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What Will be the Killer Feature of an Apple Tablet?

I don't understand the desire for Snow Leopord or any other standard OSX on a tablet. That's exactly why PC tablets have failed - the operating system isn't designed around a stylus/touch. I don't want a dock and tiny menu bars and even smaller scrollers. I want an OS designed from the ground up for a tablet. That's the only way it will work. It's one of the reasons the iPhone is so successful, and so much better to use than smartphones from a few years ago - which ran an OS that functionally resembled a scaled down Windows XP.

I love all these price estimates too. $800 for a cutting edge, 10" touch screen device - probably with a SSD and enough horsepower and ram to enable most computing functions? You've got to be kidding me. That's what an iPhone costs unsubsidized. Unless this new device is subsidized by a 3G service provider, or Apple is willing to take a hit on hardware with the hopes that a robust app store will make up for it, this device will sell for well over $1000.

And that's the main problem I see. The market is definitely there for a well designed product like this - but not at those price levels.
 
With the iPhone, iPod Touch and a handful of 13" laptops I can't understand why Apple would want to release a tablet as well. If the rumours are to be believed then the next gen Touch is going to move even further into iPhone territory. I think that the tablet will either add to this or it'll start to compete with the smaller entry level MacBooks.

If it runs on the iPhone's OS or OS X then I think because of its size it'll be too awkward to use. Maybe they'll introduce an alternate OS that's far more reliant on the touch screen, minimise the use of the keyboard, rely more on voice commands.
 
Just a thought.
hmm if this tablet comes out i dont think ill be buying it
for one reason being the first generation of this product will be cool but what about the 2nd?
 
rtdunham said:
People don't seem to value iChat's potential the way i do (there's an old joke my grandmother used to tell, about watching a parade and observing, "everyone's out of step but my grandson...")

anyway, just one example: Last night i had 14 family members over for a cookout. One of my daughters was in town from florida with her boyfriend; my other daughter was stuck in boston. There were three people at the party daughter #2 had never met. We hooked up via iChat, and i walked the 13" MBP through the house, aiming it at various guests--she chatted with those she knew, and was introduced to those she hadn't met before--she saw and heard them and all of them saw and heard her. Not the same as being here, but certainly second best.

Daughter #1 and bf had strung christmas lights thru the trellis over the patio where the cookout twas to take place, so i carried the MBP out and gave daughter #2 a beautiful view of how it looked with the sparkling lights at dusk.

Way, way cool. Simple to do. And it would have been even slicker with a 10" tablet than with the open laptop moving around.

These kinds of uses, multiplied by a million unique circumstances, have to be the wave of the future: kids at a party? Old folks in the hospital? All the opportunities in between, when it's the next best thing to being there.

The question is what part apple will play in making it happen. When it's as easy and unique a treat as listening to music on an iPod was what, only five years ago?--then you've got a major breakthrough that would again be embraced by the masses.
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Great ideas!

I had a similar experience with older technology. My mom was in the hospital 1n 2003 for 2 months, before she died. I put her favorite photographs, recent pictures of her garden and familiar things around her house, ripped her favorite CDs (Willie Nelson and Jim Reeves) on my 17" AlBook. She really enjoyed keeping in touch, and a surprising number of nurses and doctors would drop in and enjoy the music and mom's pleasure.
 
Maybe a bit off-topic, but windows vista and windows 7 have tablet features built in, correct? I've heard those work well enough. I imagine apple can figure out something.
 
Kindle Killer

I think one of the target markets will be those people interested in the Kindle - the eBook market is set to explode and i would expect the size and weight to be optimal for that audience
 
Nausicaa said:
I don't understand the desire for Snow Leopord or any other standard OSX on a tablet. That's exactly why PC tablets have failed - the operating system isn't designed around a stylus/touch. I don't want a dock and tiny menu bars and even smaller scrollers. I want an OS designed from the ground up for a tablet. That's the only way it will work. It's one of the reasons the iPhone is so successful, and so much better to use than smartphones from a few years ago - which ran an OS that functionally resembled a scaled down Windows XP.
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And one of the main things I guess is also that sure, SL has awesome touch-thingies and iphone OS is built on cocoatouch etc etc. Great, Apple made a awesome OS for touch. But how about your apps you wish to use in osx? I have mainly heard photoshop, dont you need a new photoshop then? or can you use current one with touch easily?
 
chat, gps, ebooks and games all improve with a larger screen size. From a biz standpoint cheeper guts could mean higher profits.
 
Single Killer Feature for Apple Tablet

:eek:
25% iphone compatable apps+
25% kindle +
25% wifi-n +
10% frontrow
10% good camera/video
5% self standing/good dock
= 100% or 1 killer app easy
 
CQd44 said:
Maybe a bit off-topic, but windows vista and windows 7 have tablet features built in, correct? I've heard those work well enough. I imagine apple can figure out something.
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Yes they do, there's even an on-screen keyboard button on the login screen (on Windows 7 anyway, I dunno about Vista.)
 
instabill said:
I think one of the target markets will be those people interested in the Kindle - the eBook market is set to explode and i would expect the size and weight to be optimal for that audience
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Yep, I'm psyched about that, I have Kindle books on my iPod touch devices now, they can keep the Kindle but I'm totally hooked on reading their books on the iPod touch. Plus every time I read a review of a book I decide I'd like to read, I go to amazon and check off the "I want to read this on Kindle" or whatever that button says, so they can let the publisher know another county's been heard from. I'd spring for a sub to the New York Times on an Apple tablet.
 
