Upcoming Apple tablet is No. 1 priority of Steve Jobs - report

[AppleInsider]

Since his return to Apple in June, company co-founder Steve Jobs has been focused on bringing the hardware maker's yet-to-be announced tablet device successfully to market, a new report claims.

Corroborating information relayed by AppleInsider weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reports that Jobs has been personally involved with the tablet, even prior to his recent sickness. Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the report states that Jobs killed development of the tablet twice in recent years, once due to poor battery life, and another because of a lack of internal memory capacity available.

Jobs reportedly responded via e-mail to the Journal and said that much of what was reported by the anonymous sources was "incorrect," though he declined to elaborate. The company's chief executive has been back at the helm since June.

Apparently employees had become accustomed to the absence of Jobs this year, after he left Apple to obtain a liver transplant. The report states that his return has been "jarring" for employees developing the tablet, as Jobs is very hands-on.

"Those working on the project are under intense scrutiny from Mr. Jobs, particularly with regard to the product's advertising and marketing strategy, said one of these people," the report states. "The people familiar with the matter declined to give details on the tablet or disclose when the device would come out."

While the story does not provide any specific details on the tablet or its availability, it does reiterate information relayed to AppleInsider by sources, namely that Jobs has been heavily involved and extremely demanding with the development of the device. However, AppleInsider sources have maintained that the project was reset, rather than terminated, repeatedly due to Jobs' own dissatisfaction. Sources have said that the portable device, with a 10 inch touchscreen and 3G connectivity, will be available in early 2010.

In various patents for the design of handheld computers, Jobs' name has been included among the creators, confirming how integral of a part he has been in the design of products like the iPhone, and likely also for the upcoming tablet.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[SGSStateStudent]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Since his return to Apple in June, company co-founder Steve Jobs has been focused on bringing the hardware maker's yet-to-be announced tablet device successfully to market, a new report claims.

Corroborating information relayed by AppleInsider weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reports that Jobs has been personally involved with the tablet, even prior to his recent sickness. Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the report states that Jobs killed development of the tablet twice in recent years, once due to poor battery life, and another because of a lack of internal memory capacity available.

Jobs reportedly responded via e-mail to the Journal and said that much of what was reported by the anonymous sources was "incorrect," though he declined to elaborate. The company's chief executive has been back at the helm since June.

Apparently employees had become accustomed to the absence of Jobs this year, after he left Apple to obtain a liver transplant. The report states that his return has been "jarring" for employees developing the tablet, as Jobs is very hands-on.

"Those working on the project are under intense scrutiny from Mr. Jobs, particularly with regard to the product's advertising and marketing strategy, said one of these people," the report states. "The people familiar with the matter declined to give details on the tablet or disclose when the device would come out."

While the story does not provide any specific details on the tablet or its availability, it does reiterate information relayed to AppleInsider by sources, namely that Jobs has been heavily involved and extremely demanding with the development of the device, and that he has canceled or reset its development numerous times due to his own dissatisfaction. Sources have told AppleInsider that the portable device, with a 10 inch touchscreen and 3G connectivity, will be available in early 2010.

In various patents for the design of handheld computers, Jobs' name has been included among the creators, confirming how integral of a part he has been in the design of products like the iPhone, and likely also for the upcoming tablet.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Now, since Steve Jobs played an important part in the development of the iPhone's aesthetics and designs, making it a booming success, the tablet is going to become the next big thing. ( Although the iPhone is still the biggest success )

[zenwaves]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

The report states that his return has been "jarring" for employees developing the tablet, as Jobs is very hands-on.

Thank god we have Steve to push the creative process at Apple.

And thank god I don't work for him!

[Sipadan]

Music theme from Kubrick's 2001 space odyssey running in the background ....

[Wonderkid]

http://visionaforethought.files.word..._b_oflife7.jpg

[Carmissimo]

The question is, what does Jobs have in mind. Seems to me that so far what speculation has implied is that Jobs via Apple is working on a jumbo Touch. Not likely. Put a 10-inch screen on such a device and you pretty much wipe out all the advantages of the existing device's form factor. Portability? Not so much. Batttery life? Forget about it. Movies stored in the form of relatively small files? Kiss that good bye. Ease of handling? Not a chance. Low price point? Nope.

Need decent enough screen real estate in a portable device for some serious work? Isn't that what laptops are for? I mean who really believes a 10-inch screen is enough and ARM processors powerful enough for serious work?

