Just from a design standpoint,you'd have to kill Steve and Jonny Ive to get it to manufacturing.
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What Will be the Killer Feature of an Apple Tablet?
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Just from a design standpoint,you'd have to kill Steve and Jonny Ive to get it to manufacturing.
I'm riding on this bus with about 20 trustees of a not-for-profit and I ask, if Apple introduced a small 10 inch wide screen tablet device where you could have multi-touch access to your email, wiFi, perhaps 3G, a keyboard that would appear on the screen to answer those emails or type a short document, an e-book reader, presentation software, a full web browser, and a whole host of custom Apps for $799 would you be interested? ALL 20 said they would buy it immediately and dump their notebook. They want something more than an iPhone/iPod but less than a MacBook Air, thin, light, no keyboard. I asked why not a netbook? They said, ugly, underpowered notebook, an Apple tablet would have class and be very easy to use. This thing will sell like crazy.
Automatic syncing with desktop Mac - tablet as extension of desktop Mac
For years I have wanted a tablet which is literally an extension of my desktop system, to the point that the tablet is usable on its own (away from the desktop) but when reconnecting it to the PC the data on the tablet automatically syncs back to the host. Say I'm working on a document in NeoOffice on my Mac. I need to go offsite and want to keep working on the document, so I copy it to the tablet. When I return and plug my tablet into my Mac by Firewire or USB, the changed document is automatically copied back to the Mac.
Given Snow Leopard's "put back" feature in the Trash, it seems simple enough for a tablet Mac to use this same kind of feature to "put back" my document to its original location on my desktop system.
For years I have wanted a tablet which is literally an extension of my desktop system, to the point that the tablet is usable on its own (away from the desktop) but when reconnecting it to the PC the data on the tablet automatically syncs back to the host. Say I'm working on a document in NeoOffice on my Mac. I need to go offsite and want to keep working on the document, so I copy it to the tablet. When I return and plug my tablet into my Mac by Firewire or USB, the changed document is automatically copied back to the Mac.
Given Snow Leopard's "put back" feature in the Trash, it seems simple enough for a tablet Mac to use this same kind of feature to "put back" my document to its original location on my desktop system.
I'd say, besides being a handheld computer, a proper eBook reader implementation might be a very good selling point. Proper books in de iTunes store, to compete with the kindle for example. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions and downloadable content over 3G and WiFi.
You're not going to read eBooks on your iPhone / iPod as the screen is too small. You're not going to read eBooks on your laptop as it doesn't read well either. An intermediate device could fit a eBook reader very well, good enough screen estate. And looking at Apple's usability history it probably can compete very well against existing eBook readers. It will have the potential to do to the eReader market (which is not really big yet) what the iPhone did to the telephony market.
And besides eBooks, you'll get much more functionality (movies, internet, games, etc) as it's basically a small computer.
Only problem is what kind of screen it will be using. LED, OLED or ePaper? (battery wise)
ps. obviously a multi-touch (branch of the) iPhone OS as Apple's really into the gesture and multi touch flow right now... perhaps they'll incorporate biometrics as well? Perhaps a pico projector? (might be a killer feature)
pps. what about those free newspapers (worldwide: Metro, in the Netherlands: Spits, de Pers) being pushed daily to your tablet reader. It's cheaper and easier for both those free newspapers, and their readers.
Agreed. This is the "killer" feature. iTunes for books / magazines / newspapers / subscription blogs, etc. Already have movie rentals, movies, tv shows...in a device that's bigger than an iPhone but more conducive for reading than a laptop (and a bit easier to transport). Books and movies...better on the new tablet...
that's probably true. we might do it a bit sometimes but usually with a news story as a basis.
arn
you hit it right on the head. Alternative input methods implemented in other tablet devices have ALL SUCKED. Unless apple's gotten an incredibly accurate addaptive handwriting recognition system licked and/or an onscreen touch type keyboard (with tactile feedback) or both then this thing us going to be more of the same with garbage input.
It'll be a large format media player otherwise & it won't be much of a use to any serious user...
That said, apple's impressed me immensely since the return of Jobs... He's one clever sob... I can't wait to see what he's got up his sleeve.
