Where is the Tapplet PC?
Clearly you've all seen the buzz about the Tablet PC's released today. My question, is, oh why has Apple not come out with something similar (and better). Clearly Inkwell fits here. It is my personal opinion that the Tablet PC will be huge. For one thing, I think it will be very popular with those who are still afraid of computers. It looks like and works much like a pad of paper as far as input is concerned. For people afraid of computers, familiarity is important. I think this is evidenced by the popularity of Apple's interface, which provided people with many familiar things when it was first released (desktop, trash, folders NOT directories). The TabletPC is very unobtrusive, another reason why I am surprised Apple is without one. It can lay flat on the desk, be slid in a brief case. Its very light, so you can take it anywhere. If Apple makes ones, it needs to be water resistant. This is key, I want to be able to drop this sucker in the bath tub, and if retrieved quickly have it still working. Ports with rubber protectors perhaps?
So Apple, if you're listening, here is what your Tablet needs.
1) Strong, make it Titanium too, :-)
2) Water proof.
3) Wireless networking (perhaps only, would be a classic, bold, Apple move)
4) Firewire port chargeable, so if I have to, I can use a (T)iBook to recharge it.
5) Slow as you want. All this baby needs is to run an office suite and browse the web, I'm not playing Quake on this.
This post is somewhat disorganized, but I'm sure my idea will be clarified as people flame various parts of it.
[ 11-08-2002: Message edited by: The Swan ]</p>
So Apple, if you're listening, here is what your Tablet needs.
1) Strong, make it Titanium too, :-)
2) Water proof.
3) Wireless networking (perhaps only, would be a classic, bold, Apple move)
4) Firewire port chargeable, so if I have to, I can use a (T)iBook to recharge it.
5) Slow as you want. All this baby needs is to run an office suite and browse the web, I'm not playing Quake on this.
This post is somewhat disorganized, but I'm sure my idea will be clarified as people flame various parts of it.
[ 11-08-2002: Message edited by: The Swan ]</p>
Comments
Gates is trying to contrast it with the Newton(!), and he's got so little to go on that he's focusing on the dubious HWR of the Newton 100, rather than the polish of the latter-day Newts, and punting the fact that his stuff is only barely comparable on hardware many times more powerful. To make things worse, the Newt's OS was specialized to the form; the MS tablet's isn't.
Basically, the best thing Apple could do is watch this thing flounder, wait for technology to serve up the means to build a usable tablet, and then release something. A brittle, expensive six pound monster is nothing to get worked up over. Gates might be infatuated with it, but he's not Steve: He might be a ruthlessly efficient tactician, but he's got no eye for product design, either on an aesthetic or a functional level.
I expect this to join Microsoft Bob in the junkpile of PC history, frankly.
The damn thing just isn't worthwhile yet, while we all want something to carry around like they have on Star Trek at present it seems a bit like trying to build a Nintendo GameBoy with the technology available in the 1970s.
Apple can't afford to be speculative and waste money with their product development.
There are two ways to look at this:
1) Its a good thing Apple stayed away because they would have lost their ass on a technology no one will use
or
2) They could have done it right using Powerbook battery tech, inkwell, and Apple design, and totally stolen Microsofts thunder while running away with a big slice of the market just by releasing a machine that actually worked.
Personally I think it was a good idea to stay away...for now.
The thing I loved about my Newton MP2000 was I could take notes in meetings and then search through my records of hundreds of meetings in a fraction of a second. Palm and PocketPC devices are useless for taking notes or sketching ideas.
I'd say Apple could release an iBook form-factor with a screen that folds back on itself and a 10-12 inch touchscreen for $200-300 more than an iBook. I'd buy one. They could leave the keyboard off if they wanted since a USB port would satisfy people needing a keyboard.
I suspect a LOT of folks would buy such a beast as an alternative to buying a tablet with embedded display since the cost would not be much different and a tablet you can sketch on when you're on vacation is very nice. I'm tempted to buy a Tablet PC just for this purpose.
[ 11-08-2002: Message edited by: podperson ]</p>
I don't think the market is ready for the tablet pc. It just seems like a PDA and Laptop blended together. I don't mind the laptops/tablet combo, but think that it'll be a few years away till the market (and the technology) is really ready for tablets.
<strong>The thing I loved about my Newton MP2000 was I could take notes in meetings and then search through my records of hundreds of meetings in a fraction of a second. Palm and PocketPC devices are useless for taking notes or sketching ideas.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
That's what kills me about Bill Gates attacking the Newton in his Tablet rollout: The Newton 2Ks completely kick his Tablet's ass in overall usability, and they're how old?