I don't doubt that Apple is developing some cool portable technology. Apple, especially under Jobs' watch, has always been about innovation, altering personal computing at a fundamental level. But doesn't there have to be some logic in this discussion? Jobs might well be famous for his reality-distortion-field routine but even he has to yield to the basic laws of physics.

There is no market for a Touch with a really big screen. It's not rational to expect that a device that possesses none of the advantages of laptops, netbooks, and iPods will generate sales. After the initial excitement over a new product, the average consumer would look at this thing and focus more on what it can't do than what it can.

[orange whip]

Steve jobs is not omnipotent.

Steve jobs does not decide everything at Apple

Steve jobs is brilliant but there are also brilliant people at Microsoft (God only knows why they are there...)

That in itself does not make a brilliant company.

It is the culture, ethos and management at Apple that allows great things to happen. that is the fundamental reason. not one man - Steve Jobs.

If steve Jobs were not at the helm Apple would continue to be brilliant until that culture, ethos and management evaporated.

Apple's ethos is about being critical (as in to critique) and to not succumb to mediocrity and this is where Steve Jobs has been instrumental in instilling that culture in to this company. Without that Apple would be generally mediocre just like MS. Jonathon Ive would not be able to deliver fantastic industrial design without that culture.

Steve Jobs does not make the TV ads, nor does he specify the finish on the aluminium on macs, or figure out how to make a consistent GUI.

He more than likely critiques a lot of work at Apple.

[teckstud]

So now will SJ do the unveiling? I say yes!

[Hudson1]

Originally Posted by Carmissimo

The question is, what does Jobs have in mind. Seems to me that so far what speculation has implied is that Jobs via Apple is working on a jumbo Touch. Not likely. Put a 10-inch screen on such a device and you pretty much wipe out all the advantages of the existing device's form factor. Portability? Not so much. Batttery life? Forget about it. Movies stored in the form of relatively small files? Kiss that good bye. Ease of handling? Not a chance. Low price point? Nope.

Need decent enough screen real estate in a portable device for some serious work? Isn't that what laptops are for? I mean who really believes a 10-inch screen is enough and ARM processors powerful enough for serious work?

I don't doubt that Apple is developing some cool portable technology. Apple, especially under Jobs' watch, has always been about innovation, altering personal computing at a fundamental level. But doesn't there have to be some logic in this discussion? Jobs might well be famous for his reality-distortion-field routine but even he has to yield to the basic laws of physics.

There is no market for a Touch with a really big screen. It's not rational to expect that a device that possesses none of the advantages of laptops, netbooks, and iPods will generate sales. After the initial excitement over a new product, the average consumer would look at this thing and focus more on what it can't do than what it can.

The reasons you walk through are the reasons why there isn't a successful tablet computer available from anyone today. As we all know, Apple themselves have stopped and started this program more times than I can probably count and it's likely due to some combination of the reasons you cite. When Apple really does come out with something, I suspect that many people will say "wow, that really is useful".

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by orange whip

Steve jobs is not omnipotent.

Steve jobs does not decide everything at Apple

Steve jobs is brilliant but there are also brilliant people at Microsoft (God only knows why they are there...)

That in itself does not make a brilliant company.

It is the culture, ethos and management at Apple that allows great things to happen. that is the fundamental reason. not one man - Steve Jobs.

If steve Jobs were not at the helm Apple would continue to be brilliant until that culture, ethos and management evaporated.

Apple's ethos is about being critical (as in to critique) and to not succumb to mediocrity and this is where Steve Jobs has been instrumental in instilling that culture in to this company. Without that Apple would be generally mediocre just like MS. Jonathon Ive would not be able to deliver fantastic industrial design without that culture.

Steve Jobs does not make the TV ads, nor does he specify the finish on the aluminium on macs, or figure out how to make a consistent GUI.

He more than likely critiques a lot of work at Apple.

What are you talking about.
SJ is solely responsible for many of what Apple has brought and its guiding force. That cannot be denied.
SJ owns the glass cube that sits atop the premier Apple 5th Ave store among many other things.
What does Ballmer have that even comes close?

[PXT]

But it's a tablet ! How will you hold it up?

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by PXT

But it's a tablet ! How will you hold it up?

With the iGlove... Seriously, those netbook sales must be diggin into Apple for Jobs and company to kick into high gear, an Apple version?!...

