What is the Ultimate Role of the Apple Tablet?

[MisterMe]

It might not be, but it works for generally 95% of documents out there, and for most office works, it's just 100% compatible. ....

Currently, OOo is compatible with 0% of .docx files. In its defense, NeoOffice handles .docx reasonably well, but not perfectly. NO not withstanding, it is unprofessional and stupid to cop the attitude that "I don't like Microsoft and I'm not going to use Office." For documents that I don't have to share, I use my preferred applications which are no parts of Office:mac. Even for Word documents, I prefer to distribute them in PDF form. However, this is not usually an option with Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

The lessons that we were taught in primary school still apply. Learn how to work with others.

 

[cmaier]

There is also a rich ecosystem of office add-ins that just doesn't exist for OO. For example, we use a program that integrates outlook and the office programs in order to automatically scrub out metadata when we send office docs as attachments, another which adds specific functionality for lawyers, and another which integrates with word to allow you to do document comparisons in a manner far superior to word's built-in capabilities.

They used to say "no one gets fired for using IBM." It's now true of Office. You don't want to be the guy that gets the reputation of putting his open source ideals in front of his and his colleague's abilities to get their work done.

 

[KnightWRX]

They used to say "no one gets fired for using IBM." It's now true of Office. You don't want to be the guy that gets the reputation of putting his open source ideals in front of his and his colleague's abilities to get their work done.

No one is saying the replacement solution needs to be open source. Some level of competition in the Office market would be great and would spur innovation, rather than the stagnating mess MS leaves us with.

 

[cmaier]

No one is saying the replacement solution needs to be open source. Some level of competition in the Office market would be great and would spur innovation, rather than the stagnating mess MS leaves us with.

I don't disagree. In the mean time, however, there is no acceptable replacement solution for the vast majority of people who actually rely on Office (as opposed to those who use it as a glorified notepad).

 

[KnightWRX]

Currently, OOo is compatible with 0% of .docx files. In its defense, NeoOffice handles .docx reasonably well, but not perfectly.

What was it I was saying about ignorance ?

NeoOffice is just a rewrite of the OO UI on Mac to make it more Mac friendly. The docx support you speak of is a OOo 3.0 feature.

 

[LagunaSol]

They used to say "no one gets fired for using IBM." It's now true of Office.

And one day the idea of being shackled to MS Office will be as quaint - and obsolete - as the idea of being shackled to IBM is now.

Hopefully that day will come soon.

 

[KnightWRX]

And one day the idea of being shackled to MS Office will be as quaint - and obsolete - as the idea of being shackled to IBM is now.

Hopefully that day will come soon.

Hopefully, that day we will have competition and not just another "No one gets fired for buying brand X" again.

 

[LagunaSol]

Hopefully, that day we will have competition and not just another "No one gets fired for buying brand X" again.

Indeed. What the Open Source movement really needs is an infusion of creativity to complement the programming prowess. There seems to be precious little attention paid to the end user experience, one reason I think Android is not (currently) a threat to iPhone.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/01/09/google-android-personal-thoughts/

Open Source is driven by code geeks, not visual or UI designers - and it shows.

 

[diehldun]

I had no idea so many people here have such hatred for Word...

 

[hitekalex]

I had no idea so many people here have such hatred for Word...

It's nothing to do with Word or MS Office functionality or usability.. (Some) people here are simply anti-Microsoft bigots, and no amount of reason can convince them that anything good can ever come out of Redmond. No point of arguing religion - simply use what suits your needs.

 

[ChazUK]

Open Source is driven by code geeks, not visual or UI designers - and it shows.

The geek in me would cry if it all got commercialised and fashonable

At least let us have our ugly (to some) but powerful (to others) software!

 

[cmaier]

The geek in me would cry if it all got commercialised and fashonable

At least let us have our ugly (to some) but powerful (to others) software!

Beauty is power. You offer a false dichotomy.

 

[KnightWRX]

It's nothing to do with Word or MS Office functionality or usability.. (Some) people here are simply anti-Microsoft bigots, and no amount of reason can convince them that anything good can ever come out of Redmond. No point of arguing religion - simply use what suits your needs.

And some are just pro-competition and interoperability. Vendor lock-in is never good, doesn't matter who does it.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 1.6; en-us; Archos5 Build/Donut) AppleWebKit/528.5+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Mobile Safari/525.20.1)

The geek in me would cry if it all got commercialised and fashonable

At least let us have our ugly (to some) but powerful (to others) software!

Beauty is power. You offer a false dichotomy.

Touché cmaier!

 

[MattInOz]

The geek in me would cry if it all got commercialised and fashonable

At least let us have our ugly (to some) but powerful (to others) software!

Who said anything about commercialised and fashionable?

Good design is rarely those things*. Which is exactly what the majority of useful OpenSource really needs some good design. Ok so it probably has that at the code level but it needs to come up a stack of notches at the interface level. Even just applying some really simple design rules.

That way it would be ugly to few, powerful to many.

*Well at least before release when everyone then tries to copy.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Who said anything about commercialised and fashionable?

Good design is rarely those things*. Which is exactly what the majority of useful OpenSource really needs some good design. Ok so it probably has that at the code level but it needs to come up a stack of notches at the interface level. Even just applying some really simple design rules.

That way it would be ugly to few, powerful to many.

*Well at least before release when everyone then tries to copy.

'The first step to a better GUI.

Dont use GTK.'

 

[DeeGee48]

I Think You're Missing Something...

How do you see what the fronside keyboard is doing when the device is upside down?

