Apple tablet may ship with multi-touch version of iWork

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  • Reply 141 of 172
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zunx View Post


    No surprise. Actually, Apple tried to use the Intel Atom first for the Apple Tablet. Why? Because they wanted a full Mac (touch) inside. Now they will go with ARM for TDP and battery advantages, but the full computer goal holds. WHICH IS FANTASTIC and will make the Apple Tablet a real HIT!!!



    Yup yup yup. I have a feeling those PA Semi guys really cooked up something special for the tablet. It can't just be a big iPod Touch. What would be the point (besides the bigger screen) then for the tablet? Productivity on the go....easy, quick, agile productivity on the go. You can't achieve ease, speed and agility with a laptop especially pc based laptops. All a laptop is....is a portable desktop! Those HP slates from the Ballmer keynote might as well literally be laptops torn in half. Adding multi-touch (or rather Microsoft's version of it) to windows 7 without designing the OS GUI from the ground up to take advantage of multi-touch IS A WASTE!



    Apple has designed something really special for us.



    Star Trek PADDs are on the way folks!
  • Reply 142 of 172
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Someone (I apologize for forgetting who) posted a link to some old Fingerworks documents. I noticed that one of them actually specified "three finger and rotate counterclockwise" for opening a file and clockwise for closing. The whole list includes some pretty arcane stuff, exactly the kind of "get ready for a steep learning curve" deal that has been mentioned.



    My suspicion is someone took a look at the Fingerworks stuff and just decided that Apple was going to apply that wholesale. Which seems pretty unlikely to me.



    I laugh at you poor people. "get ready for a steep learning curve". Spare me the crying! I'm an owner of one of the original Fingerworks touchpads and I've been waiting PATIENTLY for Apple to implement the plethora of gestures possible with the multi-touch technology.



    Learning curve? Please! I've BEEN prepared. So bring on the gestures!



    Oh, and MACTOUCH FTW!!!!!11!!1! booyaaaaaaaaaaaa
  • Reply 143 of 172
    icyfogicyfog Posts: 338member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cvaldes1831 View Post


    Your presumption is incorrect.



    Actually, office productivity applications are far less taxing on computing resources compared to media applications.



    Moving around massive amounts of data (e.g., AVCHD footage) is highly processor, graphics, memory and disk intensive. A word processor or spreadsheet app is positively lightweight compared to that.



    The tablet's multitouch input, battery constraints, CPU performance, memory capacity, storage capacity, graphics performance, etc. all point to an inability to handle full blown media editing applications like Photoshop, Logic, or Final Cut. Basic media editing tools ("lite" version of iPhoto and iMovie) are possible, but if I tried to run Final Cut Express on a tablet, the battery would be sucked dry before the render was up.



    Let's face it, the tablet is going to be a consumer device, not one for "prosumer" users. If you have a little Flip camcorder or are using your point-and-shoot camera's video mode, yeah, you might want some basic editing tools on your tablet before you upload to YouTube. If you are carrying around a full-blown AVCHD camcorder and want to edit your videos on semi-pro editors, you would be plugging your device into your notebook or desktop computer anyhow.



    You are not gonna have 250GB of disk scratch space on this year's tablet. Ain't gonna happen.



    Well the Flip is a raw content gathering device. How would a user get videos on the Mac Touch if there's no port on it.

    Also I never posted about Photoshop, Final Cut, nor any other resource intensive program. I was curious about iLife. iWork includes Keynote and Pages which can import multimedia products. Yet if the Mac Touch lacks a USB how does a user get those products onto it? Using a computer defeats the purpose of a Mac Touch if the only way is through iTunes.
  • Reply 144 of 172
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icyfog View Post


    How would a user get videos on the Mac Touch if there's no port on it. <snip> Using a computer defeats the purpose of a Mac Touch if the only way is through iTunes.

    <snip> I was curious about iLife.



