Konnichi wa, iTablet-san!
I have no inside sources.
I was wondering, if one of the precursers for the hypothetical release of a hypothetical iTablet was making OS X the default OS, then we hypothetically should have seen the iTablet along with the new iMac. Of course, we didn't.
Now take into account that MWSF was a consumer show, so SJ rolls out Apple's new gift to consumers: the new iMac.
We are approaching Mac World Tokyo. This MacWorld will take place in a culture to whom writing is an art form (Hirigana ((SP?))). Wouldn't it make sense for the iTablet to be released in Japan where ((I make a huge assumption here)) the preference for handwritten characters may be greater than the need to write on a gaijin typewriter or with Graffitti.
From way out in right
field,
Aries 1B
I was wondering, if one of the precursers for the hypothetical release of a hypothetical iTablet was making OS X the default OS, then we hypothetically should have seen the iTablet along with the new iMac. Of course, we didn't.
Now take into account that MWSF was a consumer show, so SJ rolls out Apple's new gift to consumers: the new iMac.
We are approaching Mac World Tokyo. This MacWorld will take place in a culture to whom writing is an art form (Hirigana ((SP?))). Wouldn't it make sense for the iTablet to be released in Japan where ((I make a huge assumption here)) the preference for handwritten characters may be greater than the need to write on a gaijin typewriter or with Graffitti.
From way out in right
field,Aries 1B
Comments
MWTokyo is, howver, a place where portables might be updated given there prominence in the market here (an example is that if you go into almost any government agency their newroks are based on laptops on your desk connected by ethernet.... it less usual to see desktops).
cheers
adam
I was just thinking that if writing Japanese script could be translated into ASCII or into an electronic japanese symbol right there on the screen, that there would be a terrific market for an iTablet (to say nothing of the translation opportunities! When we were there, one of the guys had a Wintel notebook with a translation program on it which made both We Americans and Them Japanese sound like cognitive defectives to the merriment of both sides).
SJ, the Japanese deserve an iTablet!
Aries 1B
One of my favorite SONY products has just become a little more mature.
Who says SONY copy APPLE? (Not all the time anyway)
<a href="http://www.sony.co.jp/sd/products/Consumer/airboard/IDT-LF2/index.html"; target="_blank">airboard IDT-LF2</a>
have fun surfing!
userone
I have always liked the tablet idea - keyboard-free computing, but I can admit when the technology isn't there.
The one thing I feel though is that most manufacturers of the hardware, Sony, etc., don't have the luxury of working with an innovative company when it comes to UserInterfaces, many they work with Microsoft or Palm. So I am confident if Jobs asked a group of his people to start from the ground up and design a tablet system w/o worrying about enulating the desktop experience, they would come up with a useable solution.
Tablets need a new paradigm of computing rather than shoehorning windows into a smaller space.
That means, even MS is up to the topic, Apple has to get their asses into 6st gear.
G-News
<strong>Billy G just demonstrated a prototcpe of a computer at CES. You can detach the LCD from the machine, take it over to the loo,or into bed or whatever, and the LCD will be fed via wireless link from the PC. I assume the graphics chip is built into the LCD module that you can detach, otherwise I'd see some problems arise with the wireless feed.
That means, even MS is up to the topic, Apple has to get their asses into 6st gear.
G-News</strong><hr></blockquote>
The iMac would cost way too much for a consumer (hell, it already almost does) if a touch screen was added to the iMac, and most pros don't have a use for it. Even if it was geared towards the few pros that would actually use it, like folks that work in Illustrator, the screen would have to be at least 19", making it unbearably pricey, esspecially when you could just pick up a traditional tablet for ~$100. Only the very few business that have a ton of extra money to burn would buy on of these monitors for their employees. The idea of being able to walk around your house with a monitor is a novelty idea suited only to browsing the web, drawing pictures and writing. Eventually that novelty wears off. None of the tasks it would be used for justify the high price and most people won't care about the option in the long run. Apple obviously has no real interest in persuing a product that has nothing to do with its stategy. Apple doesn't have room to make grand mistakes like that nor do they have the resouces or market share to go off focus. Innovation does not equal novelty.
The stylus/tablet concept is relatively mature, but it has not advanced at a comparable rate because there has never been strong enough interest.
I think tablets are one of those things that seem like they really should be popular...but have never actually been popular. I though Sony's announcement this week really demonstrated that.
And people will say 'yea, but if Apple made one it would really be cool and everyone would love it!' Since when has Apple tried to succeed where others have failed? Apple products usually fall into one of two categories; either they invent something totally original or they take a product that is already a success and make it better.
Now Bill Gates...there's a guy who is notorious for coming late to the party, so I don't have much hope for that ViewSonic tablet he was showing off.
I know a lot of you guys want one and all but if the derth of tablets over the last five years hasn't convinced us, then maybe the death of the Sony device should. Tablets just aren't in demand. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
(...well, yea, I mean, just my $0.02 and all.)
[ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: Michael Grey ]</p>