Apple has really surprised me

[jbcohen]

First off I am not a fan of apple or any of their hardware or software, however apple tends to be a leader in information technology that calls the tune that the industry dances to. Apple really surprised me when a few weeks ago there were talk about an apple mini. In this occasion apple appears following the tune set by Amazon, the first to produce the seven inch tablet. I expected apple to do something a bit more radical such as producing a larger screen tablet. I would like to get some reactions from apple fans on the matter.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

In this occasion apple appears following the tune set by Amazon, the first to produce the seven inch tablet.

You might want to qualify as the first to produce a 'popular' seven inch tablet. I think the Archos range, the Nook Color, the original Samsung Tab, the Blackberry PlayBook, the HTC Flyer, and probably all sorts of cheap 7" Androids were produced before the Fire.

However, just so I've got this straight, are you suggesting that a more radical approach from Apple would have been to have released something like a 12" tablet (which would be great for PDFs and magazines)?

It would be nice to see this pulled off if the device can be kept thin and light. To be honest, I'd be happy to sacrifice battery life and speed for weight here.

Graham

[Graham]

Larger tablets do exist, see for example Samsung's 11.6" Windows Slate, but the weight is the main issue, with them clocking in at about a kg. It will be interesting to see how svelte they can make their rumoured 11.8" Android tablet.

Things could have gone differently if the 12" JooJoo tablet hadn't turned out to be a dud (released a week before the original iPad).

While digging into this, I've found that the WeTab is still around, another 11.6" tablet, but this time pushing a Meego derivative.

I agree it's an area where Apple could produce something startling, but would be further moving away from Steve Jobs' vision of paring the company down to a minimum of devices, with clear differentiation.

Graham

[WillAdams]

Arguably, this could be seen as a continuation of Apple's Newton MessagePad from almost two decades ago.

Not finding an image which shows them both together though.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Arguably, this could be seen as a continuation of Apple's Newton MessagePad from almost two decades ago.

mmmmmm... Apple Newtons

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

mmmmmm... Apple Newtons

There a lawsuit for that

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

mmmmmm... Apple Newtons

I'm pretty sure the Apple Newton in your image comes closer to accurately rendering handwriting than the one built by Apple!

If Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had patented the concept of small thin computer tablets as shown in his TV series years before the Newton, we would be talking about trekPads rather than iPads! And they would probably cost half as much as iPads. Hell, Roddenberry even envisioned Siri 40+ years before Apple bought them out!

[WillAdams]

jswinden --- for people w/ decent handwriting, the handwriting recognition on Newton worked quite well --- I found it workable for note-taking through my last three years of college.

Moreover, Roddenberry's contract w/ Paramount had a clause which specifically allowed for any company which built a device like to one on the show to use the trademarked name w/o expense.

William

[afv011]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

First off I am not a fan of apple or any of their hardware or software, however apple tends to be a leader in information technology that calls the tune that the industry dances to. Apple really surprised me when a few weeks ago there were talk about an apple mini. In this occasion apple appears following the tune set by Amazon, the first to produce the seven inch tablet. I expected apple to do something a bit more radical such as producing a larger screen tablet. I would like to get some reactions from apple fans on the matter.

To be fair, Barnes and Noble were first (in LCD eReaders) with the NookColor. Amazon were caught with their pants down by the NookColor and had to scramble to put together the KF.

Originally Posted by WillAdams

jswinden --- for people w/ decent handwriting, the handwriting recognition on Newton worked quite well --- I found it workable for note-taking through my last three years of college.

Moreover, Roddenberry's contract w/ Paramount had a clause which specifically allowed for any company which built a device like to one on the show to use the trademarked name w/o expense.

William

It's a literary device called humor! You might want to look that up...