what about a stylo? haven't seen no one talk about the need for a stylo until now!
for me the only attractive to a tablet pc is the ability to use it as a writing paper. the "virtual keyboar is no substitute to the actual ability to write, draw and do math with a stylo/pen!
i don't see no use for this intermediate device if it doesn't provide anything else much different from an iphone/ipod touch on one side and the macbook on the other. i wnat a "drawing book", a math book, a lecture with graph note taking book, and also the ability of bein connectec, mail, music bla bla bla of the iphone. if it doesn't give me that i'll either stay with an iphone/ipodtouch and do the basics or take the macbook for serious work.
but by the way, does this new has any actual truth/real source ???...
Much of the holdup in brining the multi-touch tablet to market is thought to have revolved around a particular issue for which Apple struggled to find a solution......
Ahhh. So the magic comes from soaking the motherboard in salt water then......
As in previous threads about this, I'd say for battery life, ARM seems like a good fit. For performance and compatibility it's not. Atom looks like a much better fit. Intel weren't too happy about Apple using ARM for the iphone as if somehow Atom could have worked.
Intel's Pine Trail is pushed back to 2010 with integrated video on the processor:
Giving Apple an exclusive launch for the platform would be good for both companies and Apple will be at CES 2010 so they could use something new to show.
I can't see this replacing the white Macbook. I think the aluminum Macbook Pros will either drop to that price point or the white one will stay. Either way, I can't see a 10" screen device with Atom processors being a huge hit at anything over $700.
I also think it should go beyond just multi-touch and allow Wacom-style drawing.
The Mac has been useful due to the browser applications and some local run apps like Office, iTunes, etc. It has quite a few useful applications, but nothing like what is available for the iPhone via the App Store... 50,000+ apps. If an Atom processor is used + MacOS, it may not be able to run the iPod apps.
Actually, except for missing hardware features (accelerometer, cell phone radio, GPS, etc.) most iPhone apps run quite well on the Intel CPU through the iPhone Simulator. In fact, much of the app development effort is done using the iPhone Simulator.
Quote:
If the processor used and the OS is similar to the one on iPhone, then apps may run, but there may be limitations to tablet OS relative to the MacOS, such as multitasking, and incompatible with the MacOS. May be somebody knowledgeable here can comment on these issues.
The ARM is fully capable of multitasking, The iPhone already does multitasking. Apple does not allow non-Apple apps to multitask. This is an Apple decision to preserve battery power (and over-all user experience) on the device.
The iPhone OSX is structured like, and based upon Mac OSX. They are both OSX! In fact, some have said that while putting together the iPhone implementation of OSX, Apple was able to revisit some of the legacy NeXT implementations and rewrite them "as they should have been done in the first place."
Finally, the migration of features and functions between the OSXs, is not a one-way street! Where it makes sense, iPhone OSX features can be readily moved to Mac OSX.
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
-A 10" inch capacitive multitouch screen of 1024x600 moreless resolution in expensive.
-To last an acceptable time, it have to have a good battery so it adds weigth to the device
-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.
I have never understood why everyone is willing to have an iTablet.
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.
If you want a device that people will take with them everywhere then it must be easy to carry and easy to hold. A device with a 10" screen is simply too big to be held in one hand, too big for any pocket and too big for many purses. Never underestimate the importance of fitting into the average purse. Women are 52% of the population in most countries and major buyers of Apple stuff.
Apple knows this. They will not produce a device that requires another bag to carry it around, a device that can't be held in one hand and used with the other while standing up.
The iTouch can have a maximum screen size of 7.75" and that's using a 16:9 ratio wide screen and extremely narrow bezel. Sticking with the iPhone ratio would force it to be even smaller and therefore not much different from the existing touch and iPhone products. Unless the screen is 7.5-7.75" with a wide aspect ratio, it's not even worth manufacturing.
people buy acer's because you can get a decent one for $299 with no contract. and it's cheap enough that if it breaks you won't care and just get another one. A $500 tablet that requires a 2 year contract will make people think twice about buying it.
