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The Evidence for the Mac Tablet

Re: Think digital hub...

Originally posted by paulie
Why use pens and virtual keyboards to write email when voice recognition is starting to reach the level where its usable?
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Because talking to a machine sucks! 🙂


bye. Andreas.
 
Something's Eventually Gotta Happen

These predictions aren't really predictions anymore. When the ipod first came out Steve Jobs said that Apple would continue to put efforts into creating hardware (assuming non-macs) that would fit into the digital hub strategy. That was 18 months ago. Something has to come soon.
 
A Portable Canvas!

Portable canvas, livingroom or train surfing, Quick and easy delivery of my projects to my clients "on something they can actually see them on!!"

If the edge is not more than 1/4 inch from the screen on all sides.

Give up a keyboard and mouse for weight and volume, of course.

I am so sold!
 
New DLDs this year

From what I can remember from reading an article last year (I believe it was one of Rothenberg's), I recall him saying that this would be the year of new Digital Lifestyle Devices. And with Steve stating at Macworld that this would be the year of the notebook, it leads me to believe that Apple is focusing on "smaller" things this year. 🙂
Of course, if the IBM 970 chip becomes reality, then that will blow that theory clear out of the water!! 😛
 
I'd actaully argue that, at least if you're like me, a Tablet Mac is a great idea but it has to be the right price and it probably wouldn't fly in America. Observe:

My at-home mac is an aging Prismo. I basically use it to sit on my couch and surf when the wife is watching American Idol. Now, if you could sell me a tablet to do that, great. Here's why: I live in Asia where a majority of the people ride public transport. While I can't take my PowerBook with me, I could take a bluetooth-enabled tablet and surf on the subway. Give it some iPod type features and I can now listen to music while I do it.

Now throw in a homepod-type device that hooks up to my stereo and plays mp3s beamed to it through WiFi. My entire CD collection is on a device no bigger than a paperback book on my coffee table.

Make it all for about US$800 (without the homepod) and I'm there.
 
Originally posted by Toby O Notoby

My at-home mac is an aging Prismo. I basically use it to sit on my couch and surf when the wife is watching American Idol.
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It's Pismo, not Prismo. just fyi.
 
I trust Apple to make something cool, that will be useful and make people flock to the stores to get one. I envision something barely able to be fit in a pocket, and be a sort of mini laptop when on the road, and at home is a "remote control" for your home Mac. Surf anywhere without a laptop, a combo of handwriting recognition, voice recognition, and virtual keyboard (to make everybody happy, possibly an add on keyboard) and I would have to rethink if I want a laptop and a desktop, and just get an iTablet and a desktop. It also means more airport extreme sales. I think Apple can make it work. After all, they made the iPod, when nobody thought we needed another mp3 player.
 
Personally,

I already backup all of my info on the iPod - pictures, documents, etc

The thing is, I can only access the tunes - I think it would be pretty cool to see my documents, pics, and movies, all on a small device

I don't think 8" is too much (especially widescreen).......for $1500 though, thats too much......$1000, I think I would do it
 
I personally would love to see a detachable screen on the iMac G4s. Imagine detaching the 15" or even the 17" and using that AS your tablet.
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This is a fantastic idea, one i had myself. I like the way you think, Christopher. 🙂

I don't understand the problem people have with a tablet. You don't have to have only one input(pen and screen). What is wrong with multiple ways of imputing information?

As a bare minimum, I would simply be happy with option to disconnect the monitor flip it over and reconnect it if I want to use a pen input.

Ideally I would think the more ways to input information the better. Why not incorperate them all as a standard? Pen, keyboard, voice... all of these offer unique benifits. And give the user more freedom.

The question is... are these technologies sophisticated enough to be useful at the moment. Parallax when using the pen. Too big of a border on the screen, as someone else mentioned( that would be annoying to me). Smooth, and fast pen applications. If anyone can perfect the design challenges it has got to be Jobs and company.
 
timeframe?

I think it seems pretty clear that some sort of device like the ones described in this thread is being developed by apple.

