Steve Jobs on Apple Tablet: 'This will be the most important thing I've ever done."

[The Mad Hatter]

You need to grow up.

... actually sir, it is you that needs "to grow up." I've read this whole thread, and the one thing that has stuck out the most (even before jamisonbaines had pointed it out) is you trying to flex your "superior intellect" (you might want to watch that, look what happened to Khan.) This is a friendly message board (well most of the time), and it doesn't need you flaunting your stock portfolio (and that you bought AAPL at $80) to get attention (or "cred".) So get over yourself, and contribute to the conversation, and not try to control it.

So endith the lesson.

Oh, and by the way... I bought AAPL at $43... neener, neener, neener

 

[OneShotos]

Table great! But, what scares me is having to get a Data plan. I mean it's all nice in the jail cell till you have to bend over and get the Data Plan! Will the tablet cost $600 -800 with a ball and chain subsidy? You know a unlimited data plan that won't be unlimited...... Or $1400 to 2000 without a subsidy and have a data cap! Hmmm ...... What I want is a Wi-Fi only option

 

[ChocoTaco]

Indeed - if something is being called the "Jesus Tablet" before it's even unveiled, it's pretty hard to live up to that kind of hype.

It's ironic though.. because it's a testament to what the iPhone portends that anyone would even think the Apple tablet would be so incredible. It's as if people know that the iPhone is incredible.. but they don't really understand why or what apple will do with it.. but they know it will be great.

The solution seems obvious to me.. what makes the iPhone so great is that it is a keyboard from the future.. so IMO that is what the killer application of the tablet will be.. a full grown iPhone keyboard from the future that you can use with your primary PC as well as to use the tablet as a media device when not at your primary PC.

 

[0098386]

I'm vaguely interested to see what they release (have no plans of moving on from my Macbook). Could be good though.

 

[dernhelm]

Wow. 308 posts for a story that says someone heard 3rd hand that SJ really likes the tablet.

Wow.

 

[fat phil]

This Apple table hype reminds me of the hype in 2000-2001 around Segway. It was supposed to change the way the cities are planned and the introduction being as important as introduction of personal computer...

I think it's worth seperating the Segway hype from the Apple iPad hype simply because iPad or whatever is coming, is expected to be the next chapter in a run-away success story, whereas Segway was a genuine mystery.

Nobody (sane) expects Steve Jobs to unveil anti-gravity on Wednesday, but it's pretty clear he's going to reveal what he thinks is going to be the next step in Apple's product line.

In that respect, it's pretty big news - in the way that news is what news outlets make their coin from. Would anyone expect anything less?

Apple have mastered the importance of suspense. If they made a horror movie today, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't show the monster until the last minute. Movies today, you know, they like to show you everything in the trailer. Gone are the golden days, as poor excuses for marketing executives just don't "get it".

So is the hype bull?

Could be. It's possible that Apple have become an inevitable victim of their own succcess - Steve might be thinking "Oh ****. What have we unleashed?", as everybody's trained themselves to expect annual miracles from Apple.

But probably isn't.

I think Jobs knows there's a lot at stake. He's not going to fumble everything for the sake of something we don't need.

But we may as well all digress, because we'll find out in two days, 6 hours...

 

[zgh1999]

Steve Jobs, I love you.

You are the only ray of light in this dark, dark world.

 

[rdowns]

Wow. 308 posts for a story that says someone heard 3rd hand that SJ really likes the tablet.

Wow.

Never doubt the RDF. It's all that much stronger since Jobs learned it's better to play the Apple blogosphere than try to shut it down.

 

[bobob]

A P P L E LOVERS DO YOU REALIZE WE ARE WITNESSING HISTORY!!!???

• 1998 = iMac
  
• 2001 = iPod
  
• 2007 = iPhone
  
• 2010 = ????

and for those who remember the unvailing of the iMac in 1984 them too....

WHAT COMPANY DOES THIS!!!!!!????? WHAT CEO CREATES THIS??????

WE ARE SERIOUSLY SEEING HISTORY!!!!! A P P L E = COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION

err... also, don'f forget to inhale from time to time.

