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What Will be the Killer Feature of an Apple Tablet?
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I think this "album booklet" thing is a bit of a red herring. At most, it would be an offshoot of something bigger: an ebook reader on steroids. There have been articles quoting unnamed record company execs complaining that they shopped this idea to apple and it rejected it. I would guess that is because Apple already had a better idea.
Imagine a totally interactive e-book reader linked into itunes: integration of software/hardware/internet and content. The potential of an endlessly expanding feature set.
Until now e-book readers, except for portability, have not been that appealing compared with paper books (price, value add, flexibility etc.). Could such a product be the tipping point?
Oh and voice and handwriting input would be good too.
Imagine a totally interactive e-book reader linked into itunes: integration of software/hardware/internet and content. The potential of an endlessly expanding feature set.
Until now e-book readers, except for portability, have not been that appealing compared with paper books (price, value add, flexibility etc.). Could such a product be the tipping point?
Oh and voice and handwriting input would be good too.
I hope it has a revolutionary kickstand so I don't have to prop it up against a wall when I want to watch something on it.
Gotta agree with you there, I cannot see a big ol' iPhone like device being useful if you cant use it easily on your lap, a counter, or a desk.
Then what if you need to type something but you need to use your other hand to position it so you can actually see the darn thing (we all know it will have a glossy screen
).Apple: you're smarter than this.
I think it depends on what Apple considers a tablet.
Me? If I could get a 10" iPod Touch, with a front facing camera and iChat thrown it, that would be a device worth having. It would be compact, light weight, and a GREAT media device for watching movies, playing games, etc. I have no need for a mini computer, though. But a giant iPod Touch? Hell yeah.
I don't know about in the professional world, but at least one medical school has purchased iPod Touches for all of its students. The Touch might take over for tablets in the medical profession. And if the Touch has any chance, an Apple tablet would have an even better chance.
But that's still a very niche market.
EBook Reader
Imagine the Kindle App from the iPhone on a bigger form factor (like the Kindle DX), Plus a good PDF viewer (unlike the Kindle DX), plus a ebook reader for open formats (ePub), plus a web browser and email client.
With the size of Amazon's Kindle store. The time is ripe for a killer eBook Reader. And this, my friends, is it.
And BTW, didn't Apple spend a lot of time demoing a textbook reader for the iPhone. Anyone else think it would be stupid to read textbooks on a screen that small? Those guys are almost certainly early targets for the Apple Tablet.
You heard it here first (or second, or whatever)!
--t
Imagine the Kindle App from the iPhone on a bigger form factor (like the Kindle DX), Plus a good PDF viewer (unlike the Kindle DX), plus a ebook reader for open formats (ePub), plus a web browser and email client.
With the size of Amazon's Kindle store. The time is ripe for a killer eBook Reader. And this, my friends, is it.
And BTW, didn't Apple spend a lot of time demoing a textbook reader for the iPhone. Anyone else think it would be stupid to read textbooks on a screen that small? Those guys are almost certainly early targets for the Apple Tablet.
You heard it here first (or second, or whatever)!
--t
Yeah, I have to say, Mobile Safari pretty much blew every other mobile browser out of the water.
I had an HTC TyTN and an iPod Touch and ended up installing WM6Router just so I could access the internet. The most visited website on the TyTN was diggriver, mainly because it was the only site that was legible on there!
I had an HTC TyTN and an iPod Touch and ended up installing WM6Router just so I could access the internet. The most visited website on the TyTN was diggriver, mainly because it was the only site that was legible on there!
For me, I think the pieces are almost there.
I kind of agree with the 'Kickstand' comment but for these reasons:
- You have the 'iTablet' on your desk on some kind of stand, and you use it with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse, (as I am using my MBP at the moment on a Griffin Notebook stand). I'm not suggesting BTW it should be a replacement for a real laptop, more spec-wise like a MacBook Air.
- I want to go to a meeting/cook/go to the toilet(!)/watch a movie/surf/read an eBook in bed, I can pick the 'iTablet' up and go with it.
