Tablet System?
jjs
What is Apple going to do to fill the 'tablet pc' niche? Any insight?
Bob S
jo...@xyzzy.stafford.net (jjs) wrote:
> What is Apple going to do to fill the 'tablet pc' niche? Any insight?
Read the PC mags and you'll see the tablet is a product with virtually
no market right now. Why would Apple want to enter that market?
--
Cheers,
Bob S
Oxford
> What is Apple going to do to fill the 'tablet pc' niche? Any insight?
when steve first returned to apple, he flat out said to developers:
"I don't like scribbly things"
there is your answer.
oxford
-
Tim Smith
> when steve first returned to apple, he flat out said to developers:
>
> "I don't like scribbly things"
>
> there is your answer.
I've been considering a tablet PC, but for output, not input. I've noticed
in the last year or so a big increase in the number of things I want to read
that are online. A tablet PC would let me read that stuff while relaxing in
the living room, or in bed.
With things like O'Reilly's Safari Bookshelf, and the ACM's Digital Library,
and similar things for other professions, we are getting to the point where
some convenient way to read online material away from the desk will be very
useful to most professionals.
Tablet PCs currently seem to be the best choice for this: PDAs are too
small, and laptops are too big. Too bad no one has a tablet PC using an
eInk display yet...that would be very useful.
I think this is an area that is either going to flop, or turn out to be
really really really big. I hope Jobs dislike for scribbly things doesn't
keep Apple out of this if it turns out to be really really really big.
--
--Tim Smith
William F. Adams
back.
David McNeil at http://www.pencomputing.com described his Compaq TC 1000 as
being like to what Apple would've done if Apple did tablets.
It kills me that the best one could manage for an Apple pen computing solution
these days would be to use InkWell on a Wacom Cintiq attached to a desktop
PowerMac.
Fujitsu has been profitably selling pen slates for over a decade now....
For a hint of what one is missing, take a glance at
http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html --- if it looks familiar, this
company did the colour-mixing palette for Corel Painter.
William
(who got tired of waiting for Apple to do a pen slate or even a convertible and
got a Fujitsu Stylistic slate)
--
William Adams
http://members.aol.com/willadams
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
zurg
<jo...@xyzzy.stafford.net> wrote:
> What is Apple going to do to fill the 'tablet pc' niche? Any insight?
What would a tablet PC do for you that a low-end iBook couldn't? I'm
not asking rhetorically either. I'm really curious to hear what one
could do with a tablet PC that isn't done just as easily with an iBook.
Check out the weight and size of the smallest iBook. It's damn-near,
size-wise, what one would expect of a tablet as it is. I have a friend
who owns one and it never fails to amaze me how much is packed into
that tiny little case.
It seems that iBooks are so light and feature-rich that you'd have a
hard time arguing that Apple isn't already catering to that niche at
least indirectly. The only thing an iBook won't do is accept
handwritten input (although it could under the right circumstances) but
when you consider the presence of the keyboard, you don't need that
sort of thing.
William F. Adams
>What would a tablet PC do for you that a low-end iBook couldn't? I'm
>not asking rhetorically either. I'm really curious to hear what one
>could do with a tablet PC that isn't done just as easily with an iBook.
>Check out the weight and size of the smallest iBook. It's damn-near,
>size-wise, what one would expect of a tablet as it is. I have a friend
>who owns one and it never fails to amaze me how much is packed into
>that tiny little case.
Allow one to draw / sketch w/o having to set up on a flat surface and haul out
a graphics tablet?
Granted it's not so bad as it was when I was using my Wacom ArtZ and ThinkPad
and had to lug a power brick for the tablet too, but it's still nowhere near as
convenient as a tablet.
>It seems that iBooks are so light and feature-rich that you'd have a
>hard time arguing that Apple isn't already catering to that niche at
>least indirectly. The only thing an iBook won't do is accept
>handwritten input (although it could under the right circumstances) but
>when you consider the presence of the keyboard, you don't need that
>sort of thing.
Unless you're taking notes at a meeting or in class and the boss / prof. feels
that having the screen up is rude / intrusive.
Also, annotating and marking up .pdfs is _much_ nicer w/ a pen.
I'm still mystified that Apple won't even do a convertible unit --- as I've
noted in the past, pen computing plays to many of Apple's strengths and they
could do one very nicely for much less effort / cost than MS is putting forth
w/ the Tablet PC.
William
Nash*ton
> Well, MacFormat magazine said it was time for Apple to do a tablet a while
> back.
