I prefer the bead-blasted aluminum of the MacBook Pro series.
Personally, I'm also curious if they will use glossy screen. I realize the glossy is nice from an ID standpoint because the glass is thicker and stronger, but I'm a matte fan.
Would a matte touch screen even be possible without being too susceptible to scratching or whatever?
If it's matte, it's not going to be (completely) smooth and you would simply be forcing dirt & oils into it.
You all are missing the obvious. If this pans out it'll be a Kindle killer.
Personally, I've enjoyed reading on the iPhone. You always have it with you and can pull it out and read for 10 min. Plus, you can buy one on a whim. I've read about 5 or 6 books.
In my day, you had to get dressed, put gas in the car, drive to the bookstore and hope they had what you wanted. If not, you took what they had! And we liked it!
- the view screen simply has to have the same aspect ratio of the iPhone/touch. or else iPhone apps won't work. duh.
- standard orientation will be landscape mode (which 3.0 specifically was expanded to support).
- there has to be a home button in a strip along the bottom, just like the iPhone/touch. duh.
- there won't be a chrome bevel around the edge. maybe a black one. or none. Apple has to visually differentiate this product just a bit stylistically from the touch. they like subtle differences like that.
If this is real, I don't think you'd want to use it for lengthy document writing. You're going to be holding it in two hands, like an iPhone, typing with your thumbs on an onscreen keyboard, like an iPhone.
Dose the size of a MacBook Pro's keyboard increase when you move up from a 13" screen to a 15" or 17" screen? No.
Maybe people will sit it on a desk or their lap and type in landscape with both hands? You are making a major assumption that people would operate the tablet in the same manner as an iphone and that the onscreen keyboard would even be set up in a similar manner. If I were using this fictitious device I definitely wouldn't hold it by its base and type with two thumbs. If the rumors about the 10 inch screens are correct, holding the device by its base would be difficult and you would be asking for it to fall out of your hands. I see typing on this thing to be mostly a sit down affair and if you have to type while standing, it will be with one hand with the other hand/arm cradling the device. Who knows what Apple will do, I hope they do release it so I can find out.
The lighter, the better. 300 g or less would be great.
The smaller, the better. Pocketable would be great.
Firewire for repairs via Target Disk Mode.
At least two USB 2 ports for wireless remote control and pendrive.
Ethernet port.
Wifi.
Bluetooth.
Touch screen.
Full and true GPS (TomTom compatible).
Full Mac OS X for full blown presentations from NATIVE Apple Keynote and Microsoft PowerPoint via video-out port to videoprojectors (with VGA adapter cable).
We need thousands for our University.
in other words, "all the same features as the more expensive laptops, PLUS the iPhone, and with a lower price tag."
You all are missing the obvious. If this pans out it'll be a Kindle killer.
It won't be a dedicated device, nor will it be designed to kill any single device. Much like the iPhone, it would have the potential to kill/change many markets. It would compete with netbooks, and it would compete with the kindle, and who knows what else.
In the context of the story, if the details are correct about going back to the drawing board several times, changing processors in mid-stream, Steve approving (or not) from his hospital bed, and cancelling a previous project, then this isn't actually hyperbole at all. It's glowing praise for Mr. Jobs, but entirely within the facts.
I'm excited about the time-frame (even though I would like to use one sooner), because it seems to imply that this is a portable "Mac" and not an "iPod" given that it will be released when the Macs are released. I think this indicates the long awaited re-vamping of the Mac line-up. Making it either a new "MacBook" or at least making it part of a strategy that includes a new MacBook.
Maybe people will sit it on a desk or their lap and type in landscape with both hands? You are making a major assumption that people would operate the tablet in the same manner as an iphone and that the onscreen keyboard would even be set up in a similar manner. If I were using this fictitious device I definitely wouldn't hold it by its base and type with two thumbs. If the rumors about the 10 inch screens are correct, holding the device by its base would be difficult and you would be asking for it to fall out of your hands. I see typing on this thing to be mostly a sit down affair and if you have to type while standing, it will be with one hand with the other hand/arm cradling the device. Who knows what Apple will do, I hope they do release it so I can find out.
Typing on an iPhone (or any similar device) by laying it on the table and typing like it's a mini-typewriter is ridiculously inefficient. If you are using your iPhone this way you are "doing it wrong" as they say.
