need... so why would you buy an Apple Tablet? It most likely won't have all the features that your netbook has.

 

[firewood]

I don't see what these tablets be used for; and if they will be used for general browsing then I expect people be looking for an affordable price tag. If ever this tablet becomes available would anyone actually buy one, truthfully? What would you use it for?

Same type of people who would buy an iPod Touch for reading/browsing/apps, except that the display on the Touch is too small for them to use extensively without (maybe extra strong) reading glasses.

 

[MacFly123]

Well at least all you doubters now know that Steve actually wants this thing to be useful in your life in more than one way!

And what is the difference now as apposed to back in 2003? What is the "killer feature"? Like the article says, THE APP STORE! That and iTunes LP & Extras. Those 3 things have changed the entire concept and made it possible!

 

[MikeDTyke]

Well at least all you doubters now know that Steve actually wants this thing to be useful in your life in more than one way!

And what is the difference now as apposed to back in 2003? What is the "killer feature"? Like the article says, THE APP STORE! That and iTunes LP & Extras. Those 3 things have changed the entire concept and made it possible!

Most people would only count that as 2 things. iTunes LP & Movie Extras are really just the same technology, a local static web page, linked to media in the iTunes Library.

Personally i think we need a re-emergence of eInk. 'Smart eInk', whereby the AI has a go at converting it into text but stores it in a meta database, so you can spotlight search all the notes you made over the years, on all those endless post-it notes and abandoned notepads. The number of times that i 'know' i've written something down somewhere and yet can't find the blessed thing. A self cataloging knowledgebase of notes/URLs/mindmaps/chicken scratchings, would be an absolute blessing.

Note i'm not advocating full character recognition as the tech has never made it beyond 70-80% accuracy and certainly not even that high with my poor excuse for handwriting. What would be useful is if it challenged me on words it had no idea what they were, but were long enough and a complex enough structure to be potential metadata points to go in the DB. ie. names.

 

[fjpoblam]

I like the tablet idea for a few reasons

It works for us. One is, lots of cat hairs and cookie crumbs: with a tablet, no need to worry about cleaning behind the keyboard in the next two instances.

The tablet is ideal when we travel. We're using an iPod Touch these days, when we travel, to check email, and to share photos with friends. A bit larger screen would be quite a boon. A bit smaller than our MBP (or smaller than even a souped-up new 13" MBP or a nice thin Air, ugh) would be a nice travelmate. Great for carry-on, robust against off-road driving.

The tablet would be ideal for aged mother-in-law. She uses a computer for checking email from kids (well, we've reached seniority, but we're "kids" to her) and looking at photos. The GUI is simple and unintimidating: just what an 85-year-old woman needs. Heck, we might even get her to check the weather and her stocks and bonds! And read a book! Imagine that!

I think this is not exactly a niche use. There might well be other folks in one or both of these categories.

 

[earthsaver]

Am I the only person who remembers the defunct rumor site MacWhispers, which pointed toward an Apple tablet with an 8" screen back around 2003? I remember thinking about it in the dining hall my senior year at Ithaca College.

 

[Rocketman]

Most people's lives center around documents. Viewing them, editing them, sending them, printing them, creating them, filling in fields, static content, dynamic content, hyperlinked content.

A larger display device lends itself to document management.

In the range of dynamic content we increasingly have movies, not mere images as an element to a document. It is not limited to medical applications. Tooling, machines, fashion, food, and a variety of other things rely on dynamic content to convey a message.

There are some vertical markets suited to such a tool such as medical care, retail inventory control, mid-level management document management, etc.

Rocketman

 

[BlueRevolution]

to the people claiming they need one of these to take notes in college- am I the only one who can type close to 3-4x more quickly than I write?

I can type more quickly than I can write, but I can't organize my thoughts as well on a computer as on a written page.

If it doesn't have a stylus, or runs a scaled-up version of the iPhone OS, I'm not buying. I don't have any use for an iPod Touch XXXL.

 

[RazHyena]

"what they were good for besides surfing the Web in the bathroom."

No, not just the bathroom, Steve. You can even surf the web.....IN THE BATHTUB!!1

Seriously, this tablet mania needs to die.

 

[Ironduke]

lol there is noway osx will be on this device, it would require serious modifying for touch and so would most apps.

Where as an iPhoneOS hybrid would need little work.

 

[wizard]

That is a very good Question, to which I answer: I don't know.