Didn't both Gizmodo and PC World predict the iPhone would be a flop?
So much for the boneheads at Gizmodo and PC World!
Mark
We/I would have to read the articles you claim those companies claimed that the iPhone would flop.
However, I would bet that they probably said the iPhone would flop in the business sector...which is 100% true. Now maybe Apple will try next year to truly compete/integrate the iPhone into corporate culture (like the Blackberry) but right now, no corporations use it.
In one respect, I think the iPhone has been amazing for CONSUMER sales...but also it has failed in consumer sales (people like me)...iPhone has been tied to ATT for since Day 1 and no signs of it ever letting go. Without re-writing my previous posts in other threads, a lot of people (like me) can't go to ATT for NUMEROUS reasons not to mention the overall "plan" I am locked into...and I'm not talking about comparing a diehard iPhone user to a diehard Blackberry user for data/surfing...I'm talking about Joe Public who wants "the next" cool phone that can surf the web and stuff every now and then either to show off or actually get some use out of it...just like how the Razr was wicked pissa years ago and nowadays ain't so....and the Razr was available on numerous wireless carriers.
Seriously...no exaggeration here...out of literally the hundreds of people I know (friends/neighbors/co-workers/family/etc), I know of 1 person that has an iPhone. 1. Out of hundreds. We can sit here all day debating why, but the percentage speaks for itself...after 2.5 full years of being on the market (which is a LONG time in the cell phone world), a small percentage of cell consumers have one. There has been PLENTY of time (2.5 years) for people to dump carriers or let their contracts expire, choose ATT plans, buy different flavor iPhones, buy different generation iPhones, yet here we are with a low adoption rate. I'm certainly not saying the iPhone stinks...but I would argue it has not been embraced very well (which is different than WANTING to own one.).
-Eric
It almost needs to be done so that the keyboard is split in two half on each side where you could use your thumbs to type (holding the device in your hands) and the option to move a whole keyboard around the screen where necessary.
This would be stretching the capabilities, just a tad, for a true-to-form 'Unibody.'
The killer-app for the Mac tablet is the iPhone OS and SDK.
If this is going to truly be a tablet then it is meant to be held and moved about within a home, office, or on the go. It'll need the multi-touch gestures of the iPhone for input and a similar app layout. Games would take advantage of the same sensors the iPhone has.
iChat would be another killer app if Apple and support a chat protocal that's supported by major IM clients.
If this is going to truly be a tablet then it is meant to be held and moved about within a home, office, or on the go. It'll need the multi-touch gestures of the iPhone for input and a similar app layout. Games would take advantage of the same sensors the iPhone has.
iChat would be another killer app if Apple and support a chat protocal that's supported by major IM clients.
New killa feature
The new killer feature is Snow Leopard. Apple is at a fork in its operating system road (or at least it was a year ago). Apple's direction with the iPhone, Macs and new Tablet all benefit from a thinned out and optimized operating system. Apple needs to thin out Leopard so they could use it in a netbook without having to create and support another flavor of its OS like they do with the iPhone. Why else would they sell Snow Leopard for $30. It's this platform that will allow Apple to do "things" on a tablet that others can't.
The new killer feature is Snow Leopard. Apple is at a fork in its operating system road (or at least it was a year ago). Apple's direction with the iPhone, Macs and new Tablet all benefit from a thinned out and optimized operating system. Apple needs to thin out Leopard so they could use it in a netbook without having to create and support another flavor of its OS like they do with the iPhone. Why else would they sell Snow Leopard for $30. It's this platform that will allow Apple to do "things" on a tablet that others can't.
Books, not Booklets!
It's the books -- not just booklets -- that will be the killer feature. The Books section will just add up to the iTunes Store and will directly attack Amazon's Kindle! Imagine any books, comics, newspapers, magazines, and -- you guessed it -- album booklets displaying smoothly on a beatuiful device. One of the main advantages of a conventional color LCD versus a black-and-white eInk screen (as in the Kindle) seems to be the ability to reproduce full color pages that we all know and love from those glossy magazines.
I think this could really be a kick-ass device!