Feel great sure. But it is a multisensory activity. You can't see anything. Typing with zero visual feedback isn't going to be effective. Vast majority of people are not that good of typists. Similarly, composition becomes more difficult the longer the piece you write. [ not legacy typewriter transcription where folks take written word and type it up. ]

SORRY it took me so long to get back to you. I'm not sure you're quite grasping what I was saying. First of all, the device is NOT upside down, and secondly, you DO HAVE 100% visual feedback, and thus can see EVERYTHING you are doing. As you type on the back haptic surface, a virtual highlighted keyboard like the iPhone's pops up to show you what keys you are hitting. This would appear on the lower portion of the front screen. On the upper portion, the words you are typing---your document---would appear, so that you can see it forming as you go, the same as with any word processing program today.

The patent called for the haptic surface to have an engraved membrane that you could actually feel to aid you in learning to type from the back. Maybe this is the 'steep learning curve' some have spoken of. Another patent spoke of a touch-sensitive bezel that would also be used to input data. Yet another, of cameras behind the screen to sense the approach of your fingers and their movements WITHOUT them even having to touch the screen! (Hocus Pocus!) And then there is all the FingerWorks stuff that they came up with prior to Apple's obtaining them. Let's face it, there are MANY possibilities for this thing---it IS from Apple, after all---probably including many that NONE of us has ever thought of! But hey, the event is only 11 days away now!! We'll all know the 'real deal' very soon.

 

[Terminal.app]

I had no idea so many people here have such hatred for Word...

I've been wondering this as well. I own legal copies of Word for both Windows and OS X, and have got some snickers from my fanboi friends for using Office and giving MS money for it. WTF? I like Office, and software piracy is illegal. Some people need to grow the hell up.

 

[Ubuntu]

I'm in agreement with Mr. Gruber on this - the Tablet is likely going to replace low-end MacBooks. It's going to be Apple's response to the netbook craze. Too many people run out and buy netbooks, attracted by the low cost, easy portability, etc. Then they find out that:

1. Netbooks are slower than the laptops they're used to
2. Watching HD video on most netbooks isn't all that great (this is improving)
3. Standard desktop user interfaces don't translate well to a small form factor device
4. Battery life sucks (this is also improving)
5. Many netbook owners complain about small keyboards, low-resolution screens and poor pointing device implementations.

Many analysts were saying that Apple had to come out with their own netbook to compete with the rest of the industry. I think Jobs recognized the market for a small, portable device to access the net & media (but with a larger screen/form factor than the iPhone/iPod Touch), and acknowledged the common complaints surrounding netbooks. Then, instead of developing a "me too!" Apple netbook, he's redefining what we think a netbook should be ... et voila, the Apple Tablet.

Assuming of course that all these tablet rumors are true, then the last few days of January 2010 should be *very* interesting.

Wait, what?
1. Netbooks are most definitely slower, but I thought that was common sense. They use batterylife-focused components.
2. When did people start buying netbooks to watch HD videos?
3. My netbook is actually very nice to use, I use it with a Dell 17 inch Studio and I have no issues switching.
4. I get 9 hours on this thing, still. How does that suck?
5. Try the NC10. I actually prefer the keyboard on this netbook to my Dell. The resolution isn't great, but it doesn't affect me.

The tablet will most definitely have great advantages over the netbook, but then it depends on what you want from the computer. I use mine for writing/programming, as do many of my friends - I can't begin to imagine how uncomfortable that would be with a tablet.

 

[skinnylegs]

I actually prefer the keyboard on this netbook to my Dell.

...then Dell must make some pretty crappy keyboards. I've yet to find a keyboard on a netbook that is as comfortable as the one that came with my desktop.

I use mine for writing/programming

Look. The term "netbook" wasn't chosen arbitrarily. "Net" refers to the primary use of the device, which is accessing the intraweb and email. "Book" refers to the fact that it is about the size of a book and, to a large degree, capable of being moved from point A to point B with little effort.

...but the operative word here is *net*.

If you are using your netbook for programming and writing than you are an *atypical* netbook user and certainly not a target customer for Apple's forthcoming <insert whatever you choose to call it>.

My sense it that 1 Infinite Loop et al. will Applefy both the "net" and "book" experience and redefine the netbook.

Capesh?

I can't begin to imagine

Exactly!

So, carry on writing Linux code on your netbook, soldier!

 

[twoodcc]

hopefully we'll find out in a week or so. i personally think that this tablet will be able to run most of the iphone apps. i think apple would miss out if it didn't

 

[4DThinker]

SDK for the Kindle = apps on the Kindle. Yes, not a touchscreen (yet). I'll bet the next model is though. At that moment you'll have a tablet PC with ubiquitous (free) networking, and at a price your student's parents might actually be willing to pay. There are schools already experimenting with the Kindle for textbook/assignments/reference materials. Educational apps seem like a natural for one to me. Yes, I'm an educator.

 

[klrobinson999]

just thought of another potential name...good, I think:

iPlay

 

[quantman]

Think Streaming Video from your PC or Apple TV at Home!

I believe the Apple Tablet will allow you to watch movies streamed/stored from either your PC or Apple TV (using Wi-Fi) of course.

This could provide lift-off Apple TV sales. Maybe this Apple TV project was a Trojan horse set up by Steve, because he already had a vision for what the tablet would be.

So, think about the possibilities even on an airplane or in a hotel lobby. Any organization/company (including from Apple's cloud), who wishes to make some $ can stream movies or any education or entertainment video to your tablet from their movies stored locally on their airplane or hotel (just as examples) onto your tablet (either free, or for a fee).

The key here would be no reliance on the bandwidth or speed available via the telecom providers. This would also differentiate it quite signficantly from a desktop or an iphone, in terms of display size and a mobility platform.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I'd like to see the tablet have IR support. The reason is simple: imagine Logitech providing a program that turns the tablet into the equivalent of the Harmony A/V remote controller, only with more sophistication like perfect duplication of the remote functions of every A/V device in your system.