Apple Tablet -- Who needs it?

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by stustaff

You can buy a stylus that works fine on iphone, however it has a large tip as its designed for the iPhone but the technology for a stylus to work with the capacative touch screens exists and I would be AMAZED if the 'iSlate' doesnt have a stylus.

We'll see. And if it does, will it be easy to write with since the screen will likely be mainly designed for finger touch?

I write pretty small and have terrible penmanship, so I need a tablet that has a high level of precision in writing with a stylus, and I'm skeptical Apple's tablet would be designed around a stylus to provide that. I need one that emulates writing on paper as closely as possible--something I've not found on any tablet devices I've tried--though I've not played with slate PCs over the past couple of years, so maybe they've improved.

I'd love to be proved wrong though, as I would prefer an apple based tablet to a windows one due to less risk of viruses and malware etc.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by kjk

I'd be dumbfounded if it did.

Well ok if it doesnt go and buy one from here they are about £7???

Video review here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvnfXXulOIY

buy it here http://www.cdwow.com/home/4Mac-Essen...dp/pc/10930499

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

We'll see. And if it does, will it be easy to write with since the screen will likely be mainly designed for finger touch?

I write pretty small and have terrible penmanship, so I need a tablet that has a high level of precision in writing with a stylus, and I'm skeptical Apple's tablet would be designed around a stylus to provide that. I need one that emulates writing on paper as closely as possible--something I've not found on any tablet devices I've tried--though I've not played with slate PCs over the past couple of years, so maybe they've improved.

I'd love to be proved wrong though, as I would prefer an apple based tablet to a windows one due to less risk of viruses and malware etc.

Havent used a stylus with my iphone but Capacative is in theory MUCH more accurate than resistive so assuming apple want it and do release a tablet I imagine it will be better than anything else for this.

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by crutnacker

1. Too expensive
2. No keyboard
3. Battery life (if my iPhone is any indication)
4. Display (if they intend for this to be an e-reader, it better be pleasing to the eye for long periods of time)
5. Not different enough from what I already own.
6. Portability vs. durability

Yes I agree there are issues with exactly where it sites in terms of product lineups. The way I see it, it's a multi-purpose household tiny computer.

My iPhone simply isn't big enough for some purposes. Yes a small laptop could do most of what the tablet could do, but it can't use iphone apps and for me, a physical keyboard isn't essential. A little tablet which acts as a nicely sized ebook reader and also does a LOT of other stuff would fit the mould.

I need a small device around the house still (iPhone and MBP are my smallest). Here's some of the things I would use a tablet for:

- Ebook, Videos, Music (obviously)
- Quick Internet while sitting on the couch or at the breakfast table without getting the thigh heating laptop out.
- Reading recipes while cooking (color screen, decent size).
- Email/Work when I am in the car stuck in traffic or mobile.
- Music player and media centre controller. Using the remote app I would control my hifi/itunes throughout the house with it. It would also be able to stream media wirelessly as well so I could send media from it to my 40" LCD via my PS 3 or Apple TV.
- Showing family photos to people. I'd have all of my photo albums digitised and sitting on my local network, say goodbye to getting out dusty old photo albums.
- Quick Video chat and skype without pulling the laptop out of the bedroom. I can pick up a tablet with one hand and use a touch screen with one hand pretty quickly with a beer in the other.

[Yoshi 1080]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

I received the following tweet today from TV's Andy Levy.

Well, they said similar things about the long-rumored Apple cellphone and then the iPhone was released and even topped all expectations and changed the way we use cellphones. In my opinion, the iTablet will either be revolutionary ingenious or it won't be released at all.

[dmaul1114]

It seems inevitable to be released with Apple reserving a room for an event at the end of the month and all the other pieces of the puzzle lately with domain name registrations, asking App developers to get large screen apps ready etc.

So the only question is whether it will be revolutionary compared to the iPhone.

[stustaff]

Originally Posted by dmaul1114

It seems inevitable to be released with Apple reserving a room for an event at the end of the month and all the other pieces of the puzzle lately with domain name registrations, asking App developers to get large screen apps ready etc.

So the only question is whether it will be revolutionary compared to the iPhone.

I imagine the hardware will be pretty standard with an evolutionary operating system including truly revolutionary way of operating it.

[JSWolf]

Nobody needs a tablet from Apple should they make one. In fact, it'll be overpriced, overcontrolled, and generally, not all that wonderful.

[dmaul1114]

I'm interested to see what it can do for sure. I'm skeptical as I've never been and Apple guy (never owned any of their products). But the iPhone did impress me, having played with friends and relative's iPhones a decent amount.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Nobody needs a tablet from Apple should they make one. In fact, it'll be overpriced, overcontrolled, and generally, not all that wonderful.

