[kilron]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Perhaps Apple didn't get it? Such an OSX tablet would have been a greater hit than the iPad will ever be, is my guess. Looks like they have created another Apple TV. Not a total sales disaster, but no big hit either.

no, i don't think the apple TV type outcome is possible. i always chuckle when people bring it up, its like they're trying to stick it to apple to point out how they're not perfect or something... the apple tv was never a major initiative for apple. even during the keynote where they introduced it, not only was it not the main part of the keynote, but steve jobs himself also called it a "hobby". a "hobby". do you think apple is crying about their "hobby" not taking off?? hardly... they have bigger fish to fry than the apple tv succeeding.

and OSX is as terrible for a tablet and touchscreen as Windows is as well. those operating systems are built around physical keyboards and mice interaction. without a mouse and physical keyboard always right there, those OS's are maddening and near impossible. why even go down that road? this point has been proven over and over again. you can take an operating system built from the ground up for mouse interaction and take away the mouse and expect everything to be perfect.

Originally Posted by CyGuy

I don't own any iDevice, I was hoping the iPad would be my first. However, my digital camera, camcorder, CyBook, laptop, netbook, PC, PDA, cell phone, digital picture frame, and my television all have SD card readers built-in. I can transfer media between any of these devices with ease. I have several 32GB cards with movies, pictures, eBooks, and music. I can have my entire media collection with me at all times if I wish, and read, watch movies, listen to music without any dependence on any kind of network connection. This is simply a must for any media device, especially a device that is supposed to be portable and versatile.

two points:
- first off, why don't you just load them all from your computer onto the iPad? you can certainly do that within iTunes. i do the same thing. only the largest iPod classic can hold all of my music, and even then it can't hold my entire iTunes media library of music plus movies and podcasts and tv shows. so i pick and choose. i KNOW i'm not going to want to watch everything, so i have certain things that i listen to most often and change when necessary.

- its a must have for YOU, but for the general public, how many people do you think walk around with SD cards with all of their stuff on it? i don't. i don't know anyone personally (friends, family, etc.) who does either. SD cards are great for digital cameras and smartphones that don't have enough built-in memory, but other than that, i don't have much use for them.

the fact is, with my huge music collection that is over 100 gigs in size, i'm definitely not a typical iTunes user. most users probably have 1/10 the size of a music collection. i know a ton of folks that have iPhones (probably 15 people) and besides me, only 1 other person has too much music so that it won't all easily fit on their iPhone's internal memory.

apple has always been about the integration of hardware and software to the point that the hardware gets out of the way and you can concentrate on the experience. putting every little bell and whistle on a product has never really been their emphasis. while an SD card reader would have been neat to have, i think for most people that its definitely not a must-have sort of thing.

Originally Posted by jackau

THe same goes for Apple, they dont want user to use the device to read anything you DOWNLOAD off YOUR PC / PHone or even another MAC. It is the business model.

read anything how? you can upload your own music and video to your devices via iTunes. iTunes music is also DRM free so it can be played elsewhere. when you buy stuff on the devices and then sync with iTunes it then transfers them back to your computer in an easy to find folder.

Originally Posted by bobcdy

Several years ago I bought an HP tablet, 10 inch screen, 60gig hd, 2.6ghz, usb slots, wireless, can use external keyboard and mouse, etc., etc. - I run Win XP Pro on it and use it for travel. I really like it for a portable pc but don't like the weight and the size. Not good for ebooks because too heavy & really too large except for pdf files. Apple has improved on its weight but to the detriment of everything else and doesn't even use e-ink. For one used to a computer os, a phone os is amusingly limited, and can you image holding that 10 inch tablet next to your ear for an extended conversation? There's no way I'd purchase such a system at any price.

for YOU its amusingly limited. considering what a major flop the microsoft tablet PC was (and bill gates was about as adamant about the windows tablet as jobs is about the iPad) do you think apple is going after those people who bought and liked the windows tablet? of course not! they're going after everybody else! that's the point.

What I'd really like is a slate computer that's about the size (perhaps a little bit bigger) and only a bit heavier than the bebook, but a real computer with usb etc. and a screen that can mimic e-ink, perhaps with a special setting, and also great for high resol. color images at different settings. I'd purchase such an item in a minute if they ever are available at a reasonable cost (< about $600)
Bob

ok, so you want a small screen, yet high resolution, color like e-ink and a full windows OS? somehow i don't see how e-ink displays would work well for video or photos. but yeah... that's never going to sell. you may want one, but i assure you there's no market for it. practically its just not something that would work or be attractive to the typical consumer.