Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Origami Revealed.

last surprising tidbit-

the semicurcular nature of the onscreen keyboard is more clever than I expected. your keys have three distances away from your hands, and then angles, rather than something more square where each key would have it's own spot, making it harder to map out mentally (and without physical feedback, this is very important.

Downside: windows are square, most everything, really, is done in squares, so it doesn't fit well with with everything else, and gives unusable space nearby.

How are the ergonomics of typing where you look? I know I much prefer my laptop to be on a stand with external keyboard and mouse than just using a laptop, and this seems to be a step worse. Though most don't use external keyboards much, it seems, so probably not a big issue for sales.
 
Peyton said:
What stupid company would come out with a product like this and put a 6 year old OS on it? Wait till vista fellas, then release it. gosh.

Do these designers get paid less than retail workers? I could sketch something better than that in like 2 seconds. SOOO ugly. and sorry, I like big screens, what could be more frustrating than messing with Windows XP but on a screen so small you can hardly see the virus warnings?? Forget it
Click to expand...

And how in the heck would you upgrade this thing to be able to run the "giant name" version of Vista??? Yeah, because all newer versions of Windows implicates buying a newer machine to make it barely usable...

I think it is a lame investiment now (...and in the future it will remain despicable, of course...)
 
sounds like these people are trying to make an "improved" thing to combat the iPod. only problem is, they failed miserably. nice try though.
 
also, i can't talk so for a while i had to use a tablet thing to say stuff. it was BIG and HEAVY and UGLY. this reminds me of it. <<<shivers>>>
 
Danksi said:
It's a communications device, plain n' simple, which is probably why it's fairly successful.
Click to expand...

Yes it is, and I fail to see how it can be compared to a full-blown computer (although touchscreen-operated) that can do a lot more.
 
IJ Reilly said:
And look how successful it's been. The lesson of the Blackberry and the iPod are the same: do one thing people need, and do it well.
Click to expand...

again, I'm not saying that Blackberry sucks. I'm saying that it's stupid to compare it to a computer, since they are meant for different things, and computers have a lot more capability.
 
Why not this, Apple? ...

Take the 12" iBook - shrink it a bit more. Put the guts behind the display, not under the keyboard. Make the display detachable from the keyboard (keyboard is like a docking / charging station). Make the screen touch / pen sensitive. Add something like a backstrap on the back of it to make it easy to hold in one hand, while intefacing with it with the other (makes it more "notepad like" and even easier to use as a portable phone/videophone)

Voila.

A portable, keyboardless, completely Mac-ish unit, runs all Mac software, has wireless, bluetooth (and to bring it up to date, iSight in it too :) ) - it would do it all. Bigger videos - more music - and everything else you love about your mac, without having the laptop / folding enclosure form factor. But you can still have this if you want it - just dock it to the keyboard... which also could dock you to your big monitor, all your USB peripherals, etc.

I would buy this in an instant.
 
IMHO where they go wrong with this device is simple.

1) Price. Needs to be closer to $500 than $999
2) Thickness of the device, needs to be well under 1"
3) Battery life

Imagine a funky hybrid of a 12" iBook and an iMac. Everything behind the screen. No optical drive, maybe an 8-10" screen. Touch sensitive to operate mainly with a stylus. Keyboard and mouse can be attached as needed/available. Could use a 60GB 1.8" drive like the iPod.

Priced around $699 and I think that could sell well.

EDIT: Jerence, sounds like we're thinking along the same lines... ;)

B
 
What I would like from Apple.

Same form factor as the iBook. But when you open it up, you have two screens. One on top as before and know one on the bottom to replace the keyboard, but at the same size as the first one. The screen on the bottom would be a touch-screen and that way you get more screen estate and a full keyboard when you need it.

Think DS but iBook size.
 
Jerence said:
Take the 12" iBook - shrink it a bit more. Put the guts behind the display, not under the keyboard. Make the display detachable from the keyboard (keyboard is like a docking / charging station). Make the screen touch / pen sensitive. Add something like a backstrap on the back of it to make it easy to hold in one hand, while intefacing with it with the other (makes it more "notepad like" and even easier to use as a portable phone/videophone)

Voila.

A portable, keyboardless, completely Mac-ish unit, runs all Mac software, has wireless, bluetooth (and to bring it up to date, iSight in it too :) ) - it would do it all. Bigger videos - more music - and everything else you love about your mac, without having the laptop / folding enclosure form factor. But you can still have this if you want it - just dock it to the keyboard... which also could dock you to your big monitor, all your USB peripherals, etc.

I would buy this in an instant.
Click to expand...

Sounds spot-on to me. The key is that it needs to a run a full Mac OS, albeit tweaked to suit the touch-display.

Be warned though - bad idea to use it as your main computer. Bummer if you lost it! Far better to have a wireless sync with your desktop machine.
 
jrk07 said:
I think its funny that if it was running OS X then I bet at least half of the people who are saying it is a horrible device would be frothing at the mouth for this thing.

That being said, I can't wait to see one with a big ol' blue screen error. :D
Click to expand...

You kidding? Even if this was the only machine to run 10.5 I still wouldn't touch an ugly device with an 800*600 resolution and Celeron CPU.