If there's a contract, it's a given that they'll subsidize the price.
How does the lack of a physical keyboard make it a "lesser functional device" ?
Well that depends, doesn't it? If the tablet runs productivity apps, it would certainly need a more functional input than the current touchscreen keyboard. A haptic touchscreen perhaps? A USB port for connecting it to a keyboard? Either one could work.
I think a lot of posters here are thinking from inside the box.
Clearly, given the number of patents awarded and applied for in the last many years, Apple intends to make the keyboard (and mouse of course) less and less important. Gestural and voice interfaces (and chording between the two, certainly) will give them opportunities for user interfaces that make the current keyboard/mouse requirements look stone-aged. Consider just how the iPhone interface tossed the salad - even the newest Verizon Android phone has now gone keyboardless. We can see Apple's progression as Voice Control came in 3.0, and 4-finger gestures came available for the PowerBook. They are gathering lots of experience and data about all of that, and I believe they will be uniquely positioned to cut into some new ground here.
I believe that the iPhone was the success that it was because it is a platform - not a specific niche killer. It's the fact that we'll be able to read our kindle books on a larger screen (although I also am fine with the iPhone's display for my books) that will kill kindle - but not the technology of it, the fact that I can now have a single device that does that and so much more. That's the part of my iPhone that rocks: one little device does SO MANY things.
So to answer a poster from the first page about why this device should exist, I'd answer this: my wife and I both have Power Macs on the desk, carry PowerBooks in our briefcases and iPhones. The missing connection is a reasonably full computer that I can carry in my bag ie., smaller than my notebook but more powerful than my iPhone. Something that is bigger and better for watching movies on a plane, but not too big that I require my briefcase. Small enough to hold in my hands to read a book, but powerful enough to VPN into my cage and do some real work.
I'd probably get a bluetooth headset and go all Skype/Truphone for telco, carrying the cheapest of cheap phones for out-of-network 911 calls only. I think that this has the possibility of really being the missing link and am damn excited.
let's say you're going somewhere and you're not a woman with a purse or don't want to carry a bag for anything. This device is not suited as an "all-in-one" device because of hit's size. I would never want this as a phone. you would still be required to have a phone, so why not just tether. I just don't see how you are thinking "outside" the box here. What you're describing sounds a lot like many other devices, like a large-format iPhone.
- 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.
Come on, don't be so critical... surely you can express these insights (which are rather good, e.g., home button, aspect ratio, etc.) without the peevish tone!
I haven't tested it out, but I would assume (hope) so.
I would want tethering on this device simply for the fact that I woudn't want bills coming from two different wireless service providers, not to mention that tethering is free on rogers at the moment. If the tablet was capable enough, my old macbook pro would no longer travel with me, and tethering would allow me to use the tablet to browse the internet on a larger screen in hotels without wifi, or anywhere where I will be stationary for a while.
completely agree, the idea of having an integrated cellular chip in even a netbook sounds totally ridiculous. However, Verizon & HP are doing just that!
How does the lack of a physical keyboard make it a "lesser functional device" ?
Ergonomy, typing in a 3-4" screen device it's easy, typing while holding a 10" device which weigths 500 or more gr. is a lot different.
As I said before, I have an iLiad ebook reader, which has a 8" screen and I can extrapolate working with a touch screen of 10".
Or you hold it with one hand and type, as someone has said, holding with two hands below the center of gravity it's very dificult or you put it flat in a table and bend your neck to write.
- 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.
The iPhone SDK encourages programming apps that are independent of screen size. Many developers are anticipating new devices with larger (or smaller) screen sizes. If they want to be able to run their apps on these new devices, developers take advantage of screen-independent constructs-- it only takes a few lines of code to determine the device's screen size and adjust the app's display window/view accordingly.