Something in a similar aspect ratio to an iPhone (a reasonable assumption after all), would be rather easy to thumb type on and rather difficult to type on the way you suggest. I would predict that as a "media tablet" it would have a way of propping itself up or sit in a dock that performs a similar function. Bluetooth keyboards (Apple's is already in the same kind of form factor), would be the most obvious solution for those that insist on typing the "old-fashioned" way.
More importantly, a tablet that you *can't hold in one hand comfortably, would rule out half of the uses that a tablet could be used for and a tablet that *must* be put on a table and typed on like an old typewriter would rule out a lot more uses. One of the central reasons that tablets haven't caught on so far is that they have to be held in the crook of ones arm (because they are so bulky and heavy) and then awkwardly poked at with a stylus held in the opposite hand.
I just like to know how do the ergonomics of such a tablet device work?
Surely you are not meant to type with just your thumbs while holding the device in your hand, so does that mean you set it flat onto a table to type? I haven't even used a traditional laptop like that in years (have an external keyboard and an iCurve). Even if just for 20 minutes at Panera Bread, it is hard to visualize hunching over a flat to the table device and typing.
If Apple includes a whole docking and accessory ecosystem with such a device, then I could see the usefulness of having a tiny, flat device you can take to any friend's house and easily attach to their dock and have access to your computer.
How would someone use this device and for what purposes? Maybe if you eliminate typing on it as a main function, just an Internet browser and application device would be useful in such a form factor?
I would be scared to scratch the screen when carrying it in my backpack. A big beautiful screen like that and no way to fold it up. Maybe a leather case?
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
-A 10" inch capacitive multitouch screen of 1024x600 moreless resolution in expensive.
Why does it have to be 1024x600?
Quote:
-To last an acceptable time, it have to have a good battery so it adds weigth to the device
The iPhone battery doesn't weigh much. Besides, this device will have flash memory and less moving parts than a full laptop.
Quote:
-Working with a tablet it's the epitome of poor ergonomy. You must to hold it with the two hands so to write (in a virtual keyboard) you have to hold with one hand (tired) and write with the other, or hold it flat and look at it vertically and write.
Or you put it flat on a table or on your lap sitting down and then type with the virtual keyboard.
Quote:
I have never understood why everyone is willing to have an iTablet.
Because it's Apple's answer to the netbook. Besides, ModBooks sell fairly well.
Quote:
Please, make a 10"-11" Macbook and then yes, this can be the answer to netbooks, but an iTablet is not the answer to netbooks.
Apple saw the small, cramped keyboards on netbooks and concluded rightly that having a physical keyboard would be an impediment to the functionality of the device.
If Apple is going to use ARM chips, then in makes me doubt that they are using full blown OS X in the traditional sense. That's also means one can't use Mac OS X software on this device. Because of these limitations, it's more likely to be an extension of the iPhone OS to the n-th degree, than trying to dumb down all of Mac OS X so that it runs smoothly on this portable device (and yes, I know that the iPhone OS IS Mac OS X, but the presentation is VERY different compared to the backend code).
I prefer the bead-blasted aluminum of the MacBook Pro series.
Personally, I'm also curious if they will use glossy screen. I realize the glossy is nice from an ID standpoint because the glass is thicker and stronger, but I'm a matte fan.
That it true for a lot of users, although my beef was with the bloody fingerprints on my iPhone rather than reflectivity, which prompted using an anti-glare film on the glass. That being said there is plenty of technology available to do the micro-etching necessary to produce an anti-glare glass surface unless the coatings they use for it are compromised with that kind of surfacing. Geee, guess we will have to wait and see.
I was really hoping for a device with roughly four times the screen real estate of an iPhone, which translates into somewhere around a six inch diagonal.
That would make a device that's pocketable (in a coat or jacket pocket), but not so big that you'd need a backpack to carry it. It would also make a good 'tween device for when you need more than your iPhone, but don't want to carry that 15" MacBook Pro. Make it too large (and 10" is too large) and you might as well carry a full-fledged notebook and be done with it.
A six-inch screen would be a near perfect ebook reader for most texts, a great TV and movie media device, and a killer portable game machine. Email and web browsing, already fairly good on the iPhone, would be more than adequate when done on a high-resolution screen 4x the size.
A smaller device means less weight, and a smaller screen translates into better battery life. A good media player/game pad needs at least eight hours running at full blast, 12-16 hours as a mere ebook reader/web browser.
