I have been trying to work out what the justification of an iSlate is. Where is the market? After all, all previous tablet computers have been dismal failures.
Sorry, it's a long post, but here's my guess....
Computers, desktops and laptops are not really consumer products and never have been. Their origins date back to professional computer uses like Word Processing and Spreadsheets.
Despite attempts to make them easier to use. Personal Computers remain tools for professionals, which have only made a handful of concessions for non-professional usage.
The "professional tool" PC is not bad thing. We professionals like to create content. We want keyboards, and we want an exposed file system, and we want to plug stuff in. These are essential aspects to the personal computer and can never be dropped.
But these requirements come with three unavoidable problems.
1) The form factor. Physical bulk. Professional computers simply must have keyboards. They are useless without them. And even the slimmest computers are bulky when opened.
2) Power. You need a desktop-like CPU to run desktop apps. This means a low batter life.
3) Complexity. The desktop experience demands a windowing WIMP interface. With file systems, and settings and all.
For us technophiles, a full OS and GUI is something we hardly think of. It is a given. But such systems requires a lengthy boot process, and a level of technical expertise which is not universal. Some basic tasks are ridiculously difficult.
The flexible nature of software also brings with it the risk of viruses or configuration nightmares, which non-technical people just cannot solve. Your Granny can still not use your Mac. Your uncle can, but he has to trade it in every 18 months because it is "broken".
So can the computer be "re-thunk" for a non-professional market? Can you design a device for a market that cares more about consuming media than creating media. If you see kids with laptops, they watch movies, send text-like messages on facebook - they never open a file-system. They don't want to.
Perhaps there is a demand for a consumer-oriented computer appliance? It would offer all those computer benefits, we get on the notebook, but without these problems.
So the a CE computer would
1) Have a form factor which lends itself to media-consumption, reading, portability, bagability. A robust, slim, screen format which would take-up less space than a magazine. This means dumping the rarely needed keyboard. This means a chamfered edge. This means a scratch-proof screen. A round-edged slab that can take abuse.
2) Switch to a processor and GPU designed for portable hardware. Offering long battery life. Good performance, and offload heavy lifting to the GPU where possible. 8 hours use would be good. A couple of days stand-by would be handy too.
3) Create a user experience around media consumption and not media creation. This means a brain-dead easy UI. We are talking chimpanzee-level intelligence to operate. Want to Facebook. Poke Facebook. Want to watch a movie. Poke the movie. Want to videochat with the grandkids. Poke the grandkids pic, or the camera pic. Either will get you there. And it should not only be simple, it should be fun. Every action would be rewarded with clear visual feedback.
The market is full of people who already want to do this stuff, but currently are compelled to buy a pro device that offers too much. Too much complexity. Too much bulk. They buy notebooks but secretly they are confused why the screens are blank, and the useful stuff is hidden in a menu. They don't know why sometimes it does not work. Or what some of those settings do.
A consumer-targetted device has the potential to split the computer market in two. With professional media-creation computers on one side, and consumer media consumption computers on the other.
Done well, and priced like a netbook, such a device could get to consumers who previously would never consider buying a computer. It could sell into schools to replace textbooks. It would make the Kindle look dull. It would make netbooks look like something from a previous century. Granny would have one as a photoframe that lets her Skype the grandkids.
And for us professionals who love our notebooks. We will keep on buying them. We demand the flexibility. But when we are on the commute, we might look enviously at all those dullards reading the newspaper on their tablets.
C.
An excellent post. 100% nailed on. That is what 'I' think the iSlate is for. Primarily can easy to to consumer media. Computers are pretty complex tools to 'merely' view media.
A 'chimp' media viewer for movies, check emails, play music, games, make a skype call...'poke' (how C64...) things around the web. It's all about being passive. Not much creation of data...but all about the consuming of media.
Want to create? You'll still use a Mac desktop/laptop...for now.
I remember sitting on a couch browsing the web with an iPod touch...I recall how liberating it was. I didn't need a Mac for that or a full OS for that. Given the things we do 99% of the time on a computer, certainly re: things that are passive...the iSlate is going to be pretty amazing to me even if it is merely a big iPod touch, which, knowing Apple, I suspect it won't be.
Another note, I remember having a debate with my friend who felt that a keyboard and mouse were essential for 'grown up' games (har...) And I said to him, 'Don't you remember playing far better, more fun, harder and more addictive games on the C64? And didn't they use a a simple joystick with a firebutton?'
