It wasn't long ago when Jobs said that people should stick with Treo phones and be happy, when asked about a whether Newton would make a come back. iPhone is basically a Newton II with phone capabilities.
Moreover, Job also said that computers never should have TV. Now we have Apple TV. Perhaps not a computer with a TV, but pretty damn close.
I am sure Apple sooner or later will make a tablet, but it will be a Apple tablet and they will sure as hell not call it a tablet.
Learn that Job is all about smoke and mirrors.
Respectfully, I really am unpersuaded by the examples you suggest support the point you are making. iPhone is is far from Newton II, not just in terms of utility differences, but also the entire technological approach to iPhone is different than Newton II. Moreover, the stick with treo comments were prior to Apple's not so great experience with Motorola.
Secondly, computers not having tv is very different than taking downloads of television shows and songs off of your computer and putting them back on the tv. I would actually say apple tv is illustrative of the fact that tv should not be on computers as it serves to get the data off the computer and back to the tv. iTunes selling movies and tv shows is a great business concept and it serves the purpose of distributing the media, but in many ways the iPod an apple tv are the second step that pull the content off the computer.
Could apple eventually make a tablet, I have to say yes because I am not in the apple division addressing those issues. Is it likely? I think it is not.
Jobs is not all smoke and mirrors. Consumers of high tech items and even consumers generally are not as stupid as people assume and aren't on some sort of Pavlonian response system. If the product is not quality people take note, even if it is quality people still complain (read some of the threads in here). Jobs is passionate, perhaps to a fault sometimes, about what he believes will best serve apple's customers. I would suggest renting pirates of silicon valley, it is not perfect, but a pretty damn good representation. Smoke and mirrors would imply the stuff we buy from apple is not to the level it is is made out to be. This is not the case, in my opinion. Does Jobs do an amazing job at selling and promoting items and garnering interest, yes, but there is nothing wrong with it and it, in all reality, is the very thing that gives rise to existence of a message board like this one.
Finally, I just want to be clear that recognize that Jobs and apple can obviously change direction overtime. Clearly as the industry changes considerations have to be made as to both what apple thinks is the right direction and the direction of the industry as a whole.
