The thing that will have to be different on any tablet that is supposed to compete in the netbook space and differentiate itself from an iPhone will be the ability to control it with a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone. It needs a mouse/pen or something that will enable precision interaction.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
As someone wrote a while back, Snow Leopard has technologies that will make a tablet much nicer to use. Expose in the dock, for example. Smaller size, for example.
13" and 15" would be sweet for "Pros" if they nailed the OS, but I'm inclined to think they were prototypes. A larger device (even 10") would certainly be more conducive to multi-touch and other gestures than the iphone so perhaps that's a partial solution to some of the navigation issues, but I think I agree that it would be best to have a "hybrid" OS if the tablet were also to run native OSX Apps. I'm not entirely convinced it does.
The other thing often overlooked is that we may be able to use the tablet as an input device itself. I love the pro-tools controller app. on the iphone or the new onOne Software DSLR remote (makes me wish the device would be an AppleTV controller as well; games on ATV would be great as well) The iphone is a fantastic input device and something larger, with more power and functionality could be amazing.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
Yeah, but then things are just starting to get weird. If you are going to need mice, trackpad, pens and keyboards, why do you not just use a laptop? I always thought the appeal of a tablet is that you can do the work right there on the screen yourself...
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
Obvious and Good Point. We don't always have to use it as a tablet. It really could be the best of both worlds actually.
I think Gizmodo picture is more idealistic of Apple than the blown-up iPod Touch Appleinsider has shown us.
Why would anyone want a 10" iPod Touch or iPhone look-alike. I wouldn't. The aluminum case model, I will buy on sight. I don't care what it does or can't do. It is made by Apple, that's enough for my money.
I love my iPhone. I don't want it bigger for any purpose. No, please no!
The third party programs still wont be nice to use on a tablet though. For a consumer device, which is what a sub $1000 tablet would most likely be, I think a variant of iPhone OS would work best. However, a 13" or 15" tablet would not be a consumer device, and it would not have a sub $1000 price. I don't know what to make of this rumor. Isn't it coming from the same guy that said someone called him with details on the tablet, yet provided no additional information except for a codename he won't reveal?
Snow Leopard does have some touch friendly features like large icons with in icon previews and the expose feature you mentioned. I am very skeptical of this report though.
I'm not saying I believe this rumor, but even if Apple is making a tablet aiming at sub $1000, that doesn't mean they might not also make others bigger and more expensive. Presumably, if they actually do solve the tablet-interface problems, it'll scale nicely.
I can't say what I think of the device until I see it (presuming that it really does exist). But depending on what it's capable of, I could easily pay significantly more for a bigger-screen version. The ability to draw on it would make be want a bigger screen.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
I really think it needs a cursor/pointer at least. I get very frustrated on an iPhone trying to navigate regular websites. You can't hover over pictures to see if they are links, no status bar to help you decide if you should click the link. iPhone type interaction is just too primitive for a larger, more capable device.
That wouldn?t. What is meant is that they would make a new flavour based on OS X, like the Mac OS X and iPhone OS X. Neither Mac nor iPhone OS X are right for such a project. It would have to have some things stripped from it like the like iPhone (though not nearly as many) and it would have to have a more touch friendly interface (which Mac OS X doesn?t have). Every tablet I?v seen running Windows sucks big monkey balls because it?s an desktop OS designed primarily for a mouse keyboard and larger display being shoehorned to work with a stylus. Something is going to drastically different for this OS if the tablet is created. I can only imagine that it?s mostly Mac OS X with all the crap removed and a new touch UI similar to the iPhone in that it?s designed for fingers but optimized for a larger interface.
This would be my guess as well. It's not really sensible to talk about Apple needing "an entire other operating system", since OS X can be modified via optimized UI and an appropriate selection of components. From the developers perspective, the main differentiators are learning to use the proper UI conventions and working within a constrained memory space, and that's something that really needs to happen anyway, if you're going to sell a new form factor with software that really works well.
Also, consider this: many people have remarked on the "gateway" role of the iPhone. Lots of people who might not own or considered a Mac are using an iPhone and getting a sense of the Apple way of doing things. At least some of those people are more likely to consider a Mac next time they go computer shopping.