What it needs is an application like Microsoft OneNote (for meetings in a business environment) and iTunes (Home Use).
If its dimensions are Kindle-esque then this could be a winner.
I would want one and would use it in addition to my MBP and it would appeal to me to be more mobile than a MacBook Air. If I wanted to take a laptop to 'work' somewhere that's my MBP. If I want to grab something to go to a meeting, etc then the iTablet would do it for me.
Oh, and it shouldn't be ultra-expensive (or niche!), it needs to be a grab-and-go product ata grab-and-go price.
The mobile-surfing element is here (in the UK) and will be soon (in the US) with the iPhone - Tethering.
Well, for me anyway!
- D
I kind of agree with the 'Kickstand' comment but for these reasons:
- You have the 'iTablet' on your desk on some kind of stand, and you use it with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse, (as I am using my MBP at the moment on a Griffin Notebook stand). I'm not suggesting BTW it should be a replacement for a real laptop, more spec-wise like a MacBook Air.
- I want to go to a meeting/cook/go to the toilet(!)/watch a movie/surf/read an eBook in bed, I can pick the 'iTablet' up and go with it.
What it needs is an application like Microsoft OneNote (for meetings in a business environment) and iTunes (Home Use).
If its dimensions are Kindle-esque then this could be a winner.
I would want one and would use it in addition to my MBP and it would appeal to me to be more mobile than a MacBook Air. If I wanted to take a laptop to 'work' somewhere that's my MBP. If I want to grab something to go to a meeting, etc then the iTablet would do it for me.
Oh, and it shouldn't be ultra-expensive (or niche!), it needs to be a grab-and-go product ata grab-and-go price.
The mobile-surfing element is here (in the UK) and will be soon (in the US) with the iPhone - Tethering.
Well, for me anyway!
- D
So the question remains, what added value has Apple decided it can provide?
Added value:
It's not Windows.
It's not Linux (which has no QT support).
Proper rendering of PDF (or whatever other format) for eBooks.
It's not a Kindle (which is absolutely awful. There! I said it; the Emperor really doesn't have any clothes.)
$700? I'll buy it (assuming it works well - and Apple wouldn't release a second rate device). Subsidized through Verizon for $200 and requiring a $1200 contract? Apple can kiss my nappy....
Added value:
It's not Windows.
It's not Linux (which has no QT support).
Proper rendering of PDF (or whatever other format) for eBooks.
It's not a Kindle (which is absolutely awful. There! I said it; the Emperor really doesn't have any clothes.)
$700? I'll buy it (assuming it works well - and Apple wouldn't release a second rate device). Subsidized through Verizon for $200 and requiring a $1200 contract? Apple can kiss my nappy....
Laptops look crap near home entertainment setups. They make you house look like a student dossheap. They're also noisy at inconvenient times. They're bulky. They take ages to boot up.
It really is nothing like a laptop.
Apple didnt invent the Mp3 player or the cell phone they only made them better and easier to use.
I see a tablet doing the same thing of merging and improving the netbook market, the eBook market, the portable DVD player market, the portable gaming market , and hopefully the Wacom tablet market.
The killer feature is that this one device will (hopefully) do all of the above better than their counterparts.
I see a tablet doing the same thing of merging and improving the netbook market, the eBook market, the portable DVD player market, the portable gaming market , and hopefully the Wacom tablet market.
The killer feature is that this one device will (hopefully) do all of the above better than their counterparts.
Software
I hope the tablet ends up being a downsized, multi-touch laptop. Full featured Mac OS with a CDS/DVD drive to load software.
I hope the tablet ends up being a downsized, multi-touch laptop. Full featured Mac OS with a CDS/DVD drive to load software.
That'd be interesting, have barcodes or rfid tags on patients beds. Then have the patients chart and medical history come up for the doctor.
House would love that! We all know he uses wikipedia for his crazy diagnosis's (diagnosii?)
