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.
I take you point....but I could see it 'taking over' the medical field. As a realtor I would love to have it for presentations and ease of use.
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.
I see where you're heading, but only about half of those examples support your argument. Who ever said Apple would never add 3G or GPS to the iPhone? Who ever said Apple would never add copy/paste to the iPhone because nobody would care?
Apple initially said they didn't think there would be demand for video on an iPod, that they'd never switch to Intel, and they ignored the multi-button mouse for years, but that does not mean that every smart decision they make initially seems counter-intuitive.
Thank god we have Steve to push the creative process at Apple.
And thank god I don't work for him!
Although the work with him might/would be incredibly stressful. The man knows what he's doing and he does it well. Glad to see he's back even if the employees aren't ;0
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.
While I do agree with you to a certain extent, why do you think that ethos (as you call it) exists there. He's not every man, and God knows I hate praising the man with the ego, but he is the reason for this culture. That much is obvious. While the culture will continue on, having a CEO of such specific and very rare company management talents is of "huge" benefit. To not get that is to put Steve Ballmer in charge of Apple. Steve may not be crucial for Apple right now, but it's also possible he is.
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.
With a laptop there is a point where you don't want to go smaller and that point is around 13 inches.
With a handheld device, and a tablet is a handheld device, there is a point where you don't what to go larger and that point is not 10 inches. I would argue that it's more like roughly half that size. The reason is that once you go that large, the advantages of using a handheld device have pretty much disappeared so it begs the question, what's the point?
In other words, if you need a screen that size, use a laptop. If not, fine, there is a place for something like a Touch but with a bigger screen, just not one better suited to a laptop than a hand-held.
A 10-inch tablet would simply be a lousy laptop alternative. A pointless product Apple isn't working on, in my opinion. Of course, there could be interface innovations in the mix that could alter this scenario but no one has offered up any hints that such innovations are in the works.
The iPhone is too big and heavy to be thought of as a futuristic phone [tried putting it in your pocket?] and an iPhone Nano with camera would be perfect.
Huh? I've had the original iPhone and now a 3GS and I've never had it anywhere BUT in my pockets. Everything from cargo shorts to jeans to slacks. What's the problem?
I take you point....but I could see it 'taking over' the medical field. As a realtor I would love to have it for presentations and ease of use.
That may be the key to advertising this thing. Make "who should use it and how" the centerpiece. Challenge viewers to post their own uses on an Apple web page. By making it the must-have accessory for doctors, nurses and other professional and business people it will soon become the must-have for all us wannabes.
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
Speak for yourself, and some others here. But don't speak for me.
I never begged for a headless iMac or an xMac, I argued against both in fact. I never begged for an Apple DVR. In fact the reason I said they won't do a DVR is when they add an iTunes subscription service to Apple TV you will no longer need to have to record shows.
I never begged for a tablet either. I just said it's inevitable. Just like I said the iPhone was inevitable, and an Apple Television are. I won't go into again why I think the tablet is coming, but I'm convinced it is. I also believe it will be "Mac", and not simply a larger iPod touch. I have been forceful in making this point, and Apple heavily market it as such. This tablet will be a "computer". Touch comes to Mac, introducing Mac touch.
Enough with the lumping all rumors into one basket please guys, each rumor should be treated individually.
I think a 10" tablet and a iPhone Nano is the way to go....
The iPhone is too big and heavy to be thought of as a futuristic phone [tried putting it in your pocket?] and an iPhone Nano with camera would be perfect.
If you think an iPhone is big and heavy, try an HTC TYTN II, that IS BIG and HEAVY. The iPhone by comparison is just brilliant, slips into a pocket no problem.
Bottom line is, SJ is a genius, he thinks as a customer would think, looks at it like a customer looks at something, expects and demands the best in everything.
I've written it before in a post and I'll write it again, aluminium body, tough and robust, if you drop it you'd cry. Macbook Air = great prototype, and who said it would have the ARM processor?, custom chipset from PA semi is much more likely, built and developed in house = lower cost and total control over form factor and power consumption, the screen will drink power, probably.