Code:
CGRect cgRect =[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds];
CGSize cgSize = cgRect.size;
// device screen dimensions available as cgSize.height, cgSize.width
Think of this tablet as a new MacBook. You will be able to run desktop grade apps (eg. Photoshop) on it.
See my other post right above.
sure...and my point was, since you missed it, that this device should NOT be like a mini macbook. Sounds like a really bad idea IMO, for all the other reasons already stated on this forum. Can you really see yourself using Photoshop on this device. Are you really going to be incredibly MORE productive now that you don't have a keyboard for hotkeys, CTRL, OpenApple keys and no digitizer or pointing device? I think not. I can see using this device for strictly viewing and quick modify, but not for actually doing work on the plane between meetings or anything else that requires a real keyboard, mouse, etc. Just get a net book. This device will never replace a laptop.
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
-A 10" inch capacitive multitouch screen of 1024x600 moreless resolution in expensive.
-To last an acceptable time, it have to have a good battery so it adds weigth to the device
-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.
I have never understood why everyone is willing to have an iTablet.
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.
I don't agree. Back in may, I posted a prediction to answer your doubts concerning the new form factor. And I think it still just fits in what we might have learned from today's rumors:
apple's next new product will be spectacular, it will define a new category of products and - most importantly - it will cannibalize neither the iPhone business, nor the MacBook sales. it will be the next, the fourth pillar of Apple's success.
it will be a MacBook Touch
- a 10 " tablet, nine times the screen size and resolution of the iPhone, resembling the iPhone from the looks an being roughly as thick
- thus immediately working with every existing iPhone app
- combining everything from the iPhone (3G, WiFI, Bluetooth, AppStore, iTunes synching) with everything from the mac (iLife and iWork will work with new preinstalled specialized versions for touch control) - OS X Snow Leopard is the key - that's why they focus on performance.
- it will be touch controlled with a large visual/virtual keyboard, but of course the existing sleek Apple wireless Keyboard will work immediately using Bluetooth
- it will have 1 or 2 (micro)USB-ports making it the ideal device for storing, presenting and basic editing of photos and videos while on holiday, for watching videos with the family (for eventually it will be possible to import our DVDs in iTunes just like our CDs ...)
- it will have a front camera and microphone for video-conferencing or for putting your face into games or for making fun photos with photo booth
- it will be THE new gaming device for groups, playing all the famous board games on a screen large enough lying in front of you and sitting on every side of it (like chess with touch control and animation)
- it will be THE new book reader (though i have some doubts concerning readability in sunlight and battery life when compared to e-ink devices like the kindle), especially making it possible to produce "books" with integrated video and sound content
- it will have a stand to work as a notebook screen when typing with the keyboard or to use as small display to watch videos or digital tv or for presentations (maybe a protective cover doubles as a stand when flipped over ..)
- it will have a bluetooth remote control, reasonably good speakers and a SD-card reader built in
- it will be gorgeous, lightweight and affordable without being cheap and crappy like the windows netbooks
- it will be priced between the iPhone/ iPod touch and the MacBook - let me guess: somewhere between $ 499 with 8 GB and without iWork and $ 799 with 32 or even 64 GB and including iWork
- it will be THE product to present your creative work on the go, to watch video and photos in a group, to work on documents with basic editing while sitting in the bus or on the plane, to check and write emails and much more
- we will be allowed to use our existing apple software on this product without an extra fee
- it will work and synchronize with iTunes on a PC, thus being the entrance to the real mac world for old time PC-customers (they simply will want to buy an OS X-system next time a new notebook or desktop will be needed)
- it can be used like the iPhone, but it can't replace it (because of size), it can be used like a MacBook but it can't replace it (because of lack of keyboard, processing speed, lack of large storing space, limited display resolution, limited connectivity)
Comments
for me the only attractive to a tablet pc is the ability to use it as a writing paper. the "virtual keyboar is no substitute to the actual ability to write, draw and do math with a stylo/pen!
i don't see no use for this intermediate device if it doesn't provide anything else much different from an iphone/ipod touch on one side and the macbook on the other. i wnat a "drawing book", a math book, a lecture with graph note taking book, and also the ability of bein connectec, mail, music bla bla bla of the iphone. if it doesn't give me that i'll either stay with an iphone/ipodtouch and do the basics or take the macbook for serious work.
but by the way, does this new has any actual truth/real source ???...
