Tablets, and a Polle

[Pliablemoose]

Looks like the magic unicorn Apple tablet's gonna be unveiled next week, and I'm curious what my fellow technorati think of a tablet by senior Jobs...

I'm looking forward to it, I like the iPod Touch and the iPhone, I suspect it's gonna be 2 tablets like the Touch and the iPhone are cousins, a cheaper WiFi version and a version paired with a cell carrier for 3G data, and they'll both be essentially like large iPod Touches and iPhones, with lots of apps and a reworked version of iLife/iWork that works with complex multi touch gestures etc...

Anyway, when the tablet hype started I snagged a Dell Latitude XT and slapped W7 beta on it and the beta of N-trig's drivers, I flipping hated it, ended up eBaying it fairly promptly, crappy battery life without a weighty additional battery, poor handwriting recognition, basically a clunky interface that made me crazy, used it as a laptop most of the time.

I think a giant, slightly more sophisticated Touch/iPhone will be slick as hell, serve as a portal for Apple to sell a ton of apps, and be the next big thing.

What do you think? Vote & leave a comment please.

I asked Dr. Pizza if I could post this in OT, since the responses in the Apple sub forum would likely be pretty predictable, try to keep the lid on the anti Apple shit, but unload on the product, not other posters, please.

You can vote for more than one option, so Skoorb won't be left out.

 

[JohnCU]

i don't see no poal, n00b

oh i see one now :awe:

 

[DaveSimmons]

I voted "nifty"

I've wanted a tablet for years, for ebooks and couch surfing, but who knows whether the iTablet will offer a big enough screen, good enough battery life and (least likely) a decent price.

 

[UglyCasanova]

If it is as slick as their other products then I want one for sure. I would love to have a tablet that is thin and portable over a laptop, and then just keep my desktop. I don't want a laptop that transforms into a tablet though. I want a very thin and light dedicated tablet (and it doesn't even have to do everything that a laptop does).

 

[Capt Caveman]

I think one of the best selling points will be all of the apps that will already be available for it.

 

[Hyperlite]

I'm interested in the microsoft courier, if it ever comes to be, but not much beyond that.

 

[FoBoT]

no , i don't pay apple tax

 

[IronWing]

Touch screens piss me off beyond your wildest fantasies about how pissed off a person could possibly be. If I had to use a touch screen regularly I would need anger management classes and serious drugs to get through my day.

I have a HP Rugged Tablet blah blah at work. To use it, I hook up a mouse and keyboard.

 

[Pliablemoose]

no , i don't pay apple tax

I hear you, but take a peek at this and notice the prices: http://gizmodo.com/5431521/the-closest-alternatives-to-every-apple-product/

The notebooks and desktops are more expensive, but the other stuff is in the hunt for the price...

Touch screens piss me off beyond your wildest fantasies about how pissed off a person could possibly be. If I had to use a touch screen regularly I would need anger management classes and serious drugs to get through my day.

I have a HP Rugged Tablet blah blah at work. To use it, I hook up a mouse and keyboard.

I had a similar experience with the Latitude XT, I wanted to slam it into a wall

 

[RU482]

tablets are awesome

the fact that I work for a company that sells tablet computers has no influence on my opinion

 

[RU482]

touch screens piss me off beyond your wildest fantasies about how pissed off a person could possibly be. If i had to use a touch screen regularly i would need anger management classes and serious drugs to get through my day.

I have a hp rugged tablet blah blah at work. To use it, i hook up a mouse and keyboard.

tr-3000??

 

[IronWing]

tr-3000??

That sounds right. It is a neat little computer that is quite capable once you hook up the mouse and keyboard and a hard drive PC card. The battery sucks though.

 

[Dubb]

If I can take it everywhere and sketch/draft on it, I'm interested. I'm hoping the paint splotch invite is indicative of something along those lines. If I can boot camp/parallels windows and run MOI, even better.

I'm looking forward to it, I like the iPod Touch and the iPhone, I suspect it's gonna be 2 tablets like the Touch and the iPhone are cousins, a cheaper WiFi version and a version paired with a cell carrier for 3G data, and they'll both be essentially like large iPod Touches and iPhones, with lots of apps and a reworked version of iLife/iWork that works with complex multi touch gestures etc...

I can't see the sense in the "large touch" route - it'll be far too limited if all it's good for is web/reading/cheap apps. I think the only option is as a macbook replacement running full OSX. Multitouch, with optional pen.

 

[speg]

I can't see the sense in the "large touch" route - it'll be far too limited if all it's good for is web/reading/cheap apps. I think the only option is as a macbook replacement running full OSX. Multitouch, with optional pen.

Ew, no pen. That's not Apple's style. (Maybe as a third-party accessory for drawing apps or something). I agree not just a big iPhone, but not full blown OS X. That's too intense for a portable device. I'm thinking something in between...

I agree that all tablets out now (and as seen at CES two weeks ago) are just new form factor with a regular OS slapped on (W7 or Android)....

