Apple begins bidding for Mac netbook manufacturing contract

245

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 97
    virgil-tb2virgil-tb2 Posts: 1,416member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post


    If it's a real netbook running the full OS X, with the full hardware feature-set of other netbooks, I'll buy one the instant it's announced. If it's a giant iPhone, or some feature neutered spartan version of a netbook, I'm going to smack someone in the head.



    Just the opposite for me.



    There are enough small notebooks in the world and the Air works very very well for this product niche as it is. I want something small (more or less pocketable), with touch technology.



    A touch-tablet *cannot* run full-on desktop OS-X, it would be incredibly frustrating and would likely only be useable with a stylus just like every other crappy failed tablet computer produced to date. Any pictures we see between now and the release of the tablet (if it's released at all), that have an OS-X desktop on the display can be assumed to be fake from the get-go IMO.



    If it's not going to be a touch tablet running the latest mobile OS-X like the iPhone, why not come out with one years ago? Apple doesn't "address markets" in the way that most pundits are assuming they are "addressing" the nascent netbook market. Apple creates strategic products that themselves create markets.
  • Reply 22 of 97
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    I wouldn't say I was "Bashing" anyone, and I do realize that Apple's first PowerBooks were among the workings of Sony, so was the Walkman, Discman, and Betamax. However, their PC's are just Windows machines, I do not see any real innovation there unless you can point some out.



    Their screens- a patented hybrid of matte and gloss. Gorgeous.
  • Reply 23 of 97
    gmcalpingmcalpin Posts: 266member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by walshbj View Post


    Tablet with optimized OS X. iPhone apps run like Widgets on it.



    Not going to happen. There is ONE version of OSX. There will always be ONE version of OSX.



    My guess: no keyboard (external Bluetooth keyboards optional), basically an oversized, super-powered iPod Touch.
  • Reply 24 of 97
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sandau View Post


    that's a given in my opinion. this new app store is a cash cow.



    If they do 1B in a year (rounding up) and half are free and the other half average $1 (rounding down, I think) they make a gross revenue of $500M. Multiply that by 0.3 and they make a gross profit of $150M. Not bad.



    (please adjust if any of the loose number are actually known)
  • Reply 25 of 97
    trip1extrip1ex Posts: 109member
    MacTouch.



    No keyboard.



    possibly 3g & ATT subsidized.



    App store
  • Reply 26 of 97
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bsenka View Post


    If it's a real netbook running the full OS X, with the full hardware feature-set of other netbooks, I'll buy one the instant it's announced. If it's a giant iPhone, or some feature neutered spartan version of a netbook, I'm going to smack someone in the head.



    For my purposes a sort of Big Brother to the iPod Touch would be an awesome product.



    The netbooks out there are kind of not really ideal for anything in particular. I am currently using a Touch that meets my needs far better than any netbook. Better battery life. More portability. Cheaper to buy and cheaper to load up with a lot of fun apps that are very easy to add via the App Store.



    The drawback to the Touch is that the screen is too small. Surfing the net with it is not ideal but doable. Typing on it is not ideal but doable. Go to a 10-inch screen and being as you've got more space behind the screen to cram in more technology, add more horsepower, and you've got a device that can do everything I need but still have an edge in terms of portability and battery life when compared to a typical netbook, though there would be a hit on both fronts compared to the Touch. There's no getting around that.



    Frankly if what you want is a full-featured computer to do more demanding work, existing netbooks just aren't capable enough to fill that role well. If, for instance, I want to do some visual work ? still photos, movie editing etc. - I have no desire to do so on a 10-inch screen. I have a 32-inch monitor attached to my desktop and that's the device I would do that work on, when given a choice. For a portable device I have other uses in mind that a larger, more powerful version of the Touch could handle quite well.



    To me this speaks to the problem other tech companies have when putting devices together. They go for the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, cramming in as much as they can and delivering it at the lowest price possible by cutting corners left and right. Apple, on the other hand, is less likely to deliver a heavily compromised portable device. It will have some very specific functions for which it will easily be the best suited to in the marketplace but be versatile enough that there will be uses conjured up later by consumers that Apple engineers haven't even considered.



    If you want a complete computer system but compact and on the cheap, there are tons of companies delivering that as we speak, though obviously none of them run a Mac OS. Apple will not and should not take that path because the notion of trying to do some things on a 10-inch computer is misguided. You simply can't do justice to certain activities using such a small form factor. All Apple would do in enabling that is to create a product that customers would not be happy with. They haven't done that in the past, why start now?
  • Reply 27 of 97
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    I seriously doubt Apple will want to make another eMate. That is to say, make a laptop out of the iPhone as they did with the Newton. I think they will need to come up with yet another GUI and input system separate from the Mac's and the iPhone's.



    If it is a touch based tablet, I believe a bluetooth keyboard (and mouse) will also be sold as add-on accessories. This device will need to blur the line between a handheld and a laptop. There must be a physical keyboard to get any serious work done such as programming, writing, etc. And an on-screen keyboard for short text entries.
  • Reply 28 of 97
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Carmissimo View Post


    If you want a complete computer system but compact and on the cheap, there are tons of companies delivering that as we speak, though obviously none of them run a Mac OS. Apple will not and should not take that path because the notion of trying to do some things on a 10-inch computer is misguided. You simply can't do justice to certain activities using such a small form factor. All Apple would do in enabling that is to create a product that customers would not be happy with. They haven't done that in the past, why start now?