I don't see what these tablets be used for; and if they will be used for general browsing then I expect people be looking for an affordable price tag. If ever this tablet becomes available would anyone actually buy one, truthfully? What would you use it for?

My biggest issue right now is that the rumors are actually pointing to a tablet that in my mind would be to big and not portable enough. Thus I'm likely to be resistant to purchasing such a tablet. All I'm really looking for is the portability of a paperback and good battery life times.

It isn't like the current iPods are all that bad performance wise. Of course better performance is always welcomed. Basically the desire is to have an iPod Touch with a larger screen and a bit better performance, but remain highly portable. Thus when I hear about ten inchers I get a little put off because that isn't exactly portable.

It is interesting that many of these prototypes have been canceled by Jobs due to the question of what do you do with it. Frankly this is a sign of one smart cookie as many people on this forum have the expectation that they will be able to use a tablet in ways that frankly are impossible. To be successful the tablets need a way of being useful to the user that makes them more useful than a clam shell laptop/netbook/whatever. I really believe this means the tablet becomes a way to consume content, be it E-Books, Movies, TV shows, web sites or whatever. People running about with visions of document creation on these devices will be very disappointed once they actually try to do that on a tablet.

Apple might have a saving tech here with alternative input methods, maybe even going back to handwriting recognition. It would have to be vastly improved though. Another possibility is voice input and transcription but I've heard nothing rumor wise about this. Without something new in the way of inputing text the devices only hope is as a consumer of content.

Dave

 

[kdarling]

lol there is noway osx will be on this device, it would require serious modifying for touch and so would most apps.

Again, that's where a stylus comes in handy... it works well with legacy apps.

 

[NXTMIKE]

That's sort of scary how long they were supposedly working on it. Hoepfully this will bring a longly needed refresh to Apple's inspiration and ideas.

But I'm pretty darn excited.

 

[KnightWRX]

The current tablet market shows that just a "notes taking device that can read media and browse the web" is not enough to sell the form factor to folks. Tablets come in all sizes and with all kinds of OSes already.

We'll see if Apple really is going to enter that market, and what they'll bring to the table but as it stands, a laptop is a better tool for most uses people in this forum can dream up for a tablet.

 

[Takuta-Nui]

Hah, so all those rumours since 2003 actually had some basis! I became involved in the Apple scene only a few months ago so it seemed to me like the tablet rumours had only just started up.

If it's taken that long... better be something special.

 

[twoodcc]

i remember older rumors about it. i got excited then for nothing. hopefully that won't be the case this time

 

[Number 41]

People are missing the obvious here -- especially with the patent filings the other day about mutli-touch input interface for desktop computers. The "killer feature" of the iTablet is that you'll be able to connect it to a desktop computer and use it is a secondary input device.

 

[DisMyMac]

The tablet should function as a document scanner. Simply place it face-down on a page, and press a button.

That's what I call a killer app waiting to be done.

 

[gentleman00]

The Advantages of the Apple Tablet

Many followers and fans of Apple do not see the potential of an Apple tablet. Of course, the Apple tablet will be worthless if it only replicates the functions that exist in the current line up of Apple products, namely, ipod touch, iphone, and macbooks. Many do not grasp Steve Job's future vision of releasing An apple tablet, which would be to extend and tap into new markets including the news media and magazines, and the health and business industry. If the apple tablet is limited to gaming and existing functions found in the current line up of Apple products, then there is no reason to release a tablet. Apple is looking for new markets, not to flood the markets with a new device that will only devalue the iphone and the macbook line of products. It would make sense for apple to enter the news media market, now that it has a strong foothold in the music market. Perhaps we will see a new version of itunes like imedia that will allow consumers to subscribe to magazines and newspapers. But simply releasing a device because they can, and that will have the same functionalities of the current line of apple products is bad business. Apple and Steve Jobs have a larger mission: to extend the global reach of the company into untapped markets. So we wont see a itablet that would resemble a macbook without the physical keyboards nor we would we see a iphone/itouch device that duplicates the same functions of these products, but perhaps an evolutionary device similar to kindle, but with more potential.