It seems like there are several questions:

1) If such a device is in development, will apple decide that a big enough market exists to merit a release?

2) If they decide to release it, then when? I suppose that they wouldn't release such a product until at least the second half of this year. This kind of product seems fabulous, but also like a bit of a luxury, and it would do a lot better if economic conditions were more favorable (I'm assuming the economy will pick up by the second half of the year). My wish, however, is that they decide to release it tomorrow...🙂

3) What are the features of the product? A lot of exciting possibilities have been thrown around in this thread. I personally would love to see (and buy) an 8-inch tablet-like device that could work in the home as some people have described, but that I could also pop in my bag as a too-big-for-my-pocket-but-smaller-than-my-ibook-uber-pda.
 
People seem to keep mentioning using a OS X light or whatever. I don't think Apple would ever develop this, for one reason: look at the iPop, they have already developed a new OS for that, which far exceeds the needs of the iPod. The only reason for this is surely so it can be used in more devices to do more things. Having said that I dunno much about the OS on iPod. Any one got any info on it, what's it's name, capabilities etc. I wonder if its unix based as this would make sense.
 
Originally posted by kwokc
These predictions aren't really predictions anymore. When the ipod first came out Steve Jobs said that Apple would continue to put efforts into creating hardware (assuming non-macs) that would fit into the digital hub strategy. That was 18 months ago. Something has to come soon.
Click to expand...
You're right, Apple's been updating exisiting products on an every six to eight month timeframe, and yet we're still waiting for this new device.

Something will come soon. Before fall, and the PowerPC 970.
 
iPop?

Originally posted by dstorey
People seem to keep mentioning using a OS X light or whatever. I don't think Apple would ever develop this, for one reason: look at the iPop, they have already developed a new OS for that, which far exceeds the needs of the iPod. The only reason for this is surely so it can be used in more devices to do more things. Having said that I dunno much about the OS on iPod. Any one got any info on it, what's it's name, capabilities etc. I wonder if its unix based as this would make sense.
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iPop? It seems that I'm uninformed again, do you know where I can find out something about this iPop thing? I've never even heard of it. . .
 
I would love a Apple Tablet, (I own a PbG4) as I work in a Hospital (med student), and as electronic clinical archives are starting to become more common, you can see plenty of tablet PC's with a WiFi link to the databases in the senior doctors hands..
 
I wouldn't buy it unless it came bundled with software to "rip" dvd's you own a la iTunes to put into a movie play list that you could carry with you.

If I could have a device with 20 or more movies on it to watch, I'd be first in line.

Plus, something with that amount of data might need the FW800 bandwidth.
 
Bring it on!

I have been waiting for just this exact device! I am looking for a portable, mp3, mp4 audio/video player! With the ability for me to go online with. That's all I need on the road. 8" screen? Perfect size for such a device! As long as it has a dvd/cd drive of some sort to rip music & vid's, I think this would be an awsome piece of technology. Of course it would boot into osx only, so imagine how optimized it would be. I would get one for sure!
 
Originally posted by MacWhispers
Two words: Proprietary applications

Vertical markets with legitimate uses for narrow-focus handhelds or tablets are already using them, made mostly by Symbol or Fujitsu, respectively. This has been a steadily growing market since the early '90's, with the Epson EHT series handhelds responsible for mining hundreds of these applications, from maintenance tracking, to route delivery, to inventory, to... with a simple MS-DOS based programming environment. And, each usage, and even individual customers tend to have their own closed, proprietary, extremely focused application that runs on an equally focused "handheld."

So, in reality, the last place a highbrow Apple product would find success is in the vertical applications arena. Simple, rugged, and inexpensive are the keywords there.

The other sought-for market space, especially for the tablet PC, is the so-called "executive" market space... supposedly filled with millions of harried highly placed managers in suits, running around all day, wanting to carry around an over-sized $2,000 electronic note-taking machine. Right... For the record, if there even is such a commercially viable market space, it is already hugely a Wintel customer base. And, since a tablet will tend to be an adjunct machine to one or more Wintel PC's already owned by a customer, there is very little hope that Apple could find any substantial numbers at all in that space.

