The inside track on Apple's tablet: a history of tablet computing

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  • Reply 101 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    This is really unlikely given that the Apple product with the closest form factor to the tablet right now (the Air) has only one USB port.



    It will have probably have an iPhone dock connector also, so there will be no need for an extra video out port. If there is no need, it won't be included. Apple is usually very anal about that kind of thing.



    Personally, I doubt that it will have any connectors other than a headphone jack and a dock connector.



    The Air was aimed at being the thinnest. The Tablet aims at being a revolutionary badass.



    As such, it WILL NOT be a jumbo iPhone, so no dock connector or iPhone OS



    2 (fine, one) USB, MagSafe, MDP, MiniJack
  • Reply 102 of 200
    Based on others' comments and weeks of rumor bits, we may be heading into a

    software paradigm shift with an Apple tablet because ...

    - apps (building on the iPhone app/iTS ecosystem; rumor of an iWork version; no longer necessary to convince Microsoft, Adobe, et al, especially with all those iPhone app developers; e.g., it may be easier for some small, hungry, shop to scale up their iPhone photo editing apps than the big software companies who probably can't see creating a version for an Apple tablet platform; for example, while CS4 will stay on desktops, other devs will create for consumers, pre-pro-level, and maybe an adjunct to CS4)

    - new platform (OS X gesture-based, mainly touch and proximity-gesturing; also voice and maybe pen--likely for a later version)



    ... the beginning of an evolution to where things are headed whether one likes it or not?
  • Reply 103 of 200
    Also, keep in mind that Apple and Jobs have no problem ending a product line, from the Newton to completely replacing the iPod mini at its prime with the nano. So cannibalism may not be much of a concern for Apple. They may end one of their laptop lines and replace it with a new product line.
  • Reply 104 of 200
    orlandoorlando Posts: 601member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post


    The Air was aimed at being the thinnest. The Tablet aims at being a revolutionary badass.



    As such, it WILL NOT be a jumbo iPhone, so no dock connector or iPhone OS



    2 (fine, one) USB, MagSafe, MDP, MiniJack



    You're underestimating just how capable the iPhone OS really is.
  • Reply 105 of 200
    phizzphizz Posts: 142member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    You are right - CS4 apps will never run on a 10" tablet, whatever people here say. That's just stupid, period. I think the idea of the imminent announcement of the alleged tablet have made people go nuts. I think it a distinct possibility that Adobe or Apple or somebody else will make a basic image / photo manipulation app that works on the tablet. Basic being the operative word.



    Either a basic image app, or even a better an app that allows the iSlate to be used as a pressure sensitive drawing graphic tablet in conjunction with an app running on your Mac
  • Reply 106 of 200
    iSlate really is quite a shit name! I do hope they call it something else.
  • Reply 107 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stonefree View Post


    Why do you think Apple wouldn't apply their notorious high margins (aka Apple Tax) to netbooks and a mid-range tower?



    Apple does not "tax" its own products. The Mac, iPod and iPhone are no more expensive than similarly equipped gear from other reputable vendors. A tax is something levied by an authority to collect money on a variety of transactions under its control. Microsoft taxes PCs because it controls an operating system monopoly. Apple has no capacity to "tax" any market.





    Quote:

    A $700 10-11" netbook and a $1400 mid range tower would both be profitable and popular. I'd buy the tower for sure, but will not spend almost $2700 on a MacPro. Again different needs.



    Netbooks are getting hyped and selling, but they are not profitable for anyone. Apple used to sell $1400 mini towers called "Performa," which is why it almost went out of business. Nobody is making money selling either outside of teenage PC DIY kids who screw together components without a warranty. (Because servicing a warranty would kill their profits).



    Quote:

    Almost everyone agrees Macs are better than PCs but Mac market share continues to be a blip. Their very limited product range is a huge reason for that.



    Macs have around 7% market share even when you throw in PC servers, cash registers and the tons of cheap netbooks being dumped into the market. Apple makes $1 out of every $5 spent in the US on computers. Apple effectively sells pretty much all the PCs over $1000. If that's a "blip," then we need to redefine that word. Every PC maker wants to be Apple, they just don't know how. Apple very clearly does not want to be Dell or HP or Acer or it would be taking your advice and pumping out a bunch of half baked ideas from the 90s to satisfy guys over 40 rather than to build a real business and maintain consistent progress.
  • Reply 108 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustReelFilms View Post


    Tell me what chip that's more energy efficient than ARM? No the Intel Atom is not one of them.



    ARM is not a chip. Nor is it a single chip design/architecture. You'd have to be a lot more specific.
  • Reply 109 of 200
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by monstrosity View Post


    iSlate really is quite a shit name! I do hope they call it something else.



    You need not worry, they will not call it iSlate. When the prince mentioned iBook I had to giggle.
  • Reply 110 of 200
    seek3rseek3r Posts: 179member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01 View Post


    Well, the hugissime material titled "history of tablet computing" somewhat surprisingly makes it apparent, that there was no tablet in the history of computing.



