Re: [NTLK] Apple Tablet Probably Imminent

Hi:

I agree with some of what you say. One thing to note: there are 2 different types of tablet computers. One is the true "slate" tablet, sans keyboard, which is what I think you are referring to in terms of being a, what you perceive to be a failed concept. The other is a laptop/netbook with pivot touch screen that can transform into a tablet upon user input. We'll call this latter category "hybrid tablets". There are/were many of these on the market.

As we have discussed, like pre-iPod mp3 players, the current state of tablet computers leaves a lot to be desired. There is no compelling tablet computer on the market: most of them are pretty junky, and there has been no custom OS to go along with them. As I have argued in the past, it is because of 1. poor software and 2. poor device design that tablets have failed to catch hold.

In addition, there has not been, up until recently, an indoctrination period where consumers have used touch screen devices. Now with devices like the Pre, iPhone, etc. the idea of touch computing is making more sense to consumers. This readies them for tablets.

What will Apple's tablet be like, if they release one?

I have said it before, and pointed out some of Apple's patent applications: Apple looks to have worked on a hybrid tablet. It is a small, thin laptop (with keyboard) with a sliding touch screen. So you can use it either as a laptop or a tablet.

I did a rather meaty article on Apple Tablets and it discusses this hybrid tablet of theirs, which includes the patent pictures and descriptions. Many people, including myself, have thought that this is what it will be. Of course we have no way of knowing for certain. It could also be a giant iPhone... the iPad. But to me a giant iPhone is a failed concept.

Imagine a beautifully designed, MacBook Airesque hybrid tablet. You can use it as a laptop with a keyboard, or, at will, within a few seconds, have it transformed into a tablet with multi-touch gestures. Where tablets best laptops... that's a long list. Where laptops best tablets? That is also a long list.

So instead of just giving people a tablet, which is inferior in certain respects to laptops, or instead of just giving us a laptop, which is inferior in certain respects to a tablet, Apple will INCREASE the functionality/value of the laptop by making it a hybrid device: the combination of 2 devices: a traditional laptop and a tablet. But they will do it right, unlike other computer makers who have got the whole idea of tablets wrong.

While I personally would welcome just a category 1 tablet (a slate sans keyboard), I am realistic in that Apple is a for profit consumer company, so they want to make devices aimed at the largest audience. Just a slate would limit the target market, but adding 2 devices in one will make consumers see it as a device with increased value.

Ryan

----- Original Message ----
From: Paul Nuernberger <pen@baroncompsys.com>
To: newtontalk@newtontalk.net
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 12:48:25 PM
Subject: Re: [NTLK] Apple Tablet Probably Imminent

</lurk>

I sell and repair computers for a living to business and consumers
alike. I haven't had one customer interested in tablet computing
devices, even those whose job/industry make them an excellent fit. I
get several inquiries per week (sometimes several per day) about the
viability of netbook devices, and have set up more than a few customers
in the past year.

Just my $.02 US but I would bet on a Mac netbook over a Mac tablet,
based upon 1) the languishing (dying?) tablet market, and 2)the growing
demand in the mobile-connected netbook market. Mobile computing is an
area that Apple has (or seems to have) taken a larger interest in over
the past two years.

Paul Nuernberger
Baron Computer Systems

<lurk>

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Received on Sat Jul 25 17:42:03 2009