Apple knows this reality, as they are very capable of doing simple market research. So, there will not be a stripped down handheld coming from Cupertino, nor will we see a heavily bloated "tablet" of the type being promoted from Redmond.

That leaves either (A) a full-blown, OS X running mama of a handheld Mac.. or (B) a smallish, stripped down thin-client style tablet, as reasonable Mac products... as neither would bump head to head with the Wintel hegemony, or with the entrenched vertical application space. Either would tend to find its own, new, unexpected market.

I continue to get odd comments and facts from OEM and ODM sources upstream from Apple that don't fit with present products, at all, but that do (or could) fit with some new, smallish, carry around product.
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Sorry for the long quote, but it is all relevant.

This vertical market you are referring to is not new to Apple with these devices. In fact, it is this precise market that the Newton 120-2100 were aimed at. The Newton was more successful than the books or articles would have you believe, and I know for a fact that hospitals, wharehouses, embassies and other large-volume corporate areas purchased the newton for all of the reasons you stated above. I imagine they would still be using the Newton if support had not been discontinued from Apple. It was the Newton's hybrid identification (Tablet or PDA?) that made it attractive to such a wide range of users. The price tag, however, especially at the $1199 that it sold for (the 2100) would not fly today. Of course, a Powerbook in 1997 would have set you back a cool $4500 for the bottom line machine-Powerbook 3400, anyone?

I think in order for Apple to be successsful in this area, they have to do what they always have done--make something that we need/want/will make life easier that we haven't realized that we need/want/will make our lives easier. The Macintosh, iMac, the iPod, heck even the QuickTake (for those that remember) were all along these veins. they sold/sell because they provide something that was already there, but filled a gap that existed.

My 2¢

Regards,
Gus
 
I agree that the Apple should not make a PDA or tablet device, tier is not really much of a market for it, and it will probaly only sell to mac users, so I think Apple is playing it smart.
 
I think most of you are not understanding what a tablet like device is for. It's not for casual use, it's not for games, and it's not a Web device. What it is is a portable tablet, to be used in business meetings, either as a presentation device, ie Keynote, or as a sketch tool. Alias Wavefront already has a program called Sketchbook Pro that is specifically made for Tablet PC's. It's a portable unit for artists to take with them anywhere they go. It's not as cumbersome as a Laptop, especially when you need to attach a Wacom tablet to it.

I for one would think about buying an Apple tablet only if Alias Wavefront releases Sketchbook Pro on it. But, if it uses Photoshop just fine, then I would be fine with that too. However, if the tablet can't hold more than 500 MB of ram, then it wouldn't be worth the money IMO.
 
Friend of a Friend

I work as a contractor and when I was working on-site for a client a couple of months ago my boss at the time told me that one of his collegues said she had seen a Mac tablet demoed. He quized her about it and she swore she saw a Apple logo on a device that looked kind of a regular iBook/PowerBook but with a removeable screen.

Take it for what you want.
 
Not a laplet

To me the ideal Mac Tablet is basically an iBook, minus the keyboard plus a 9" touchscreen.

These hybrid laplet devices are pointless because of their size, you might as well save the $$ on the big screen and twist-off hinge and a buy a proper laptop.

No, the tablet is 2nd computer that you drop in your bag to take notes in a meeting or surf on the sofa or play DVDs on the bus. It is more convenient than a laptop as you can use it anywhere.

I think the thing is to forget 'vertical markets' and just bring out a cool useful device for $1000. Aim it at everybody.
 
The tablet would be perfect for a university setting. I would love to have a tablet to take notes on. A laptop is not practicle, becasue of the typing noise and ackward auditorium style seating.

The tablet would have to be quiet, and have a long battery life. Also should have a large drive for movies, music etc. But I dont think you need any drive, just use FW800 to connect to your mac, if you need a drive, then perhpas they should make an SE version. Airport is a must.

Just imagine sitting in class and your prof sends you information wirelesly or you do some research in class, all while taking your notes. Sounds good to me. Price it under1200 and I'd buy one.
 
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