It's not about that, it's about "Steve told me to tell you no buttons on the right hand-side there". It really is that simple. You hear an order "Steve said" and then it's obvious to a lot of folks he's having input and impact.
If you think this tablet will be $799 you're kidding yourself.
I think it will be $999 and replace the plastic MacBook.
A $999 10" Tablet that you can pair with a Bluetoof keyboard and Mouse and use as a computer or pick it up and go and use it like an oversized iPod Touch.
I think it will be $999 and replace the plastic MacBook.
That's clever thinking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella
A $999 10" Tablet that you can pair with a Bluetoof keyboard and Mouse and use as a computer or pick it up and go and use it like an oversized iPod Touch.
Whatever they do, this Tablet should include one or more SIM card slots. This would allow such a devise to become a true world device where one can use multiple international and domestic phone numbers for connection to data and voice.
I'm an iPhone developer, and it just seems sort of... Whacky to expect such a device to run the actual iPhone OS... And expect iPhone apps to run on it anyway.
Isn't the iPhone based on OSX?
Assuming it's a touchscreen tablet without keyboard, wouldn't it be possible for it to run both osx AND iPhone apps?
It's hard to imagine that a device like this could really be successful without the ability to create and edit at least text documents.
If this really does turn out to be a touchscreen device with no keyboard, what are the chances that it would include a USB port (or at least bluetooth) and allow connecting a keyboard (either full sized or some sort of mini version)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland
That's archaic thinking.
What, even having the option of adding a keyboard? Why? I can totally see people wanting one of these but having a keyboard handy in their home or office for when they need to do serious typing. An onscreen keyboard is just never going to be as fast as a hardware one.
I think it will be $999 and replace the plastic MacBook.
I agree. A 10" unibody MB priced at £700 to replace the current white plastic MB would make sense - it completes the transition to all unibody laptops whilst also maintaining a sensible 'entry-level' price point and gives Apple a foothold in the netbook market.
I also think 10" model would be too big for a Newton replacement. I would think a 6" or 7" screen size would be better. The Sony eBook Reader has a 6" screen and that looks good to me. If such a device materialises I would expect it to be a multi-function device - part media player, part eBook reader, part PDA and part tablet computer.
I would happily buy a tablet mac, sans the keyboard....as long as it ran a full version of OSX and not a pared down version with limited capabilities. No internal optical drive is needed; that is what external drives are for.
My biggest fears are that it will have soldered RAM and a slow processor. I don't need gaming rig speeds, but it needs to be quick. Another fear is that it won't support bootcamp, parallels, VMWare's software. Why is this important to me? I will need to boot into Vista...or Windows 7 (even better) so I can use handwriting recognition for Japanese language input. BUT, will this device even recognize a stylus or will it be multi-touch ONLY?
PLEASE Apple, don't make a niche product that cannot compete with the capabilities of a nice slate tablet PC! How about a decent handwriting recognition upgrade to OSX as well!!!
I would happily buy a tablet mac, sans the keyboard....as long as it ran a full version of OSX and not a pared down version with limited capabilities. No internal optical drive is needed; that is what external drives are for.
My biggest fears are that it will have soldered RAM and a slow processor. I don't need gaming rig speeds, but it needs to be quick. Another fear is that it won't support bootcamp, parallels, VMWare's software. Why is this important to me? I will need to boot into Vista...or Windows 7 (even better) so I can use handwriting recognition for Japanese language input. BUT, will this device even recognize a stylus or will it be multi-touch ONLY?
PLEASE Apple, don't make a niche product that cannot compete with the capabilities of a nice slate tablet PC! How about a decent handwriting recognition upgrade to OSX as well!!!
I would imagine that Apple doesn't see the point in competing with slate PCs because tablets haven't been at all successful. Sure, for the people that need them to do what they do they're useful, but they certainly haven't made much of a dent in the larger market-- in fact, the PC tablet as it currently exists is the very definition of a "niche product."
So I would expect Apple, were they to make such a device, to do something different. In typical Apple fashion, that will mean giving up some "features" in order to get a lot of usability.
For edge cases such as yourself, it may be that some of those missing features will be a deal breaker, and you will lament Apple's decisions. But I wouldn't be surprised if an Apple tablet/slate/giant iPod/ whatever didn't sell a lot better than the PC versions of same have to date, because Apple will have thought long and hard about the why and how of such a device, before they start adding to that bullet pointed list of features.