Much of the holdup in brining the multi-touch tablet to market is thought to have revolved around a particular issue for which Apple struggled to find a solution......
Ahhh. So the magic comes from soaking the motherboard in salt water then......
Intel's Pine Trail is pushed back to 2010 with integrated video on the processor:
http://www.netbookchoice.com/2009/07...ed-to-h1-2010/
Giving Apple an exclusive launch for the platform would be good for both companies and Apple will be at CES 2010 so they could use something new to show.
I can't see this replacing the white Macbook. I think the aluminum Macbook Pros will either drop to that price point or the white one will stay. Either way, I can't see a 10" screen device with Atom processors being a huge hit at anything over $700.
I also think it should go beyond just multi-touch and allow Wacom-style drawing.
Wow, kudos AI for a great article!
I agree. And it looks like you guys are moving the stock today (Nasdaq down 0.7%, Apple up 1.3%)!
The Mac has been useful due to the browser applications and some local run apps like Office, iTunes, etc. It has quite a few useful applications, but nothing like what is available for the iPhone via the App Store... 50,000+ apps. If an Atom processor is used + MacOS, it may not be able to run the iPod apps.
Actually, except for missing hardware features (accelerometer, cell phone radio, GPS, etc.) most iPhone apps run quite well on the Intel CPU through the iPhone Simulator. In fact, much of the app development effort is done using the iPhone Simulator.
If the processor used and the OS is similar to the one on iPhone, then apps may run, but there may be limitations to tablet OS relative to the MacOS, such as multitasking, and incompatible with the MacOS. May be somebody knowledgeable here can comment on these issues.
The ARM is fully capable of multitasking, The iPhone already does multitasking. Apple does not allow non-Apple apps to multitask. This is an Apple decision to preserve battery power (and over-all user experience) on the device.
The iPhone OSX is structured like, and based upon Mac OSX. They are both OSX! In fact, some have said that while putting together the iPhone implementation of OSX, Apple was able to revisit some of the legacy NeXT implementations and rewrite them "as they should have been done in the first place."
Finally, the migration of features and functions between the OSXs, is not a one-way street! Where it makes sense, iPhone OSX features can be readily moved to Mac OSX.
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
-A 10" inch capacitive multitouch screen of 1024x600 moreless resolution in expensive.
-To last an acceptable time, it have to have a good battery so it adds weigth to the device
-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.
I have never understood why everyone is willing to have an iTablet.
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.
If you want a device that people will take with them everywhere then it must be easy to carry and easy to hold. A device with a 10" screen is simply too big to be held in one hand, too big for any pocket and too big for many purses. Never underestimate the importance of fitting into the average purse. Women are 52% of the population in most countries and major buyers of Apple stuff.
Apple knows this. They will not produce a device that requires another bag to carry it around, a device that can't be held in one hand and used with the other while standing up.
The iTouch can have a maximum screen size of 7.75" and that's using a 16:9 ratio wide screen and extremely narrow bezel. Sticking with the iPhone ratio would force it to be even smaller and therefore not much different from the existing touch and iPhone products. Unless the screen is 7.5-7.75" with a wide aspect ratio, it's not even worth manufacturing.
there is also cost
people buy acer's because you can get a decent one for $299 with no contract. and it's cheap enough that if it breaks you won't care and just get another one. A $500 tablet that requires a 2 year contract will make people think twice about buying it.
If there's a contract, it's a given that they'll subsidize the price.