    I too hope the tablet is up to some form of iMovie. When I think of what I use a computer for around the house, my imaginary tablet is really up to most of it (Note: it can't meet my work needs). The strengths are reading websites, forums, books wherever I'm sitting - my laptop can do it but it's less convenient. The weaknesses are typing in the forum - if I had something longer to type I'd ideally jump up with my tablet, sit at a table, and turn on a bluetooth keyboard. The other weakness would be iMovie, though I don't use that day-to-day.



    But could a tablet handle the processing power needed for iMovie? The power required for iMovie drops if the files are reduced quality (the final product can still use the originals for export). And perhaps the GPU can really accomplish alot with far less heat? The tablet would seem to need either USB or Firewire to load, but Apple COULD just force users to get SD card movie cameras.



    If we approach the tablet as a replacement to the computer then it has different port requirements. If I was betting - the tablet would have a USB port and SDcard slot, but I'm still borderline on the USB port. USB would allow an external disk for backups, connecting an iPod or iPhone, the MBA external DVD-drive, and connecting a printer or scanner. But Apple would rather we used Time machine for a backup, wireless syncing to other computers and iPhone(?), wireless printing, and do we even need a DVD drive...?
  • Reply 145 of 172
    pxtpxt Posts: 683member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tsad23 View Post


    The app store is apple's hidden treasure. Like the ipod touch and iphone, apple will sell the islate sans any apps and allow the user to fill up their shiny new purchase with all the $1, $5, $10 etc apps that they want.



    I also feel that this will keep the price of the islate lower, but allow apple to keep the cash register ringing even after one purchases the device.



    Ha ha. That would be a great interpretation of Steve Jobs's minimalism.



    The slate would be completely black and when you hit the home button, a single App Store icon appears in the centre.
  • Reply 146 of 172
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Olternaut View Post


    Star Trek PADDs are on the way folks!



    Apple switching from Mac OS to LCARS?



    Sounds good to me.
  • Reply 147 of 172
    olternautolternaut Posts: 1,376member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post


    Apple switching from Mac OS to LCARS?



    Sounds good to me.



    Hey, I betcha those Apple engineers could teach those 24th century federation engineers a thing or two.
  • Reply 148 of 172
    I for one am very excited at these tablet possibilities, even if the product is non-existant at this point. I've always longed for a device with more advanced capabilities than the iPhone with a bigger screen, but the potential for full touch versions of popular computer apps would be icing on the cake. I guess I'll be holding off on that Macbook Air purchase, hopefully the 27th will shed more light on things
  • Reply 149 of 172
    ilogicilogic Posts: 298member
    Apple needs to add more value to the Macintosh via the iPhone... for example:



    I would like to launch Dashboard and click on a button that allows me to view whatever I'm viewing on my iPhone on my Mac's screen. I think this is a feature that will fatten the deal of switching to a Mac.



    This is just an example, but seriously the point is made...
  • Reply 150 of 172
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ilogic View Post


    Apple needs to add more value to the Macintosh via the iPhone... for example:



    I would like to launch Dashboard and click on a button that allows me to view whatever I'm viewing on my iPhone on my Mac's screen. I think this is a feature that will fatten the deal of switching to a Mac.



    This is just an example, but seriously the point is made...



    Good point. Remote viewing or operation of one's computer would be a nice built-in feature for iPhone/iPod touch, instead of leaving that to VNC apps.
  • Reply 151 of 172
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Good point. Remote viewing or operation of one's computer would be a nice built-in feature for iPhone/iPod touch, instead of leaving that to VNC apps.



    Can you VNC into the iPhone? VNCing into your PC from the iPhone makes sense but I see no need to do it the other way.
  • Reply 152 of 172
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    I'm interested in exactly how they will change the GUI. The closer it gets, the more I think of how awful most iPhone apps are going to look when they are full-screen on a large tablet. I don't mean they will be fuzzy or pixelated, I just mean they will look hideous when blown up to that size.



    Think of things like the Facebook app, or even the weather widget.



    At more than double the size, they will have huge silly fonts, and blah backgrounds. It seems to me they will look pretty garish at best. Anyone looking at you using a tablet will assume that you are a senior citizen reading a large type book or something.



