Wired has decided that 2010 will be the year of the tablet, and it's arguable that the multi-touch additions to upcoming Snow Leopard make a tablet an obvious step for Apple. Despite that, others are claiming that after seven years of torturous rumours and speculation the predicted tablet from Apple just doesn't exist. Whatever the truth of the thing we can confidently predict that over the next few months the rumour mill will be running at high speed.
Sitting on the sidelines, nobody tells me anything. But something is up. The rumours surrounding the Apple tablet have a curious firmness about them, much like the later part of the two years of rumours leading up to the original iPhone launch back at the start of 2007.
However having used a tablet to try and do actual work, I tend to agree that tablets aren't mainstream. But then netbooks aren't mainstream and they're selling rather well, even I bought one, or as it happens two of them.
Dell at least may be deliberately targeting their rumoured tablet at the niche e-book reader market, and may well even offer their tablet for free with a contract for "one or more digital media subscriptions", which would be interesting. The Kindle is selling well, so perhaps it's even a sustainable model. Although Amazon at least aren't giving away the hardware as a loss leader.
When it comes down to it I'd be less interested in the rumours of an Apple tablet if it wasn't for the iPhone. The iPhone was the first mobile device I've ever owned, and I've owned a fair few, where I could check my email comfortably. That's made a big difference, and it's because the iPhone is not a phone, it just happens to be able to make phone calls. So maybe what I really need is a well designed tablet?
Update: Of course there are some people that are just pulling figures out of the air when it comes to the rumoured Apple tablet...
Showing posts with label Mac Tablet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mac Tablet. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
A new interface for Tablets?
I'm fairly skeptical when it comes to tablet computers, I just think windowing interfaces designed for desktop use with a mouse and a keyboard don't really cut it when all you've got is a stylus to play with...
The BumpTop™ prototype
What was needed was a innovative interface, we needed a paradigm shift, and it's possible that BumpTop (via Second Life Insider) might be it. Watch the video, it'll explain the interface a lot better than I could in words, but in summary "Why didn't I think of that..."
Of course if you took the multi-touch hardware interface from the new Apple iPhone and combined it BumpTop with a tablet form factor, and maybe you've got something. Anyone paying attention over at Apple..?
The BumpTop™ prototype
What was needed was a innovative interface, we needed a paradigm shift, and it's possible that BumpTop (via Second Life Insider) might be it. Watch the video, it'll explain the interface a lot better than I could in words, but in summary "Why didn't I think of that..."
Of course if you took the multi-touch hardware interface from the new Apple iPhone and combined it BumpTop with a tablet form factor, and maybe you've got something. Anyone paying attention over at Apple..?
Friday, January 19, 2007
A touch screen 12-inch replacement?
In the wake of the iPhone announcement last week rumours of a replacement for Apple's 12-inch Powerbook are once again circulating. However this time people are talking about a touch screen interface or a full blown tablet Mac.
Are they mad? I spend three quarters of my life sitting in-front of a computer, its what I do, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to scream in horror at the thought of loosing the tactile feedback from a real keyboard in exchange for a touch screen. However what they seem to be missing is the trackpad, why do we need it anymore? The multi-touch technology of the iPhone is far in advance, and much more intuitive, than any trackpad I've ever used including Apple's own scrolling version. So why not get rid of the track pad entirely and make the screen the real interface? Hang onto the keyboard, any decent typist beyond the hunt and peck stage isn't going to like it going away, but the track pad? Nobody likes track pads, or most, if any of the alternatives. No track pad, and we're that much closer to the light weight 12-inch replacement I've been hoping we'd see for a while now.
I very much doubt well see a "real" Mac tablet, other that Axiotron's Modbook, there just isn't the market yet and to be honest I don't think there ever will be, but a laptop with a touch screen interface? You can almost see it coming...
Are they mad? I spend three quarters of my life sitting in-front of a computer, its what I do, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to scream in horror at the thought of loosing the tactile feedback from a real keyboard in exchange for a touch screen. However what they seem to be missing is the trackpad, why do we need it anymore? The multi-touch technology of the iPhone is far in advance, and much more intuitive, than any trackpad I've ever used including Apple's own scrolling version. So why not get rid of the track pad entirely and make the screen the real interface? Hang onto the keyboard, any decent typist beyond the hunt and peck stage isn't going to like it going away, but the track pad? Nobody likes track pads, or most, if any of the alternatives. No track pad, and we're that much closer to the light weight 12-inch replacement I've been hoping we'd see for a while now.
I very much doubt well see a "real" Mac tablet, other that Axiotron's Modbook, there just isn't the market yet and to be honest I don't think there ever will be, but a laptop with a touch screen interface? You can almost see it coming...
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