So then PC users will laugh and point and talk about all the things that a given PC tablet can do or has that the Apple can't or doesn't, and then assure us that it's selling well because the lemmings will buy whatever Jobs tells them to buy, and then, when PC manufacturers start to mimic the Apple approach, angrily claim that that approach was obvious and inevitable and that Apple just happened to serendipitously wander onto the scene with such tech just slightly early, and, anyway, they copied Xerox.
I agree. A 10" unibody MB priced at £700 to replace the current white plastic MB would make sense - it completes the transition to all unibody laptops whilst also maintaining a sensible 'entry-level' price point and gives Apple a foothold in the netbook market.
The reason I don't want this to happen is that it will prevent the 13" aluminum Macbook dropping to that price, which basically means that Apple's 13"+ screen portables starts at £930. This is the lowest size of screen some will find usable and it just pushes the price points higher and higher.
The Mac Pro used to have an entry point of £1450 or so and it's now £1900. I'm sure the iMac used to be £700 at one point - the 17" model - and is now £950 entry level.
It doesn't make Apple look like a premium brand, just overpriced. Especially when they can't put in a Core 2 Duo unless it's shrunk like the MBA. 10" touch screen + shrunk Core 2 Duo + 9400M, no optical for £700 when the MBA with non-touch 13" screen + Core 2 Duo + 9400M, no optical = £1271, close to double the price?
I think the only way they can make it worthwhile is by using the Ion platform so that they can shrink the form factor without the cost of a special Core 2 Duo, save on heat and power so that they can use a smaller battery, which uses their battery tech. Plus a lowered price at least interests possible netbook buyers.
Suffice to say, if they put a Core 2 Duo + 9400M into a 10" touch tablet for £700, the MBA is finished. I doubt Apple would do that.
I'm sticking to the Ion-based 10" tablet for £599 at most. Depending on the costs of the parts, £499 would be a better price given that 10" netbooks are £299 but Apple probably won't start with that price. They can introduce a £100 price drop across the line over time. I don't think the device will be a Macbook style because it really defeats the point of a touch display. It's such an awkward setup to touch the screen as you have to support the display. Also, if they can fit decent keyboard onto a 10" model, people will ask why the 13" MBA has an advantage; if not, then Apple will be hypocritical for saying they don't like to compromise the keyboard and screen size when aiming for portability.
Non-fiction trade paperback doesn't require an on-screen software keyboard, doesn't have a menubar, and doesn't have a dock. Bad analogy when you analyze it.
A modern eBook reader needs all of those things. Apple will probably integrate an online bookstore, a dictionary, bookmark/highlight capabilities and other things.
It's so funny to see people not realize that Apple is using the tablet/netbook idea to cover its pursuit of the book publishing and distribution market.
It's like watching the iMac/Columbus media box strategy all over again.
A modern eBook reader needs all of those things. Apple will probably integrate an online bookstore, a dictionary, bookmark/highlight capabilities and other things.
It's so funny to see people not realize that Apple is using the tablet/netbook idea to cover its pursuit of the book publishing and distribution market.
It's like watching the iMac/Columbus media box strategy all over again.
Sadly it won't have 2 day battery life, whisper sync, or e-ink. So it will never even equal the Kindle as a book reader. It will however be the best tablet computer on the planet, and offer a compelling User and touch-screen experience. It may get its own app store, and will very likely get its own custom SDK build also. Besides, we've all mentioned this tablet would be great for books. Could be a great tool for students and schools.
So, wistful dreams about flexible computers and seamless clamshells aside....
We have orders for 10" touch screens. Obviously, multitouch. The natural assumption brings something like this to mind; Apple's entry into the netbook market...basically a slimmer Air with a smaller footprint but a full-sized keyboard. And a touch screen.
Personally, I don't see why you would want...or how you would use...a touch screen on a standard netbook form factor. Obviously it already exists on a few netbooks, but it's sort of a superfluous gimmick. As long as you've got a trackpad and keyboard shoved in front of you, there's very little reason to touch the screen...that's why we don't have touchscreen iMacs yet. Unless the screen swivels (ugh...very unpolished and non-Apple) or somehow otherwise changes to tablet mode, it doesn't make sense to match a device that has a full keyboard and trackpad with a touchscreen.
Any ideas for how Apple might implement a convertible netbook-to-tablet that would retain the Apple polish and clean look?
Moving past the natural assumption that it's a netbook: a 10" touch screen means that the new device would have to fit into one of two genres: USB-in or USB-out.
