I'd hope for a little more functionality than just another iPhone/iPod. A stylus that will allow you to write and draw (with pressure sensitivity) would be the killer Mac Tablet (MacLet?) feature for me. I would love to be able to replace the mountains of legal pads that my job requires and the mountains of sketchbooks and assorted reams of paper that I have lying around for when inspiration strikes.
I can deal with not having internet access in the toilet and with having to read a book instead of watch a movie in full 1080p while traveling, but I'd love something that allows for free roaming creativity. To me, that'd be worth 800 bones.
If Apple has half a brain they will bite the cost and provide a bluetooth Apple keyboard for the tablet including multitouch trackpad. Give it hooks to latch onto the tablet screen side as a cover and so they can travel together easily. Then throw in an extra battery into the base to double the system battery life and now you have the absolute best of both worlds. If I want to browse on the couch or watch a movie on a plain go tablet mode. Want to work for a few hours on simple office apps, stick the keyboard on and go. I would pay a fantastic amount of money for the described system. You?
@LillianDuge: This sounds like the opposite of what Apple would be interested in. I don't think Apple is going to be making machines that snap into each other any time soon.
Just out of curiousity, has anybody here used a tablet extensively? How is the productivity for, say, writing code or typing a paper as compared with a keyboard system? Do you hook up a wireless keyboard for that kind of work or do you use handwriting recognition exclusively or voice input exclusively? I have always been intrigued by them, but I am just not sure how productive they'd be for everyday use.
@craighyatt: I think thats part of the problem with how MS marketed the tablets in the past and how some people are perceiving it now.
Its not a replacement. Its not a laptop replacement, its not a desktop replacement. Its a supplement.
There are things that are going to be harder then they would on a normal computer. Writing code or typing a paper for example (anyone I've ever seen doing those things on a tablet now always uses the keyboard).
On the flip side its going to be better for other things like web, video music etc.
@craighyatt: I have a Lenovo convertible X200 tablet as my work laptop. It's a great machine. It has a keyboard for fast text input and the handwriting recolonization is better than I expected. In tablet mode it works great while I'm walking around at a job site and surfing on the couch.
@Xndingo: I highly doubt it since leopard requires an x86 architecture. It will probably be something new that they put together from the ground up. INC itablet OS X.
@kingbob337: Leopard can be made to run on anything. Technically Leopard is what powers the Phone/Touch too. Its not a full client version of the software, but it most certainly IS OS X running on it.
@Jim Topoleski: I think you missed his point. It's not that it runs some kind of MacOS - it's: will it run his preexisting apps. Leopard (of some sort) on an ARM won't do that.
So this hypothetical tablet, regardless of its potential, becomes a super-iPod touch, not a tablet Macintosh.
The problem is that there is a rapidly growning range of fully functional PC touchscreen notebooks and netbooks which offer far more than this, but at comparable prices (or even less) without any compromises.
I am guessing (hoping) Apple will put out some sweet "killer app" with their tablet which will make it worth the $800 all the Apple fan boys (and me) will trip over themselves to throw at Apple.
What could this killer app be? Skype video calls? Color e-ink? Some sort of sweet augmented reality app? Motion sensing/facial recognition (ala Natal)? FM tuner? (Oh wait, that breakthrough killer app was first introduced to the world in the 5G ipod nano, right?)
I like to think I know the difference between a product that I don't want and a product that nobody wants. I think. Does anyone actually want this thing for $800-$1000? Plain and simple, that sounds like a waste of money. Why would anyone want to pay that for something with a little more functionality than the iPhone (Or the same, even?), but way less functionality than a full computer?
@Danny Allen: "a P.A SEMI processor" ie: an ARM processor - which means it can't run a full version of MacOS at least in the sense of 'running my preexisting apps'.
Do we know for sure? Nope, but so far, every rumour has gone that way. So, take it this way: if this is true, it's not going t be a big hit.
@Invisible-Echidna: Stylus is needed for any sort of real tablet funcitonalitiy anyway. You can't take notes with your fingers. (and touchscreen keyboards suck) I'm a tablet PC user and if apple ever wants to get me they need to release a product that has a stylus and programs that work well with it. Till then Microsoft really has no competition.
No, I think it caught you by surprise. If they're really-for-true releasing a tablet, it would be ridiculous to hamstring it with the iPhone OS. I already have an iPhone. It fits in my pocket and makes phone calls. I think APPL has the foresight to realize that almost everyone out there has no need for an iPhone that won't fit in their pocket, and won't make calls. I think the closest product to this will be a Macbook Air without a keyboard. But give this the iPhone OS, and it's going to be Cube 2: Electric Boogaloo.
I worked for Apple in R&D, and they *always* made multiple versions of the next Mac, taking them to production prototypes before picking one for release. The others died then. not a surprise to hear and see these variants.
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No the 3G stands for 3rd Generation.
09/15/09
I can deal with not having internet access in the toilet and with having to read a book instead of watch a movie in full 1080p while traveling, but I'd love something that allows for free roaming creativity. To me, that'd be worth 800 bones.
09/15/09
Pen url: [www.amazon.com]
09/15/09
I like this one more:
[www.thinkgeek.com]
09/15/09
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09/22/09
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Its not a replacement. Its not a laptop replacement, its not a desktop replacement. Its a supplement.
There are things that are going to be harder then they would on a normal computer. Writing code or typing a paper for example (anyone I've ever seen doing those things on a tablet now always uses the keyboard).
On the flip side its going to be better for other things like web, video music etc.
09/15/09
09/15/09
09/15/09
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09/15/09
So this hypothetical tablet, regardless of its potential, becomes a super-iPod touch, not a tablet Macintosh.
The problem is that there is a rapidly growning range of fully functional PC touchscreen notebooks and netbooks which offer far more than this, but at comparable prices (or even less) without any compromises.
09/15/09
What could this killer app be? Skype video calls? Color e-ink? Some sort of sweet augmented reality app? Motion sensing/facial recognition (ala Natal)? FM tuner? (Oh wait, that breakthrough killer app was first introduced to the world in the 5G ipod nano, right?)
09/15/09
Actually I believe that the first FM tuner in a portable music player was introduced in cassette players in the 90's. Correct me if I'm wrong.
09/15/09
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Do we know for sure? Nope, but so far, every rumour has gone that way. So, take it this way: if this is true, it's not going t be a big hit.
08/28/09
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The best part is that it is solar-powered.
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