Good point mentioned in here though. Vista. This won't run Vista. A Celeron? come on! Like I said, my old 1.3ghz Celeron barely ran XP. I remember trying to make games on that thing *shudders*

What a bad time to launch this.
 
Just had a thought. Maybe losing the keyboard is a bad idea - it's the way we're all used to inputing. How about a sub-12in (8in maybe) Powerbook with an ultra-slim form and a normal, but small keyboard.

Remember the old Psions and you'll get the idea. Call it a kneetop if you like :)

Just found they still make them. Not pretty, but you get the idea

http://www.psionteklogix.com/public.aspx?s=com&p=Products&pID=2550
 
So what, they've rebranded the tablet and are trying again with a fake grass roots marketing plan to see if it will see this time.

I like to encourage innovation everywhere--even from Microsoft--but this thing is not it.
 
Philsy said:
Just had a thought. Maybe losing the keyboard is a bad idea - it's the way we're all used to inputing. How about a sub-12in (8in maybe) Powerbook with an ultra-slim form and a normal, but small keyboard.

Remember the old Psions and you'll get the idea. Call it a kneetop if you like :)
Click to expand...

I agree that there's an adjustment to removing the keyboard, which I think is countered with the touchscreen keyboard. Because of our history with Microsoft, well, my history, I am skeptical and pessimistic that it would be any good, after seeing it, and the specs., my hunches are correct and it's going to flop.

I like the idea of around a 6-8" touchscreen macbook pro with all specs previously mentioned. I am also suspicious that Apple is watching very closely and waiting to be the white knight after this fails miserably.

Lastly, I think the IBM convertable notebook tablet is a quality product and step in the right direction, and again, Apple is paying attention to how it is received very closely.

http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/s...1&categoryId=4611686018425021052&re=home_A_us
 
Evangelion said:
again, I'm not saying that Blackberry sucks. I'm saying that it's stupid to compare it to a computer, since they are meant for different things, and computers have a lot more capability.
Click to expand...

The Blackberry is a computer. So is your mobile phone. And your iPod. A huge amount of computing power can be packed into any device of any size. Too much, even -- if the designer doesn't have clear goals and hasn't carefully considered ahead of time how the device will be used. I think the future is all about limiting the amount of computing power within a device to what's appropriate for its intended function, not stuffing as much technology into as small a box as possible, and then forcing users figure out what it was meant to do and how it works.
 
I am disappointed with this, especially with the great things that have been predicted from it. I also can't see the logic of launching this with great fanfare running XP, when Vista will be out by the end of the year (supposedly!).
 
Having the user put their fingers anywhere on the screen in order to input data is not the solution.. even if there were some magical screen that repelled oil your fingers would still be covering the viewing area, as would the onscreen 'keyboard'. Considering the multimedia aspect that has been touted so much the grime has to be the main issue, though.

Personally I'm not even sold on the idea of people wanting to watch anything on any screen that a) they have to hold up or bend their neck down to view and b) is small.

Organizer, music, messaging, limited net access should all be on a small device the size of an mp3 player or mobile phone; full net access, watching films, being creative, reading something lengthy.. all on something the size of a laptop or digital paper.

And the thing is, something that size you will be wanting to carry around in a backpack or a large handbag.. both of which you can get a 15" or 12" laptop into, respectively.
 
M-theory said:
I agree that there's an adjustment to removing the keyboard, which I think is countered with the touchscreen keyboard. Because of our history with Microsoft, well, my history, I am skeptical and pessimistic that it would be any good, after seeing it, and the specs., my hunches are correct and it's going to flop.

I like the idea of around a 6-8" touchscreen macbook pro with all specs previously mentioned. I am also suspicious that Apple is watching very closely and waiting to be the white knight after this fails miserably.

Lastly, I think the IBM convertable notebook tablet is a quality product and step in the right direction, and again, Apple is paying attention to how it is received very closely.
Click to expand...

Fair point. I wonder how a touch screen would last in real life, though. It's not protected like with a folding laptop, and grubby fingers and nails could soon knacker it. The perfect material would be glass, but a tad heavy, methinks.
 
I mean...for "checking your email while you in a coffe shop lineup" it may be practical, but to me this reallykinda follows the mold of a palm/functional computer and executes it poorly, I don't believe there is the same market for a laptop/palm as there is for the 2 individually. And if you want a portable device that 1. looks good 2. works, get a apple portable

nice idea "in theory", but i dont see a huge market for a cheap/subpar pc
 
When the last time u seen the iPod. It does more than 1 thing (photos, video, and music).
IJ Reilly said:
True. Nobody knew that they needed an iPod until they held one in their hands. But unless this product turns out to be much better than it appears, I predict it's going to be a dud.
Click to expand...
 
This is going to be a difficult sell--ironically, it's too big and bulky to be really portable while simultaneously being too small to be particularly useful as a tablet pc. imo, they needed to go thinner and lighter with the form factor, not smaller and fatter. As others have said, handheld pcs do a lot of what this thing is going to do anyway with the added benefit of being easy to tote around. Battery life is also a concern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back