USB-in: has female USB-A ports. Charges via MagSafe; runs an OS capable of accepting USB devices like cameras, external drives, iPhones; (theoretically) possesses an open filesystem; can be configured to work off of an Ethernet internet connection; think computer
USB-out: has a 30-pin iPod connector port for docking. Charges via dock; syncs to a full-featured computer; may simulate the filesystem of a computer but with limited in-or-out functionality; think PDA
I don't see a merge of these two roles. It doesn't make sense to have a device with female USB-A ports without a full-featured OS. Either you are plugging things into the device, or the device is being plugged into something else.
If it's a USB-in device, then it has to run Leopard. Maybe a slightly different version of Leopard optimized for the smaller and multitouch screen, but Leopard nonetheless. Install programs (not "apps"), plug in an external hard drive or DVD burner...you get the point. Apple isn't going to design a completely new OS for a full-featured computer just because it's smaller and maybe lacks a keyboard.
If it's a USB-out device, then we are talking about a 10" tablet that you have to sync with another computer. It could run a scaled-up version of iPhone OS (so that it could use App Store applications) but that still means limited functionality. The iPhone has a solid browser, sure, but it's first and foremost a phone. Applications make it better because people want a phone with a good browser and access to the App store so they can do fun or industrious things. The iPod Touch is first and foremost a media player...people like it because it's a media player that does other things too.
But a 10" media player? Sure, it's been done before, but that's an awfully big screen for a "media player that does other things." The App store is great, but expanding screen size won't magically generate apps that fill all the functionality that a Tablet PC has...and that's the standard that a 10" tablet device will be compared to. So either Apple has to start it off with all the native apps that approximate Tablet PC functionality and hope that the App store fills in the inevitable gaps, or just make it a "media-player-and-web-browser that does other things" ... which is a rather niche market.
Hmmm....
Apple's about to release a device with a 10" touch screen. Form factor aside: will this device be USB-out or USB-in? 'Cause that's what makes the difference.
Comments
˙ǝpnp 'sǝǝuʞ sǝǝq ǝɥʇ ǝɹɐ noʎ
I'll flip this text twice, just for you
Directors talking directly to the doctors?
It's not about that, it's about "Steve told me to tell you no buttons on the right hand-side there". It really is that simple. You hear an order "Steve said" and then it's obvious to a lot of folks he's having input and impact.
If you think this tablet will be $799 you're kidding yourself.
I think it will be $999 and replace the plastic MacBook.
A $999 10" Tablet that you can pair with a Bluetoof keyboard and Mouse and use as a computer or pick it up and go and use it like an oversized iPod Touch.
I'll flip this text twice, just for you
I think it will be $999 and replace the plastic MacBook.
That's clever thinking.
A $999 10" Tablet that you can pair with a Bluetoof keyboard and Mouse and use as a computer or pick it up and go and use it like an oversized iPod Touch.
That's archaic thinking.
I must pay you back for that incredible kindness. Here, I've flipped it on its Z-axis just for U, all alone on the phone calling home:
__
I must pay you back for that incredible kindness. Here, I've flipped it on its Z-axis just for U, and only U:
__
I hadn't thought of that. You win.
I wish I had thought of using a clear background, but I don't have those kind of skills.
I hadn't thought of that. You win.
I wish I had thought of using a clear background, but I don't have those kind of skills.
I edited my comment for humorous purposes. I see your signature. Do you like Clarkson?
I'm an iPhone developer, and it just seems sort of... Whacky to expect such a device to run the actual iPhone OS... And expect iPhone apps to run on it anyway.
Isn't the iPhone based on OSX?
Assuming it's a touchscreen tablet without keyboard, wouldn't it be possible for it to run both osx AND iPhone apps?
It's hard to imagine that a device like this could really be successful without the ability to create and edit at least text documents.
If this really does turn out to be a touchscreen device with no keyboard, what are the chances that it would include a USB port (or at least bluetooth) and allow connecting a keyboard (either full sized or some sort of mini version)?
That's archaic thinking.
What, even having the option of adding a keyboard? Why? I can totally see people wanting one of these but having a keyboard handy in their home or office for when they need to do serious typing. An onscreen keyboard is just never going to be as fast as a hardware one.
Apple will not make a mobile phone.
Apple will not make a multibutton mouse.
Apple will never switch to Intel processors.
Apple will not make a video iPod. Nobody wants to watch video on an iPod.
Apple will not make a mobile phone.
Apple will not make a multibutton mouse.
Apple will never switch to Intel processors.
Trouble being arguing it from this direction is to argue the likelihood of Apple doing literally anything at all.