I would like
1. Must be about 9-12"
2. Touch screen but also able to use a light pen of sorts so that I can use SketchBook Pro
3. Web Cam
4. Full OS, with the ability to install extra software
5. Wireless and Bluetooth
If it was possible
Dockable via iPod 30 pin connection.
external monitor support ( I mean how small is mini display port)
Oh and I would like to pay about £900 for it.
I would love a tablet I really do but if they launch one without the ability to use a light pen or stylus I will go and get a PC tablet by then end of this year.
1. Must be about 9-12"
2. Touch screen but also able to use a light pen of sorts so that I can use SketchBook Pro
3. Web Cam
4. Full OS, with the ability to install extra software
5. Wireless and Bluetooth
If it was possible
Dockable via iPod 30 pin connection.
external monitor support ( I mean how small is mini display port)
Oh and I would like to pay about £900 for it.
I would love a tablet I really do but if they launch one without the ability to use a light pen or stylus I will go and get a PC tablet by then end of this year.
Get a laptop with hardware video acceleration and never turn it off. I don't understand how people can still complain about boot times in this day and age unless you have a few hundred processes at startup.
Yes it sounds like a laptop and I use mine for what you described except for in the car.
Education - Apple's hidden market
This device could well become a very powerful tool in Education. Apple once had a massive following of developers creating applications in Hypercard and the such. THis device brings web based learning content and apps to a form factor more attuned to the Educator and Learner needs. Everything adds up. Where iPod found itself gradually adopted into Education around 5 years after launch, this device will make true "mobile learning" work much, much sooner I am sure.
This device could well become a very powerful tool in Education. Apple once had a massive following of developers creating applications in Hypercard and the such. THis device brings web based learning content and apps to a form factor more attuned to the Educator and Learner needs. Everything adds up. Where iPod found itself gradually adopted into Education around 5 years after launch, this device will make true "mobile learning" work much, much sooner I am sure.
That'd be interesting, have barcodes or rfid tags on patients beds. Then have the patients chart and medical history come up for the doctor.
House would love that! We all know he uses wikipedia for his crazy diagnosis's (diagnosii?)
Agreed the ability to have multiple uses across' business' is a great idea, the ideas are endless with a full OS and SDK kit for the touch screen side of things.
Apple+Tablet=TappleT
Yes, multi-touch! Yes, games! Yes, interactive booklets! And yes, more!
Facial recognition security. Inkwell exploitation. Handwriting recognition: text-to-speech and audio-to-text. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Tight integration with iApps: iPhoto-to-go with image editing capabilities and integration with MobileMe. Stream video. Control iTV. Web browser Flash support. iCal video conferencing. The sky's the limit for TappleT!
Yes, multi-touch! Yes, games! Yes, interactive booklets! And yes, more!
Facial recognition security. Inkwell exploitation. Handwriting recognition: text-to-speech and audio-to-text. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Tight integration with iApps: iPhoto-to-go with image editing capabilities and integration with MobileMe. Stream video. Control iTV. Web browser Flash support. iCal video conferencing. The sky's the limit for TappleT!
I've been just assuming that this would be a feature. I can't imagine a tablet having much appeal to many people without this.
You never know.
I agree, but again, the price has to be right, which means it must be subsidized. Most of the people that are going to buy this probably already have a macbook. Having just received my new 15" MBP today (yay!) I want a tablet, have wanted ever since the first rumors started flying around, but if the cost is going to be around $800, I won't buy one, and if that was the price range I was in and looking for a new mac, I'd spend $200 more and buy a full featured MB.
It's going to be feather light and self charging and can fit in an envelope.
Ah, a new MacBook Matzo.
I honestly don't get it.
Big enough for movies? It's a FLAT SURFACE, do I watch it placed lying across my lap on a train and spend the journey looking down at my crotch? Or do I have it placed vertically against a mountain of drinks bottles that I have created on the table just to watch something?
Big enough for movies? It's a FLAT SURFACE, do I watch it placed lying across my lap on a train and spend the journey looking down at my crotch? Or do I have it placed vertically against a mountain of drinks bottles that I have created on the table just to watch something?