[Roc Ingersol]

Originally Posted by Carmissimo

There is no market for a Touch with a really big screen.

Nor was there for a $600 touch-screen 2G phone in 2006.

And burning down a straw man is unnecessary. Of course it won't do everything every rumor has ever said it might.

[scot.holladay]

The thing is, how do we really know if there is a market for this if there isn’t any real competition out there? I think Verizon and AT&T have something basic for homes that offer a touch screen but this would bring so much more, keeping with the iPhone OS they wont cannibalize the macbooks and be able to keep the price down. If someone wants what a Laptop can do, buy a laptop, if you want something easy to use, a big iPhone (or 10" touch) I think this would be nice, like carrying a kindle, daytimer, netbook. So many people are buying netbooks right now only to complain about the keyboard, the lack of memory, that it can’t do what their laptop can. An Apple tablet would offer all the requests of a netbook without the expectations that it is a laptop.
Of course, in my opinion, the only way that this will work is to offer Bluetooth options for the keyboard, I know I wouldn’t want to always type on a large touch screen. Just my thoughts.

[orange whip]

Originally Posted by teckstud

What are you talking about.
SJ is solely responsible for many of what Apple has brought and its guiding force. That cannot be denied.
SJ owns the glass cube that sits atop the premier Apple 5th Ave store among many other things.
What does Ballmer have that even comes close?

Apple has approximately 35000 employees. If Apple is a one band man, where Steve decides everything, they why bother employing 35000 employees? Yes he is a guiding force but that is what my post is arguing.

Without its culture, ethos and management Apple is nothing.

Steve Jobs did not design the glass cube that sits on 5th Ave. He owns it. Which is more remarkable, the fact that he owns it or its aesthetic and dramatic qualities. Yes Steve scrutinised the design but is was some fantastic architect who conceived the design and resolved the detailing. Yes Steve has a pretty good eye for aesthetics.

In my post I made no comparison to the achievements of Ballmer.

[nitro]

Jobs you ass get on with it. I need the Tablet !!!!

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by nitro

Jobs you ass get on with it. I need the Table!!!!

Take the chair too, and go away.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by Carmissimo

The question is, what does Jobs have in mind. Seems to me that so far what speculation has implied is that Jobs via Apple is working on a jumbo Touch. Not likely. Put a 10-inch screen on such a device and you pretty much wipe out all the advantages of the existing device's form factor. Portability? Not so much. Batttery life? Forget about it. Movies stored in the form of relatively small files? Kiss that good bye. Ease of handling? Not a chance. Low price point? Nope.

Need decent enough screen real estate in a portable device for some serious work? Isn't that what laptops are for? I mean who really believes a 10-inch screen is enough and ARM processors powerful enough for serious work?

I don't doubt that Apple is developing some cool portable technology. Apple, especially under Jobs' watch, has always been about innovation, altering personal computing at a fundamental level. But doesn't there have to be some logic in this discussion? Jobs might well be famous for his reality-distortion-field routine but even he has to yield to the basic laws of physics.

There is no market for a Touch with a really big screen. It's not rational to expect that a device that possesses none of the advantages of laptops, netbooks, and iPods will generate sales. After the initial excitement over a new product, the average consumer would look at this thing and focus more on what it can't do than what it can.

And no doubt you'll be in line ahead of me if such a think goes on sale

[myapplelove]

No market for jumbo touch, who would want it over laptops and notebooks? Ha! Boy you are so far off here.


This is the next revolution in computing a reader you can take to bed and on the sofa and on trips to read all types of digital content the papers, books, the web, and also listen to music, videos, games, email. Who needs a keyboard for light writing, I use an ihone to write this and it's dead simple. And how do you hold a laptop to read content? You don't, you take the tablet instead.

WAKE UP some of you this is truely steves lifelong work culminating here it will be THE MACINTOSH of the new DECADE, this is the device that's missing from the puzzle. Slim ultraportable, with a superb custom made chip by pa semi (let's not forget these guys had super piower efficient pocessors to put both that joke atom and arm to shame, CPUs they built for the us army three years ago).


This will be by far the most amazing product from the past years, it will be a true revolution that as usual apple and Steve will be the first to issue it and others will copy. It will propel apple to mythical status, having the best laptops, desktops, phone and a revolutionary reader which I am 100% sure everone after its release will wonder how we ever managed withou it: we managed by squinting and hunching over a laptop instead of the book form ease of reading in our recliners this will bring along, not unlike the ease at which I am writing this lying in bed with my iPhone.

