Tablet rumors: February production start, 10-inch LCD screen - Page 2

You are correct that a fan base alone is not a market. The product still has to be good. You are however wrong about Apple creating markets, well a much better term would be expanding on markets. Many people have switched from a "dumb phone" to a smart phone because of the iPhone. Many of those people had never even considered a smart phone before. The smart phone market is much larger now. Smart phone sales are up, other sales are down and Apple is driving that trend.

An Apple tablet falls into the computer and PMP market as much as the iPhone falls into the phone market. So there is a market for it if we use your broad definition of a market. Diving a little deeper, and closer to the true market, we are seeing the emergence of tablet devices on the mass market. Archos has a whole product line, the joojoo is coming (and is $500 for a web device), ebook readers are adding LCD touch screens, magazine publishers are readying tablet friendly digital magazines, etc. If there wasn't a potential market there, none of this would be happening. An Apple tablet would likely split that market wide open. Although I also think $1000 is a little high, it would probably still sell at that price. The iPhone sold at $600 before it was carrier subsidized, some people still pay more for one now if they are still under contract. Apple of course sold many more iPhones once the price dropped. Even if a tablet started at $1000, it could go down in price at a later date, further driving sales.

PS. You are looking at mac sales the wrong way. Apple is going quite well, considering they are a manufacturer of premium computers, not an OS distributer.

WRONG



Exactly. Sometimes I have to wonder why is it so difficult for some people to comprehend this?

Why no mention of TuneKit? I'm sure they'll have a similar version for books. (BooKit?)

2 problems with your argument.
I would guesstimate that 95% of iPhone buyers never owned a smartphone before.
I would also guesstimate that 80% of iPhone buyers have never paid more than $99 for a phone.
There was little to no market for expensive phones with data plans prior to the iPhone.

By your same argument you assert that there is no market of tablet computer users for Apple to sell into. I would define the iPod touch as a tablet computer and there are over 40 million users out there. I would even define the iPhone as a tablet computer that also happens to make phone calls. So Apple has over 100,000,000 tablet computer users out there already.

Apple created the music player market. And now they will create the multi-purpose reader device market.

Ray

I'd like to find out what it does before I decide how much I'd spend to own one.

But that's just me and my silly criteria.

you automatically lose for using the word "guestimate"

Yeah me too. I don't believe there's a market for 1 to 1.5 million units to be sold by Apple. That is larger the all the ebook reader manufacturers combined.

and the actual price

That's one reason I'm tempted by the MiFi devices that are available now. A single device, with a single contract, that can share the 3G connection with any wi-fi device I chose to carry with me that day...iPod touch, laptop, Apple tablet, a friend's devices, etc. I don't have to pay a seperate fee for every device I own and may only occassionaly use on the road. And if I choose, I can leave it all at home if all I want to carry is my tiny, non-smart flip-phone (sometimes even the iPhone is too big to carry around).

If only Verizon's data plans were more reasonable. But it would be a way to get simultaneous voice and data on Verizon's network!

You FAIL for spelling it wrong.

At that price, I'd want it to cook me dinner and do my laundry, too.

NO WAY it will be priced at $1,000.

Just too high. Can't see many (other than the early in line campers) going for that price unless it is more than what the rumours claim it is. At 10 inches I don't see many adopting it as a "laptop" replacement. I see it more as an entertainment/educational tool. Newspapers, magazines, books, school textbooks, movies/videos, limited internet, etc… Perfect for that kind of stuff.

I say it will be closer to the $199-$399 range, depending on the subscription pricing.

The real question is how will the 3G access work? Will it be included in a subscription package? Will it be a separate service provided by mobile carriers in which case, count me out. Or will it be in line with the iPod Touch and have Wifi and sync through iTunes?

Very exciting times.

It's pointless to make pronouncements on how much we would or wouldn't pay — assuming the Apple tablet turns out to exist, which admittedly does seem likely — since none of us knows what this rumored device will do. After all, if it shits 24K gold bricks into my lap I'll happily pay $1000, no $2000, wait...

It's also a mistake to think that nobody will buy a tablet if its price is too close to that of a MacBook. There's a natural tendency to think of Apple's products in terms of price points along a straight line. But really that line looks more like branches on a tree. For instance a MacBook Air has lower performance than a MacBook, much less storage and worse battery runtime. Oh, and it costs more. So it's ridiculous to consider the Air, right? Well no, because the Air is on a light weight/compact size branch of the Apple tree. It's not for everybody, but it serves a certain need. Similarly at around $2400 total cost of ownership over a 2-year contract period my iPhone is substantially more expensive than a MacBook, many of whose capabilities it offers, albeit in much reduced measure. But they're not direct competitors in most people's minds, even though each handles email, can surf the web and so on.

If Apple does its tablet right, and I think they're smart enough to, then it won't so much be a potential MacBook competitor as a device that offers its own unique attributes. I don't know what those will be.