Now imagine a tablet with an "intermediate" OS-- familiar to iPhone users but with more of the full OS X flavor. If such a device were popular, now you're gently moving people along the evolutionary chain, towards Macs and full OS X.
And Apple is literally the only electronics/computer manufacturer in a position to do this, to offer an incremental range of a single OS that can run on everything from handhelds to servers.
I think that, as mobile computing becomes more and more the norm, the scaleability of OS X is going to be of increasing competitive advantage. MS makes you jump from CE/Mobile to Windows 7. RIM doesn't have a desktop or even palmtop OS of any sort. Nokia is bringing out a netbook, but it's running Windows 7. We've seen a few Mameo and Android biggish things, as well as rumblings from the Pre camp, but once you move past phone size is there a huge advantage to putting Linux with a UI designed for a phone on a netbook?
It appears to me that only Apple can make these finally calibrated versions of a single OS, versions that wring as much functionality as possible out of the hardware at hand.
First off I'm not a programmer, but it does seem to me Apple is taking a long range approach...First you organize OSX by decreasing it's footprint with Snow Leopard (Hello MS?) and now it becomes a manageable 'core' to attack the fastest growing segment in tech, mobile computing.
Just as there are those people who need the MacPro and MacBookPro for processing pwr one has to think the majority of computer/smartphone users do basic computing tasks, email, web browsing, photos, music, a little video, basic word processing/desktop publishing and maybe rudimentary web design and spreadsheet work. Even in the business class, I have to think the majority of the work is rudimentary.
Therefore, do the 'heavy lifting' so to speak on your 30" iMac and do your communication/presentations from your Tablet/iPhone.
I really think it needs a cursor/pointer at least. I get very frustrated on an iPhone trying to navigate regular websites. You can't hover over pictures to see if they are links, no status bar to help you decide if you should click the link. iPhone type interaction is just too primitive for a larger, more capable device.
You can?t do a hover, but you can hold down on the image for a second to copy the image, save the image, open in that window, open in another window and see the URL.
I still haven't heard a credible suggestion of what is the "secret sauce" that's going to make this tablet (at whatever size) succeed where all past attempts have failed. It's certainly a possibility that the secret will simply be to get all the details "just right", but I am more inclined to believe that the tablet will need a fundamentally new feature or application to make it viable.
My hope is that the tablet has a big surprise hiding in it, and that the rumors and predictions have been as narrow short-sighted as the original predictions of the iPhone were.
We shall see soon, I hope. I'm exhausted from following this rumor for multiple years.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
Agreed! I think the bluetooth aspect you are talking about would be part of the entire tablet 'eco-system.' For those who want to carry ancillary 'stuff' ie., BT mouse/keyboard, trackpad, etc., will be available from Apple or the third party manufacturers, eventually.
I would be very surprised if Apple did not include BT!
Personally the less stuff to carry the better! But I could see having a thin padded aluminum brief case in my car with the Apple BT keyboard for those times I go into a coffee shop/travel and knock out emails that require more than a 10 word response!
You know it will be running on MacBooks. At least it doesn't default to 32bit.
No but its programs do (WMP, IE, etc). So you get the hassle of needing 64 bit drivers (albeit these problems have smoothed out now) without the benefit of 64 bit programs, unless you specifically choose to open them. Add to that, WMC does open in 64 bit, so all your 32 bit plugins for WMP don't work. I can see a lot of non tech savvy people wondering why Windows Media Player will play a video for them, but Windows Media Center wont. Of course if you were at least a little tech savvy, you would also get the 64 bit codecs. Then again if you were tech savvy, you could hold down 6 and 4 on the mac when booting if you really needed the 64 bit kernel.
You can?t do a hover, but you can hold down on the image for a second to copy the image, save the image, open in that window, open in another window and see the URL.
That is good to know but doesn't really help solve the fundamental problem of no hover in iPhone Safari. Many websites use mouse over functionality for menus, alt/title tags, etc, etc and that feature would be quite useful, at least for me, but it requires hover which touch navigation does not offer.
... but well over half of the half you are talking about have access to them! PS. don't be such a self-satisfied prig! I was 'speaking' metaphorically...my dick didn't actually move ...
Right, you use pornographic language on a public forum, but somehow *I'm* at fault.