>
> David McNeil at http://www.pencomputing.com described his Compaq TC 1000 as
> being like to what Apple would've done if Apple did tablets.
>
> It kills me that the best one could manage for an Apple pen computing solution
> these days would be to use InkWell on a Wacom Cintiq attached to a desktop
> PowerMac.
>
> Fujitsu has been profitably selling pen slates for over a decade now....
>
> For a hint of what one is missing, take a glance at
> http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html --- if it looks familiar, this
> company did the colour-mixing palette for Corel Painter.
>
> William
> (who got tired of waiting for Apple to do a pen slate or even a convertible and
> got a Fujitsu Stylistic slate)
The Advocates say that there isn't a market for them, ergo there *isn't*
a market for them. It has nothing to do with the fact that Jobs doesn't
want to produce them.
;)
Nicolas
Alan Baker
I'm afraid that's the doctrinaire part of Steve Jobs about which there
really isn't much good to say.
--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
"If you raise the ceiling 4 feet, move the fireplace from that wall
to that wall, you'll still only get the full stereophonic effect
if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard."
Seeker1
wrote:
Yet another pronouncement on high from the Jobster. At some point, the
man is going to have to realize the company is bigger than his own
idiosyncratic vision (or lack thereof) of what computing "should" or
"shouldn't" be.
Inkwell is lying languishing... ok so it's just Newton pen services
redux but come on gang, carry it forward... there is so much you could
be doing with this.
Make a "special edition" iBook where the hinge rotates fully the
keyboard under the screen... or make a detachable display that separates
from the iMac base ... make either work with a few additional apps for
Inkwell services... either way you can please a constituency without
doing what you said you wouldn't do (create a tablet)....
Tim Smith
> What would a tablet PC do for you that a low-end iBook couldn't? I'm not
> asking rhetorically either. I'm really curious to hear what one could do
> with a tablet PC that isn't done just as easily with an iBook. Check out
> the weight and size of the smallest iBook. It's damn-near,
The smallest current iBook is 4.9 pounds. The good tablets seem to be in
the 3-4 pound range.
> time arguing that Apple isn't already catering to that niche at least
> indirectly. The only thing an iBook won't do is accept handwritten input
> (although it could under the right circumstances) but when you consider
> the presence of the keyboard, you don't need that sort of thing.
The form is wrong. Would you want to use an iBook (or other regular laptop)
while standing, without a table or anything to put the laptop on? How about
to read something in bed?
--
--Tim Smith
Nash*ton
Thank you. My thoughts exactly. I would buy 3 of those things, so would
a lot of my colleagues in health car.
Nicolas
Nash*ton
You don't do any graphics, do you? Nor do you take notes..Use your
imagination, a tablet iBook from Apple would be an instant success, IMHO.
Jobs decided to kill the Newton and in his little self-centric,
narcissistic mind, reviving anything that resembles it would amount to
him admitting that he was wrong in killing it, which he was, again, IMHO.
Nicolas
Nash*ton
> jo...@xyzzy.stafford.net (jjs) wrote:
>
>
>>What is Apple going to do to fill the 'tablet pc' niche? Any insight?
>
>
> when steve first returned to apple, he flat out said to developers:
>
> "I don't like scribbly things"
A CEO doesn't make decisions on what he likes-dislikes, but on what
consumers want. He was lucky enough and gifted enough that in some
cases, the two were not mutually exclusive and that he was actually able
to create a demand for some of Apple's products, manufacturing the
things that he imagined, a la Tesla.
I have no respect for show-men, other than the fact that they are
entertaining. When they happen to be presidents of companies I buy
products from, well, I dislike them even more.
It's time for Jobs to take some risks, especially risks with minimal
impact, such as offering a tablet iBook, or the BTO of one.
Nicolas
Oxford
> > "I don't like scribbly things"
>
> A CEO doesn't make decisions on what he likes-dislikes, but on what
> consumers want.
your confused... steve doesn't use consumers "wants" as a decision
point, he and the apple culture in general builds what "they" like, then
if consumers agree they come along... the ipod is just the latest
example... if they had built it to "customer wants" it would be flash
based, wmp based, subscription based, etc...
> He was lucky enough and gifted enough that in some
> cases, the two were not mutually exclusive and that he was actually able
> to create a demand for some of Apple's products, manufacturing the
> things that he imagined, a la Tesla.
> I have no respect for show-men, other than the fact that they are
> entertaining. When they happen to be presidents of companies I buy
> products from, well, I dislike them even more.