    For starters, nobody knows how to sell tablets (hoping to see your market analysis, Prince). Yup, it seldom matters how good a product is inside itself. It's always about how you're going to sell it. There're now Apple's 70/30 scheme, persistent DRM compliance, Apple's notoriety in inviting content providers and distribution (carriers), some other cherries on top of cake, too.



    Then, there's no a single ubuntu on the market so far, which could have reached sufficient degree of modularity to successfully fit the form factor. Apple seems to be first to have bred the gang of their cats to make this happen.



    Gestures. We're just at the very beginning of the commercial civil exploration on this branch of human-machine interaction design and ergonomics. And Apple again seems to have not the worst parcel ever to get started with unearthing of what valuable could be in there.



    For some reason Appleinsider missed a few of the real, slate-style tablets out there. Most are used in rather specialized industries though. An example i used in another thread, motion computing, markets primarily to the medical arena. There are companies that market to the automotive arena too, etc.
  • Reply 111 of 200
    Apple will succeed where others have failed because Apple now has the maturity (in no small part because of Steve Jobs' own growth and maturity). I am truly looking forward to Apple making history with a new way to interact with computers. That is, the use of finger gestures have the potential to dramatically improve the use of tablet-like PCs. Here's an article indicating similar things...



    http://www.alltabletnews.com/2010/01...k-replacement/
  • Reply 112 of 200
    os11os11 Posts: 30member
    If you haven't seen this, please do so... watch the video... Apple has been working on this for longer than anyone thinks.



    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-..._b_416960.html



    I have videos from the 80's which again show the tablet concept work. Look on the bottom right..



    http://homepage.mac.com/amcintosh/eb...ppletapes2.jpg



    eme if interested in seeing the long lost Apple videos of their tablet visions...
  • Reply 113 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    You need not worry, they will not call it iSlate. When the prince mentioned iBook I had to giggle.



    See you mentioned that a device using the "iBook" name would have to be a hinged before. But i disagree.



    If this takes off as an ebook reader, we are redefining what a book is, what a book will be, not what a book was.

    Books of old had a hinged design because 'technology' dictated it's physical shape, due to having to accommodate physical pages. But no longer are we dictated to, there are no reasons why a hinge is required, a one page design is adequate for purpose.

    I seriously doubt that the future of books is hinged shape, it's more likely to resemble a flat or rolled single page.

    So by your philosophy the future of the word 'book' is in jeopardy as you are tying the word book to it's traditional physical mechanism, and not to it's function. In my opinion something that is used predominantly as a book, which functions as a book, can be described as a book.



    There are better reasons why Apple would not reuse the iBook name IMO. With the multiple target markets Apple are likely seeking with this device, a more multipurpose name may be more appropriate.
  • Reply 114 of 200
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cmf2 View Post


    What are you planning on using a tablet for that would require you to keep your neck crooked for hours?



    I?m not, which is why no tablet will be a replacement for any laptop and why I don?t see an exploding tablet market unless Apple does have new paradigms for input, SW and services for a 21.1 Century tablet.
  • Reply 115 of 200
    The ultimate question about the tablet is whether it's a primary (full mac) or secondary (jumbo iPod) device, or an interesting mix. I predict mix, accomplished by constant hooks back into your main system.



    Multitasking and file management work at this form factor.



    Back to My Mac could make an appearance. Full document syncing.



    What about Grand Central tying into Xgrid, using your main system to run processor-intensive tasks?



    I take it for granted that Apple has solutions to the input and ergonomics side of things.
  • Reply 116 of 200
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    It would seem that most would find common ground on some points:



    (1) Steven Jobs is not interested in running with the pack, even a pack of which he might currently be top dog.



    (2) Apple will surely leverage the iTunes store.



    (3) Current iPhone/iTouch applications will run on the device (if there is one ).



    (4) The MacTouch (thanks Ireland!) will not cannibalise existing sales.



    (5) The MacTouch will not be an owner's primary phone!!! \



    (6) The device will run a unique OS that is based on OS X.



    (7,...,n) Points that I haven't mentioned!



    So, how about some more that we might not all agree on:



    (n+1) This might be Steven Jobs' (generation's) last opportunity to lay out a practical (as in - with actual hardware) vision for the future of (personal) computing.



    (n+2) Hardware and software will rapidly become vastly more powerful and capable.



    (n+3) The MacTouch could act as a window (sorry for the term) on the high level computing capability of other systems including notebooks, desktops, supercomputers and the cloud including systems running any particular OS.



    This happens now. The browser on my computer interacts with any number of other computers running operating systems that I know nothing about. Perhaps the MacTouch will do this for personal (local and distributed) computing. For all intents and purposes, I might be running iTunes (locally) or CS4 (remotely) or Photoshop or Mathematica or whatever. All this and not restricted to a particular OS.