I do think that it will be light in weight and ultra-slim, and so there will be an uneasy balance between its abilities and the resulting battery life. It's not going to have a power-miser e-ink screen like the Kindle and Nook, so the user is probably going to have to play an active part in power management, as with the iPhone. And as it has been for the iPhone, Apple will be much criticized for this! But by having a real screen the tablet would be a usable web and multimedia device, as well as supporting the emerging electronic versions of magazines and newspapers. I imagine there will be a virtual keyboard, like the iPhone, but I hope that a wireless keyboard might be supported via Bluetooth.

Sit down Apple Fanboys and let logic sit in.

What the hell are you going to with this device? Ebooks are the obvious but you must be smoking crack if you dont think these features will be on iphone/macs.

Ebooks, Web Surfing, Media Playback are already on devices that exist currently. Most users dont find touchscreens to be practical for true computing applications unless your an artist/graphical designer or have to be extremely mobile (car dealerships use these kinds of UMPCs in repair centers)

It most likely ISNT going to have a drive so you can cut movies out from that (sync via itunes) due to battery life.

Before you even reply to this, think about 10 reasons why you would buy this product at 1000 dollars because it will do something that hasnt been done before.

BTW, i still think this thing isnt going to be 1000 cause it will fail and miserably at that, but on a contract with a 45 dollar data package at a 499 price, it could work.

So a rumored tablet is pointless and useless at a rumored price, which is why fan boys need to calm down, but actually not half bad at a different, speculative price?

You fixed the iTablet and schooled the fanboys in one incoherent swoop!

rrr. I think you'd better check again. It's out, but not from Arrington.

Myself, I prefer to become agitated and belittle Apple and its users for having the balls to possibly sell a possible device at a possible price.

Maybe we could just save time and have a thread where everybody gets to ascribe to Apple whatever boneheaded scheme they like, then rant about it.

Apple's going to make a device that does nothing whatsoever, requires a $200 a month subscription plan, is already made pointless by much cheaper Windows based devices that do even less, is smarmy, will be bought by smarmy lemmings, smarmy sheep, smarmy fan boys and smarmy posers, which is so typical of them, even though it costs $2500, which is much like being personally raped by Steve Jobs, which of course they are grateful for.

Oh, and of course the hopelessly weak-minded people who post here will be all up in arms over my self evident truths, which simply confirms everything I say.

One thing seems clear. The only thing Apple has been seen to do in connection with a tablet is trademarking a tablet name and, importantly, previewing a tablet device to selected major publishers. Otherwise, as far as Apple is concerned, a tablet device does not exist. All this tells me is that the 'Killer App' on this future device will be a reader app. The rest is about speculating whether it will be running Mac OSX or iPhone OSX, with all that that implies.

All the people who read books and magazines on paper are the market. But I agree a price like $1000 won't make things easy for Apple, so I expect it to be much cheaper.


Do they ever read while they are on the go?


This. If the tablet is really about those three words, I'll be buying it the moment it is released.

....and another thing. It's about the form factor stupid! What does a form factor of 10" screen tell you? An in-between device spanning the 3.5" to 13" gap. A device you carry like a book or mag. More screen than a phone and optimised for e-books/mags. Possible plug in handset. Usable anywhere from bedroom to boardroom, from bus to toilet (His Steveness mentioned that) and portable enough for most, if not pocketable. In short...perfect for casual info accessing rather than computing.

How long does a word need to be in circulation before it’s okay to used? Is 75 years long enough?

This:

Also, this:

SJ has pretty much admitted "we don't want to build a sub-$500 computer because we don't know how to make one that isn't crap"

I'm betting this thing will be a game-changer and that post-release all these people hollering about "it's just not worth it" or "a tablet is USELESS" will be proven that they have no clue what they're talking about.

And okay sure e-ink is nice and all, but a good LED screen kicks it out of the park. Seriously, what are you people even TALKING about - most of you numbskulls trumpeting about e-readers freaking read on your LED or LCD screens ALL DAY LONG - vis a vis this forum, your Outlook email at work, the internet, documents, spreadsheets, etc, etc, etc... The iPhone / Touch only doesn't work well as a reader because it is too small, period. Hell I can even read fluently on mine outside in the sun using the Kindle app. So, given proper sizing and good backlighting I'd much rather read a lit screen than e-ink, especially in bed at night. Having to read with a light on sucks. Honestly in this day and age, stepping back a decade in technology to use a standalone, basically crippled device as a reader, I'm sorry, is just as useless to me as a crappy netbook. I've seen the kindle, seen the nook and they're niche products that will go the way of the Palmpilot and Newton because they're hobbled. They work great for old people like my mom who hate computers anyhow, but believe me no mobile professional's going to willingly buy another large clumsy device that only does one thing.

Okay so e-ink/reader rant aside, back to the tablet: None of us knows what it's going to do until we see the thing, speculation from industry trolls aside. I'm a longtime Windows user but even I can admit that Apple definitely has a way of pulling the rug out from under the market. iPod? iPhone? anyone? bueller?

Sure they've dabbled in devices before that didn't really take off, however I see things like the macbook air and maybe even apple TV as sort of niche market research devices (and even the iPhone) leading up to the development of this "next-generation" device (the tablet).