That may be the source of the problem...

 

[MattInOz]

Last edited by iDisk : Today at 01:42 PM. Reason: Cassie informed me of the iMac which somehow slipped my mind

Yes you seemed to have missed out the whole two decades of interesting work Apple had done prior to the millennium.

 

[Povilas]

... actually sir, it is you that needs "to grow up." I've read this whole thread, and the one thing that has stuck out the most (even before jamisonbaines had pointed it out) is you trying to flex your "superior intellect" (you might want to watch that, look what happened to Khan.) This is a friendly message board (well most of the time), and it doesn't need you flaunting your stock portfolio (and that you bought AAPL at $80) to get attention (or "cred".) So get over yourself, and contribute to the conversation, and not try to control it.

So endith the lesson.

Oh, and by the way... I bought AAPL at $43... neener, neener, neener

+1. I'm sick of his "as a shareholder I..." stories too.

 

[jouster]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

all that hype is quite strange considering the "typical apple strategy". what will happen?

yes, apple will introduce an oversized ipod touch.
yes, apple will show books, magazines, video and games content on it.

but looking a bit closer, i can not understand why there is so much hype:

yes, this machine is going to cost a fortune. will it be 799$/799€? or 999$/999€? or even more (early adopters tax). is this good? no!

yes, apple will decide what you can watch/buy on this device. it kind of scares me that the one and only software source will be the app store. is it good that one company controls everything? controls even a large company like adobe or microsoft in what can be installed on the machine? where is OUR free will? where is our freedom of privacy?

i am also curious at what apple will bring on wednesday, but I can clearly see that this way is leading to a path that is not an open – and that worries me.

Your free will resides in your ability to refuse to purchase the device. Don't be so dramatic.

 

[dernhelm]

What ever happened to Tuesday usually being the announcement day for Apple?

I dunno, I kind of miss it.

That, and the days of live keynote streams by Apple.

 

[WeegieMac]

If this tablet does for portable computing what the iPhone did for the mobile phone industry, then Steve could well be spot on.

 

[tabasco70]

This tablet is going to be legendary.
More legendary than the slate upon which the ten commandments were written upon.

 

[Shasterball]

Hahaha. Sucks to be his wife or kids. "Hey guys, this little computer is the most important thing I have ever done. Not get married and raise kids. The computer. Everyone got that?"

...

 

[bobob]

This tablet is going to be legendary.
More legendary than the slate upon which the ten commandments were written upon.

Well that's for certain.

Those things aren't worth the rock they're written on!

 

[Shasterball]

A P P L E LOVERS DO YOU REALIZE WE ARE WITNESSING HISTORY!!!???

• 1998 = iMac
  
• 2001 = iPod
  
• 2007 = iPhone
  
• 2010 = ????

and for those who remember the unvailing of the iMac in 1984 them too....

WHAT COMPANY DOES THIS!!!!!!????? WHAT CEO CREATES THIS??????

WE ARE SERIOUSLY SEEING HISTORY!!!!! A P P L E = COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION

Ummm, buddy. Ever hear of advances in medicine or basic research? Lol. A lot of companies innovate -- and in areas that dramatically affect not HOW people live their lives, but IF they live their lives. The next time you drink clean water or take penicillin (for granted), maybe it will put things in perspective.

 

[*LTD*]

Ummm, buddy. Ever hear of advances in medicine or basic research? Lol. A lot of companies innovate -- and in areas that dramatically affect not HOW people live their lives, but IF they live their lives. The next time you drink clean water or take penicillin (for granted), maybe it will put things in perspective.

I think he meant consumer tech/gadgets, etc.

Not sure why he's flipping out, though.

 

[carltabet]

I think that if owners of a MacBook AND an iPhone stand in line to get the tablet, Apple will have really succeeded with this product. They would create yet another need for a product many didn't think they needed that much.

 

[OasisNYK]

I think that if owners of a MacBook AND an iPhone stand in line to get the tablet, Apple will have really succeeded with this product. They would create yet another need for a product many didn't think they needed that much.

Agreed - but I think this rumor about it being "the most important thing" Jobs has ever done is just hype.

