Tablet/Dumbterminal
Well with the airport express being cheap, the need for a remote, wifi included with powerbooks, inkwell... how about a cheap hardriveless tablet/Oversized PDA... basically a screen, wifi, and enough brainpower to run inkwell...
- you can view your mac remotely and thus do anything you could on the mac within wifi range
- use it at school in conjunction with your laptop in a refined laptop sleep mode to take notes...
advantage is it could be super cheap since the major cost is just the screen...
- you can view your mac remotely and thus do anything you could on the mac within wifi range
- use it at school in conjunction with your laptop in a refined laptop sleep mode to take notes...
advantage is it could be super cheap since the major cost is just the screen...
Comments
4+ inch screen
target price $99 or less
Could be very useful indeed.
Don't think it will ever happen.
"One unverified source provided some interesting information prior to today's Airport Express release.
This source predicted "new airport base stations" with Audio/Video outputs. The new base station was said to be about the size of an iPod and cost around $99.
Except for video out, the description accurately describes Apple's new Airport Express. Of more interest is another prediction for "Interactive" displays coming from Apple from the same source. These new displays are compared to Wacom's Cintiq tablet which is described as follows:
Wacom's Cintiq 18SX and 15X interactive pen displays combine the advantages of an LCD monitor with the control, comfort, and productivity of Wacom's patented cordless, battery-free tablet technology. By working directly on the screen, you navigate much more quickly and naturally
Apple tablet rumors infiltrated the Mac Rumor scene in early 2003 but has since led to no actual product releases.
It's unclear if the recent whispers of hangable displays is related rumor or not."
could all of this be part of the digital lifestyle/home appliance rumours?
we will know soon im thinking.
looks like apple is making its move.
Also Kormac predicticted with his I/E**** that Apple would release a tablet like device that needed a computer to work...
Airport Express would also make a great connection to an iPhone with vonage type service... eventually, cell phones will all have wifi and connect seamless between wifi networks.... but steve seemed to hint that they didn't plan to release any Treo like device at the digital conference today...
Originally posted by Producer
... advantage is it could be super cheap since the major cost is just the screen...
Ah, hold the phone. The screen is the most expensive part of a laptop. Is this screen color? Is it 640x480 resolution? Is it 12" diagonal? Oh, it's touch-sensitive? Plan on a price of at least $400. That's not super-cheap.
Originally posted by little mouse
therefore pretty cheap to make. $150.00 - $300.00 even? this would fit in well with the whole digital lifestyle.
Ever priced a 65k colors 3.7 diagonal touch screen device (that isn't a full computer) but does one specific task? How about something really simple that spits out IR codes to control lots of different home electronic devices. Give it 16 or 32 MB of ram Add to it the ability to add/upload new codes to make it semi-future proof (put in a usb port) oh yea and throw in a NiMH rechargeable battery pack... How much you think that'll sell for?
Well take a look at this...
http://remotecentral-cnet.com.com/40...-30709939.html
$650 **YES** SIX HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS (US) seems to be the average selling price - $999 RETAIL!!!! And all for a freaking REMOTE CONTROL replacement for your TV/VCR/DVD/Receiver/etc! This uses 16 MB / 32 MB of FLASH RAM and doesn't even have wifi and finally, the screen is only 3.8 diag - Not gonna show anything on that!
And the pronto isn't just the only example... Look for anything with a GOOD color touch screen and you'll find something that ain't gonna be 'cheap'.
As much as I'd like to see a device that'll act as a detachable display or a remote display for my Mac... I just don't see it happening. Not to mention refresh would SUCK big time!
Someday? Sure! But this year isn't the year of the "cheap-n-good touch screen" - And wireless just doesn't have the bandwidth for full VGA/XGA signals...
Dave
But if Apple does use OLEDs in its new displays, I hope that it is competitively priced compared to LCDs. I don't want to hear another, "Apple's cool but they are too expensive" argument from my PC buddies. Apple is trying to switch them, right?
Originally posted by DaveGee
Not to mention refresh would SUCK big time!
Yes, the wi-fi bandwidth is just not enough. Unless there is a fast lossless compression coupled to it. But that would be overkill for yet another display implementation. Does it make sense to invent anything to replace standard video cables at all?
AirPad
Originally posted by costique
Yes, the wi-fi bandwidth is just not enough. Unless there is a fast lossless compression coupled to it. But that would be overkill for yet another display implementation. Does it make sense to invent anything to replace standard video cables at all?
Don't bet against this. SGI has Visual Area Networking that allows wireless tablets to control and display the output of their visualization servers in real time. See:
http://www.sgi.com/visualization/van/
With 802.12.5 and Wireless Firewire the technology is rapidly getting to the point where this is a real possibility, and costs are starting to come down too. I don't expect it this year, but I do expect it. Apple is well aware of the potential market for home users that are currently buying laptops just in order to surf the web from the living room couch.