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Where's my tablet touch pad thing! im tired of waiting... PLEASE!!!

C

crm114

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 20, 2008
64
0
Midwest
seriously - i know its an old (mostly completely rumoropic) topic, but anyone got any new news on the apple tablet? Ive seen the hacks and builds of wacom/LCD cintiq stlye tablets- but they are missing the little apple logo on it...

thanks!
 
Can someone explain to me why people want these so badly? I must be the only person who doesn't see the use of it.
 
Ultimate creative potential running the ultimate OS. :rolleyes:
I'm interested in seeing how Apple handles text input in such a device. Being a programmer, I need a way to input text and symbols quickly.
 
let me clarify my needs:

I am an illustrator as well as an architectural designer. I have about 15 9"x12" sketchbooks sitting in my basement full of sketches and drawings, buildings ideas, game ideas, etc. Up until this time, I have been scanning everything in and then modifying in photoshop on my MP. I would love to be able to draw and work right in the tablet and without the need to scan. I also need to be able to write (word processing) and do some basic page layout (Indesign) at the same time. Although my current process works fine, FOR ME, the ability to sit on a park bench, beach, couch, bed (haha) and draw or write, without the need to scan, send drafts to my desktop machine, etc. would be great.

However, i do know that there are limitations - both to accuracy of touch screen/tablets and the power of the device to run high-end software. I have used wacoms for quiet some time (almost ten years now), and even tried to do this with a standard laptop , but its just not the same. The Cintex line is pretty sweet, but its only the a "monitor". the "reversable" laptop style tablets that are out there now are just too bulky and don't have the virtual keyboard (something i love) -the one i tried at best buy had a hard time with my sketching. The CrunchPad seems like a good idea and maybe half way there - but its limited in the software it can run at this time (or when it actually gets released - if ever) - no photoshop, etc.

I have to say the MODBOOK looks amazing and pretty close to what i am hoping for. Its a little too thick and the price is too high (im hoping for a $1,000-1,200 device) but i will consider that if we dont hear anything from apple by september/october. Thanks for the link!

FYI - i never imagined 10 years ago there would be a device like the iphone now - so i still have hope for this device - but i realize i might be one of only a few that do.
 
crm114 said:
the "reversable" laptop style tablets that are out there now are just too bulky and don't have the virtual keyboard (something i love) -the one i tried at best buy had a hard time with my sketching.
Click to expand...

I just don't see how something like this would work with a virtual keyboard, and still remain "functional". It works fine on the iPhone, as you can perfectly wrap your hands around it and type with your thumbs. On a big tablet, you've got no such ease. Very slow and cumbersome typing is all I can imagine it being. Maybe Apple will blow us away, but right now I just don't see how they could do it.
 
yeah - that looks awesome! thanks for the link!

the screen seems a little small. not sure about the curved edges - i guess that is for holding it easily or something. was hoping for a aluminium case.

if this is real (i couldn't read the details on teh screen to check for time and date info - incase its a hacked image) it looks pretty close to realized. its just a little too blurry to say for sure. I do photoshop renderings and could easily hack that image.

also - why is it a meeting with apple and att? this isn't a phone - its a computer right? i know it could have those features built in as well, but everything i am reading lately says apple wants to expand their lines to other providers.
 
Probably not real, but it might not be that far of from what we will see.

crm114 said:
also - why is it a meeting with apple and att? this isn't a phone - its a computer right? i know it could have those features built in as well, but everything i am reading lately says apple wants to expand their lines to other providers.
Click to expand...

A lot of notebooks now from Dell include 3G connections built right in (like they started doing with wifi many years ago). So it would make sense for them to show att as

Apple would most likely include the same built in 3G technology, but they would use the technology that the entire world runs on, but in the US only at&t supports fully.
 
crm114 said:
let me clarify my needs:

I am an illustrator as well as an architectural designer. I have about 15 9"x12" sketchbooks sitting in my basement full of sketches and drawings, buildings ideas, game ideas, etc. Up until this time, I have been scanning everything in and then modifying in photoshop on my MP. I would love to be able to draw and work right in the tablet and without the need to scan. I also need to be able to write (word processing) and do some basic page layout (Indesign) at the same time. Although my current process works fine, FOR ME, the ability to sit on a park bench, beach, couch, bed (haha) and draw or write, without the need to scan, send drafts to my desktop machine, etc. would be great.