I think it will be $999 and replace the plastic MacBook.
I agree. A 10" unibody MB priced at £700 to replace the current white plastic MB would make sense - it completes the transition to all unibody laptops whilst also maintaining a sensible 'entry-level' price point and gives Apple a foothold in the netbook market.
I also think 10" model would be too big for a Newton replacement. I would think a 6" or 7" screen size would be better. The Sony eBook Reader has a 6" screen and that looks good to me. If such a device materialises I would expect it to be a multi-function device - part media player, part eBook reader, part PDA and part tablet computer.
My biggest fears are that it will have soldered RAM and a slow processor. I don't need gaming rig speeds, but it needs to be quick. Another fear is that it won't support bootcamp, parallels, VMWare's software. Why is this important to me? I will need to boot into Vista...or Windows 7 (even better) so I can use handwriting recognition for Japanese language input. BUT, will this device even recognize a stylus or will it be multi-touch ONLY?
PLEASE Apple, don't make a niche product that cannot compete with the capabilities of a nice slate tablet PC! How about a decent handwriting recognition upgrade to OSX as well!!!
I would happily buy a tablet mac, sans the keyboard....as long as it ran a full version of OSX and not a pared down version with limited capabilities. No internal optical drive is needed; that is what external drives are for.
My biggest fears are that it will have soldered RAM and a slow processor. I don't need gaming rig speeds, but it needs to be quick. Another fear is that it won't support bootcamp, parallels, VMWare's software. Why is this important to me? I will need to boot into Vista...or Windows 7 (even better) so I can use handwriting recognition for Japanese language input. BUT, will this device even recognize a stylus or will it be multi-touch ONLY?
PLEASE Apple, don't make a niche product that cannot compete with the capabilities of a nice slate tablet PC! How about a decent handwriting recognition upgrade to OSX as well!!!
I would imagine that Apple doesn't see the point in competing with slate PCs because tablets haven't been at all successful. Sure, for the people that need them to do what they do they're useful, but they certainly haven't made much of a dent in the larger market-- in fact, the PC tablet as it currently exists is the very definition of a "niche product."
So I would expect Apple, were they to make such a device, to do something different. In typical Apple fashion, that will mean giving up some "features" in order to get a lot of usability.
For edge cases such as yourself, it may be that some of those missing features will be a deal breaker, and you will lament Apple's decisions. But I wouldn't be surprised if an Apple tablet/slate/giant iPod/ whatever didn't sell a lot better than the PC versions of same have to date, because Apple will have thought long and hard about the why and how of such a device, before they start adding to that bullet pointed list of features.
So then PC users will laugh and point and talk about all the things that a given PC tablet can do or has that the Apple can't or doesn't, and then assure us that it's selling well because the lemmings will buy whatever Jobs tells them to buy, and then, when PC manufacturers start to mimic the Apple approach, angrily claim that that approach was obvious and inevitable and that Apple just happened to serendipitously wander onto the scene with such tech just slightly early, and, anyway, they copied Xerox.
I agree. A 10" unibody MB priced at £700 to replace the current white plastic MB would make sense - it completes the transition to all unibody laptops whilst also maintaining a sensible 'entry-level' price point and gives Apple a foothold in the netbook market.
The reason I don't want this to happen is that it will prevent the 13" aluminum Macbook dropping to that price, which basically means that Apple's 13"+ screen portables starts at £930. This is the lowest size of screen some will find usable and it just pushes the price points higher and higher.
The Mac Pro used to have an entry point of £1450 or so and it's now £1900. I'm sure the iMac used to be £700 at one point - the 17" model - and is now £950 entry level.
It doesn't make Apple look like a premium brand, just overpriced. Especially when they can't put in a Core 2 Duo unless it's shrunk like the MBA. 10" touch screen + shrunk Core 2 Duo + 9400M, no optical for £700 when the MBA with non-touch 13" screen + Core 2 Duo + 9400M, no optical = £1271, close to double the price?
I think the only way they can make it worthwhile is by using the Ion platform so that they can shrink the form factor without the cost of a special Core 2 Duo, save on heat and power so that they can use a smaller battery, which uses their battery tech. Plus a lowered price at least interests possible netbook buyers.
Suffice to say, if they put a Core 2 Duo + 9400M into a 10" touch tablet for £700, the MBA is finished. I doubt Apple would do that.
