The next step in the Digital Hub...
I think this product from <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/smartdisplay/"; target="_blank">The Dark Side</a> actually provides a very good idea of where Apple could go with the next Digital Hub product. I would certainly love one of these at home hooked up to my Power Mac as it provides even more portability than a laptop with all the power of a desktop at hand.
And we know that an Apple version would be a squillion times more useful with all the iApps.
Think about the idea of being able to watch a DVD anywhere in your house or garden while it's being streamed over AirPort from you Mac.
I think the possibilities are endless. This really would be a great addition to the Studio Display range.
[ 10-22-2002: Message edited by: TTzz ]</p>
And we know that an Apple version would be a squillion times more useful with all the iApps.
Think about the idea of being able to watch a DVD anywhere in your house or garden while it's being streamed over AirPort from you Mac.
I think the possibilities are endless. This really would be a great addition to the Studio Display range.
[ 10-22-2002: Message edited by: TTzz ]</p>
Comments
Doesn't that sort of stuff take up a lot of wireless bandwidth though? You have to compress the GUI and send it in real time to the 'smart' screen as well as any other data.
And how do you access email without a keyboard? Surely by the time you have all the stuff you need to make this thing useful you almost have another computer.
[ 10-22-2002: Message edited by: fridgemagnet ]</p>
<strong>Where do you want to waste your money this time?</strong><hr></blockquote>
I think I have the right to waste my own money how and where and I please as does anyone else!
This is the sort of thing I hear from the Winblows crowd when they find out I'm a Mac user.
[ 10-22-2002: Message edited by: TTzz ]
[ 10-22-2002: Message edited by: TTzz ]</p>
<strong>looks like a neat device. it is unfortunate that the whole thing is based around a crumby operating system</strong><hr></blockquote>
Exactly my point. A similar Apple device with OSX and the iApps would absolutely scream Digital Hub not just at the specific location of your Mac but throughout your home. It seems to be a perfect use for AirPort networks in the home that goes beyond just connecting to the net.
I can also see business uses for it: take your computer with you to boardroom meetings or to another colleague's desk/office and have all your files on tap.
You greatly expand the breath and usability of your Mac and all you have to buy is a new monitor not a whole new computer.
The real telling quote is this one:
[quote]First of all, what is it? It is The Register's opinion that Microsoft itself has had a great deal of trouble figuring this one out, and still hasn't entirely decided.<hr></blockquote>
If so, that explains a lot. If there's one thing Apple has learned, it's that you identify a need, then design for that need. MS seems to be more concerned with finding another source of revenue for Windows XP licenses than with actually making a usable tablet.
No wonder Apple's holding off. They've been designing tablet computers for nigh on fifteen years, and even when they were hemorrhaging random "cool" ideas (Hotsauce, anyone?) they didn't try releasing one.