Time will tell.

Probably definitely overpriced.

I don't care about overcontrolled. I'm not a tech head, or a hacker. I buy gadgets and use them how intended. I don't mind DRM or that kind of stuff at all. So that's never dissuaded me from Apple (mainly price, and being wed to PCs for work), and I love my Kindle etc.

It's an issue for people who want to use all kinds of different file formats, be able to put any software on it etc. But it doesn't effect me. If a device doesn't work the way I want it to, and do everything I need it to, out of the box I don't buy it. I have no interest in hacking, doing much customizing etc. I like stuff that just works how I need it from the get go.

The wonderful part is up in the air--not just with Apple, but with tablet devices in general. I've very intrigued and interested. But it's one of those things you can't be sure on without actually using them. Totally random example--I though I'd dig the motion controls on the Nintendo Wii--but hated it once I got it and sold the console within a few months.

[Laurentiu]

Originally Posted by crutnacker

I've seen the hype, read the speculation, and I keep asking myself..... who needs this?

Well, I would be interested! And for sure, there is a market out there for Apple products! And, yes, they are overpriced, especially when launched, but this is not a new strategy. As a matter of fact, Apple is known for using the skimming pricing strategy, whenever they come up with a new product.

I will definitively not be one of the first buyers, but the idea is interesting enough for me. After all, if this new product will be able to display PDF files properly, I think this is a major step forward! Although Sony claims that their reader can display PDF files, I am not very pleased with the results. Most of my files are in Letter format and they look like hell on the reader.
Plus, the iSlate (or, whatever they call it) will have colour display, so, that's another plus.

About the hype, that's another marketing strategy: create hype (or, 'buzz') and people will get excited. Plus, even talking about the product here - which is called 'viral marketing' - is another marketing strategy, meant to promote the product!

One thing is for sure: without Apple, we would probably still be looking at a black screen, keying in DOS 12.0 commands.

I am looking forward to see what will Jan 26 bring us!

[Jack Tingle]

Originally Posted by stustaff

I see this all the time but what exactly are apple controlling that hobbles their devices for 99.9% of people?

I have both Pc's and Macs and an iphone and especially on the iPhone I can open pretty much any file and do much more than pretty much ANY other phone out there?

an example or two would be good.

OK, stand over there and I'll Bluetooth this Excel spreadsheet to your iPhone from my Samsung. Just open it up and ... What? FTP, why? Oh, OK, here, just load my microSD ... What? Oh, OK. ... I'll get back to you, someday.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[Jack Tingle]

Originally Posted by crutnacker

Some problems I see (based on speculation about the product):

1. Too expensive
2. No keyboard
3. Battery life (if my iPhone is any indication)
4. Display (if they intend for this to be an e-reader, it better be pleasing to the eye for long periods of time)
5. Not different enough from what I already own.
6. Portability vs. durability

I really think it's unfair to complain that a tablet doesn't have a keyboard. That's sort of by definition.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

OK, stand over there and I'll Bluetooth this Excel spreadsheet to your iPhone from my Samsung. Just open it up and ... What? FTP, why? Oh, OK, here, just load my microSD ... What? Oh, OK. ... I'll get back to you, someday.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

But do that many people really need to do that kind of stuff?

I realize their products aren't probably suited for the tech heads and power users that do that kind of stuff, want to hack and customize the heck out of their devices etc.

But that's not the average user. The average user is more someone like me that buys a device and expects it to do what I need out of the box, and will seldom spend any time customizing anything, wanting to use different file formats etc.

I feel the same about the Kindle hate. Most people are like me and could care less that it doesn't support e-pub, has DRM etc. as we just get books from the Amazon store (and maybe free books from places like Feedbooks) and can find everything we want to read and don't need it to do anything else.

Point being, yes such devices are closed in a sense. But the tech heads go to far in bashing them because they don't fit their needs when they are a tiny fraction of the user base for such devices.

Apple would probably prefer the tech head/hacker crowd stay away from their products. They make them closed and easy to use for the joe six packs who just want simple products that are intuitive to use and just work.

And I'm no apple fanboy. Have never owned an Apple product of any kind. I just think the techies go to far in their hatred of Apple's products. They're simply not for them, they should go use the devices that suit them and shut up about Apple IMO. As it really boils down to them bashing a company to not catering to their specific needs and choosing to get rich focusing on the mainstream market--which is silly.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Work-arounds and fixes for the above would be welcome.

Hackintosh sounds about right. Or one of these.

JackTingle - No, tablets per the modern definition have a keyboard. Slates are the ones without. Silly, but that's how every other manufacturer uses the words...