As has been mentioned, the term slate has been used for such devices for a long time.
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Officially Opens CES, Briefly Demos Forthcoming HP Slate
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As has been mentioned, the term slate has been used for such devices for a long time.
Who really needs any of this? Its all just a bunch of toys. I don't see anything grabbing my attention this year except a faster processor and graphics chip.........ON A REAL Computer.
Not some stupid gimmick
Not some stupid gimmick
Just because you don't see value in Apple products doesn't mean it won't be useful. I wrote an article recently of Apple's successes in the past 10 years against Microsoft.
Yeah too bad Apple makes Apple products.
The educational and medical applications for tablets are limitless. Phones are too small and laptops aren't portable enough. Netbooks just have the wrong form factor and OS. I don't own a Kindle or e-reader, but I imagine they could tell you all about a necessary device "inbetween smartphones and laptops."
As for Apple TV, I absolutely love mine and use it every day. I know it wasn't a huge success in terms of sales and there are much more powerful boxes out there. But with all the iPhones and iPods in the house, I live in iTunes. Apple TV works great for people who know what it is supposed to do and have all their media in iTunes. And if Apple gets the rumored media subscription deal, it will only make the Apple TV even more useful (to me at least).
That's Microsoft
What else does everyone expect from Microsoft? If you compare this keynote to the majority of their software, it's actually not that bad
What else does everyone expect from Microsoft? If you compare this keynote to the majority of their software, it's actually not that bad
That's because the tablets all had keyboards.
Yeah, they were pointing out that the term has been around a very long time, and used to almost always refer to a Windows based keyboardless tablet because that's all there was, although nowadays we touch engineers also see Linux based ones.
No. Read the link posted above. Slate has been the term for almost twenty years.
It's just that most people have never been exposed to anything other than the "tablet" name, because a keyboardless tablet is a rarity in the consumer market.
This whole "slate" thing is as idiotic as if people had never heard of a turbocharger, and overhead someone say that a new car was a "turbo"... and then the car fanboys ran around saying "oh oh oh the new car will be called iTurbo", not realizing it was a old descriptive term.
I see a lot of people saying stuff like this, and I find it a little myopic to be honest. Personally I've been after a dedicated device in this form factor for a long time, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Then again, I'm the sort of person who has never felt the need for a smartphone, so maybe I'm just exactly the kind of person they're targetting.
However, I'd expect a fair degree of resistance to any new-ish paradigm, and I suspect that Apple, and Jobs in particular are going out of their way to establish that paradigm with this tablet. 24 months from now I'd imagine there will be a lot of daily users of these devices who were initally skeptics.
Having said that, maybe a smartphone and a laptop is perfect for your needs. They're just not perfect for everyone's.
did anyone else...
I was certainly at the keynote, live, and maybe you had to be there to experience this.. but did anyone think that that keynote ended waaay awkward and abrubtly? I mean the xbox guy was like yeah this and that and project natal and thats whats in the pipeline for twenty ten-- lights on and music on and bam.. everyone was looking around at one another like. WTF?
lame keynote indeed. Except some of seth myers's videos.
I was certainly at the keynote, live, and maybe you had to be there to experience this.. but did anyone think that that keynote ended waaay awkward and abrubtly? I mean the xbox guy was like yeah this and that and project natal and thats whats in the pipeline for twenty ten-- lights on and music on and bam.. everyone was looking around at one another like. WTF?
lame keynote indeed. Except some of seth myers's videos.
I've got to say that doesn't sound very convincing considering it may cost around $1000.
Where were all the people saying "The term Slate has been around a long time" when MR posted a story about the "iSlate" ?
The term Slate may have been around for a long time but it was not being used that much.
It doesn't matter because Apple's new device won't be called iSlate or anything like that. imho.ymmv.
My views have evolved over time. I was asking for x86 on the tablet and a desktop OS. Now I'm very skeptical of the viability of such on a tablet.
The problems with a tablet is that you end up with a lot of "don'ts".
You don't have the pocketability
You don't have the power
You don't have a keyboard
You don't have a mouse
Etc...
Five fingers can only get you so far unless you're not holding it. The Lenovo Hybrid takes the best of both worlds that it can in compromise. You can't just do that with a tablet alone. You end up with wireless tethering nonsense accessories. Aren't you back to a netbook/notebook in the first place with all that? You're not an iPod either.
Apple can't make money on a netbook. The tablet is a cop out but it doesn't really have a place in the ecosystem. Trying to create an ecosystem just steps on the toes of their own products without any benefits. This is even with all of Apple's vertical integration.Kudos to Apple for avoiding a tide of pressure to introduce a netbook type device. There is an "Air", but it is very expensive and targeted for a small group of consumers. Why? Because tablet has a potential to kill Apple' insanely profitable macbook business. Do not take my word for it, just look what PC netbooks did to PC laptop business. Now PC laptops cost a few bucks more than PC netbooks.