[Haggar]

Apple will not make a video iPod. Nobody wants to watch video on an iPod.

Apple should not allow third parties to create native iPhone applications. Nobody cares about third party iPhone applications. Web apps are really SWEET.

Apple will not make a 3G iPhone. Nobody cares about 3G.

Apple will not add GPS to the iPhone. Nobody cares about GPS.

Apple will not add copy and paste to the iPhone. Nobody cares about copy and paste. Anybody who wants copy and paste is a whiner.

Apple will not make a multibutton mouse. Nobody cares about a multibutton mouse.

Apple will never switch to Intel processors.

[doyourownthing]

Originally Posted by Haggar

Apple will not make a video iPod. Nobody wants to watch video on an iPod.

Apple should not allow third parties to create native iPhone applications. Nobody cares about third party iPhone applications. Web apps are really SWEET.

Apple will not make a 3G iPhone. Nobody cares about 3G.

Apple will not add GPS to the iPhone. Nobody cares about GPS.

Apple will not add copy and paste to the iPhone. Nobody cares about copy and paste. Anybody who wants copy and paste is a whiner.

Apple will not make a multibutton mouse. Nobody cares about a multibutton mouse.

Apple will never switch to Intel processors.

no offense to anyone who mentioned it, but apple won't make a "jumbo ipod touch". it will have distinctive features (maybe run OSX?) which will make it more than just an oversized ipod touch...

[MissionGrey]

They just shrunk the new OS coming out Friday by 50%.
The "Air" is almost what this is. Think about it, put the screen where the keyboard is done.
The Air screen is 13.3-inch. I think the Air for apple may have been a huge step forward for this project along with the solid AL milling process.

[Carmissimo]

Originally Posted by Hudson1

The reasons you walk through are the reasons why there isn't a successful tablet computer available from anyone today. As we all know, Apple themselves have stopped and started this program more times than I can probably count and it's likely due to some combination of the reasons you cite. When Apple really does come out with something, I suspect that many people will say "wow, that really is useful".

Agreed, which is why I'm looking forward to what Apple is going to come up with.

I just think that there is too much assuming going on as in a lot of people are assuming that Jobs is working on an iPod with a really big screen. Certainly if we don't see a new product come out in time for the upcoming Christmas buying season, it brings into doubt that Apple has purchased a ton of 10-inch screens. This purchase supposedly happened a while ago and if we're talking a product that will go into production probably next year, that strikes me as suspect. Yet everyone is assuming that the 10-inch screen is a done deal.

Myself, I could see a lot more merit in a device with a smaller form factor, though larger than the current Touch. The Touch is, after all, not the greatest browser. Watching movies would also benefit from more screen. The problem with 10 inches, in my view, is that you sacrifice too much portability and you just don't quite gain enough to properly compensate. This thing would be inferior to a proper laptop in terms of what you can do on it and inferior to the Touch in other respects. The worst of both worlds, so to speak.

Opting for a 10-inch screen is what the competition would do, the logic being that if the biggest netbooks are in around that size, then that's what you shoot for to make sure you're not outdone on paper. But I imagine Jobs, instead, forsaking such an obvious, bigger-is-better approach, in favour of a form factor that makes a whole lot more sense. Something small enough to remain very handy to carry around but large enough to be more enjoyable to use as a browser, etc. when compared to the Touch. Striking the right balance is the key. Because the rumored 10-inch tablet just doesn't make sense, I'm highly suspicious of the notion that Jobs has his staff working on such a beast.

I would be far more inclined to imagine that in a few weeks Jobs, doing his classic one-more-thing bit, would intro a version of the Touch with a screen more in the 5- to 6-inch range. Such a device would still work well enough with existing Touch content, games, movies, etc. while introducing the ability to work with more substantial content.

It would serve Jobs' passion for tne dramatic to have this device, catching many by surprise, serving as his return to the spotlight. Also, why not throw out a mythical, pointless 10-inch tablet supposedly due for release next year to serve as a decoy?

Bottom line is that a netbook competitor with a somewhat smaller screen than your typical netbook is typical Jobs. A bloated, impractical 10-inch tablet, not so much. Sounds to me more like something Gates would love.

[DJinTX]

Is there a market for an iTablet? Of course there is, it just may be a small market. Although there is obviously a vocal group who wants this device. While I'm sure Apple likes delivering something new that they have decided everyone should want, especially if everyone ends up wanting it...but let's not forget what Steve has said...