Then you compound it by making similar comment that also has the "added feature" of being sexist. Then you make a personal attack on me for saying anything about it. I was at least fairly nice in responding to your original stupid remark.
It would be easier for all concerned if you just kept the offensive language to yourself wouldn't it?
Comments
The thing that will have to be different on any tablet that is supposed to compete in the netbook space and differentiate itself from an iPhone will be the ability to control it with a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone. It needs a mouse/pen or something that will enable precision interaction.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
My money's on OSX.
As someone wrote a while back, Snow Leopard has technologies that will make a tablet much nicer to use. Expose in the dock, for example. Smaller size, for example.
Agreed!
The other thing often overlooked is that we may be able to use the tablet as an input device itself. I love the pro-tools controller app. on the iphone or the new onOne Software DSLR remote (makes me wish the device would be an AppleTV controller as well; games on ATV would be great as well) The iphone is a fantastic input device and something larger, with more power and functionality could be amazing.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
Yeah, but then things are just starting to get weird. If you are going to need mice, trackpad, pens and keyboards, why do you not just use a laptop? I always thought the appeal of a tablet is that you can do the work right there on the screen yourself...
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
Obvious and Good Point. We don't always have to use it as a tablet. It really could be the best of both worlds actually.
Why would anyone want a 10" iPod Touch or iPhone look-alike. I wouldn't. The aluminum case model, I will buy on sight. I don't care what it does or can't do. It is made by Apple, that's enough for my money.
I love my iPhone. I don't want it bigger for any purpose. No, please no!
The third party programs still wont be nice to use on a tablet though. For a consumer device, which is what a sub $1000 tablet would most likely be, I think a variant of iPhone OS would work best. However, a 13" or 15" tablet would not be a consumer device, and it would not have a sub $1000 price. I don't know what to make of this rumor. Isn't it coming from the same guy that said someone called him with details on the tablet, yet provided no additional information except for a codename he won't reveal?
Snow Leopard does have some touch friendly features like large icons with in icon previews and the expose feature you mentioned. I am very skeptical of this report though.
I'm not saying I believe this rumor, but even if Apple is making a tablet aiming at sub $1000, that doesn't mean they might not also make others bigger and more expensive. Presumably, if they actually do solve the tablet-interface problems, it'll scale nicely.
I can't say what I think of the device until I see it (presuming that it really does exist). But depending on what it's capable of, I could easily pay significantly more for a bigger-screen version. The ability to draw on it would make be want a bigger screen.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
I really think it needs a cursor/pointer at least. I get very frustrated on an iPhone trying to navigate regular websites. You can't hover over pictures to see if they are links, no status bar to help you decide if you should click the link. iPhone type interaction is just too primitive for a larger, more capable device.
That wouldn?t. What is meant is that they would make a new flavour based on OS X, like the Mac OS X and iPhone OS X. Neither Mac nor iPhone OS X are right for such a project. It would have to have some things stripped from it like the like iPhone (though not nearly as many) and it would have to have a more touch friendly interface (which Mac OS X doesn?t have). Every tablet I?v seen running Windows sucks big monkey balls because it?s an desktop OS designed primarily for a mouse keyboard and larger display being shoehorned to work with a stylus. Something is going to drastically different for this OS if the tablet is created. I can only imagine that it?s mostly Mac OS X with all the crap removed and a new touch UI similar to the iPhone in that it?s designed for fingers but optimized for a larger interface.
This would be my guess as well. It's not really sensible to talk about Apple needing "an entire other operating system", since OS X can be modified via optimized UI and an appropriate selection of components. From the developers perspective, the main differentiators are learning to use the proper UI conventions and working within a constrained memory space, and that's something that really needs to happen anyway, if you're going to sell a new form factor with software that really works well.
Also, consider this: many people have remarked on the "gateway" role of the iPhone. Lots of people who might not own or considered a Mac are using an iPhone and getting a sense of the Apple way of doing things. At least some of those people are more likely to consider a Mac next time they go computer shopping.
Now imagine a tablet with an "intermediate" OS-- familiar to iPhone users but with more of the full OS X flavor. If such a device were popular, now you're gently moving people along the evolutionary chain, towards Macs and full OS X.
And Apple is literally the only electronics/computer manufacturer in a position to do this, to offer an incremental range of a single OS that can run on everything from handhelds to servers.