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
Tablet PC's are teh suck, and the current market is teh blow.
there are maybe 2.5 reasons that a normal consumer or semi-intelligent person would buy one....
I mean "Provide a Global Business Solution"... god, Joe Sixpack really wants a global business solution...
The tablet PC will fail... Apple will only be commiting suicide investing in that stupid Microsoft led lemmming march...
For the work I did (GIS mapping) they are a wonderful tool, but in all of the time I worked with them, I never wanted to have one as my home computer.
This may end up being the come-uppance for MS, that they should have gotten from the anti-trust case. It's the beginning of their downhill slide....
Am I in the right place?
People are now using all the same arguments I repeatedly made against an Apple based tablet i****, Kormac bullshiat pad thing super slate whatever.
I guess it's going to take M$ to proove to some people why big tablets/wirelss monitors aren't really much good to anyone, not using current tech.
The problem for tablets will always be the balance of size. Too small and you can't read or imput with great comfort/efficiency. Too big and you can't hold it up and imput or read with great efficiency. See a problem?
While there is an ideal balance of size and weight, such a device wouldn't be easily pocketable (other than a lab coat) nor would it have a big portrait display.
You could actually build a decent tablet right now using PDA technology and a thin case, but with, oh, a 4X bigger screen than most PDA's. Something about A5 (6x8) size. Easy to read and write on while standing. Mebbe B5 for a really large version (about 7x10) maxx.
You could take a PalmOS and tile their screen to fit four 480x320 areas (Sony's virtual graffiti size screen) for 960x640. Add a high quality mic and digitizer, make it 1/2" thin, USB and firewire (for charging and fast or slow data transfer depending on host computer) wireless rendesvous and you're set. Along with much better software for archiving and reading notes. Mebbe a 5GB 1.8" HD. Or solid state memory plus a PC-card to let you plug in your own HD. eBook and PDF readers, Office compliant word, presentation, spreadsheet/database components...
Not pocketable, but small enough to slip into a binder or briefcase or bag. At the ready for serious work, meetings, interviews, classroom, bedside data entry/review, in the field, in the lab, etc etc...
Apple on the other hand has industry leading award winning design, very low power components and the right software.
If you look at this weeks iBook release for $999, they could drop it to 10", lose the keyboard and 1 USB, give it a touch screen and voila! Apple iPad for $999ish.
No hassle, no special edition OS, just a tablet done right. Apple could sell more of these than Gartner thinks the rest of the industry put together will (425,000).
Amorph, you're stealing my material!
I am glad that I'm not the only one to realize this, though.
Edit: I had to use Acer's Travelmate 100 when it was still in beta testing a few months ago. It was basically a laptop but the screen could twist around and fall back first onto the keyboard and clip on. It took me about a week to find the pen.
But at least when you were done realizing you looked like a fool switching the thing to a tablet, you could switch it back to a laptop. Maybe it was just the prototype versions, but the OS was as buggy as ever, and everytime I switched from laptop to tablet or vice versa, I felt that I was going to break the screen. <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
[ 11-08-2002: Message edited by: Fran441 ]</p>
1)Apple makes better products then MS
2)Apple is years ahead of MS
3)come on...who didn't already know this
<strong>Hell, even Dell is going to "wait and see".</strong><hr></blockquote>
Dell are always playing the "wait and see" game - they are never first with anything.
They are only selling products that are profitable, but if everyone did that nothing new would ever come out.
<strong>All the reasons we're giving here why the MS Tablet will fail are based on MS not knowing about good design and marketing. It is also important to note that x86 based hardware isn't that suitable either.
Apple on the other hand has industry leading award winning design, very low power components and the right software.
If you look at this weeks iBook release for $999, they could drop it to 10", lose the keyboard and 1 USB, give it a touch screen and voila! Apple iPad for $999ish.
No hassle, no special edition OS, just a tablet done right. Apple could sell more of these than Gartner thinks the rest of the industry put together will (425,000).</strong><hr></blockquote>
But I think the point is that Apple don't really have the enterprise customers that MS is aiming for with these things.
There is no doubt in my mind that Apple could make a much better tablet there just isn't enough of a market for one.
I just can't imagine toting one of these things around anyway, it would be like bringing an encyclopedia with you to read on the bus.