Quote:
Originally Posted by
jaytr 
Those are interesting applications for a tablet. But despite tablet PCs being available for years, their market share has not increased dramatically. And I don't just chalk that up to Microsoft's lame GUI design.
Here's the problem: while the Apple Tablet may not be a simple replacement for an e-reader or a dumbed-down laptop/netbook, what applications would it have that you would part with $800-1100 (i.e., what is compelling enough for you to buy this, in addition to or as a replacement for your iPhone/MacBook/Wacom tablet/remote control)?
Students can buy a paper notepad for about one dollar. If they want to scan, they can--unlikely.
Businessmen/women taking notes on a tablet? Same as students--will use paper or possibly a laptop.
$800 remote control for your TV/media center? Only if you have money to burn.
10" to 13" secondary monitor for $800? I'd rather buy a real secondary monitor (21") for $200.
Even some combination of the above functions doesn't seem compelling to me to pay so much. Whether intended to replace the laptop/e-reader or not, the comparison will inevitably arise. I "get" that this is not intended to be a drop-in replacement for one or more devices, but show me the niche(s) that this fills for $800-1100. There is an existing market for the iPhone (smartphone) and the MacBook (laptop), but how will consumers be convinced that there is an intermediary-priced product that they "must have"? If you feel the Apple Tablet will cost less, please explain and suggest the design features (touchscreen, hardware keyboard, weight, etc.). The SW/HW design and functionality should improve upon what already exists. Example: iPhone vs. previous smartphones
If Apple is looking to introduce a device that can do more or less what the Touch does, only with the added advantage of a larger screen, what's wrong with that?
As Apple has pointed out in its most recent pitch for the Touch, the device has grown into a pocket computer. Media player, gaming platform, reader, browser, organizer. All useful stuff and all stuff that would be better on a device with a larger screen. Opting for a larger screen in such a device is a no-brainer next step. Avoid the trap of going with too large a screen and it's all good. The device I have in mind, by the way, is nowhere close to being in the $800 to $1,100 range. A MacBook Pro, in the U.S. will now cost you as little as $1,200. As convenient as a $1.000 tablet might be, if I can have a MacBook for about the same money, forget the tablet. I can live with the inconvenience, such as it is, of using the MacBook because the payoff is you get a legit, full-function conputer.
For this tablet to fill a niche that needs filling, it has to come in closer to $500 than $1,000 and not pretend to be more than it can handle being. I imagine Apple could have brought to market a $1,000 tablet more than a year ago. But there's no market for such a device. On the other hand, a $500-$700 tablet that is a great media player, a fine reader, a decent browser, dynamite gaming platform, etc. Now that's a device whose time has come. That machine, I can imagine Apple looking to unleash. A 10-inch laptop in tablet form, not so much.