"We at Apple make the devices that WE want to use." or something to that effect.

So, while they want the world to share their love of the iTablet when it eventually comes out, Steve primarily just wants to make this thing great so that he will have really cool toys to use at home on a daily basis. If not many people agree, who cares, Apple has plenty of $$$ and he just brought his prototype iTablet home and is loving controlling his entire MacHome Ecosystem from his Lay-Z-Boy, and who knows what other secret functions.

To paraphrase Michael Scott...it's a win-win-win situation.

[pondosinatra]

I wish someone at Apple would be tasking with coming up with a consistent user interface for OS X...

[benny-boy]

As markets grow they often segment. The device won't be all things to all people, but it will be optimized for movies, surfing, photos, and essentially pay a price of portability. For those of us who just want a kickass way to control our home stereo, or entertain our kids on the road, or videoconference, this will be better. Just like there are smart phones and dumb phones in the category of phones, so will there be small tablets (touch) and bigger ones, with different advantages.

By the way, if 4G is really as good as they say, THAT is the KILLER APP.

[pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by PXT

But it's a tablet ! How will you hold it up?

I agree, taking pictures will be aaaawkward!

[christopher126]

Originally Posted by zenwaves

Thank god we have Steve to push the creative process at Apple.

And thank god I don't work for him!

[CU10]

Originally Posted by orange whip

...It is the culture, ethos and management at Apple that allows great things to happen. that is the fundamental reason. not one man - Steve Jobs.

I disagree.

Jobs cares about his work, everyone else does it for the money.

Apple nearly disappeared because of mismanagement until Jobs was rehired.

Because of one man Apple is successful today.

[Warbrain]

Still not too sure that people will want a tablet.

The reason why the iPhone and iPod touch work so well is because of their size. I haven't really enjoyed using any tablet PCs. This, I worry, might just be the same experience.

[mebbert]

Originally Posted by orange whip

Steve jobs is not omnipotent.

Steve jobs does not decide everything at Apple

Steve jobs is brilliant but there are also brilliant people at Microsoft (God only knows why they are there...)

That in itself does not make a brilliant company.

It is the culture, ethos and management at Apple that allows great things to happen. that is the fundamental reason. not one man - Steve Jobs.

If steve Jobs were not at the helm Apple would continue to be brilliant until that culture, ethos and management evaporated.

Apple's ethos is about being critical (as in to critique) and to not succumb to mediocrity and this is where Steve Jobs has been instrumental in instilling that culture in to this company. Without that Apple would be generally mediocre just like MS. Jonathon Ive would not be able to deliver fantastic industrial design without that culture.

Steve Jobs does not make the TV ads, nor does he specify the finish on the aluminium on macs, or figure out how to make a consistent GUI.

He more than likely critiques a lot of work at Apple.

I have to disagree. Do you remember the state that Apple was in just before Jobs came back in the 90's? I doubt anyone here *really* knows how much designing, etc. that Steve does, but there is no doubt that he has put Apple where it is today.

[mebbert]

Originally Posted by Haggar

Apple will not make a video iPod. Nobody wants to watch video on an iPod.

Apple should not allow third parties to create native iPhone applications. Nobody cares about third party iPhone applications. Web apps are really SWEET.

Apple will not make a 3G iPhone. Nobody cares about 3G.

Apple will not add GPS to the iPhone. Nobody cares about GPS.

Apple will not add copy and paste to the iPhone. Nobody cares about copy and paste. Anybody who wants copy and paste is a whiner.

Apple will not make a multibutton mouse. Nobody cares about a multibutton mouse.

Apple will never switch to Intel processors.

lol...that was good

[christopher126]

Originally Posted by orange whip

Steve jobs is not omnipotent.

Steve jobs does not decide everything at Apple

Steve jobs is brilliant but there are also brilliant people at Microsoft (God only knows why they are there...)

That in itself does not make a brilliant company.

It is the culture, ethos and management at Apple that allows great things to happen. that is the fundamental reason. not one man - Steve Jobs.

If steve Jobs were not at the helm Apple would continue to be brilliant until that culture, ethos and management evaporated.

Apple's ethos is about being critical (as in to critique) and to not succumb to mediocrity and this is where Steve Jobs has been instrumental in instilling that culture in to this company. Without that Apple would be generally mediocre just like MS. Jonathon Ive would not be able to deliver fantastic industrial design without that culture.

