Re: [NTLK] Apple Tablet Probably Imminent

Hi Jon:

Good comments... I think, however, you have not understood the now different categories of mobile devices.

The iPhone is a smartphone, not a tablet computer. It is a cell phone + a PDA. There will be no market for a pocket sized "tablet computer": that's an oxymoron. A tablet computer is not something that a person would fit into their pocket. A smartphone, or PDA, on the other hand, will.

The true definition of a tablet computer is a slate computer, traditionally with a stylus for input. It is a laptop sans keyboard. Just a touch screen. The idea goes back to ancient times, where people would carve inscriptions into slate rock.

Aside from the idea that a tablet computer necessarily brings along with it a stylus for input, in modern times, we can also include things like speech input, multi-touch and the idea of a hybrid tablet (a laptop with tablet transformation capabilities).

People want all in one devices like a smartphone. PDAs failed over 5 years ago, however... It was many things. One of the reasons they failed was input constraints. I worked in many environments that experimented with PDAs and they failed. It took sometimes over 5 minutes to input 1 business card, whereas on a computer it can be done many times faster. The keyboard is resilient. And the iPhone suffers from the same input constraints as its pocket sized predecessors. It is improved with multi-touch, very much so, but still is challenged when it comes to text input, in addition to the constraints of computing on such a small screen.

In short, the iPhone is too small to do any amount of serious work. Many pundits alongside real world examples substantiate this latter point.

What we are advancing is a hybrid laptop: a laptop with tablet functionality. All we are doing is adding another piece of functionality to the ever popular, venerable laptop. Apple's patents refers.

As we have discussed many times, tablets best laptops as follows:

-Research settings (i.e. libraries)
-Medical environments
-Offices (i.e. meetings, etc.)
-Travel (in a car or plane)
-Reading EBooks
-Professional Editing (editing PDF's, etc.)
-Watching movies
-etc....

Laptops also best tablets in many respects. Combining the two only seems logical and that is what we think Apple will do. But who knows, nobody knows until they actually release something.

"but I think that a 10" netbook is much better than a 10"
tablet, and there's absolutely no reason that a 10" notebook shouldn't
be able to do everything that a 13" notebook can, and it should be
able to do it more places."

As for netbooks being able to do everything that a 13" can. If I had to use a 10" in place of my laptop, it would not work for me. I need to do side by side comparisons of documents, and the screens are just too small on netbooks. There is no question that netbooks are limited, both their speed and screen size. Even just 3" more screen real estate is significant. As for a 10" netbook being better than a 10" tablet... if we are talking about a hybrid tablet/laptop, then there should be no doubt that the hybrid tablet/laptop would be the better device. Additionally, it all comes down to what the person is using it for. A true slate tablet maybe be better for a nurse in emerg... etc.

"Why did the Palm succeedover the Newton? Same thing--size--portability and pocketability. My
Treo frequently slips into my pocket for a quick jaunt, when I don't
have its holster."

You say Palm, referring to their PDA I think, then you jump to the Treo, which is not a PDA but a smartphone (released 2002). Although there was 1 Treo, the first one, released in 2002 that did not have phone capabilities. No question, smarphones are a success, they are here to stay, and the launch of the Treo was the straw that broke the PDA's back.

"When it comes to these things, look around. See what people use and
why. Those big A5 or half-letter sized planners are not used by most
people. Why? Too big. The only people who might be attracted to a
tablet--even a flawless one, that works beautifully, and has the Apple
logo on it--are those who also want a large DayTimer, or vertical
market-types. For the rest, their cell phone cum iPod fit the bill.

In other words, the limitation of the market has nothing to do with
rotten software or product design, but the limitations of the form
factor. Any tablet that fits the size constraints that make a tablet
actually usable work against it actually being used! Remember the old
Newton saying? Palm for portability, Newton for actually using? yeah,
but which one actually gets used--the one that's in your pocket, or
the one that is sitting on the night stand or desk at home because it
was too big to take with you?

So, the iPhone is the tablet. Make it any bigger, and it becomes
well-nigh useless, and Apple's "cool" factor won't overcome that."

So I hope you are understanding the different categories of mobile computers, and what we mean by "hybrid laptop". It will be a harmonious blend of the iPhone, the MacBook Pro, a PDA, complete with multi-touch gestures and accelerometers, it will have a keyboard, and a transformational design that allows the user to change it from being a traditional laptop to a tablet by sliding the screen over the keyboard. It will be very thin, with excellent battery life...

Time will be the judge...

All the best,

Ryan

----- Original Message ----
From: Jon Glass <jonglass@usa.net>
To: newtontalk@newtontalk.net
Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 12:15:49 AM
Subject: Re: [NTLK] Apple Tablet Probably Imminent

On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 12:37 AM, Michael Krzyzek<michael@tactile.com> wrote:
>

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Received on Sun Jul 26 06:00:27 2009