    Then, as time goes on, more functionality comes on board, while access grows to other vastly more capable software residing elsewhere. I might pay a fee for using particular software on a particular computing system anywhere on Earth from which I can reach it. A supercomputer in my hands. Computing centres could spring up offering all sorts of services - probably however, Apple would offer the most capability! Once companies such as Adobe realise that perhaps they stand to profit much more from services than just selling (very expensive) software, they'll come on board and add amazing handheld feature oriented client software also.



    Most of the useful output from a computer can be displayed in the form of an image, a table or a graph, a video or a sound, an alert or text say - all or most of which I would have thought, would be suited to a 10" display.



    With the services that Apple has put in place (a requirement I believe, that Steven Jobs has been quoted as saying were essential for tablet computing) and the industrial design that would be brought to bear, Apple would command this space, even in spite of all the tablet/handheld designs out there.



    If everyone who owns a computer bought this handheld window on worldwide computing and on their own system, Apple would have 100% of the market!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by VelSatis23 View Post


    I just don´t see the point in a tablet. Let the iPhone have a bigger screen, maybe 5 inches, at best 7, make it more usable with more processing power and please let it have a better batterie...



    No point.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


    It will not be a "fully functional computer". Why would Apple essentially kill, or severely damage, its MacBook line? ...



    Apple won't.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Phizz View Post


    I haven't read all the replies here, but I am way confused at the number of people on here alledgedly wanting to run CS4 on a 10.1" slate computer... You're kidding me, right?? Imagine trying to use a CS4 app on tiny 10 inch Mac with a mouse and keyboard - sounds painful. And then take away the mouse and keyboard. Sounds like a bloody nightmare.



    It could virtually.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zindako View Post


    Apples soon to be unveiled Mac Touch will do just fine in its computing line up, all the skepticism surrounding it by the windows camp, wanting it to fail, this is like Pre iPhone launch back in 2007.



    I think so too!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by clochard View Post


    Somehow it has fallen into oblivion that the iPhone OS is a Mac OS X...



    I want and expect a UI that fits to this new "form factor".



    I think we agree on this point.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I’m not, which is why no tablet will be a replacement for any laptop and why I don’t see an exploding tablet market unless Apple does have new paradigms for input, SW and services for a 21.1 Century tablet.



    The MacTouch will not replace your MB but what a great team they'd be!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aldonius View Post


    The ultimate question about the tablet is whether it's a primary (full mac) or secondary (jumbo iPod) device, or an interesting mix. I predict mix, accomplished by constant hooks back into your main system.



    Multitasking and file management work at this form factor.



    Back to My Mac could make an appearance. Full document syncing.



    What about Grand Central tying into Xgrid, using your main system to run processor-intensive tasks?



    I take it for granted that Apple has solutions to the input and ergonomics side of things.



    Exactly!
  • Reply 117 of 200
    I've been waiting to change my old Macbook and my old iPhone 3G. Counting the days.....
  • Reply 118 of 200
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    100% correct!



    Nearly all the flame ridden, internet forum, arguments about Apple ... boil down to just two things.



    1. If an Apple product doesn't fulfil my needs, it will be a commercial failure.



    2. If I don't like Apple's business practice then it must be illegal.



    Well put.
  • Reply 119 of 200
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Orlando View Post


    You would use it the same way as a pad of paper. Something humans have been doing since long before computers were invented.



    I get that, but it still has a clunky inelegant air about it. That is most definitely not Apple-like. I can't throw the iSlate down on my desk like I do a pad. I can't leave the iSlate on the edge of a server in the rack and knock it to the floor accidentally like I do a paper pad. I most likely won't be able to hold on to the much heavier iSlate for long periods of time like I can a pad. Does a paper note pad really need to be computerized?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stonefree View Post


    Why do you think Apple wouldn't apply their notorious high margins (aka Apple Tax) to netbooks and a mid-range tower? A $700 10-11" netbook and a $1400 mid range tower would both be profitable and popular. I'd buy the tower for sure, but will not spend almost $2700 on a MacPro. Again different needs.



    Almost everyone agrees Macs are better than PCs but Mac market share continues to be a blip. Their very limited product range is a huge reason for that.



    Of course market share is not a valid measure of success of a company. Profit is. Cash on hand is. Apple has loads of both. Yes I too wonder why they do not have a mid line tower. My guess is that it violates their design ethos of minimalism and quality. They don't want too many models like they had in the early 90s. They don't want to sell junk computers. I say this typing on my 6 year old rev A 867MHz 12" Powerbook running Leopard. It just won't quit.
  • Reply 120 of 200
    orlandoorlando Posts: 601member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by WelshDog View Post


    I get that, but it still has a clunky inelegant air about it. That is most definitely not Apple-like. I can't throw the iSlate down on my desk like I do a pad. I can't leave the iSlate on the edge of a server in the rack and knock it to the floor accidentally like I do a paper pad. I most likely won't be able to hold on to the much heavier iSlate for long periods of time like I can a pad. Does a paper note pad really need to be computerized?



    Then again I wouldn't recommend throwing a laptop around or leaving it in places where it might be knocked to the ground either.
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