Hysteria around tablets is the same type of the trap for Apple. I hope S. Jobs is smart enough to see through this BS. There is no way Apple could make even a 1/4 of what every macbook sale earn. Why would Apple kill its most profitable product line? Anyone?
What do you need between your phone and your computer? ARM at $799? $1,000? CES seems to be very reactive but even Apple's tablet feels like a MacBook Air or Apple TV.
Where were all the people saying "The term Slate has been around a long time" when MR posted a story about the "iSlate" ?
The term Slate may have been around for a long time but it was not being used that much.
It doesn't matter because Apple's new device won't be called iSlate or anything like that. imho.ymmv.
Now you just had to go and point out my slant towards Apple
I agree with you that the product will likely not contain the word 'slate'
They all looked like crap until the imac came along, and even then I didn't really like the imac until it went aluminum.
I think a convincing form-factor and interface tablet could revolutionize the data side of medicine.
Specifically, I see electronic input becoming intuitive, simple, fast, easy, and capable enough for most doctors to finally ditch paper for a streamlined electronic system. Such a thing has the potential, if properly adopted and developed, to save billions of dollars. Moreover, it has the potential to save billions of headaches and ulcers from dealing with paper records.
I see the possibilities for a 10" tablet in medicine to be limitless. Frankly, it would be extremely beneficial in patient care to have such easy access to multimedia sources, up to date information on therapies and pharmaceuticals, even a platform for doing on the fly research and comparing treatment modalities.
It would not change the basic axiom of doctor-patient interactions, but I can see it being extremely empowering in the way it accomplishes things.
What can a current laptop NOT due? I dunno, but it seems that at the end of the day the simplest concepts can turn out to be the most far-reaching elements in changing the way things work.
I so very much hope this catches on, and Apple sets the tone for the next evolution in interactive, simple, no BS computing.
Specifically, I see electronic input becoming intuitive, simple, fast, easy, and capable enough for most doctors to finally ditch paper for a streamlined electronic system. Such a thing has the potential, if properly adopted and developed, to save billions of dollars. Moreover, it has the potential to save billions of headaches and ulcers from dealing with paper records.
I see the possibilities for a 10" tablet in medicine to be limitless. Frankly, it would be extremely beneficial in patient care to have such easy access to multimedia sources, up to date information on therapies and pharmaceuticals, even a platform for doing on the fly research and comparing treatment modalities.
It would not change the basic axiom of doctor-patient interactions, but I can see it being extremely empowering in the way it accomplishes things.
What can a current laptop NOT due? I dunno, but it seems that at the end of the day the simplest concepts can turn out to be the most far-reaching elements in changing the way things work.
I so very much hope this catches on, and Apple sets the tone for the next evolution in interactive, simple, no BS computing.
you think the bar is as low as it can go...
...but these guys never fail to blow away expectations. It's almost Shakespearian that a company this huge can have everything except the things that matter..innovation and awareness, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.
I used to revel in this stuff because I hate what Microsoft stands for (traditional, conservative, big brother, ignorance, intimidation in the marketplace), but now I am actually starting to feel sad for them.
er... but not for Ballmer. He actually doesn't get it!
...but these guys never fail to blow away expectations. It's almost Shakespearian that a company this huge can have everything except the things that matter..innovation and awareness, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.
I used to revel in this stuff because I hate what Microsoft stands for (traditional, conservative, big brother, ignorance, intimidation in the marketplace), but now I am actually starting to feel sad for them.
er... but not for Ballmer. He actually doesn't get it!
Relax
Apple will tell us what we need
Woof, Woof - Dawg
We have to keep in mind it wasn't that long ago that people were asking what the hell they could do with a computer in their home.
I hear this far too often. How does this work? Apple has told me what I need but it has been let downs for years now.
I don't think we're swooning over Word Perfect and VisiCalc anymore.
True enough.
The web made it clear why people would need a computer. The tablet may be more intuitive and you may have more flexibility in where you use it, but it is a laptop minus features. At least that's what's rumored with the Apple tablet. Hopefully, it is something more.
Relax
Apple will tell us what we need
Woof, Woof - Dawg
Glossy screens! No firewire!
*raises hand* I did.
You must realize that most people here are not in the industry and wouldn't know the name or history of a lot of common items to us. Heck, I was programming capacitive touchscreens back in 1991, long before people here had heard of them... or perhaps even been born. (sad, but true)
Just because it's new to you, doesn't mean it's not well known to others.
"Slate" is used a lot in the handheld enterprise application business, which is my specialty. Medical slates. Field technician slates. Sales slates.
It doesn't matter because Apple's new device won't be called iSlate or anything like that. imho.ymmv.
FWIW, I tend to agree. I think it could have "iPod" as part of the name, especially if it runs iPhone apps.