I'd forgotten that Mr Jobs hates the stylus, and the right forefinger makes a perfect integrated stylus if everything else is right, the landscape keyboard on an iPhone is much better, but you cannot see much of what you are typing.
Projection keyboard with a flip out stand to prop it up?, all stuff done before, the flip out stand could double as a means of holding it if using the touchscreen cos you don't want to drop it.
Ok then, who is responsible for the iPhone and the iMac if not SJ?
Not Jobs "alone". Without Jobs they likely wouldn't exists, but not alone. He's good, but he's not that good. His knack is for getting the best work out of the talent at Apple, and his taste sets that direction. But the talent at Apple do the majority of the work, and I'm sure they are very gifted in different ways.
I had to register today, after years of lurking to finally post this.
How did we not see a tablet coming far down the road ago?
Think about all the software tweaks apple has made to itunes, safari etc that are conducive to touch screen.
Safari now has the 'top sites' page, which turns your browsing history basically into the iphone OS right in safari.
iTunes adopted cover flow #1, and then switched to the so called marble interface. iTunes now represents artists like apps, easy to touch and also most likely conducive to the 'cocktail' we have been hearing about.
Apple hardly ever just 'springs' a new innovation into the public, if you follow the breadcrumbs its really not difficult.
I had to register today, after years of lurking to finally post this.
How did we not see a tablet coming far down the road ago?
I have been posting about it for a couple of years now. Welcome.
Here's my first thread on the tablet from Febuary 2007, one month after the iPhone was demoed at Macworld. At some point during 2007 I decided a 10" screen was a better choice than 11.
Here's my updated mockup in a new thread from 2008. Scaled correctly to iPhone.
I think a 10" tablet and a iPhone Nano is the way to go....
I agree and have said so before. No single product can cover all the current marketing bases. A smaller, lighter, cheaper iPhone Nano to fill the low end of the high quality smartphone market (maybe even with a physical keyboard--I know, heresy). And something to stanch the bleeding in the netbook space. Students are buying them in greater and greater numbers--I know, I am a college teacher. It's just a money and size thing. There's a netbook sized hole in their lives and Apple needs a product to fill it. The Apple offering, whatever it is, will not be cheap enough for all students but it could be for many.
I got one of the first iPhones and liked to show it off to my classes. I remember asking early on how many students planned to get one: only one or two hands raised which surprised the hell out of me. Now it seems like about a quarter of my students have them. So, make a tablet that fills the netbook hole and after the first year premium price comes down, it'll start showing up all over campuses.
I agree and have said so before. No single product can cover all the current marketing bases. A smaller, lighter, cheaper iPhone Nano to fill the low end of the high quality smartphone market (maybe even with a physical keyboard--I know, heresy). And something to stanch the bleeding in the netbook space. Students are buying them in greater and greater numbers--I know, I am a college teacher. It's just a money and size thing. There's a netbook sized hole in their lives and Apple needs a product to fill it. The Apple offering, whatever it is, will not be cheap enough for all students but it could be for many.
I got one of the first iPhones and liked to show it off to my classes. I remember asking early on how many students planned to get one: only one or two hands raised which surprised the hell out of me. Now it seems like about a quarter of my students have them. So, make a tablet that fills the netbook hole and after the first year premium price comes down, it'll start showing up all over campuses.
Price matters. A $900 tablet will not touch the netbook market. But something better suited to the Internet than the current Touch would do well.
I do have a question. If the product Apple brings to market isn't suited to doing the sort of work, beyond surfing the net, that students are using their netbooks for, is that a problem? I suspect students are buying netbooks for more practical uses than simply surfing in their spare time.
Comments
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.
I take you point....but I could see it 'taking over' the medical field. As a realtor I would love to have it for presentations and ease of use.
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.
I see where you're heading, but only about half of those examples support your argument. Who ever said Apple would never add 3G or GPS to the iPhone? Who ever said Apple would never add copy/paste to the iPhone because nobody would care?