There are definitely expectations and this is another step in changing the way we use technology but it is still hype to get people excited about Jan. 27th and the new product. It is what Apple does best.

 

[fruitpunch.ben]

Well of course it's the most important thing he thinks he's ever done. And why? Because he will finally have a computing platform that is entirely locked down (as it is all but assured the Slate will run a variant of iPhone's OS). And there's nothing Steve loves more than anything than a walled garden and absolute control.

This is not meant to be a snarky post. I really think he's excited about this prospect. He's a man of duality; on one side a great creative visionary, and on the other side the ultimate capitalist. It's hard for people like us who admire his creative force to make sense of the other. If the Slate platform takes off as the iPhone platform has, people will become used to this absolute loss of control with the products they own. More and more the majority of computer users will be using a travel-size device like the Slate (internet and media viewing, that about covers what 90% of users do with a computer). Desktop machines will continue to be used for pro apps, but that will be a diminishing market. Eventually no one will remember when your average computer wasn't locked down in this fashion, and most won't care anyway.

that's very interesting

 

[E.Lizardo]

um where have you been? everyone has been talking about this for a while now and a lot of ppl have beem waiting for one....it was excpected that there would be macbook pro updates, and its at the end of the cycle so what makes YOU think there WONT be an update? common sense....im just asking because we dont hear about macbook pros anymore, its all about the damn tablet

As others have said,when it comes they won't waste precious minutes of live event time on it.Cheer up though,it's still due any day now.

 

[smiddlehurst]

i actually like that idea... a computer that computer-retarded people can use... but how much simpler can it be?

i mean a mac, you turn it on. then you click the program you want to use, use the program, close the lid. the end. idk it already is pretty simple...

maybe it comes set up with the perfect set of freeware programs that are user friendly (moreso than linux):
-An Office Suite
-iPhoto
-iTunes
-Safari
-Maybe photobooth or a paint-esque program for fun

Really what more do you need for basic computing? I think Steve thinks that they overcomplicated things (yes... Apple overcomplicating things lol) so they put just the things you need in an operating system... Really with those programs, you can basically do everything you can on a computer, except video/image editing/ garage band.

I mean, maybe iCal and iChat, but what else would you need? (iTunes can replace quick time player....... maybe)

So maybe you're right; its a simplified version of a computer with JUST the programs you need. Extremely simple

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

Ah, but you need to think like... uh, well like someone who isn't used to computers. Let me demonstrate here:

"you turn it on. then you click the program you want to use, use the program, close the lid. the end. idk it already is pretty simple..."

That's indeed what you do when using a computer but drill down a bit. You turn it on, then you click the program you want to use with a mouse or trackpad which adds a layer of abstraction to your actions. That abstraction alone is enough to confuse a LOT of people. Open up your laptop, get to the desktop and try to put yourself in the position of someone with no technical knowledge and, maybe, very little computer experience. Suddenly you're faced with an entirely different world using entirely different terminology and abstracted in a way that maybe doesn't make that much sense anymore. You need to learn how to install software, how to use a suite of applications which - even on a basic OS X install - aren't consistent in terms of design and UI language and how to maintain the system. When you start really breaking it down even OS X is clunky and intimidating to a non-techie.

My thinking when I say 'consumer' is something built from the ground up for people who... uh, well, who aren't us. Something that takes away that abstraction layer, takes away the stuff most regular home users don't need and leaves them with an intuitive, simple system. Let me put it this way - take an iPod Touch and give it to someone who's never used it before. I'd be surprised if most people couldn't figure it out within a couple of minutes without any help. Take THAT experience and map it to a computer, a consumer device that anyone can buy, play with for a few minutes and start to learn for themselves without feeling that they need a comp sci degree.

 

[rdowns]

I think that if owners of a MacBook AND an iPhone stand in line to get the tablet, Apple will have really succeeded with this product. They would create yet another need for a product many didn't think they needed that much.

If that's who lines up to buy it, Apple is in real trouble. What they need are Windows users and non-iPhone users to line up for one. Jobs could release a turd and the faithful will get in line.