However, i do know that there are limitations - both to accuracy of touch screen/tablets and the power of the device to run high-end software. I have used wacoms for quiet some time (almost ten years now), and even tried to do this with a standard laptop , but its just not the same. The Cintex line is pretty sweet, but its only the a "monitor". the "reversable" laptop style tablets that are out there now are just too bulky and don't have the virtual keyboard (something i love) -the one i tried at best buy had a hard time with my sketching. The CrunchPad seems like a good idea and maybe half way there - but its limited in the software it can run at this time (or when it actually gets released - if ever) - no photoshop, etc.

I have to say the MODBOOK looks amazing and pretty close to what i am hoping for. Its a little too thick and the price is too high (im hoping for a $1,000-1,200 device) but i will consider that if we dont hear anything from apple by september/october. Thanks for the link!

FYI - i never imagined 10 years ago there would be a device like the iphone now - so i still have hope for this device - but i realize i might be one of only a few that do.
Click to expand...

There are two ways to go with this tablet thing.

One is to do a larger-sized, full-on OS X laptop with a touch screen that flips around so that you can draw on it, as you described. This is likely to be expensive and, at the end of the day, limited to a small market.

The second, which is more likely in my opinion, is to simply upscale the iPod Touch with a bigger screen, faster processor, faster graphics, etc. We KNOW this is coming from Apple; it's just a matter of when. The bigger screen and more computing power will hopefully allow uses like sketching (with a special pen) and full-on word-processing with a keyboard of some sort. You will not be able to run OS X apps, which will be it's limitation, BUT you will be able to tap into the 50,000 plus iphone OS based apps. If this form factor catches on, developers will no doubt write specialized apps to take advantage of the bigger scale of this touch pad.
 
dongmin said:
The second, which is more likely in my opinion, is to simply upscale the iPod Touch with a bigger screen, faster processor, faster graphics, etc. We KNOW this is coming from Apple; it's just a matter of when. The bigger screen and more computing power will hopefully allow uses like sketching (with a special pen) and full-on word-processing with a keyboard of some sort. You will not be able to run OS X apps, which will be it's limitation, BUT you will be able to tap into the 50,000 plus iphone OS based apps. If this form factor catches on, developers will no doubt write specialized apps to take advantage of the bigger scale of this touch pad.
Click to expand...
You pretty much said what I would have said. I think the OS will be extended somewhat for the device, maybe multitasking and windowed/split-screen views. Existing apps could work in a window or split screen, enlarge to fill the display, or extend to fill (like what Mac OS X windows do when resized). I can also see mobile versions of iLife and iWork on the device, as well as more extensive versions of existing apps. Since it uses a lighter OS (and apps) than a Mac OS X tablet, I think it would require less hardware specs to achieve the same amount of "snappiness," which means thinner and probably cheaper.
 
dizzy13 said:
When the people like John Gruber stop laughing at a rumor and start saying it's going to happen.
Click to expand...
Okay, so it is still rumor. Understand.

P.S. Personally would like to see a tablet based Mac. But will wait until I see it. The only concrete data point is the large purchase of 10.4" LCD screens. Then again, these could be used in an Apple Netbook.
 
sushi said:
Okay, so it is still rumor. Understand.
Click to expand...

Yeah, definitely still a rumor.

Funny thing is this rumor (I've recently found out) has been going on for many many years. The difference this time is it actually seems a lot more plausible. But like you said no matter who says what, until it's on Apple's website it's still a rumor.
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
Just like the PowerBook G5. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Good point (although in a way it was sort of fulfilled with the MacBook Pro).

Something I've noticed over the past two years is that since the 2007 AppleInsider rumor, the display size of this device has grown (from 5" to 8" to 10") and although the iPhone OS has been rumored for this device, recently a "hybrid" OS has been rumored.

It looks like rumors change over the years too…
 
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