Comments
I'll settle for my 9" netbook with Ubuntu, meanwhile. Pretty viable for a couple hundred $.
I prefer the bead-blasted aluminum of the MacBook Pro series.
Personally, I'm also curious if they will use glossy screen. I realize the glossy is nice from an ID standpoint because the glass is thicker and stronger, but I'm a matte fan.
Would a matte touch screen even be possible without being too susceptible to scratching or whatever?
If it's matte, it's not going to be (completely) smooth and you would simply be forcing dirt & oils into it.
You all are missing the obvious. If this pans out it'll be a Kindle killer.
Personally, I've enjoyed reading on the iPhone. You always have it with you and can pull it out and read for 10 min. Plus, you can buy one on a whim. I've read about 5 or 6 books.
In my day, you had to get dressed, put gas in the car, drive to the bookstore and hope they had what you wanted. If not, you took what they had! And we liked it!
You all are missing the obvious. If this pans out it'll be a Kindle killer.
The kindle gets more hype than sales. And barnes and noble has a larger ebook selection than the kindle. And their software runs on more devices
- the view screen simply has to have the same aspect ratio of the iPhone/touch. or else iPhone apps won't work. duh.
- standard orientation will be landscape mode (which 3.0 specifically was expanded to support).
- there has to be a home button in a strip along the bottom, just like the iPhone/touch. duh.
- there won't be a chrome bevel around the edge. maybe a black one. or none. Apple has to visually differentiate this product just a bit stylistically from the touch. they like subtle differences like that.
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
...iTablet is not the answer to netbooks.
This article is a little weird actually.
If this is real, I don't think you'd want to use it for lengthy document writing. You're going to be holding it in two hands, like an iPhone, typing with your thumbs on an onscreen keyboard, like an iPhone.
Dose the size of a MacBook Pro's keyboard increase when you move up from a 13" screen to a 15" or 17" screen? No.
Maybe people will sit it on a desk or their lap and type in landscape with both hands? You are making a major assumption that people would operate the tablet in the same manner as an iphone and that the onscreen keyboard would even be set up in a similar manner. If I were using this fictitious device I definitely wouldn't hold it by its base and type with two thumbs. If the rumors about the 10 inch screens are correct, holding the device by its base would be difficult and you would be asking for it to fall out of your hands. I see typing on this thing to be mostly a sit down affair and if you have to type while standing, it will be with one hand with the other hand/arm cradling the device. Who knows what Apple will do, I hope they do release it so I can find out.
You all are missing the obvious. If this pans out it'll be a Kindle killer.
Reading in a eink device beats out any computer screen.
I have an iLiad and a Sony PRS-505 and I'll never change it for an iPhone o iTablet screen
The lighter, the better. 300 g or less would be great.
The smaller, the better. Pocketable would be great.
Firewire for repairs via Target Disk Mode.
At least two USB 2 ports for wireless remote control and pendrive.
Ethernet port.
Wifi.
Bluetooth.
Touch screen.
Full and true GPS (TomTom compatible).
Full Mac OS X for full blown presentations from NATIVE Apple Keynote and Microsoft PowerPoint via video-out port to videoprojectors (with VGA adapter cable).
We need thousands for our University.
in other words, "all the same features as the more expensive laptops, PLUS the iPhone, and with a lower price tag."
How very realistic of you...
You all are missing the obvious. If this pans out it'll be a Kindle killer.
It won't be a dedicated device, nor will it be designed to kill any single device. Much like the iPhone, it would have the potential to kill/change many markets. It would compete with netbooks, and it would compete with the kindle, and who knows what else.
Wow...you broke my hyperbole meter! ...
In the context of the story, if the details are correct about going back to the drawing board several times, changing processors in mid-stream, Steve approving (or not) from his hospital bed, and cancelling a previous project, then this isn't actually hyperbole at all. It's glowing praise for Mr. Jobs, but entirely within the facts.
I'm excited about the time-frame (even though I would like to use one sooner), because it seems to imply that this is a portable "Mac" and not an "iPod" given that it will be released when the Macs are released. I think this indicates the long awaited re-vamping of the Mac line-up. Making it either a new "MacBook" or at least making it part of a strategy that includes a new MacBook.