Steve Jobs does not make the TV ads, nor does he specify the finish on the aluminium on macs, or figure out how to make a consistent GUI.

He more than likely critiques a lot of work at Apple.

I respectfully, disagree. The guy in charge sets the tone of the company and that's Steve Jobs. One of the elements is he has been able to corral the 'nerds' (no disrespect intended) that write the sw and design the hardware and make them produce high quality usable products, like the iPhone. Just look at the crap the other companies were producing and getting a way with before the iPhone. Think MS mobile, Symbian, Motorola, and Palm, RIM. They were making so much money and yet were satisfied with substandard user experiences mainly to their clumsy and second rate software and hardware.

[Carmissimo]

Originally Posted by myapplelove

No market for jumbo touch, who would want it over laptops and notebooks? Ha! Boy you are so far off here.


This is the next revolution in computing a reader you can take to bed and on the sofa and on trips to read all types of digital content the papers, books, the web, and also listen to music, videos, games, email. Who needs a keyboard for light writing, I use an ihone to write this and it's dead simple. And how do you hold a laptop to read content? You don't, you take the tablet instead.

WAKE UP some of you this is truely steves lifelong work culminating here it will be THE MACINTOSH of the new DECADE, this is the device that's missing from the puzzle. Slim ultraportable, with a superb custom made chip by pa semi (let's not forget these guys had super piower efficient pocessors to put both that joke atom and arm to shame, CPUs they built for the us army three years ago).


This will be by far the most amazing product from the past years, it will be a true revolution that as usual apple and Steve will be the first to issue it and others will copy. It will propel apple to mythical status, having the best laptops, desktops, phone and a revolutionary reader which I am 100% sure everone after its release will wonder how we ever managed withou it: we managed by squinting and hunching over a laptop instead of the book form ease of reading in our recliners this will bring along, not unlike the ease at which I am writing this lying in bed with my iPhone.

There is a market for a Touch on steroids but there isn't one for a Touch badly in need of a diet. 10 inches simply makes no sense which is why I believe the rumors are off the mark. I get the impression that many believe there is no price to be paid for increasing the size of a portable device but the downside to increasing screen size is rather substantial. There is a place for a touchscreen device with a larger screen than the current Touch. But that device will not work at 10 inches. What you're talking about isn't a Touch that has been upgraded but a laptop that has been downgraded. Drop from 13 to 10 inches, put in a more efficient but less powerful cpu, run a weaker version of OS X, poorer graphics capabilities, a more restrictive form factor (can't put a tablet on a table top and go hands-free). Right now, you can read books on the Touch, as well as watch movies, browse, etc. It's just that it would be more enjoyable if the screen were larger. But even doubling that screen real estate would bring plenty of gains while still allowing for a convenient device. On the other hand, a 10-inch tablet would be far closer to being a diminished laptop than an enhanced Touch.

Why is it so many are convinced Jobs would opt for the irrational in a 10-lnch tablet rather than make the logical move up to a Touch with a larger screen. There is a difference.

[alandail]

Originally Posted by Carmissimo

The question is, what does Jobs have in mind. Seems to me that so far what speculation has implied is that Jobs via Apple is working on a jumbo Touch. Not likely. Put a 10-inch screen on such a device and you pretty much wipe out all the advantages of the existing device's form factor. Portability? Not so much. Batttery life? Forget about it. Movies stored in the form of relatively small files? Kiss that good bye. Ease of handling? Not a chance. Low price point? Nope.

Need decent enough screen real estate in a portable device for some serious work? Isn't that what laptops are for? I mean who really believes a 10-inch screen is enough and ARM processors powerful enough for serious work?

I don't doubt that Apple is developing some cool portable technology. Apple, especially under Jobs' watch, has always been about innovation, altering personal computing at a fundamental level. But doesn't there have to be some logic in this discussion? Jobs might well be famous for his reality-distortion-field routine but even he has to yield to the basic laws of physics.

There is no market for a Touch with a really big screen. It's not rational to expect that a device that possesses none of the advantages of laptops, netbooks, and iPods will generate sales. After the initial excitement over a new product, the average consumer would look at this thing and focus more on what it can't do than what it can.

some of your criticism are a bit odd.