Sehnsucht said:
Yes they do, there's even an on-screen keyboard button on the login screen (on Windows 7 anyway, I dunno about Vista.)
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Windows had a mobile phone OS before iPhone OS, too. We all know how that worked out.

As for Kindle - a colour screen will blow the Kindle out of the water. Apple appears to be setting up a Bookstore for the new device. Put that together with recent data centre news, (cocktail) iTunes album booklet rumours - if the price is right, they might be able to sell a few at Christmas.
 
albusseverus said:
Windows had a mobile phone OS before iPhone OS, too. We all know how that worked out.
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Never mind that, times have changed!

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BING!!!​
 
This device will revolutionize the way we see, perceive and use tablets. Much like the iPhone rewrote all the rules and is now the standard against which other devices are benchmarked against.

The ideas and concepts that will be introduced with this tablet will soon become industry standard, if not a completely new industry.
 
68.jpbl said:
How many people actually use tablets at the moment?
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4

I want an Apple tablet. This what computing is set to become. The smart phone market is showing us that and we will soon realize how scalable the technology is. Iphone OS was made for this.
 
We've already got the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Do you really think apple needs another device like this? Aren't they running the risk of killing off one of these devices by over saturating the market?
 
68.jpbl said:
We've already got the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Do you really think apple needs another device like this? Aren't they running the risk of killing off one of these devices by over saturating the market?
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Yes - ditch my iBook. Turning out for me using my Mini for heavier tasks such as video/audio editing - use a larger screen (even through my Mini is older/slower). Will use a Touch with a larger screen for surfing, e-mails, etc.

Killer Feature?

Welll, the ability to power and dial any Stargate and Quantum Mirror... :eek:

:D
 
Here's some wild speculation.


The other alternative is to connect the Tablet via Wi-Fi. This allows Verizon customers to utilize their Mi-Fi mobile technology while AT&T customers, along with most other international iPhone users, could use the tethering capability of the iPhone to connect the Tablet. This mode of connectivity allows the Tablet to be widely available across all carriers and it places a premium of relevancy on the iPhone as it becomes your Internet access point for the Tablet and other devices as well. This is a simple solution for the Tablet connection but the problem for Apple is that it presents a limited opportunity to subsidize the cost of the Tablet. A $50/month tethering charge from AT&T or a $50 a month Mi-Fi charge through Verizon won’t put much of a dent in the rumored $800 price tag on the Tablet.

This leads us at the Economic Weather Station to reason that Apple may tap into their $32 billion of cash to subsidize the Tablet by themselves. What if they offer buyers a two year iTunes subscription that provides all the necessary content for the Tablet to be a success? Tablet users are going to want access to newspaper subscriptions, magazine subscriptions, books, movies, apps, video games, etc... Apple could sell the Tablet for $399 along with the two year iTunes subscription and they would end up making more than the $800 for the Tablet. I find it hard to believe that Apple would ever want to abandon the subsidy model after experiencing the profits of the iPhone. iTunes has never been a profit generator for Apple and it has been the cause of much debate among content providers. A monthly payment works for the cable television industry so why can't it work for iTunes? It seems like a great alternative for the newspapers and magazines who don't know what to do about their declining advertising and subscription revenue and it seems like a great way for Apple to sell more hardware. A Tablet owner with access to all of the iTunes store content would be in media heaven. It will be very interesting to see how Steve Jobs brings this new space together.
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It's the stand, keyboard, cover

After mulling this for 2 days, and not reading all 535 posts this is my answer:

Take an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper and fold it in half. This is about the size of a 10 inch diagonal screen. Open the piece of paper at the fold, imagine the top half is the screen and the bottom is a giant multi-touch track pad. It's like a keyboard with no keys, and covers the screen when it is closed, or can hinge all the way around to store behind the tablet, or hold it up at any angle for viewing.

The killer part is that the trackpad is still functional when it is all the way behind the tablet, so you can tap on screen controls with your fingers behind the screen and not have to obscure your view. Try it with your piece of paper.
 
I havent read the whole thread but this seems like a glossy sreen would break easily not having something to protect it
 
dtfitzp said:
After mulling this for 2 days, and not reading all 535 posts this is my answer:

Take an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper and fold it in half. This is about the size of a 10 inch diagonal screen. Open the piece of paper at the fold, imagine the top half is the screen and the bottom is a giant multi-touch track pad. It's like a keyboard with no keys, and covers the screen when it is closed, or can hinge all the way around to store behind the tablet, or hold it up at any angle for viewing.

The killer part is that the trackpad is still functional when it is all the way behind the tablet, so you can tap on screen controls with your fingers behind the screen and not have to obscure your view. Try it with your piece of paper.
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What if the TrackPad is also a MultiTouch display?
 
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