Maybe people will sit it on a desk or their lap and type in landscape with both hands? You are making a major assumption that people would operate the tablet in the same manner as an iphone and that the onscreen keyboard would even be set up in a similar manner. If I were using this fictitious device I definitely wouldn't hold it by its base and type with two thumbs. If the rumors about the 10 inch screens are correct, holding the device by its base would be difficult and you would be asking for it to fall out of your hands. I see typing on this thing to be mostly a sit down affair and if you have to type while standing, it will be with one hand with the other hand/arm cradling the device. Who knows what Apple will do, I hope they do release it so I can find out.
Typing on an iPhone (or any similar device) by laying it on the table and typing like it's a mini-typewriter is ridiculously inefficient. If you are using your iPhone this way you are "doing it wrong" as they say.
Something in a similar aspect ratio to an iPhone (a reasonable assumption after all), would be rather easy to thumb type on and rather difficult to type on the way you suggest. I would predict that as a "media tablet" it would have a way of propping itself up or sit in a dock that performs a similar function. Bluetooth keyboards (Apple's is already in the same kind of form factor), would be the most obvious solution for those that insist on typing the "old-fashioned" way.
More importantly, a tablet that you *can't hold in one hand comfortably, would rule out half of the uses that a tablet could be used for and a tablet that *must* be put on a table and typed on like an old typewriter would rule out a lot more uses. One of the central reasons that tablets haven't caught on so far is that they have to be held in the crook of ones arm (because they are so bulky and heavy) and then awkwardly poked at with a stylus held in the opposite hand.
Surely you are not meant to type with just your thumbs while holding the device in your hand, so does that mean you set it flat onto a table to type? I haven't even used a traditional laptop like that in years (have an external keyboard and an iCurve). Even if just for 20 minutes at Panera Bread, it is hard to visualize hunching over a flat to the table device and typing.
If Apple includes a whole docking and accessory ecosystem with such a device, then I could see the usefulness of having a tiny, flat device you can take to any friend's house and easily attach to their dock and have access to your computer.
How would someone use this device and for what purposes? Maybe if you eliminate typing on it as a main function, just an Internet browser and application device would be useful in such a form factor?
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
-A 10" inch capacitive multitouch screen of 1024x600 moreless resolution in expensive.
Why does it have to be 1024x600?
-To last an acceptable time, it have to have a good battery so it adds weigth to the device
The iPhone battery doesn't weigh much. Besides, this device will have flash memory and less moving parts than a full laptop.
-Working with a tablet it's the epitome of poor ergonomy. You must to hold it with the two hands so to write (in a virtual keyboard) you have to hold with one hand (tired) and write with the other, or hold it flat and look at it vertically and write.
Or you put it flat on a table or on your lap sitting down and then type with the virtual keyboard.
I have never understood why everyone is willing to have an iTablet.
Because it's Apple's answer to the netbook. Besides, ModBooks sell fairly well.
Please, make a 10"-11" Macbook and then yes, this can be the answer to netbooks, but an iTablet is not the answer to netbooks.
Apple saw the small, cramped keyboards on netbooks and concluded rightly that having a physical keyboard would be an impediment to the functionality of the device.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mLqJNDWx-8
I prefer the bead-blasted aluminum of the MacBook Pro series.
Personally, I'm also curious if they will use glossy screen. I realize the glossy is nice from an ID standpoint because the glass is thicker and stronger, but I'm a matte fan.
That it true for a lot of users, although my beef was with the bloody fingerprints on my iPhone rather than reflectivity, which prompted using an anti-glare film on the glass. That being said there is plenty of technology available to do the micro-etching necessary to produce an anti-glare glass surface unless the coatings they use for it are compromised with that kind of surfacing. Geee, guess we will have to wait and see.
That would make a device that's pocketable (in a coat or jacket pocket), but not so big that you'd need a backpack to carry it. It would also make a good 'tween device for when you need more than your iPhone, but don't want to carry that 15" MacBook Pro. Make it too large (and 10" is too large) and you might as well carry a full-fledged notebook and be done with it.
A six-inch screen would be a near perfect ebook reader for most texts, a great TV and movie media device, and a killer portable game machine. Email and web browsing, already fairly good on the iPhone, would be more than adequate when done on a high-resolution screen 4x the size.
A smaller device means less weight, and a smaller screen translates into better battery life. A good media player/game pad needs at least eight hours running at full blast, 12-16 hours as a mere ebook reader/web browser.
Come on Apple, I want a pad, not a tablet.