I think that the only people who would ever get a mac tablet are people who feel the need to look cool. Fine with me. I will laugh at them while they try to handle a 10" tablet while typing at the same time.

I get what you are saying, but you are completly wrong. a tablet would be lighter, thinner, and have a longer battery life. That is what people want. This stupid physical keyboard **** is getting old. If you need a real keyboard, stick with your deksop, for those of us who don't mind looking at our keyboard as we type, a tablet is perfect!

I can't really comment on the Apple Tablet, because as of now, the product doesn't exist. It's rediculous to look down on a product when you have absolutely no idea how it works. You have a preconceived notion of what the product will look like, how it will act, and how you will (refuse to) use it, all without any concrete data on what the device will be. You refuse to believe in some preposterous notion that there's a use you haven't thought of, and assume the device will conform to your rigid standards of “this won't work.” I have to assume this is the major reason other people are designing computers, and you're, um... blogging.

It would rock if you can draw straight into the sucker using PS or Painter! Portable sketchpad which is thin and light? Obviously the next thing that Wacom should have been developing!

From Jay

You refuse to believe in some preposterous notion that there's a use you haven't thought of, and assume the device will conform to your rigid standards of “this won't work.” I have to assume this is the major reason other people are designing computers, and you're, um... blogging.

Apparently you didn't read the article? It says that if there is a successful tablet offering from apple it wont conform to our current ideas. I agree with both the article and your criticism. but it's sad that your comment makes it obvious you didn't bother to read the whole article.

From Jay

You have a preconceived notion of what the product will look like, how it will act, and how you will (refuse to) use it

Kyle never says he refuses to use it . . .

From Jay

I'm a jackass Apple fanboi. They can do no wrong

Now that's true. Good call.

From Sammy

It would rock if you can draw straight into the sucker using PS or Painter! Portable sketchpad which is thin and light? Obviously the next thing that Wacom should have been developing!

I think that is one use for a tablet, but how big would that target market be?

From cluttered_desk

From Jay

I'm a jackass Apple fanboi. They can do no wrong

Now that's true. Good call.

LOL!

Jackassery aside, I am interested to see what Apple could give us. I don't know if I would use it or not. If it would just be another tablet i wouldn't be interested

From Jay

You refuse to believe in some preposterous notion that there's a use you haven't thought of

Kyle wrapped up the whole damn article asking if there was anything a tablet could be used for that a regular computer cannot. To me that is admitting that there may be a use that he hasn't thought of. How about instead of stirring the pot, you contribute something worthwhile by telling us all what other uses there could be?

As for me, I can't think of anything other than that the graphic arts industry may benefit from a Mac tablet, but that is a rather narrow market and I don't see Apple producing a product targeted at a market that small.

The MediaPad will have a disruptive effect - in business, education and the living room. More and more offices try to go green and we are full of laptops in conference rooms - long battery life, always connected and more readable than an Iphone. This would be the tool of choice to review meeting content review resumes, all of which is review and does require a keyboard. The most exciting is in education - if text books, newspapers, magazines, blogs are all available in a portable tablet it will enabler kids to learn a different way - it is already starting. In 5 years no more physical (or lost) textbooks? The end to out of date information, the end of lugging heavy bookbags, the end of trying to find used books.

-As an e-book reader; a bare kindle costs $300
-As an audio recorder; speech recognition for improved notetaking; including a stereo mike plug could make it a competent session digital recorder, handier than a laptop and more flexible than current devices (equalizer, variable bitrate, maybe even mixer).
-As a notepad if it has good hand-writing recognition and a high-resolution camera with OCR, as well as ability to link with a keyboard
-As a videoconference portal, with a camera on the front. Much handier than a laptop for this.
-As an Wacom-like tablet, on its own or in client-server mode with a desktop or laptop
-As a remote, of course--but not just for media centers: think house control, high-end still cameras, and conference centers
-As an auto info center, with 3G: not just GPS, but links to weather, Wikipedia for attractions, and so on.
-As a USB controller to move data between cards, disks, the tablet, and the cloud
-As a network or plant monitoring device
and as an iPod Mega, of course, possibly with true 1080 and much better mike and speakers...

Imagine.

From Smith

The MediaPad will have a disruptive effect - in business, education and the living room. More and more offices try to go green and we are full of laptops in conference rooms - long battery life, always connected and more readable than an Iphone. This would be the tool of choice to review meeting content review resumes, all of which is review and does require a keyboard. The most exciting is in education - if text books, newspapers, magazines, blogs are all available in a portable tablet it will enabler kids to learn a different way - it is already starting. In 5 years no more physical (or lost) textbooks? The end to out of date information, the end of lugging heavy bookbags, the end of trying to find used books.

How would this fantasy Media Pad be better than a laptop?

Can you say touch screen, instant on, always connected and 50k native applications! Tablets have failed in the past because there isn't enough software written that was useful, poor battery life, and they were too heavy. It may sound like fantasy but you have to understand that from Apple's perspective it isn't about the device it is about ubiquitous content distribution - Books, Magazines, Newspapers, movies, music, etc. If all of you device sync and you get a consistent experience why would anyone ever switch!?!