> It's time for Jobs to take some risks, especially risks with minimal
> impact, such as offering a tablet iBook, or the BTO of one.
the fabled tablet has a long history, but so are foldable screens, voice
rec, etc... if there is an apple tablet in the future it's a ways off...
the knowledge navigator is based upon the year 2006... so even that is
still 2 years away...
oxford
-
Tim Smith
> It's time for Jobs to take some risks, especially risks with minimal
> impact, such as offering a tablet iBook, or the BTO of one.
This is what I admire about Sony. Sony makes a lot of nifty devices that
are risky from a marketing point of view. Pretty much every time I've had a
"why doesn't someone do this!" idea, and looked around to see if anyone has
done it, if anyone has, it is Sony.
Sony seems more willing to take a chance than any other company I can think
of.
--
--Tim Smith
Nash*ton
Oxford wrote:
> Nash*ton <Na...@nash.com> wrote:
>
>
>>>"I don't like scribbly things"
>>
>>A CEO doesn't make decisions on what he likes-dislikes, but on what
>>consumers want.
>
>
> your confused... steve doesn't use consumers "wants" as a decision
> point, he and the apple culture in general builds what "they" like, then
> if consumers agree they come along... the ipod is just the latest
> example... if they had built it to "customer wants" it would be flash
> based, wmp based, subscription based, etc...
I also mentionned that he *created* a demand for certain products, so
you are correct. I believe it's a combination of what a CEO perceives as
what people like and going ahead and creating a product for which a
demand becomes nascent.
BTW, starting a post with "You're confused" is hardly a way to engage
another poster in a discussion.
>
>
>>He was lucky enough and gifted enough that in some
>>cases, the two were not mutually exclusive and that he was actually able
>>to create a demand for some of Apple's products, manufacturing the
>>things that he imagined, a la Tesla.
>>I have no respect for show-men, other than the fact that they are
>>entertaining. When they happen to be presidents of companies I buy
>>products from, well, I dislike them even more.
>>It's time for Jobs to take some risks, especially risks with minimal
>>impact, such as offering a tablet iBook, or the BTO of one.
>
>
> the fabled tablet has a long history, but so are foldable screens, voice
> rec, etc... if there is an apple tablet in the future it's a ways off...
> the knowledge navigator is based upon the year 2006... so even that is
> still 2 years away...
I M H O it's not in the same category.
Nicolas
> oxford
>
> -
Nash*ton
Tim Smith wrote:
I agree. Case in point, I bought one of my children one of those
portable stereos that resemble a sports walkman, they actually float in
water. The quality of the sound that comes out of that thing is
astonishing. A lot of cash went into this unorthodox gadget and I'm sure
very few people bought it but, as you stated, Sony's attitude towards
taking chances is admirable.
Nicolas
William F. Adams
http://books.guardian.co.uk/ebooks/story/0,11305,1200034,00.html
One of the points made in it is that people spend a _lot_ more on books / print
media than on music, so arguably something like to the iPod, but for books
(which the Librie is) has a huge potential if done right (I don't think Sony's
implementation and licensing is going to get this as far as it could though).
And of course, if it the device were more useful (say about like a Newton or
Palm Pilot) it'd be easier to get people to fork over ~$400.
Nash*ton
> Here's an interesting bit:
>
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/ebooks/story/0,11305,1200034,00.html
>
> One of the points made in it is that people spend a _lot_ more on books / print
> media than on music, so arguably something like to the iPod, but for books
> (which the Librie is) has a huge potential if done right (I don't think Sony's
> implementation and licensing is going to get this as far as it could though).
Thanks, very interesting.
> And of course, if it the device were more useful (say about like a Newton or
> Palm Pilot) it'd be easier to get people to fork over ~$400.
This is taboo in csma. Everything Apple does is correct and for our own
good. If such a device doesn't exist, it's because we don't "need" it.
Instead, we have a very successful mp3 player that can store more songs
than a human being can listen to before they go out of style.
Jobs is just being a jerk, trying to prove that he can continue to make
Apple a successful company without the underpinnings (see Newton) of his
predecessors. What disgusts me is that the technology is already there,
waiting to be exploited (see Inkwell).
He has an ego the size of the former USSR and even though he can make
money for Apple's shareholders, with the exception of bringing NeXT
technology to Apple, he has done nothing but slashed Apple's R&D budget
and is just making the same old computers with faster components a la
Dell, the only difference being that his CPU supplier is different and
the boxes are engineered better than your average PC.
Nicolas
>
> William
>