I think that, as mobile computing becomes more and more the norm, the scaleability of OS X is going to be of increasing competitive advantage. MS makes you jump from CE/Mobile to Windows 7. RIM doesn't have a desktop or even palmtop OS of any sort. Nokia is bringing out a netbook, but it's running Windows 7. We've seen a few Mameo and Android biggish things, as well as rumblings from the Pre camp, but once you move past phone size is there a huge advantage to putting Linux with a UI designed for a phone on a netbook?
It appears to me that only Apple can make these finally calibrated versions of a single OS, versions that wring as much functionality as possible out of the hardware at hand.
Just as there are those people who need the MacPro and MacBookPro for processing pwr one has to think the majority of computer/smartphone users do basic computing tasks, email, web browsing, photos, music, a little video, basic word processing/desktop publishing and maybe rudimentary web design and spreadsheet work. Even in the business class, I have to think the majority of the work is rudimentary.
Therefore, do the 'heavy lifting' so to speak on your 30" iMac and do your communication/presentations from your Tablet/iPhone.
Thoughts?
I really think it needs a cursor/pointer at least. I get very frustrated on an iPhone trying to navigate regular websites. You can't hover over pictures to see if they are links, no status bar to help you decide if you should click the link. iPhone type interaction is just too primitive for a larger, more capable device.
You can?t do a hover, but you can hold down on the image for a second to copy the image, save the image, open in that window, open in another window and see the URL.
My hope is that the tablet has a big surprise hiding in it, and that the rumors and predictions have been as narrow short-sighted as the original predictions of the iPhone were.
We shall see soon, I hope. I'm exhausted from following this rumor for multiple years.
I love this, did anybody else's dick move when they saw this photo? ...
a) I think you are looking for engadget or gizmodo.
b) only half of the people reading your comment have "dicks" anyway.
Actually, all it needs is Bluetooth. If you want to run something that requires a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone, take your pick of third party mice, pens, trackpads, keyboards...
Agreed! I think the bluetooth aspect you are talking about would be part of the entire tablet 'eco-system.' For those who want to carry ancillary 'stuff' ie., BT mouse/keyboard, trackpad, etc., will be available from Apple or the third party manufacturers, eventually.
I would be very surprised if Apple did not include BT!
Personally the less stuff to carry the better! But I could see having a thin padded aluminum brief case in my car with the Apple BT keyboard for those times I go into a coffee shop/travel and knock out emails that require more than a 10 word response!
My money is on them loading Windows 7.
You know it will be running on MacBooks. At least it doesn't default to 32bit.
No but its programs do (WMP, IE, etc). So you get the hassle of needing 64 bit drivers (albeit these problems have smoothed out now) without the benefit of 64 bit programs, unless you specifically choose to open them. Add to that, WMC does open in 64 bit, so all your 32 bit plugins for WMP don't work. I can see a lot of non tech savvy people wondering why Windows Media Player will play a video for them, but Windows Media Center wont. Of course if you were at least a little tech savvy, you would also get the 64 bit codecs. Then again if you were tech savvy, you could hold down 6 and 4 on the mac when booting if you really needed the 64 bit kernel.
You can?t do a hover, but you can hold down on the image for a second to copy the image, save the image, open in that window, open in another window and see the URL.
That is good to know but doesn't really help solve the fundamental problem of no hover in iPhone Safari. Many websites use mouse over functionality for menus, alt/title tags, etc, etc and that feature would be quite useful, at least for me, but it requires hover which touch navigation does not offer.
a) I think you are looking for engadget or gizmodo.
b) only half of the people reading your comment have "dicks" anyway.
PS. don't be such a self-satisfied prig! I was 'speaking' metaphorically...my dick didn't actually move BTW!
Prototype iTablet seen in the wild!
Haha!
Grade 10.
... but well over half of the half you are talking about have access to them! PS. don't be such a self-satisfied prig! I was 'speaking' metaphorically...my dick didn't actually move ...
Right, you use pornographic language on a public forum, but somehow *I'm* at fault.
Then you compound it by making similar comment that also has the "added feature" of being sexist. Then you make a personal attack on me for saying anything about it. I was at least fairly nice in responding to your original stupid remark.
It would be easier for all concerned if you just kept the offensive language to yourself wouldn't it?