islate

[Michael Formstone]

This article was in The Sunday Times business section:-
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6968469.ece
Great name if its true!! Michael

[Peter Boynton]

Cool as this may (or may not) be can someone help me out and explain who might benefit from using such a machine?
If it is to plug the net book market on Apples behalf I can't see them knocking them out for £300 - more likely £6-700!

Unless you have very large pockets (physically and economically) you would still need a bag or brief case to lug it around. This is where I am struggling to understand the potential iSlates position in the market place - apart form being another cool piece of electronics engineering:-)

Cheers
Pete

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[Derek Buttery]

if it had a 'scribe' ability as well as touch screen i'd use one... would cut down on lots of paperwork, and ease of use to email / print proof of delivery almost immediately!

medical notes could be easily read {no apologies for pointing out the lack of writing requirements for mds!}

and how cool would it look!!

--
Regards

Dek

VTID

http://familybutteryincanada.blogspot.com/

[Benjamin Stanley]

I'm not 100% convinced of the iSlate. I love the iPhone, loved the
Newton and I think that Apple could release a tablet nice enough to
convince me to buy one. I can see plenty of use for it, the machine
I'm using now has a 2.4ghz dual core processor and 4gb of ram, but for
the last 10 days has done nothing but play a few episodes of IT Crowd
and respond to emails. It's also quite heavy, not designed for use on
my lap (it burns!) and had a battery life of 2 ish hours.

Of course bringing back a tablet means Steve going back on his words
from 1998 when the Newton was killed off. Have a read of this article,
best Steve quote is

"Apple makes computers, and computers have keyboards"

Hmmm, yeah!
http://www.pencomputing.com/frames/newton_obituary.html
Cheers
B.

2009/12/28 Peter Boynton <pete.b...@mac.com>

--
Benjamin Stanley - Technical Director - Trilby Multimedia
47-49 Loveday Street, Birmingham, B4 6NR
Telephone: 0121 333 6860      www.trilby.co.uk

[Derek Buttery]

but did he foresee the 'virtual' keyboard that is the ipod touch / iphone?

could also be used as a command module for all your wireless home / office machines?? eg tv, curtains, garage doors, lights,
alarm / security etc??

[Dom Barnes]

I think that, like the iPhone, such an interactive device could spawn lots of uses. I mean you always see a touchscreen tablet device being used in scifi films. 

Companies are already designing digital magazines for such a device, and you can see stuff like iTunes LP and Extras becoming popular for such a device.

And it wouldn't take much to port all the iPhone apps to this platform. It would give developers a more powerful device to work with and apps could become more useful

However, the name, iSlate sucks.  

Dom Barnes

----------------

http://dombarnes.com

[Marc Carter]

There are stories that Apple has asked some developers to get a demo version of their iPhone app ready, in large screen format, for a product demo in late jan. It wouldn't be released for a while giving all other app developers time to ready their app for the launch of the device.

I'm in two minds about it, depends what it does, but I spend a lot of time staring at a small iPhone screen - films, games, Internet, email, i probably would find a bigger iPod type device useful.

[Peter Wooldridge]

Should be changed to imrunningslightlybehindtime.

'I is late' is already copyright to a certain comedian i would think.

[Derek Buttery]

maybe it's a the forerunner to a 40" G6 imac touch screen, with a case for your iphone / ipod touch to be strapped to your wrist for keyboard usage {and a 'thumb mouse'}, replacing the hdtv / receiver in your lounge, allowing instant skype video calls whilst watching the latest blu ray films, and recording hd tv, and apple tv 3.0 streaming to other rooms for kids disney tv, whilst the time capsule is sorting your emails, backing up important files, and locating itunes next suitable offerings, all for 20,000 intergalactic credits... or is this 21st century dreaming going a little too far!!

[Jack Moore]

I think what we're saying is that Islate does not look an attractive option vs existing products (macbooks, Iphone) but could be a stepping stone (sorry, slate) towards something more useful and simpler like an add-on to the Iphone (a bigger touch-screen when you need it) where the sum of the two items are still considerably lighter and more compact than the lightest macbook. 

[Ian Piper]

When the iPod came out the newsgroups and forums were flooded with people who couldn't see the point of a small form factor mp3 player with a hard disk and an online store, and so on. Here is the classic MacForum thread from 2001: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500. And of course the iPod duly revolutionalised and dominated this market sector.

So what will the iSlate do? Personally, I think we will see the following:

1. Deals with book publishers for distribution of their titles through a new online store.

2. Possibly tie-ups with book retailers to provide a local ebook purchase service - walk into Waterstones, hand over your cash and download your book via wi-fi immediately.

3. Distribution of magazines and newspapers, possibly using new UIs and navigation metaphors (take a look at this,  for example: http://www.bonnier.com/en/content/digital-magazines-bonnier-mag-prototype): charge up your slate with today's Guardian at the station while you are waiting for the train, for example.

4. Computer features that will make it more like a Mac than an iPhone - networking, maybe USB or memory card slots, bluetooth keyboard capabilities.

5. A convergence of books and games - interactive novels, particularly graphic novels (http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/1835595,ihnatko-longbox-comics-apple-tablet-102009.article), that progress along different lines depending on the choices that you make. As a writer I'd be interested in tools that could support multiple ways to navigate through a book.

6. Other stuff that none of us have thought about!

I think that the iSlate, when it comes, could have as much impact on the publishing industry (which, let's face it, is in turmoil right now and ripe for a major change) as the iPod had on the music industry. I'm sure I will be an early adopter if it does the kind of things I am looking for.

2009/12/28 Peter Boynton <pete.b...@mac.com>

Cool as this may (or may not) be can someone help me out and explain who might benefit from using such a machine?

If it is to plug the net book market on Apples behalf I can't see them knocking them out for £300 - more likely £6-700!

Ian.

--

[Michael Formstone]

I think Ian's right with Amazons Kindle and Sonys reader Apple will open a book store. Michael

[Dom Barnes]

Do Apple even need to open a eBook store? The iPhone has a Kindle app, why not just let developers make their own, deal with the publishers and distributers? Does Apple want to open negotiations with a whole new group of companies, on top of the movie studios, TV companies, music companies? Why not just let Amazon make an app, and do all the sales themselves? Apple is a Hardware company, and iTunes content is just a way to lock you into an ecosystem. I can't see them making much profit on music or TV sales.

There is no reason why they couldn't have a content distribution process, but I don't think they're looking to outdo the Kindle.

Dom

On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Michael Formstone <mform...@mac.com> wrote:

I think Ian's right with Amazons Kindle and Sonys reader Apple will open a book store. Michael