iTablet is a smokescreen!
Bring on the 970!
iTablet is not going to happen (soon anyway). Talk about another niche market that Apple doesn't need right now. They need to sell computers to people who need fast computers and ease of use. 3D, video, audio etc. This is where the big bucks are. They need to prove to the world that they can make great hardware and great software. Let the PC world fool with making a tablet market work, and then come out with something even better (worked for the iPod.) But the tablet market is not proven yet (not as much as the mp3 market was).
Personally I think a tablet right now would go the way of the cube.
iTablet is not going to happen (soon anyway). Talk about another niche market that Apple doesn't need right now. They need to sell computers to people who need fast computers and ease of use. 3D, video, audio etc. This is where the big bucks are. They need to prove to the world that they can make great hardware and great software. Let the PC world fool with making a tablet market work, and then come out with something even better (worked for the iPod.) But the tablet market is not proven yet (not as much as the mp3 market was).
Personally I think a tablet right now would go the way of the cube.
Comments
The rumors are getting a little ridiculous. For the longest time Apple seemed to be doing nothing and then all of a sudden we hear about the 970, iWorks, Panther, iChat 2, Cocoa QuickTime and all sorts of other things making Apple look like somekind of production monster.
I mean really...can Apple seriously be working on all this and can all this be released before the year end? I'd be surprised and in awe.
And if the 970, iWorks and Panther don't turn Apple's marketshare around, what will?
Originally posted by kim kap sol
Yeah I'd rather see Apple concentrate on the Pro lineup and the software at this point.
The rumors are getting a little ridiculous. For the longest time Apple seemed to be doing nothing and then all of a sudden we hear about the 970, iWorks, Panther, iChat 2, Cocoa QuickTime and all sorts of other things making Apple look like somekind of production monster.
I mean really...can Apple seriously be working on all this and can all this be released before the year end? I'd be surprised and in awe.
Why? We've had a couple of lackluster years. They have to have been working on something innovative. For whatever reason, maybe things are starting to come together soon.
Also, remember that OS X is more than a spiffy operating system. It's also the underlying technology that allows Apple to do some neat stuff, as soon as most people are running it. Since OS 9 has just recently been killed off, the time may be right to exploit this.
I don't actually believe there is a tablet set to launch, but I am willing to say that I am going on my gut about it.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
The rumors are getting a little ridiculous. For the longest time Apple seemed to be doing nothing and then all of a sudden we hear about the 970, iWorks, Panther, iChat 2, Cocoa QuickTime and all sorts of other things making Apple look like somekind of production monster.
I mean really...can Apple seriously be working on all this and can all this be released before the year end? I'd be surprised and in awe.
They probably have been working on all these products for sometime now (if rumors are true). Take the iWorks rumors fx. Making such a complex program suit takes a long time to complete, even if they could base it on AppleWorks or any other product they could have bought. If the iWorks rumors are true, they have probably been working on this product for a few years already, and I don't think they would hold its introduction back only because there's so many other products in the pipeline.
It's the same case with the rumored iTab (stupid name by the way). It's not just the hardware, but they have to make a lot of software just to make such a product of any use to the user. They have handwriting recognition but they'll need to alter a lot of programs to make them easy to use on such a product.
When the different development paths are complete they will eventually release the resulting products and it's probably a coincident if all these products are going to be released this year.
I am with you-speed is always a needed thing on my part-but Apple really does have to think about the dinamics of their company and the other percentage of the masket that would use a tablet/pda hybrid type of machine.
Originally posted by MGG
First, I think that Apple is putting an emphasis on their pro lineup. With the new pwermac, powerbooks and hopefully soon to come 970 Apple has come a long way just this year for being known as a relatively simple company. Second, this rumored product would appeal to a certain percentage of Apple's market. I can see business people and other people on the go who need something to keep them organized, on task and conected with their workplace using this as a convinient substitute for the office desktop. Third, and again i say this is just rumor.
I am with you-speed is always a needed thing on my part-but Apple really does have to think about the dinamics of their company and the other percentage of the masket that would use a tablet/pda hybrid type of machine.
I agree completely. If the rumors are true and Apple is indeed readying the iTab I think it's going to get a lot of attention.
The problem with the Tablet PC is that it isn't just a tablet or an notebook. It's an expensive mix of the two. I see a lot of people use the Tablet PC as a ordinary notebook. The tablet function is not something they use to often.
If Apple makes a true tablet at that size I think they have found a niche in the market were they're almost on their own. It's the right size to be truly portable. It'll hopefully run a true OS (OS X) with some added tweaks and touches. It will run regular programs that all sport hw recognition trough inkwell. If you want to type with a keyboard there's lots of options already, and I'm sure there will be made some especially for the "iTab". It's not a Palm and it doesn't need to be. There are already enough Palms in the world.
If the rumors are true I think Apple has a winner.