I'm betting this new device will somehow seamlessly incorporate wireless netbook surfing + 3G broadband connection for data/videoconferencing + iTunes streaming capability for audio/video + ereader subscriptions functionality plus multitouch and stylus input for typing/drawing/note taking AND photo editing, and very likely something entirely new and unprecedented like, oh I dunno it'll stream stuff via your .mac account (lala acquisition anyone?) or you can control your whole home media setup through it or goodness only knows. Whatever it is, I'm thinking it's a complete game changer along the same vein as the iPod was to kick off the 2000s.

And just like prior to the iPhone release, I'm willing to bet all the naysayers on here trumpeting about "ZOMG its too expensive!!!111" will be the first ones in line on release day to shell out for it.

In the future everyone will start wearing baggy pants with big pockets so they can carry their iTablets.
Apple will then introduce a line of fine Italian leather pants for $1000.

How, exactly, are people determining what's a fair price when they don't know what it is, what it does, or even if it will exist?

I'm hoping it'll be less as well ($400-$800), but this device may be more attractive than you think. Apple has had a knack of delivering compelling devices and I believe this won't be much different. They won't just come out with your typical tablet, netbook or eBook reader. I believe this could revolutionize all of those markets if this thing will do what I think it'll do.

Worthy speculations. In answer to the questions of 'where's the market?', I say:
1. Users of college textbooks (and some high-schoolers also)
2. Casual web-browsing at home
3. Reading in bed, on the couch, while on the bus or train, in a car, in the park, & anywhere
4. Anyone who takes notes or accesses data on-the-go (this includes every health care professional, inventory or sales manager, anyone who isn't desk-bound.
5. Casual gamers
6. Movies downloaded or streamed.
7. Creative types who like to sketch, draw, design or write without being tied down.

And just so no-one can say I didn't stick my neck out, here's a prediction: this market will grow to rival and eventually exceed notebooks, i.e. it will become the dominant computing segment.

We bitch because we care about Apple and its products.

"Stop your bitchin and don't buy it" is what earned Chrysler and GM their place on government life support.
Enough people finally didn't buy it....

Perhaps an Apple tablet would be a potential blockbuster, but unless it packs some serious usability, $1000 is simply too expensive.

Blah Blah Blah about the iPad being a failure

We had cookers/stoves before we had microwaves, yet the latter are central to our lives. Before we had toilet paper we used leaves; before we had beds, we slept on the ground. None of that has changed; we still eat. poop and sleep. So yeah, the iTablet/iPad (I like that term better) isn't gonna be any different...or is it?

Say goodbye to 15-25 pounds of heavy books in your back pack.

Watch the lecture that you'd have otherwise missed because you're sick with the flu and participate in class with the built in iChat

Watch TV live

no more piles of magazines lying around waiting to be read

It will take the market two years to realise the significance of the iPad

I'm betting it will be huge

If it is huge, rest assure there will be a lot of people assuring us that what Apple did was obvious and inevitable, and merely an evolution of long existent tech, so that the sudden appearance of many similar devices on the market should in no way be attributed to Apple being innovative or a market leader.

These, of course, will be the same people who are currently assuring us that the world has no use for such a device.

This is a corollary to a great quote from years back: "Nothing has been invented until Microsoft says it has."

Wish I could remember the source. Maybe Nick Petreley.

What is that?

prediction: this will be an "advanced" iPod touch with a 10.1 inch screen and at least 100GB memory with advanced ebook features galore and optional data service from verizon wireless/sprint with a $600-$800 price point.

prediction: this will be an iPod touch with a 10.1 inch screen and at least 100GB memory with advanced ebook features galore and optional data service from verizon wireless/sprint with a $600-$800 price point.

Just another analyst who forgot to take his tablets.

Rumors and speculations. Mainly speculation, and mostly vague on the feature set.

its just a pointless bullshit word. An estimation is a guess, and educated one. What the hell is a guesstimation?

People have been using "irregardless" in Boston for years, and that doesn't give it credence as a useful word.

The mot common definitions of each term usually have estimation as a rough calculation while a guess is an estimation without sufficient information to be sure. A guesstimation is usually somewhere in between. Irregardless, its been in a part of the lexicon and in the dictionary so there is no need getting upset by a word. The best option you have is to simply not use it yourself.

Irregardless on the other hand is listed as an incorrect, illogical usage of regardless despite its origins possibly being more rational. I personally dont use either, and would only slight someone for impreoper using for the latter term but on this forum neither is unacceptable providing we understand the context of the dialogue.

This word does sound like fingernails on a blackboard whenever I hear it used, but the word is not really incorrect, it's just not a widely accepted usage in written English. Annoying as it is, a great deal more clearly grammatically incorrect usage has crept into both spoken and written English than this. One of my pet peeves is the use of "hopefully" to mean "I hope" when it actually means "with hope." This word is used more often incorrectly than correctly anymore, to the point where editors don't seem to catch it a lot of the time.