And the answer is a lesser functional device to work with?
How does the lack of a physical keyboard make it a "lesser functional device" ?
How does the lack of a physical keyboard make it a "lesser functional device" ?
Well that depends, doesn't it? If the tablet runs productivity apps, it would certainly need a more functional input than the current touchscreen keyboard. A haptic touchscreen perhaps? A USB port for connecting it to a keyboard? Either one could work.
Within two years we'll be doing the same with our iPhones all over the place.
I think a lot of posters here are thinking from inside the box.
Clearly, given the number of patents awarded and applied for in the last many years, Apple intends to make the keyboard (and mouse of course) less and less important. Gestural and voice interfaces (and chording between the two, certainly) will give them opportunities for user interfaces that make the current keyboard/mouse requirements look stone-aged. Consider just how the iPhone interface tossed the salad - even the newest Verizon Android phone has now gone keyboardless. We can see Apple's progression as Voice Control came in 3.0, and 4-finger gestures came available for the PowerBook. They are gathering lots of experience and data about all of that, and I believe they will be uniquely positioned to cut into some new ground here.
I believe that the iPhone was the success that it was because it is a platform - not a specific niche killer. It's the fact that we'll be able to read our kindle books on a larger screen (although I also am fine with the iPhone's display for my books) that will kill kindle - but not the technology of it, the fact that I can now have a single device that does that and so much more. That's the part of my iPhone that rocks: one little device does SO MANY things.
So to answer a poster from the first page about why this device should exist, I'd answer this: my wife and I both have Power Macs on the desk, carry PowerBooks in our briefcases and iPhones. The missing connection is a reasonably full computer that I can carry in my bag ie., smaller than my notebook but more powerful than my iPhone. Something that is bigger and better for watching movies on a plane, but not too big that I require my briefcase. Small enough to hold in my hands to read a book, but powerful enough to VPN into my cage and do some real work.
I'd probably get a bluetooth headset and go all Skype/Truphone for telco, carrying the cheapest of cheap phones for out-of-network 911 calls only. I think that this has the possibility of really being the missing link and am damn excited.
let's say you're going somewhere and you're not a woman with a purse or don't want to carry a bag for anything. This device is not suited as an "all-in-one" device because of hit's size. I would never want this as a phone. you would still be required to have a phone, so why not just tether. I just don't see how you are thinking "outside" the box here. What you're describing sounds a lot like many other devices, like a large-format iPhone.
come on, AI, you can do much better than that.
- 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.
Come on, don't be so critical... surely you can express these insights (which are rather good, e.g., home button, aspect ratio, etc.) without the peevish tone!
I haven't tested it out, but I would assume (hope) so.
I would want tethering on this device simply for the fact that I woudn't want bills coming from two different wireless service providers, not to mention that tethering is free on rogers at the moment. If the tablet was capable enough, my old macbook pro would no longer travel with me, and tethering would allow me to use the tablet to browse the internet on a larger screen in hotels without wifi, or anywhere where I will be stationary for a while.
completely agree, the idea of having an integrated cellular chip in even a netbook sounds totally ridiculous. However, Verizon & HP are doing just that!
How does the lack of a physical keyboard make it a "lesser functional device" ?
Ergonomy, typing in a 3-4" screen device it's easy, typing while holding a 10" device which weigths 500 or more gr. is a lot different.
As I said before, I have an iLiad ebook reader, which has a 8" screen and I can extrapolate working with a touch screen of 10".
Or you hold it with one hand and type, as someone has said, holding with two hands below the center of gravity it's very dificult or you put it flat in a table and bend your neck to write.
come on, AI, you can do much better than that.
- 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.
The iPhone SDK encourages programming apps that are independent of screen size. Many developers are anticipating new devices with larger (or smaller) screen sizes. If they want to be able to run their apps on these new devices, developers take advantage of screen-independent constructs-- it only takes a few lines of code to determine the device's screen size and adjust the app's display window/view accordingly.