A. It's cheap
-and-
B. It has something truly revolutionary working about it.
The cube had the inovation... but for your average Joe, inovation at a high price wasn't worth it - the two need to work together.
As long as it's priced sub 700, I think Apple could give inovation at lower prices than those tablet PC's - have you seen those things? >2000 dollar pentium 3's with a 2 hour battery life - NO WAY!
O, I guess there should be a C as well:
C. It's small.
Of course, by looking at the MacWhispers' rumor of the size, it is small.
So, 800 MHz G3 + 20 GB HD + 1 USB port + 1 FW port + bluetooth + small form factor = true winner. - it can be done! Use the toshiba drives in the current iPod! The thing will be bigger than an iPod ( http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showph...sort=1&thecat= ) So, it is possible!!!!! It sounds most likely that it wouldn't have an optical drive as well... so even better for the size! It is possible... dream.
My 2 cents.
Originally posted by Bioflavonoid
It sounds most likely that it wouldn't have an optical drive as well... so even better for the size! It is possible... dream.
My 2 cents.
No optical drive is a given. So you'll have to have a mac OR an external optical drive to install software and to reinstall/upgrade the os?
Originally posted by NETROMac
No optical drive is a given. So you'll have to have a mac OR an external optical drive to install software and to reinstall/upgrade the os?
Ya, which I guess would explain the optional docking station listed on Spymac to be relseased for it.
Originally posted by Bioflavonoid
Ya, which I guess would explain the optional docking station listed on Spymac to be relseased for it.
sounds pretty much like a mini-iMac
Originally posted by cycle
sounds pretty much like a mini-iMac
No, I don't think it sounds like an mini-iMac at all. Why would they make that??? Err, they already have one. It's called the iBook.
It sounds more like a REALLY clever and useful tablet-mac. Most people don't even need the docking station. They'll be using their other macs to provide CD/DVD-access and AirPort/Bluetooth to provide connection to the internet.
The only use for a docking station would be for traveling and if you don't own another mac. Eventually we'll probably see a PC version of the iPad similar to the iPod evolvement.
Originally posted by spacemonk
Personally I think a tablet right now would go the way of the cube.
Yeah, into my hands! I bought a Cube. No one else did because they were perceived as lightweight (poor future investment) for the money, and wrongly marketed by being combined with a (then) expensive-as-hell 15" LCD.
(Ironically, it's now actually easier to get a Cube into dual-1.2 GHz range than a tower of the same vintage, so I don't know how the "future upgrade potential" argument was valid, but that is getting way off topic.)
The PC market has proved Tablet PC a success. The manufacturers have been caught short in their sales estimates and there's a wait from most manufacturers to get one.
I'm giving Apple the time it takes for Motion Computing - makers of the one of the better designed "slate" models - to bring out a Centrino model mid-year before jumping aboard.
A Panther equipped iTablet, with a Timbuktu-grade Remote Desktop, would absolutely kick ass. A lot of people would get hooked on the idea of wandering around controlling desktops remotely through AirPort, surfing the net by pen-tapping, filling in the odd FileMaker database here and there, reading PDFs like magazines, etc, etc.
Apple could clean up in the tablet area by simply shrinking the lid from a 12" iBook to an 8.5" pressure-sensitive screen, flipping it over and placing it where the keyboard is. A 1 GHz G3 would be just fine.
Of course, being Apple, and capable of a bit of style, they could do much better than this...
(If they choose to is another matter. My money is waiting for someone, Apple.)
Originally posted by Idiot
Although a tablet Mac would be nice, I think that Apple has pushed back major overhauls for the Pro range long enough, a DVD-RW would be nice for a start......
Person A: Powerbook. Doesn't need desktop because the PB is good enough alone.
Person B: iBook."It was cheap, and is fast enough for me"
Person C: iMac and tablet. "Iwanted a desktop hub, but also a cheap portable thatcould sync well"
Person
Personally, I thinks that Person D has a good setup: A 970 to do Photoshop, etc. on at his desk, and a tablet to read a novel on the couch. Personally, I think that all you "No Tablet! Apple should work on the Pro line!" guys will be clicking the "buy now" button for the tablet impulsively whether you admit now or not. No one will be openly complaining about a tablet if it comes out from Apple. Or or whatever the thing will be dubbed.
Well I cant see the so called iPad fit into that figure in any way. I think it would be at least 800-1000$ and that is its biggest problem. Why would we want to spend the same amount of money as on an iBook for an 'stand-alone iPad' which doesnt have optical drive, keyboard, mouse etc.
-Snowster
Originally posted by Snowster
Why would we want to spend the same amount of money as on an iBook for an 'stand-alone iPad' which doesnt have optical drive, keyboard, mouse etc.
-Snowster
because you're an internet/information junkie (like the rest of the people here who either post or merely lurk about) and you would love the idea of sitting on your toilet surfing the web while you take a nice big dump?