I'm sticking to the Ion-based 10" tablet for £599 at most. Depending on the costs of the parts, £499 would be a better price given that 10" netbooks are £299 but Apple probably won't start with that price. They can introduce a £100 price drop across the line over time. I don't think the device will be a Macbook style because it really defeats the point of a touch display. It's such an awkward setup to touch the screen as you have to support the display. Also, if they can fit decent keyboard onto a 10" model, people will ask why the 13" MBA has an advantage; if not, then Apple will be hypocritical for saying they don't like to compromise the keyboard and screen size when aiming for portability.
Non-fiction trade paperback doesn't require an on-screen software keyboard, doesn't have a menubar, and doesn't have a dock. Bad analogy when you analyze it.
A modern eBook reader needs all of those things. Apple will probably integrate an online bookstore, a dictionary, bookmark/highlight capabilities and other things.
It's so funny to see people not realize that Apple is using the tablet/netbook idea to cover its pursuit of the book publishing and distribution market.
It's like watching the iMac/Columbus media box strategy all over again.
A modern eBook reader needs all of those things. Apple will probably integrate an online bookstore, a dictionary, bookmark/highlight capabilities and other things.
It's so funny to see people not realize that Apple is using the tablet/netbook idea to cover its pursuit of the book publishing and distribution market.
It's like watching the iMac/Columbus media box strategy all over again.
Sadly it won't have 2 day battery life, whisper sync, or e-ink. So it will never even equal the Kindle as a book reader. It will however be the best tablet computer on the planet, and offer a compelling User and touch-screen experience. It may get its own app store, and will very likely get its own custom SDK build also. Besides, we've all mentioned this tablet would be great for books. Could be a great tool for students and schools.
So, wistful dreams about flexible computers and seamless clamshells aside....
We have orders for 10" touch screens. Obviously, multitouch. The natural assumption brings something like this to mind; Apple's entry into the netbook market...basically a slimmer Air with a smaller footprint but a full-sized keyboard. And a touch screen.
Personally, I don't see why you would want...or how you would use...a touch screen on a standard netbook form factor. Obviously it already exists on a few netbooks, but it's sort of a superfluous gimmick. As long as you've got a trackpad and keyboard shoved in front of you, there's very little reason to touch the screen...that's why we don't have touchscreen iMacs yet. Unless the screen swivels (ugh...very unpolished and non-Apple) or somehow otherwise changes to tablet mode, it doesn't make sense to match a device that has a full keyboard and trackpad with a touchscreen.
Any ideas for how Apple might implement a convertible netbook-to-tablet that would retain the Apple polish and clean look?
Moving past the natural assumption that it's a netbook: a 10" touch screen means that the new device would have to fit into one of two genres: USB-in or USB-out.
- USB-in: has female USB-A ports. Charges via MagSafe; runs an OS capable of accepting USB devices like cameras, external drives, iPhones; (theoretically) possesses an open filesystem; can be configured to work off of an Ethernet internet connection; think computer
- USB-out: has a 30-pin iPod connector port for docking. Charges via dock; syncs to a full-featured computer; may simulate the filesystem of a computer but with limited in-or-out functionality; think PDA
I don't see a merge of these two roles. It doesn't make sense to have a device with female USB-A ports without a full-featured OS. Either you are plugging things into the device, or the device is being plugged into something else.If it's a USB-in device, then it has to run Leopard. Maybe a slightly different version of Leopard optimized for the smaller and multitouch screen, but Leopard nonetheless. Install programs (not "apps"), plug in an external hard drive or DVD burner...you get the point. Apple isn't going to design a completely new OS for a full-featured computer just because it's smaller and maybe lacks a keyboard.
If it's a USB-out device, then we are talking about a 10" tablet that you have to sync with another computer. It could run a scaled-up version of iPhone OS (so that it could use App Store applications) but that still means limited functionality. The iPhone has a solid browser, sure, but it's first and foremost a phone. Applications make it better because people want a phone with a good browser and access to the App store so they can do fun or industrious things. The iPod Touch is first and foremost a media player...people like it because it's a media player that does other things too.
But a 10" media player? Sure, it's been done before, but that's an awfully big screen for a "media player that does other things." The App store is great, but expanding screen size won't magically generate apps that fill all the functionality that a Tablet PC has...and that's the standard that a 10" tablet device will be compared to. So either Apple has to start it off with all the native apps that approximate Tablet PC functionality and hope that the App store fills in the inevitable gaps, or just make it a "media-player-and-web-browser that does other things" ... which is a rather niche market.
Hmmm....
Apple's about to release a device with a 10" touch screen. Form factor aside: will this device be USB-out or USB-in? 'Cause that's what makes the difference.
Thoughts?