Apple initially said they didn't think there would be demand for video on an iPod, that they'd never switch to Intel, and they ignored the multi-button mouse for years, but that does not mean that every smart decision they make initially seems counter-intuitive.
Thank god we have Steve to push the creative process at Apple.
And thank god I don't work for him!
Although the work with him might/would be incredibly stressful. The man knows what he's doing and he does it well. Glad to see he's back even if the employees aren't ;0
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.
While I do agree with you to a certain extent, why do you think that ethos (as you call it) exists there. He's not every man, and God knows I hate praising the man with the ego, but he is the reason for this culture. That much is obvious. While the culture will continue on, having a CEO of such specific and very rare company management talents is of "huge" benefit. To not get that is to put Steve Ballmer in charge of Apple. Steve may not be crucial for Apple right now, but it's also possible he is.
J is solely responsible for many of what Apple has brought and its guiding force. That cannot be denied.
Now that just isn't true.
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.
With a laptop there is a point where you don't want to go smaller and that point is around 13 inches.
With a handheld device, and a tablet is a handheld device, there is a point where you don't what to go larger and that point is not 10 inches. I would argue that it's more like roughly half that size. The reason is that once you go that large, the advantages of using a handheld device have pretty much disappeared so it begs the question, what's the point?
In other words, if you need a screen that size, use a laptop. If not, fine, there is a place for something like a Touch but with a bigger screen, just not one better suited to a laptop than a hand-held.
A 10-inch tablet would simply be a lousy laptop alternative. A pointless product Apple isn't working on, in my opinion. Of course, there could be interface innovations in the mix that could alter this scenario but no one has offered up any hints that such innovations are in the works.
The iPhone is too big and heavy to be thought of as a futuristic phone [tried putting it in your pocket?] and an iPhone Nano with camera would be perfect.
Huh? I've had the original iPhone and now a 3GS and I've never had it anywhere BUT in my pockets. Everything from cargo shorts to jeans to slacks. What's the problem?
I take you point....but I could see it 'taking over' the medical field. As a realtor I would love to have it for presentations and ease of use.
That may be the key to advertising this thing. Make "who should use it and how" the centerpiece. Challenge viewers to post their own uses on an Apple web page. By making it the must-have accessory for doctors, nurses and other professional and business people it will soon become the must-have for all us wannabes.
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
Speak for yourself, and some others here. But don't speak for me.
I never begged for a headless iMac or an xMac, I argued against both in fact. I never begged for an Apple DVR. In fact the reason I said they won't do a DVR is when they add an iTunes subscription service to Apple TV you will no longer need to have to record shows.
I never begged for a tablet either. I just said it's inevitable. Just like I said the iPhone was inevitable, and an Apple Television are. I won't go into again why I think the tablet is coming, but I'm convinced it is. I also believe it will be "Mac", and not simply a larger iPod touch. I have been forceful in making this point, and Apple heavily market it as such. This tablet will be a "computer". Touch comes to Mac, introducing Mac touch.
Enough with the lumping all rumors into one basket please guys, each rumor should be treated individually.
I think a 10" tablet and a iPhone Nano is the way to go....
The iPhone is too big and heavy to be thought of as a futuristic phone [tried putting it in your pocket?] and an iPhone Nano with camera would be perfect.
If you think an iPhone is big and heavy, try an HTC TYTN II, that IS BIG and HEAVY. The iPhone by comparison is just brilliant, slips into a pocket no problem.
Bottom line is, SJ is a genius, he thinks as a customer would think, looks at it like a customer looks at something, expects and demands the best in everything.
I've written it before in a post and I'll write it again, aluminium body, tough and robust, if you drop it you'd cry. Macbook Air = great prototype, and who said it would have the ARM processor?, custom chipset from PA semi is much more likely, built and developed in house = lower cost and total control over form factor and power consumption, the screen will drink power, probably.