    There is not likely going to be a "desktop" so all apps will run full-screen. Will they let us turn the tablet sideways and run two apps side by side, or will we have to run them full screen portrait mode despite the senior citizen embarrassment thing? Will the apps have two modes and look simpler on the iPhone while allow for more detail on the tablet? Will all apps eventually have two separate versions and will we have to buy each?



    If there are apps like Pages and Numbers, how will the UI be handled? Will the inspector palette float over the top or appear when needed or be a sidebar? Will everything become a sidebar, toolbar or ribbon? Most of Apple's apps, including the iWork suite all rely on multiple windows. How will all this be interpreted on a tablet where everything will be full-screen?



    These are the really interesting questions IMO, and we won't even have a clue until the tablet is unveiled. Very frustrating to wait.



    As long as we're continuing to feed the fantasy factory... I'd guess that a stylus may be either required or simply preferred for a tablet. Pecking at a screen with one hand, while balancing a sheet sized tablet makes little sense and would result in people dropping these things. Interaction may also focus on innovative use of the accelerometer, face & voice recognition... who really knows? I have strong doubts as to the reality of a tablet, and I'll believe it when I see it.
  • Reply 153 of 172
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Can you VNC into the iPhone? VNCing into your PC from the iPhone makes sense but I see no need to do it the other way.



    Not in any way I'm aware of... VNC from the iPod or iPhone can actually be useful sometimes. It's touchy, but it works.
  • Reply 154 of 172
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Someone (I apologize for forgetting who) posted a link to some old Fingerworks documents. I noticed that one of them actually specified "three finger and rotate counterclockwise" for opening a file and clockwise for closing. The whole list includes some pretty arcane stuff, exactly the kind of "get ready for a steep learning curve" deal that has been mentioned.



    My suspicion is someone took a look at the Fingerworks stuff and just decided that Apple was going to apply that wholesale. Which seems pretty unlikely to me.



    I?m not so sure it?s arcane. On a touchscreen with a visual display under our fingers, then yes, it?s arcane, but looking at the stuff Fingerworks had produced the multi-touch was a panel with no visual feedback. If a large touchscreen is on the back of the tablet then these odd gestures may be the best method for complex input.



    Perhaps some learning will be involved, but the mouse once took some learning and came with an instruction manual from Apple. I figure the front will be still be multi-touch but having a touch sensitive back could be very useful, too. At this point I don?t see a better option for a 10? tablet.
  • Reply 155 of 172
    takeotakeo Posts: 445member
    I don't think the learning curve is that steep really. How long did it take you to learn to swipe, pinch, scroll... etc. All very easy and intuitive. Someone compared it to the iPod shuffle with all it's click combos. Not the same at all. In that case... you have to recall a series of clicks. It's more like trying to remember a combination lock. Very annoying. Gestures are more like learning a new guitar chord. Not hard at all since it's one thing. It's a shape. Or what have you. Yes... you have to take a minute to learn it. But I don't think it's that hard. I don't think the learning curve will be bad at all. As long as the gestures are intuitive.
  • Reply 156 of 172
    Heads up: fingerworks.com is gone.



    Hmm...
  • Reply 157 of 172
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Takeo View Post


    I don't think the learning curve is that steep really. How long did it take you to learn to swipe, pinch, scroll... etc. All very easy and intuitive. Someone compared it to the iPod shuffle with all it's click combos. Not the same at all. In that case... you have to recall a series of clicks. It's more like trying to remember a combination lock. Very annoying. Gestures are more like learning a new guitar chord. Not hard at all since it's one thing. It's a shape. Or what have you. Yes... you have to take a minute to learn it. But I don't think it's that hard. I don't think the learning curve will be bad at all. As long as the gestures are intuitive.



    There are the videos in System preferences for Mac touchpads. Those weren?t tough to learn.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    Heads up: fingerworks.com is gone.



    Hmm...



    Makes me think many of the gestures are going to be used on the tablet, though on the back. You don?t need those complex gestures on the front. Tap or double-tap is all that is needed open an app if you point at it, no need for 3 fingers and twist.
  • Reply 158 of 172
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