The note of irony? We C64 owners barely ever used the keyboard most of the time. (Only really used it for 'Elite' computer game with it's sprawling controls...)
It's ironic this debate is coming around. Evolving the 'human' desktop 1984 gui into one with 'chimp' like simplicity.
I like it. But we'll have to wait and see? 'Ok, OK?'
An excellent post. 100% nailed on. That is what 'I' think the iSlate is for. Primarily can easy to to consumer media. Computers are pretty complex tools to 'merely' view media.
A 'chimp' media viewer for movies, check emails, play music, games, make a skype call...'poke' (how C64...) things around the web. It's all about being passive. Not much creation of data...but all about the consuming of media.
Want to create? You'll still use a Mac desktop/laptop...for now.
I remember sitting on a couch browsing the web with an iPod touch...I recall how liberating it was. I didn't need a Mac for that or a full OS for that. Given the things we do 99% of the time on a computer, certainly re: things that are passive...the iSlate is going to be pretty amazing to me even if it is merely a big iPod touch, which, knowing Apple, I suspect it won't be.
Another note, I remember having a debate with my friend who felt that a keyboard and mouse were essential for 'grown up' games (har...) And I said to him, 'Don't you remember playing far better, more fun, harder and more addictive games on the C64? And didn't they use a a simple joystick with a firebutton?'
The note of irony? We C64 owners barely ever used the keyboard most of the time. (Only really used it for 'Elite' computer game with it's sprawling controls...)
It's ironic this debate is coming around. Evolving the 'human' desktop 1984 gui into one with 'chimp' like simplicity.
I like it. But we'll have to wait and see? 'Ok, OK?'
Lemon Bon Bon
Speaking of chimps the slate Ballmer introduced a several hours ago is pure baboon bollocks.
Time to F** off all this gadget bullsh1t and get in a few good rounds of Dirt2. YEAHHHHHHH
BTW. Torrents would be a KILLER APP on the tablet. While it is "docked" to the charging station or something. Or to control the main torrent app on your Mac or PC. Then easily sync/stream to the tablet if need be.
The proper iSlate would be useful for things you check quite frequently like Facebook and how your torrents are doing.
Bonus points for Solar Charging on the back and front side of it.
Bonus points for HOME AUTOMATION. Picture a slider panel of music, lighting, audio system control on the tablet. How slick would that be? Very. Come home with a lady friend (or guy, however you fly), while pouring some wine, you glance at the svelte, slick panel on your marble kitchen counter top as it sits quietly. In between a few dangerous whispers with your companion you run your fingers over the tablet, dropping the lighting a little, and gently easing a bit of contemporary-yet-not-too-wankish chillout music into the ambience. She brushes her hair gently. The wine is not too dry, yet firm enough on the palate. Seven summers ago all this would be unthinkable. The girl and the tablet. But we've come quite far.
Yes...Carn'. That was a post worthy of Mactripper himself. Nice to see some creative and intelligent postings around here that have been given some...actual thought.
Speaking of chimps the slate Ballmer introduced a several hours ago is pure baboon bollocks.
Time to F** off all this gadget bullsh1t and get in a few good rounds of Dirt2. YEAHHHHHHH (LOL)
BTW. Torrents would be a KILLER APP on the tablet. While it is "docked" to the charging station or something. Or while controlling the main torrent app on your Mac or PC.
The proper iSlate would be useful for things you check quite frequently like Facebook and how your torrents are doing.
Bonus points for HOME AUTOMATION.
Bonus points for Solar Charging on the back and front side of it.
Heh. 'Baboon bollocks.' Got to 'love to hate' Ste Ballsmer. I hope he stays at the top until teh 'job' is done at M$
What is torrents? It's a big world outside of my small room...
Picture a slider panel of music, lighting, audio system control on the tablet. How slick would that be? Very. Come home with a lady friend (or guy, however you fly), while pouring some wine, you glance at the svelte, slick panel on your marble kitchen counter top as it sits quietly. In between a few dangerous whispers with your companion you run your fingers over the tablet, dropping the lighting a little, and gently easing a bit of contemporary-yet-not-too-wankish chillout music into the ambience. She brushes her hair gently. The wine is not too dry, yet firm enough on the palate. Seven summers ago all this would be unthinkable. The girl and the tablet. But we've come quite far.
Do you think this guy below could sell something like what I described?
Yes...Carn'. That was a post worthy of Mactripper himself. Nice to see some creative and intelligent postings around here that have been given some...actual thought.