I'd forgotten that Mr Jobs hates the stylus, and the right forefinger makes a perfect integrated stylus if everything else is right, the landscape keyboard on an iPhone is much better, but you cannot see much of what you are typing.
Projection keyboard with a flip out stand to prop it up?, all stuff done before, the flip out stand could double as a means of holding it if using the touchscreen cos you don't want to drop it.
All conjecture, only five months to wait.....
Not that just isn't true.
Ok then, who is responsible for the iPhone and the iMac if not SJ?
Ok then, who is responsible for the iPhone and the iMac if not SJ?
Not Jobs "alone". Without Jobs they likely wouldn't exists, but not alone. He's good, but he's not that good. His knack is for getting the best work out of the talent at Apple, and his taste sets that direction. But the talent at Apple do the majority of the work, and I'm sure they are very gifted in different ways.
How did we not see a tablet coming far down the road ago?
Think about all the software tweaks apple has made to itunes, safari etc that are conducive to touch screen.
Safari now has the 'top sites' page, which turns your browsing history basically into the iphone OS right in safari.
iTunes adopted cover flow #1, and then switched to the so called marble interface. iTunes now represents artists like apps, easy to touch and also most likely conducive to the 'cocktail' we have been hearing about.
Apple hardly ever just 'springs' a new innovation into the public, if you follow the breadcrumbs its really not difficult.
SJ is solely responsible for many of what Apple has brought
What in Apple is SJ "solely responsible for"?
SJ owns the glass cube that sits atop the premier Apple 5th Ave store among many other things.
Actually, that is owned by Apple, Inc.
Steve's name (along with 9 others) is on the patent for the glass staircase used in the 5th ave store but he doesn't "own" the stair case.
I had to register today, after years of lurking to finally post this.
How did we not see a tablet coming far down the road ago?
I have been posting about it for a couple of years now. Welcome.
Here's my first thread on the tablet from Febuary 2007, one month after the iPhone was demoed at Macworld. At some point during 2007 I decided a 10" screen was a better choice than 11.
Here's my updated mockup in a new thread from 2008. Scaled correctly to iPhone.
I think a 10" tablet and a iPhone Nano is the way to go....
I agree and have said so before. No single product can cover all the current marketing bases. A smaller, lighter, cheaper iPhone Nano to fill the low end of the high quality smartphone market (maybe even with a physical keyboard--I know, heresy). And something to stanch the bleeding in the netbook space. Students are buying them in greater and greater numbers--I know, I am a college teacher. It's just a money and size thing. There's a netbook sized hole in their lives and Apple needs a product to fill it. The Apple offering, whatever it is, will not be cheap enough for all students but it could be for many.
I got one of the first iPhones and liked to show it off to my classes. I remember asking early on how many students planned to get one: only one or two hands raised which surprised the hell out of me. Now it seems like about a quarter of my students have them. So, make a tablet that fills the netbook hole and after the first year premium price comes down, it'll start showing up all over campuses.
I agree and have said so before. No single product can cover all the current marketing bases. A smaller, lighter, cheaper iPhone Nano to fill the low end of the high quality smartphone market (maybe even with a physical keyboard--I know, heresy). And something to stanch the bleeding in the netbook space. Students are buying them in greater and greater numbers--I know, I am a college teacher. It's just a money and size thing. There's a netbook sized hole in their lives and Apple needs a product to fill it. The Apple offering, whatever it is, will not be cheap enough for all students but it could be for many.
I got one of the first iPhones and liked to show it off to my classes. I remember asking early on how many students planned to get one: only one or two hands raised which surprised the hell out of me. Now it seems like about a quarter of my students have them. So, make a tablet that fills the netbook hole and after the first year premium price comes down, it'll start showing up all over campuses.
Price matters. A $900 tablet will not touch the netbook market. But something better suited to the Internet than the current Touch would do well.
I do have a question. If the product Apple brings to market isn't suited to doing the sort of work, beyond surfing the net, that students are using their netbooks for, is that a problem? I suspect students are buying netbooks for more practical uses than simply surfing in their spare time.