"Movies stored in the form of relatively small files? Kiss that good bye" - because nobody would want a larger, HD screen when they are watching a movie. Nobody would want a larger, HD screen, when playing games either? Or browsing the internet, reading email, etc.

portability? It's certainly as portable as a netbook, which sell like crazy despite their awful keyboards, tiny trackpads, etc Why are things that small even using the same UI as a desktop computer? Certainly there is a better way.

price? I guess you missed the part where unlike the iPod touch, this is supposed to be subsidized by verizon?

Low price, light, portable, HD quality, long battery life, large amount of memory, GPS, built in 3G or better networking, safari, email, games, movies, etc, etc. This thing will sell like crazy.

[Clive At Five]

I used to be an iTablet hopeful... then I woke up and smelled reality.

This is Apple we're talking about. Since when have they given us anything we actually wanted? We've begged for a headless iMac. We've begged for an xMac. We've begged for a DVR. We've begged for a Tablet. We've begged for an iTunes subscription service.

The only "prayer" Apple has answered was for the iPhone, and we begged for nearly a decade before we finally got it... and even then we had to beg for an open platform, which we still don't have.

Trust me, boys and girls. We won't be getting a Tablet any time soon.

-Clive

[mebbert]

Originally Posted by benny-boy

By the way, if 4G is really as good as they say, THAT is the KILLER APP.

That would be killer, but not sustainable since Verizon doesn't have proprietary rights to 4G

[alandail]

Originally Posted by Carmissimo

There is a market for a Touch on steroids but there isn't one for a Touch badly in need of a diet. 10 inches simply makes no sense which is why I believe the rumors are off the mark. I get the impression that many believe there is no price to be paid for increasing the size of a portable device but the downside to increasing screen size is rather substantial. There is a place for a touchscreen device with a larger screen than the current Touch. But that device will not work at 10 inches. What you're talking about isn't a Touch that has been upgraded but a laptop that has been downgraded. Drop from 13 to 10 inches, put in a more efficient but less powerful cpu, run a weaker version of OS X, poorer graphics capabilities, a more restrictive form factor (can't put a tablet on a table top and go hands-free). Right now, you can read books on the Touch, as well as watch movies, browse, etc. It's just that it would be more enjoyable if the screen were larger. But even doubling that screen real estate would bring plenty of gains while still allowing for a convenient device. On the other hand, a 10-inch tablet would be far closer to being a diminished laptop than an enhanced Touch.

Why is it so many are convinced Jobs would opt for the irrational in a 10-lnch tablet rather than make the logical move up to a Touch with a larger screen. There is a difference.

what are you talking about, this is going to be a touch with a larger screen and faster processer, not a laptop with a smaller screen and smaller processor. The MacBook is about as small as you'd want to go with a laptop because the keyboard, trackpad become hard to use if you go smaller.

[Robin Huber]

Great art is never created by committee. Even if others (artisans, engineers) are involved to bring the vision to reality, there must be the artist at the core who has the power and authority to steer the project according to his/her lights. This is what separates Apple from its competitors. It's a company making electronic devices that acts like a studio creating art. Think great film directors, think Henry Ford, think Thomas Edison, think Louis Comfort Tiffany. The sad thing is that such corporate models are time limited. Once the creative genius is gone, the company becomes a rumor of its former revolutionary self. Again, think Ford, Edison, Tiffany. I hope Steve outlives me because I can't bear to see that day.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by orange whip

Steve jobs is not omnipotent.

Steve jobs does not decide everything at Apple

Steve jobs is brilliant but there are also brilliant people at Microsoft (God only knows why they are there...)

That in itself does not make a brilliant company.

It is the culture, ethos and management at Apple that allows great things to happen. that is the fundamental reason. not one man - Steve Jobs.

If steve Jobs were not at the helm Apple would continue to be brilliant until that culture, ethos and management evaporated.

Apple's ethos is about being critical (as in to critique) and to not succumb to mediocrity and this is where Steve Jobs has been instrumental in instilling that culture in to this company. Without that Apple would be generally mediocre just like MS. Jonathon Ive would not be able to deliver fantastic industrial design without that culture.

Steve Jobs does not make the TV ads, nor does he specify the finish on the aluminium on macs, or figure out how to make a consistent GUI.

He more than likely critiques a lot of work at Apple.

Spoken with such assurance yet so clearly all guesswork and personal interpretation. I would let most of it slide but to say that Apple's ethos is about being 'critical' is such un-thought-through load of crock.
By the way - what do you think it is like having your worked critiqued by SJ?