Comments
Originally Posted by Carniphage
I have been trying to work out what the justification of an iSlate is. Where is the market? After all, all previous tablet computers have been dismal failures.
Sorry, it's a long post, but here's my guess....
Computers, desktops and laptops are not really consumer products and never have been. Their origins date back to professional computer uses like Word Processing and Spreadsheets.
Despite attempts to make them easier to use. Personal Computers remain tools for professionals, which have only made a handful of concessions for non-professional usage.
The "professional tool" PC is not bad thing. We professionals like to create content. We want keyboards, and we want an exposed file system, and we want to plug stuff in. These are essential aspects to the personal computer and can never be dropped.
But these requirements come with three unavoidable problems.
1) The form factor. Physical bulk. Professional computers simply must have keyboards. They are useless without them. And even the slimmest computers are bulky when opened.
2) Power. You need a desktop-like CPU to run desktop apps. This means a low batter life.
3) Complexity. The desktop experience demands a windowing WIMP interface. With file systems, and settings and all.
For us technophiles, a full OS and GUI is something we hardly think of. It is a given. But such systems requires a lengthy boot process, and a level of technical expertise which is not universal. Some basic tasks are ridiculously difficult.
The flexible nature of software also brings with it the risk of viruses or configuration nightmares, which non-technical people just cannot solve. Your Granny can still not use your Mac. Your uncle can, but he has to trade it in every 18 months because it is "broken".
So can the computer be "re-thunk" for a non-professional market? Can you design a device for a market that cares more about consuming media than creating media. If you see kids with laptops, they watch movies, send text-like messages on facebook - they never open a file-system. They don't want to.
Perhaps there is a demand for a consumer-oriented computer appliance? It would offer all those computer benefits, we get on the notebook, but without these problems.
So the a CE computer would
1) Have a form factor which lends itself to media-consumption, reading, portability, bagability. A robust, slim, screen format which would take-up less space than a magazine. This means dumping the rarely needed keyboard. This means a chamfered edge. This means a scratch-proof screen. A round-edged slab that can take abuse.
2) Switch to a processor and GPU designed for portable hardware. Offering long battery life. Good performance, and offload heavy lifting to the GPU where possible. 8 hours use would be good. A couple of days stand-by would be handy too.
3) Create a user experience around media consumption and not media creation. This means a brain-dead easy UI. We are talking chimpanzee-level intelligence to operate. Want to Facebook. Poke Facebook. Want to watch a movie. Poke the movie. Want to videochat with the grandkids. Poke the grandkids pic, or the camera pic. Either will get you there. And it should not only be simple, it should be fun. Every action would be rewarded with clear visual feedback.
The market is full of people who already want to do this stuff, but currently are compelled to buy a pro device that offers too much. Too much complexity. Too much bulk. They buy notebooks but secretly they are confused why the screens are blank, and the useful stuff is hidden in a menu. They don't know why sometimes it does not work. Or what some of those settings do.
A consumer-targetted device has the potential to split the computer market in two. With professional media-creation computers on one side, and consumer media consumption computers on the other.
Done well, and priced like a netbook, such a device could get to consumers who previously would never consider buying a computer. It could sell into schools to replace textbooks. It would make the Kindle look dull. It would make netbooks look like something from a previous century. Granny would have one as a photoframe that lets her Skype the grandkids.
And for us professionals who love our notebooks. We will keep on buying them. We demand the flexibility. But when we are on the commute, we might look enviously at all those dullards reading the newspaper on their tablets.
C.
An excellent post. 100% nailed on. That is what 'I' think the iSlate is for. Primarily can easy to to consumer media. Computers are pretty complex tools to 'merely' view media.
A 'chimp' media viewer for movies, check emails, play music, games, make a skype call...'poke' (how C64...) things around the web. It's all about being passive. Not much creation of data...but all about the consuming of media.
Want to create? You'll still use a Mac desktop/laptop...for now.
I remember sitting on a couch browsing the web with an iPod touch...I recall how liberating it was. I didn't need a Mac for that or a full OS for that. Given the things we do 99% of the time on a computer, certainly re: things that are passive...the iSlate is going to be pretty amazing to me even if it is merely a big iPod touch, which, knowing Apple, I suspect it won't be.
Another note, I remember having a debate with my friend who felt that a keyboard and mouse were essential for 'grown up' games (har...) And I said to him, 'Don't you remember playing far better, more fun, harder and more addictive games on the C64? And didn't they use a a simple joystick with a firebutton?'
The note of irony? We C64 owners barely ever used the keyboard most of the time. (Only really used it for 'Elite' computer game with it's sprawling controls...)
