Tablet only Macbook strategy
Here's why...
1. An 8.5*11 inch peice of paper has a diagnol of 13.9 inches. With whitespace margins excluded, the typical document would easily fit on a 13.3 inch screen if turned to portrait.
2. A big growth market for the macbook is in education. Where a tablet interface is still greatly desired. (I'm a teacher, trust me)
3. A non-convertible (no keyboard), slimmed down (no optical disc) tablet could be cheaper and slimmer than a regular notebook.
4. Sell more macs - The easiest way to sell more macs is to make existing mac owners want to buy another one. If the tablet is under =$1K a lot of mac users would buy one in addion to their workhorse mac. Especially if it synced well and could function as a second monitor or waccom type tablet.
1. An 8.5*11 inch peice of paper has a diagnol of 13.9 inches. With whitespace margins excluded, the typical document would easily fit on a 13.3 inch screen if turned to portrait.
2. A big growth market for the macbook is in education. Where a tablet interface is still greatly desired. (I'm a teacher, trust me)
3. A non-convertible (no keyboard), slimmed down (no optical disc) tablet could be cheaper and slimmer than a regular notebook.
4. Sell more macs - The easiest way to sell more macs is to make existing mac owners want to buy another one. If the tablet is under =$1K a lot of mac users would buy one in addion to their workhorse mac. Especially if it synced well and could function as a second monitor or waccom type tablet.
Comments
-- Noah
So arguably, yes I am in the market, but not the marked. I'm definitely not fussed for a tablet though.
bring on the convertable macbook tablet, would be the first widescreen one too
Originally posted by Ti Fighter
The handwriting recognition would have to be really awesome for it just to be a tablet. I have had my windows tablet for a year now and I am very happy I got a convertible because the handwriting recognition still leaves something to be desired, I use it as a tablet mostly for sketching and handwritten notes.
The newton 2000 was pretty damn good on handwriting recognition, but I would think a pop-up transparent keyboard would be usable enough for most stuff. When you really look at computer use now-a-days, people spend most their time browsing and doing other things that don't require a lot of typing.
My vote is I'm not going to buy a Mac Book, or an iBook, but I would buy one if it could transform into a tablet. I've been big into the tablet idea for a long time. i see tremendous potential for such a product on the Mac platform, and I'm anxious to get my hands on one.
Originally posted by Nordstrodamus
Here's why...
1. An 8.5*11 inch peice of paper has a diagnol of 13.9 inches. With whitespace margins excluded, the typical document would easily fit on a 13.3 inch screen if turned to portrait.
Keep in mind that paper size is about a 1.3:1 aspect ratio. For some reason, portable computers are going widescreen. The MacBook Pro's screen is slightly smaller than that of legal size paper.
In the marked for..
Market?
- Xidius
The current market of Tablets already fall into the categories you described.
Cheap featureless tablet. Laptop / tablet convertible. And all with low-quality tablet technology.
What I want is a high-end solid tablet, fully-featured (optical drive, decent speed, all ports, etc), with a display on par with the quality of a Wacom LCD.
- Xidius
Originally posted by >_>
Market?
- Xidius
Fixed that!
Originally posted by Nordstrodamus
The newton 2000 was pretty damn good on handwriting recognition, but I would think a pop-up transparent keyboard would be usable enough for most stuff. When you really look at computer use now-a-days, people spend most their time browsing and doing other things that don't require a lot of typing.
I've been using a Windows tablet for a few weeks now. The first couple days I used the stylus for almost everything, but after that reverted to using it in laptop mode most of the time. Even when browsing the internet I much prefer typing URLs to writing them. I wouldn't want to hand write an email, fixing the small errors in writing recognition would take to long.
That said, I love the tablet capabilities. I'm a student, and taking notes on a tablet is great. I really hope Apple releases a tablet Mac. Having those capabilities without having to deal with Windows would be great.
Unfortunately for me I need a new laptop very soon, so it's not likely Apple will release a tablet before I make my purchase.
As I have said many, many times before:
8" tablet for sys admin/geeks/vertical market (medical/manufacturing/etc.) usage?
13" tablet for educational/business usage?
17" tablet for creative usage?
Mmm?
I'll be the lone desenter here and say I don't like the whole tablet idea. It just seems so pointless. Like people just want it for the "cool" factor to say "YEAH i have a tablet"....but in reality its not really practical.
Just my opinion.
Saying that, I could see future future ipods with wireless capabilities to surf the web and with phone features. But a tablet mac? Nah.
I think a super slim ultra portable with a keyboard makes MUCH more sense then a tablet.
Originally posted by regan
Blah!
I'll be the lone desenter here and say I don't like the whole tablet idea. It just seems so pointless. Like people just want it for the "cool" factor to say "YEAH i have a tablet"....but in reality its not really practical.
Just my opinion.
Saying that, I could see future future ipods with wireless capabilities to surf the web and with phone features. But a tablet mac? Nah.
I think a super slim ultra portable with a keyboard makes MUCH more sense then a tablet.
I don't want it to be cool. I want it because I don't want to type in class, thank you. You don't need an iBook for what you described. A low-end MBP or even a Windows laptop already does all of those just fine. On the other hand, I can imagine a tablet that better suits my workflow at school and in meetings. The burden is upon Apple to innovatively engineer such a useful device, instead of just turning out yet another tablet, or worse still, yet another generic laptop--something that the MacBook may very well turn out to be. I hope not, but it is certainly possible. It's hard for me to imagine a laptop more boring than the MBP. The change in architecture was a great move, but little else of interest. Apple should get back to innovating. It's what made them great.
Blah!
If you like the idea....whoop de doo...I'm happy for you.
But to me taking notes on a tablet is just silly. Who wants to "write" on a computer with sketchy handwriting recognition? Not me...and I imagine not the majority of people out there. Otherwise we would have seen an explosion of tablet out there.
Originally posted by regan
Hey! I meant no offense to you....BLAH!
If you like the idea....whoop de doo...I'm happy for you.
But to me taking notes on a tablet is just silly. Who wants to "write" on a computer with sketchy handwriting recognition? Not me...and I imagine not the majority of people out there. Otherwise we would have seen an explosion of tablet out there.
Right, I want good handwriting recognition, and the Intel Core Duo is certainly up to the task.
Right now I am dealing with notes on paper. Even digital images would be more useful, but yes, I want great handwriting recognition software. It may be like learning to type all over again, but ultimately, good pen-based data entry skills will serve me well, just like typing skills do.
Short of that, maybe Apple can deliver a truly silent keyboard, with audible clicks available as cues when appropriate through software.
Obviously, good and easy audio and video recording and image capture would all work together well in meetings and in the classroom as well. Clearly an iSight build into the display is not the answer there. Something on a thin wire that mounts on my shirt pocket, cap brim, glasses or ear might be. Even better if it is wireless.
The real key, however, is in how the software interacts with the various input modes, and what sort of package it creates. I have to believe that the designers at Apple could create something really useful with such a device if they chose to think outside the box, just as they did with the Mac, the Newton (released way too early), the PowerBook, the iMac and even, to some degree, the iPod.
People expect too little of Apple today, debating what colours and processors will be included next, and so Apple delivers what we expect. Sad given their history for innovation.
But all the signs indicate that the MacBook will be just another 13" widescreen intel notebook just like all the rest of them. I'm certainly not in the market to buy anything like that.