That is not how you create a new product category. If anyone can make tablets go mainstream, it is Apple. With an already polished touch based OS and a solid desktop OS, maybe the iSlate OS will be a hybrid of the two? I don't really want just a big version of my iPhone.

A few months ago I had no desire for the "iSlate", but now it seems to be growing on me, IF they can deliver a use for it that I need. Regular email/facebook/twitter/web surfining/RSS feeds can all be done by my iPhone. Anything more intense than that and I would be sitting at my desk.

So, is there room for something in between? I'm not sure there is, but I am hoping Apple proves me wrong.

 

[Dubb]

Ew, no pen. That's not Apple's style. (Maybe as a third-party accessory for drawing apps or something). I agree not just a big iPhone, but not full blown OS X. That's too intense for a portable device. I'm thinking something in between...

so, what? apple wants you to carry a macbook and a slate and an iphone/touch in order to fully manage your digital life?

I see that as far less apple's M.O. than a more multifunction device that will just replace the macbook. There's also the whole host of fields where such a device would be useful, but where developing for a new OS isn't going to happen.

I suppose a third party solution is possible, but assuming the above, it needs an option for a pen, even if it's primarily multitouch. And I don't see apple making you carry that separately. They want you using this thing as often as possible - notes, doodles, drawing comical faces on photos, etc. also, there's this:

link

...not that patents really mean much...

 

[foghorn67]

If it's a true PC, err Mac with just wonderful stylus and other innovative gestures, I would be greatly interested in a Mac tablet.
If it's a crappy Atom/Tegra/ARM/Snapdragon mobile processing, giant phone without a phone. No way. I need something that can handle Photoshop.
I have been putting off other tablet pc's and Wacom Cintuq's anticipating a true tablet pc revolution.

 

[QueBert]

If it's like a bigger, more bad ass version of my iPod Touch or iPhone, I must own it. If it's out of my price range, which I'm sure it will be. I'm up to selling a Kidney or something to get it. My iPhone is by far my favorite tech device by a million miles. I fear this Tablet will be as good as I'm hoping so maybe I should start looking into body parts to sell and how much I could get lol.

 

[speg]

If it's like a bigger, more bad ass version of my iPod Touch or iPhone, I must own it. If it's out of my price range, which I'm sure it will be. I'm up to selling a Kidney or something to get it. My iPhone is by far my favorite tech device by a million miles. I fear this Tablet will be as good as I'm hoping so maybe I should start looking into body parts to sell and how much I could get lol.

I agree with my iPhone being my favourite gadget my a large sum as well, but part of that is it's small form factor. I can't put a tablet in my pocket so it's going to have to have some added functionality to make up for that. Like say, photo/video editing, with nice new version of iLife/iWork optimized for touch input?)

 

[Kaido]

If they can do e-books right, they'll sell boatloads. Their latest ad/press-invite thing shows paint splashes, so I'd imagine there will be a pen-input like a Wacom tablet. If so, then you can take notes on it, highlight books, mark things up - other tablets and touchscreens haven't been very intuitive or easy to use in this area, so if they could nail it, they'll have a winner on their hands.

Especially if they use a Pixel Qi screen

 

[Pliablemoose]

More people would buy Skoorb than an Apple Tablet?

Watch your liver Skoorb, Steve Jobs may need a new one...

The wild card over the invites to the event is the invitation of Kotatu, a gaming blogger who only covers iPhone games at this point. http://kotaku.com/5451042/apple-invites-us-to-jan-27-special-event-think-islate

 

[syrillus]

Unfortunately a tablet does not interest me, Apple or otherwise.

I think it'd be really interesting to see Apple wander into the netbook market.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't need a tablet, and I don't do Apple.

 

[Pliablemoose]

 

[aceO07]

I voted no. I already have a Thinkpad tablet and I don't use it for notes or scribbling stuff down as much as I imagined. I DO like it's 1400x1050 resolution though. Don't think anybody offers that resolution anymore for 12" or lower screen size.

I'd be extremely surprised if Apple (or any company) can pull off the great/perfect tablet. It needs to be:
thin (less than .5")
high resolution screen (at least 1024x768)
lightweight (hand hold for long periods)
good speed (at least 1.6ghz dual core)
excellent battery life
good visibility in sunlight
capacitive AND wacom (for accurate drawing/writing)
non-crippled OS with excellent tablet support
good apps and ebook support
sane pricing (without contracts).

 

[Lonyo]

The only tablet I would want is something either cheap, or highly functional (i.e. a touchscreen computer that also has a tablet mode, such as already exist).

A 10" or so tablet has, in my mind, no niche. I am not even sure what niche it could carve.
It's too big to be portable, too limited to be functional, too inefficient to be something like an ebook reader, and the world isn't connected enough for it to be a "works with everything" device.

Maybe I can imagine a 10" tablet which I can carry around with me and maybe use it to control media on my TV, or stick next to a keyboard so I can do some work in an office/at home/at school, take into a room and use to play music on the stereo system which links into it, but at the moment, I can't see the point, especially if it's not cheap.