Re: [NTLK] Who says there's no Mac tablet?

It was not my original intent to start a whole new thread but, here we are. The only existing Mac Tablet, a reworked MacBook, has no keyboard, and, has it been mentioned, that bluetooth does not work either? That means that if you want to use a real keyboard you must carry around a USB model. It should also be noted that the ModBook costs about as much, $2199 MSRP, as a base line MacBook with a more functionality and weighs 5.2 pounds. Now compare that to other possibilities. The Gigabyte M912X, or other similar touch screen equipped Netbook, weighs about 2.3-2.5 pounds, fits in a 10" case, costs 1/3 or less than a ModBook, and everything works out of the box or is easily patched to work, They have cramped but functional keyboards, and support everything the ModBook does, and, did I mention it's a lot more portable and you can get three
 of them for the cost of one ModBook? I've played with an original ModBook and I'm typing this on a Netbook, that weighs 2.3 pounds, running 10.5.5.
As for running the Newton OS on any piece of modern computing equipment, it's not going to happen, other than through a patchy type of emmulation. The fact is that the Newton OS, especially the soup method of storage, just doesn't make the transition to the modern world gracefully. And one of the major problems with a tableted Mac is going to be the old problem of hand writing rrecognition. Apple sold thier cursive recognition software (see other posts here on this subject) to Microsoft after the Newton was discontinued and it is in use today in their tablet editions. Ink is not a replacement and never will be. The Newton was a terrific integration of hardware, software, and user interaction. In order for anybody to reach this level of user satisfaction is probably going to take Apple to do it. What we have now is the best
 there is until Apple finally brings out what we all want and will buy in droves. The ModBook is not it and neither is the MacBook Air.
R
J

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Received on Sun Nov 16 20:08:24 2008