 

[TheSpaz]

Many followers and fans of Apple do not see the potential of an Apple tablet. Of course, the Apple tablet will be worthless if it only replicates the functions that exist in the current line up of Apple products, namely, ipod touch, iphone, and macbooks. Many do not grasp Steve Job's future vision of releasing An apple tablet, which would be to extend and tap into new markets including the news media and magazines, and the health and business industry. If the apple tablet is limited to gaming and existing functions found in the current line up of Apple products, then there is no reason to release a tablet. Apple is looking for new markets, not to flood the markets with a new device that will only devalue the iphone and the macbook line of products. It would make sense for apple to enter the news media market, now that it has a strong foothold in the music market. Perhaps we will see a new version of itunes like imedia that will allow consumers to subscribe to magazines and newspapers. But simply releasing a device because they can, and that will have the same functionalities of the current line of apple products is bad business. Apple and Steve Jobs have a larger mission: to extend the global reach of the company into untapped markets. So we wont see a itablet that would resemble a macbook without the physical keyboards nor we would we see a iphone/itouch device that duplicates the same functions of these products, but perhaps an evolutionary device similar to kindle, but with more potential.

That post made my brain hurt

 

[xhambonex]

Many followers and fans of Apple do not see the potential of an Apple tablet. Of course, the Apple tablet will be worthless if it only replicates the functions that exist in the current line up of Apple products, namely, ipod touch, iphone, and macbooks. Many do not grasp Steve Job's future vision of releasing An apple tablet, which would be to extend and tap into new markets including the news media and magazines, and the health and business industry. If the apple tablet is limited to gaming and existing functions found in the current line up of Apple products, then there is no reason to release a tablet. Apple is looking for new markets, not to flood the markets with a new device that will only devalue the iphone and the macbook line of products. It would make sense for apple to enter the news media market, now that it has a strong foothold in the music market. Perhaps we will see a new version of itunes like imedia that will allow consumers to subscribe to magazines and newspapers. But simply releasing a device because they can, and that will have the same functionalities of the current line of apple products is bad business. Apple and Steve Jobs have a larger mission: to extend the global reach of the company into untapped markets. So we wont see a itablet that would resemble a macbook without the physical keyboards nor we would we see a iphone/itouch device that duplicates the same functions of these products, but perhaps an evolutionary device similar to kindle, but with more potential.

However none of that is exclusive to a tablet. I doubt they would offer such services only to a tablet product when you would expect to get the same treatment on OS X and the iPhone OS. I am not disagreeing with your concept, in fact I think its pretty likely, I just don't see that as a revolutionary device as much of a revolutionary service, like iTunes.

For this tablet to be super succesfull (no doubt people will buy it, its an Apple product), it will have to offer something that can't be replicated on other devices...emedia would work on handhelds and computers, but what advantages do I get owning a tablet that I don't get owning my laptop? I already have a laptop with me almost always...I need to be sold into buying another device. As of now, all I hear is a cross between the kindle and an iPod Touch at double the cost.

 

[zepharus]

The iPhone and iPod touch are pretty fantastic at surfing the web in the bathroom!

I drop a "bomb on Nagasaki" in the bathroom, not surf the web...

although I have been know to shoot a few webs in there....

 

[spillproof]

I'd say the biggest markets are education / colleges and the Medical field.
A network of tablets in hospitals would be a huge step in streamlining and organization. Also a few good apps might get rid of some really expensive specialized machines.

That is what I was thinking. If the tablet was reasonably priced compared to the ones I see on TV shows, it could change the medical field and offer a new digital textbook age.

 

[celtikmind]

ITEM:
Steve Jobs who questioned "what they were good for besides surfing the Web in the bathroom."

ITEM:
A recent look at public library books determined that they are the most viral/bacteria-ridden object you can hold in your hands.
REASON: Most people who use them, read them in the bathroom or while recovering from an illness.

ITEM: As population density increases, the transmission of diseases will become a greater significant problem. Already Hospital-borne Infections are a serious issue. While 5% of all deaths can be prevented with good immediate health care; the same can be said of deaths directly attributed to entering a hospital.

ITEM: Another major cause of disease transmission is the movement of electronic equipment between patients. This includes the laptop computer many doctors carry with them from room to room. There is no good way to clean keyboards of micro-organisms.

ITEM: Readers of Macintosh Rumor Boards cannot see what unique advantage a tablet might bring to the market.. Hmmmm...

Oh dear, the whole swine flu thing must really freak you out, doesn't it?

Why do you think the modern age human has a far less resistant immune system than someone from 'the dark ages'? Or youths versus middle-aged adults?

The reason I (or anyone) would buy an expensive tablet from Apple, according to you, is because I might get bacteria from a book borrowed at the library?

Eh... no. Never.