As light as possible (400 g or less would be great).
As small as possible (pocketable, if possible).
Video-out port to connect to videoprojector.
USB port for remote control.
Mac inside to run full-blown presentations (transitions, animations, etc) from NATIVE Keynote (.key) and NATIVE PowerPoint (.ppt) files.

Here is an order of thousands for our University.

I think a tablet computer would be of great value in many businesses that need higher order data entry in a mobile form. Specifically, I think the medical industry will be all over this. The ability to pull up high resolution images, modify records, receive email, check databases and coordinate schedules are everyday barriers for many industries. Apple's appeal will be the quality of the interface and the security of its system. Of course this hinges on hand writing recognition and we have all head of doctors' handwriting.

From Smith

Can you say touch screen, instant on, always connected and 50k native applications! Tablets have failed in the past because there isn't enough software written that was useful, poor battery life, and they were too heavy. It may sound like fantasy but you have to understand that from Apple's perspective it isn't about the device it is about ubiquitous content distribution - Books, Magazines, Newspapers, movies, music, etc. If all of you device sync and you get a consistent experience why would anyone ever switch!?!

Such a device would have a small user base. Most would just go with an iPod Touch or go with a laptop. The device you describe sounds like it would be a companion device and I feel that most would be unwilling to pay the typical tablet price to get it. If I had a laptop and an iPhone/iPod Touch, this Media Pad would have to be incredibly affordable and have a function that isn't already served by my laptop or iPhone.

From NiX

As light as possible (400 g or less would be great).
As small as possible (pocketable, if possible).
Video-out port to connect to videoprojector.
USB port for remote control.
Mac inside to run full-blown presentations (transitions, animations, etc) from NATIVE Keynote (.key) and NATIVE PowerPoint (.ppt) files.

Here is an order of thousands for our University.

Sounds like you would really benefit from this.

From lehmann

Specifically, I think the medical industry will be all over this. The ability to pull up high resolution images, modify records, receive email, check databases and coordinate schedules are everyday barriers for many industries. Apple's appeal will be the quality of the interface and the security of its system. Of course this hinges on hand writing recognition and we have all head of doctors' handwriting.

This would be marketing to a specific industry though, and in order to do anything much different Apple would have to enter the software portion of the market too. I've spent a few years working in hospitals, and I personally don't think a tablet would serve very well. Most medical settings already have computers in every room or laptops that can do all of what you mention.

As for doctor's handwriting, in most places they do everything by dictation right now which is way faster than handwriting anyway. Faster for them than typing even, which is why they do it. Anything that relies on handwriting as a primary data entry method will never be widely accepted as a data entry device. Unless maybe shorthand comes back into play.

From Chris

-As an e-book reader; a bare kindle costs $300
-As an audio recorder; speech recognition for improved notetaking; including a stereo mike plug could make it a competent session digital recorder, handier than a laptop and more flexible than current devices (equalizer, variable bitrate, maybe even mixer).
-As a notepad if it has good hand-writing recognition and a high-resolution camera with OCR, as well as ability to link with a keyboard
-As a videoconference portal, with a camera on the front. Much handier than a laptop for this.
-As an Wacom-like tablet, on its own or in client-server mode with a desktop or laptop
-As a remote, of course--but not just for media centers: think house control, high-end still cameras, and conference centers
-As an auto info center, with 3G: not just GPS, but links to weather, Wikipedia for attractions, and so on.
-As a USB controller to move data between cards, disks, the tablet, and the cloud
-As a network or plant monitoring device
and as an iPod Mega, of course, possibly with true 1080 and much better mike and speakers...

Imagine.

That seems to be more of a wish list than something that could be marketable and affordable.

I could see myself using a media type tablet, but only for watching videos. And at that point, i doubt it would be worth the price. However, I'm curious to know what, if anything at all, Apple has in mind for a tablet.

Handwriting, voice, OCR, Isight camera for conferencing, better cam, portal, even GPS+, there's no new tech needed, just sensible integration and a decent UI -- and these are, I think, Apple's strongest points. Look at the app store, and IMAGINE it fused with 10.6. That's a tablet vision I can imagine Apple pursuing.

From Chris

Handwriting, voice, OCR, Isight camera for conferencing, better cam, portal, even GPS+, there's no new tech needed, just sensible integration and a decent UI -- and these are, I think, Apple's strongest points. Look at the app store, and IMAGINE it fused with 10.6. That's a tablet vision I can imagine Apple pursuing.

The App Store and 10.6 serve different platforms and I don't see that they would work synergistically together. Unless this Apple tablet would have 2 UI modes, iPhone OS and Mac OS, but that wouldn't fit with Apple's culture of simplicity.

The stuff you mentioned may be doable by Apple, but would all those features make the device affordable for the end user? I doubt it. Plus, the unique features of such a tablet wouldn't convince me to get it over a laptop.