It's ironic this debate is coming around. Evolving the 'human' desktop 1984 gui into one with 'chimp' like simplicity.
I like it. But we'll have to wait and see? 'Ok, OK?'
Lemon Bon Bon
An excellent post. 100% nailed on. That is what 'I' think the iSlate is for. Primarily can easy to to consumer media. Computers are pretty complex tools to 'merely' view media.
A 'chimp' media viewer for movies, check emails, play music, games, make a skype call...'poke' (how C64...) things around the web. It's all about being passive. Not much creation of data...but all about the consuming of media.
Want to create? You'll still use a Mac desktop/laptop...for now.
I remember sitting on a couch browsing the web with an iPod touch...I recall how liberating it was. I didn't need a Mac for that or a full OS for that. Given the things we do 99% of the time on a computer, certainly re: things that are passive...the iSlate is going to be pretty amazing to me even if it is merely a big iPod touch, which, knowing Apple, I suspect it won't be.
Another note, I remember having a debate with my friend who felt that a keyboard and mouse were essential for 'grown up' games (har...) And I said to him, 'Don't you remember playing far better, more fun, harder and more addictive games on the C64? And didn't they use a a simple joystick with a firebutton?'
The note of irony? We C64 owners barely ever used the keyboard most of the time. (Only really used it for 'Elite' computer game with it's sprawling controls...)
It's ironic this debate is coming around. Evolving the 'human' desktop 1984 gui into one with 'chimp' like simplicity.
I like it. But we'll have to wait and see? 'Ok, OK?'
Lemon Bon Bon
Speaking of chimps the slate Ballmer introduced a several hours ago is pure baboon bollocks.
Time to F** off all this gadget bullsh1t and get in a few good rounds of Dirt2. YEAHHHHHHH
BTW. Torrents would be a KILLER APP on the tablet. While it is "docked" to the charging station or something. Or to control the main torrent app on your Mac or PC. Then easily sync/stream to the tablet if need be.
The proper iSlate would be useful for things you check quite frequently like Facebook and how your torrents are doing.
Bonus points for Solar Charging on the back and front side of it.
Bonus points for HOME AUTOMATION. Picture a slider panel of music, lighting, audio system control on the tablet. How slick would that be? Very. Come home with a lady friend (or guy, however you fly), while pouring some wine, you glance at the svelte, slick panel on your marble kitchen counter top as it sits quietly. In between a few dangerous whispers with your companion you run your fingers over the tablet, dropping the lighting a little, and gently easing a bit of contemporary-yet-not-too-wankish chillout music into the ambience. She brushes her hair gently. The wine is not too dry, yet firm enough on the palate. Seven summers ago all this would be unthinkable. The girl and the tablet. But we've come quite far.
Lemon Bon Bon.
Speaking of chimps the slate Ballmer introduced a several hours ago is pure baboon bollocks.
Time to F** off all this gadget bullsh1t and get in a few good rounds of Dirt2. YEAHHHHHHH (LOL)
BTW. Torrents would be a KILLER APP on the tablet. While it is "docked" to the charging station or something. Or while controlling the main torrent app on your Mac or PC.
The proper iSlate would be useful for things you check quite frequently like Facebook and how your torrents are doing.
Bonus points for HOME AUTOMATION.
Bonus points for Solar Charging on the back and front side of it.
Heh. 'Baboon bollocks.' Got to 'love to hate' Ste Ballsmer. I hope he stays at the top until teh 'job' is done at M$
What is torrents? It's a big world outside of my small room...
Lemon Bon Bon.
Picture a slider panel of music, lighting, audio system control on the tablet. How slick would that be? Very. Come home with a lady friend (or guy, however you fly), while pouring some wine, you glance at the svelte, slick panel on your marble kitchen counter top as it sits quietly. In between a few dangerous whispers with your companion you run your fingers over the tablet, dropping the lighting a little, and gently easing a bit of contemporary-yet-not-too-wankish chillout music into the ambience. She brushes her hair gently. The wine is not too dry, yet firm enough on the palate. Seven summers ago all this would be unthinkable. The girl and the tablet. But we've come quite far.
Do you think this guy below could sell something like what I described?
WHAT IS UP WITH THE RED SWEATER???
Yes...Carn'. That was a post worthy of Mactripper himself. Nice to see some creative and intelligent postings around here that have been given some...actual thought.
Lemon Bon Bon.
<Blush>
Gee Thanks
</Blush>
C.