    So are you saying that if you want something with a small form factor, light and portable to edit photos- you're basically out of luck and should remain that way?
  • Reply 29 of 97
    "Apple might be investigating the notion of some kind of netbook/tablet"





    investigating was done at least 2 years ago! a project like this has been in development for at least that amount of time (example: iPhone)
  • Reply 30 of 97
    griffgriff Posts: 1member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gmcalpin View Post


    Not going to happen. There is ONE version of OSX. There will always be ONE version of OSX.



    My guess: no keyboard (external Bluetooth keyboards optional), basically an oversized, super-powered iPod Touch.



    We have no idea what Snow Leopard will bring to the table. Besides, Macs come with special discs that only work on that family of Macs.



    Maybe Snow Leopard will have touch support built in? Kinda like Windows 7. That way they can boast the idea that iTablet(?) can easily take advantage of both Win7 and Macs features. Just a thought.
  • Reply 31 of 97
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    If they do 1B in a year (rounding up) and half are free and the other half average $1 (rounding down, I think) they make a gross revenue of $500M. Multiply that by 0.3 and they make a gross profit of $150M. Not bad.



    (please adjust if any of the loose number are actually known)



    Well there's no way the half that aren't free can average $1, since that's the lowest price. Probably safer to average $1.50.
  • Reply 32 of 97
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    I wouldn't say I was "Bashing" anyone, and I do realize that Apple's first PowerBooks were among the workings of Sony, so was the Walkman, Discman, and Betamax. However, their PC's are just Windows machines, I do not see any real innovation there unless you can point some out.



    The PowerBook 100 was designed by Apple and codesigned and manufactured by Sony... the real innovation with that model was moving the keyboard away from the front creating an area to put a trackball (and later, a trackpad) and creating a place to rest your wrists while typing. It was the first laptop to do so. Today EVERY laptop is designed and made this way.
  • Reply 33 of 97
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    So are you saying that if you want something with a small form factor, light and portable to edit photos- you're basically out of luck and should remain that way?



    No, he said get a netbook from someone else, not that you're out of luck. And I agree. A device that does that job well will never sell cheaply enough to sell high volume to be profitable And the high volume device will never be powerful enough with a nice enough screen.
  • Reply 34 of 97
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I'm not convinced. The market for a 10" notebook (not going to call it a netbook) seems considerably higher than that of a tablet PC, unless Apple plans to move into the business sector with its tablet.



    Why can't it be both? Imagine a tablet with a slide out keyboard like some slider phones, or perhaps with a vitual semi transparent keyboard on the touchscreen itself that appears as an overlay as required.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2


    A touch-tablet *cannot* run full-on desktop OS-X



    Well it can't for people with limited imagination. The iPhone was equally impossible until it was made.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gmcalpin


    \t

    Not going to happen. There is ONE version of OSX. There will always be ONE version of OSX.



    Except for the versions that run on the iPhone and Touch.
  • Reply 35 of 97
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    No, he said get a netbook from someone else, not that you're out of luck. And I agree. A device that does that job well will never sell cheaply enough to sell high volume to be profitable And the high volume device will never be powerful enough with a nice enough screen.



    And what device is that- that runs iPhoto and/or Aperture?
  • Reply 36 of 97
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    MacTouch? No keyboard? I sure hope not.



    Don't get me wrong: I'm a very happy iPhone 3G owner. Apple's touchscreen implementation on the iPhone is impressively usable, but to be realistic, it's simply the least bad way to squeeze keyboard functionality into a tiny device. Once you have enough real estate for a proper physical keyboard, a touchscreen makes a lot less sense.



    Existing netbooks, such as the MSI Wind series, do a very decent job with just slightly scaled down conventional keyboards that require very little compromise on the part of the user. I'd rather see something like a MacBook air but with the smaller 10" screen footprint and a more affordable SSD.
  • Reply 37 of 97
    Talk about being one of the last ones to the game. I would have bought one of Apple's netbooks last month when I purchased mine if they actually had one. Where Apple will go wrong is if and when they create a netbook is their price point. They need to come in sub $500 and offer several screen size models.
  • Reply 38 of 97
    winstwinst Posts: 26member
    Go, iNewton, Go!
  • Reply 39 of 97
    walshbjwalshbj Posts: 864member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gmcalpin View Post


    Not going to happen. There is ONE version of OSX. There will always be ONE version of OSX....




    Right. ONE version. Server. And Desktop. ONE version. I mean, two.



    by optimized I just mean whatever is necessary for the touch stuff, not a whole additional version.
  • Reply 40 of 97
    virgil-tb2virgil-tb2 Posts: 1,416member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cnocbui View Post


    Why can't it be both? Imagine a tablet with a slide out keyboard like some slider phones, or perhaps with a vitual semi transparent keyboard on the touchscreen itself that appears as an overlay as required.



    Apple will never make something with a "slide-out" keyboard. It's just bad design and Apple doesn't do bad design.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cnocbui View Post


    (can't run full OS-X), Well it can't for people with limited imagination. The iPhone was equally impossible until it was made.



    Nothing's impossible but a small touch tablet doesn't have the resolution to run OS-X.



    The whole point of the iPhone GUI is that it is optimised for touch. Even such tricks (described in Apple's patents), as making the min/max buttons on OS-X desktop windows automatically get bigger when your finger gets close to the screen, are clunky adaptations at best and hugely complicate the interface. What's the advantage of sticking with a familiar (desktop OS-X) interface when you have to add another layer of complication on top just to use it?



    The iPhone interface would scale easily and is similarly familiar but with no need for the extra layer. The advantage of using one OS over another is usually to leverage software, it would make sense to leverage the iPhone software more than the desktop software.



    The tablet would also have to use the infra-red based hand and finger detection patent Apple published recently, to even make it *possible* to put OS-X desktop on a tablet, and there doesn't seem to be a good reason for it IMO.
Sign In or Register to comment.