It's the books -- not just booklets -- that will be the killer feature. The Books section will just add up to the iTunes Store and will directly attack Amazon's Kindle! Imagine any books, comics, newspapers, magazines, and -- you guessed it -- album booklets displaying smoothly on a beatuiful device. One of the main advantages of a conventional color LCD versus a black-and-white eInk screen (as in the Kindle) seems to be the ability to reproduce full color pages that we all know and love from those glossy magazines.
I think this could really be a kick-ass device!
My Predictions
It'll be $799. Or, 499 with a verizon contract.
Run the iPhone OS or a close version, not full mac os.
Have an "amazing new ebook function" that will be proprietary, and it will NOT be compatible with nearly every other type of ebook that anyone uses. The books will be available via iTunes, and will be twice as expensive as anyone else's ebooks, and won't be compatible with anyone else's ebook readers. You also will not be able to read them on iPhones or iPod touches unless you buy a different version.
They'll sync with a computer, but not an iPod.
Tethering wont' work from an iPod (yet).
It'll play video, but not HD.
It won't really interface with a TV well (IE, NOT a portable AppleTV - they haven't run that device through it's entire lifespan yet, and they don't like to sell competing products)
Styluses will only be available as third party products.
No haptic feedback for typing despite their many patents.
No iChat. No cameras.
It has potential. ...but like most things (and unlike a very special few such as the iPhone) they will squander it in favor of self-promotion and proprietary requirements to provide additional revenue streams.
It'll be $799. Or, 499 with a verizon contract.
Run the iPhone OS or a close version, not full mac os.
Have an "amazing new ebook function" that will be proprietary, and it will NOT be compatible with nearly every other type of ebook that anyone uses. The books will be available via iTunes, and will be twice as expensive as anyone else's ebooks, and won't be compatible with anyone else's ebook readers. You also will not be able to read them on iPhones or iPod touches unless you buy a different version.
They'll sync with a computer, but not an iPod.
Tethering wont' work from an iPod (yet).
It'll play video, but not HD.
It won't really interface with a TV well (IE, NOT a portable AppleTV - they haven't run that device through it's entire lifespan yet, and they don't like to sell competing products)
Styluses will only be available as third party products.
No haptic feedback for typing despite their many patents.
No iChat. No cameras.
It has potential. ...but like most things (and unlike a very special few such as the iPhone) they will squander it in favor of self-promotion and proprietary requirements to provide additional revenue streams.
Why does it need to be thinned out? My 1.6GHz Atom netbook runs Leopard great - way better than my old G4 Alu Powerbook...
Magic Forcefield
That holds it up like a clam shell
Magic Keyboard
So you can type on a real keyboard like a clam shell
Wait a minute, just give me a 10" Air
That holds it up like a clam shell
Magic Keyboard
So you can type on a real keyboard like a clam shell
Wait a minute, just give me a 10" Air
This is a must. I have a feeling that the new Quicktime will have added functionality in such a device as well.
It better not be any sort of device that requires a monthly service or subscription (i.e. Verizon or any other carrier). I refuse to purchase any more device / application / whatever that requires continuous monthly fees. Charge me in full, up front and I'll decide whether or not I want it and I don't think I'm alone with that feeling. I pay monthly for wireless, internet, cable TV, etc and that's enough.
I love the idea of a tablet for at home use (carry my MBP and iphone everywhere else), but I won't sign up for another monthly service or additional payment.
I love the idea of a tablet for at home use (carry my MBP and iphone everywhere else), but I won't sign up for another monthly service or additional payment.
No. They aren't.
People rarely want what everybody will eventually be buying. Henry Ford said that if he asked his potential customers what they wanted, they would have said "a faster horse".
People who want new MacBooks have no idea how obsolete they will seem in another generation.
The iPod Touch has already turned out to be the killer app. It outsells iPhones, and it's market is increasing as regular iPods become less popular.
But an iPod Touch is too small for a lot of people who have no interest in buying any MacBook.
So there will be the small killer app (iPod Touch), and maybe the bigger killer app (more of the same, but without requiring people my age to go find our reading glasses).
(Plus AT&T likely doesn't have an exclusive on big iPod Touch's, even with cellular data radios...
imho