CGRect cgRect =[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds];
CGSize cgSize = cgRect.size;
// device screen dimensions available as cgSize.height, cgSize.width
Think of this tablet as a new MacBook. You will be able to run desktop grade apps (eg. Photoshop) on it.
See my other post right above.
sure...and my point was, since you missed it, that this device should NOT be like a mini macbook. Sounds like a really bad idea IMO, for all the other reasons already stated on this forum. Can you really see yourself using Photoshop on this device. Are you really going to be incredibly MORE productive now that you don't have a keyboard for hotkeys, CTRL, OpenApple keys and no digitizer or pointing device? I think not. I can see using this device for strictly viewing and quick modify, but not for actually doing work on the plane between meetings or anything else that requires a real keyboard, mouse, etc. Just get a net book. This device will never replace a laptop.
I highly doubt Apple will launch a 10" multitouch device. Why?
-A 10" inch capacitive multitouch screen of 1024x600 moreless resolution in expensive.
-To last an acceptable time, it have to have a good battery so it adds weigth to the device
-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.
I have never understood why everyone is willing to have an iTablet.
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.
I don't agree. Back in may, I posted a prediction to answer your doubts concerning the new form factor. And I think it still just fits in what we might have learned from today's rumors:
apple's next new product will be spectacular, it will define a new category of products and - most importantly - it will cannibalize neither the iPhone business, nor the MacBook sales. it will be the next, the fourth pillar of Apple's success.
it will be a MacBook Touch
- a 10 " tablet, nine times the screen size and resolution of the iPhone, resembling the iPhone from the looks an being roughly as thick
- thus immediately working with every existing iPhone app
- combining everything from the iPhone (3G, WiFI, Bluetooth, AppStore, iTunes synching) with everything from the mac (iLife and iWork will work with new preinstalled specialized versions for touch control) - OS X Snow Leopard is the key - that's why they focus on performance.
- it will be touch controlled with a large visual/virtual keyboard, but of course the existing sleek Apple wireless Keyboard will work immediately using Bluetooth
- it will have 1 or 2 (micro)USB-ports making it the ideal device for storing, presenting and basic editing of photos and videos while on holiday, for watching videos with the family (for eventually it will be possible to import our DVDs in iTunes just like our CDs ...)
- it will have a front camera and microphone for video-conferencing or for putting your face into games or for making fun photos with photo booth
- it will be THE new gaming device for groups, playing all the famous board games on a screen large enough lying in front of you and sitting on every side of it (like chess with touch control and animation)
- it will be THE new book reader (though i have some doubts concerning readability in sunlight and battery life when compared to e-ink devices like the kindle), especially making it possible to produce "books" with integrated video and sound content
- it will have a stand to work as a notebook screen when typing with the keyboard or to use as small display to watch videos or digital tv or for presentations (maybe a protective cover doubles as a stand when flipped over ..)
- it will have a bluetooth remote control, reasonably good speakers and a SD-card reader built in
- it will be gorgeous, lightweight and affordable without being cheap and crappy like the windows netbooks
- it will be priced between the iPhone/ iPod touch and the MacBook - let me guess: somewhere between $ 499 with 8 GB and without iWork and $ 799 with 32 or even 64 GB and including iWork
- it will be THE product to present your creative work on the go, to watch video and photos in a group, to work on documents with basic editing while sitting in the bus or on the plane, to check and write emails and much more
- we will be allowed to use our existing apple software on this product without an extra fee
- it will work and synchronize with iTunes on a PC, thus being the entrance to the real mac world for old time PC-customers (they simply will want to buy an OS X-system next time a new notebook or desktop will be needed)
- it can be used like the iPhone, but it can't replace it (because of size), it can be used like a MacBook but it can't replace it (because of lack of keyboard, processing speed, lack of large storing space, limited display resolution, limited connectivity)
- it is simply the perfect companion in between.
What do you think?