Apple Tablet next spring

[TallMomof2]

It's okay but I have a smartphone to read on if I don't have my Kindle with me.

[kindlekitten]

hmmmm *ponders if it is worth while exploring*

[darius]

Here's a little taste of what could be in store for us. I'm literally foaming at the mouth for this product. How sweet the interaction looks and functions is truly a sight to behold. Note, it's not an official video but looks very impressive nonetheless. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRSDWZC_m4

[zacheryjensen]

Originally Posted by darius

Here's a little taste of what could be in store for us. I'm literally foaming at the mouth for this product. How sweet the interaction looks and functions is truly a sight to behold. Note, it's not an official video but looks very impressive nonetheless. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRSDWZC_m4

I hope you realize that's a painfully obvious fake, backlit screens don't carry a shadow like that and yet not reflect any room lights whatsoever, as one example of how it's obviously fake.

The fact that there is clearly no weight to the thing beyond perhaps a piece of cardboard (I theorize it's a painted solid piece of cardboard, with the fake video overlaid later)

In reality, that's a terrible form factory for any kind of computing task. The wrist, under real weight, will become tired very quickly and you'd have an ergonomics nightmare. Ergonomics is probably the #1 reason tablet PC's have done horribly. They are heavy and awkward. Considering such concerns are #1 with apple products, I doubt very much they would put out such a silly thing.

[fugazied]

Latest part of this rumor that I have heard is that the screens will go up to 15" in size. HUGE! They are saying 10", 13" and 15" models may be available and Steve Jobs has mainly been working on tablets since getting back to Apple.

Who knows if there is any truth to it all...

[darius]

Originally Posted by zacheryjensen

I hope you realize that's a painfully obvious fake, backlit screens don't carry a shadow like that and yet not reflect any room lights whatsoever, as one example of how it's obviously fake.

The fact that there is clearly no weight to the thing beyond perhaps a piece of cardboard (I theorize it's a painted solid piece of cardboard, with the fake video overlaid later)

In reality, that's a terrible form factory for any kind of computing task. The wrist, under real weight, will become tired very quickly and you'd have an ergonomics nightmare. Ergonomics is probably the #1 reason tablet PC's have done horribly. They are heavy and awkward. Considering such concerns are #1 with apple products, I doubt very much they would put out such a silly thing.

Well of course I realise it's fake. That's why I said it could look like this, ie. give an impression of what things could be like. Form factor wise it's not ideal ergonomic wise, as you said but the interaction of the OSX/apple style smooth scrolling is what's of concern. Multitouch with the OSX style interface is what's new in the video. It's very well done and obviously fake.

So you think this type of tablet mode will never be used? How about a tablet in landscape mode? Then it's pretty much the same experience as the guy in the video. So much for your enthusiasm...

[WookieReader]

Apple has a history with Jobs of being extremely innovative and synergistic with software.

If the concept comes to fruition, I would imagine a natural tie-in with iTunes and a tablet that would embrace Wi-Fi, iTunes movie downloads, iPhoto, and of course the iTunes music facet. Books would be a big addition and if along with a full editable suit of Adobe Acrobat for PDF's it would have a lot of promise. The big advantage for Apple, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble is to tie into existing ecommerce portals. I don't see them doing the book niche only, but obviously to compete on price it may be limited as to all the features it could have. Like the iPhone, it will most likely be quite innovative in the software end, since the iPhone's appeal to some extent is that it does so many things in addition to being a phone.

[WillAdams]

Actually, Apple's Preview.app does have a fair bit of functionality for annotating .pdfs now --- it's just hidden away in the menus for some reason. If Mac OS X only had NeXT's tear off menus, one could customize said menus into persistent button bars which would allow highlighting, strike through &c. quite easily.

Instead, one has to customize the toolbar to add these features.

William

[ctol]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

I have a Zune HD with an OLED display and it's subtly different from backlit LCD. Of course I haven't done any reading on it but I do like the display. According to the article Apple isn't using an OLED display. Who knows? It's still vaporware.

Yes it is possible to use a Zune as an ebook reader with some caveats though. The two following links might give you some hints how to get it working as an ebook reader.

http://www.amazon.com/Zune-HD-as-ebo...sin=B002JPITXY

This program works reasonably well for converting documents to Zune files:

http://www.softarea51.com/windows/Gr...xtAsImage.html

Hope this info helps.

[David Munch]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

Actually, Apple's Preview.app does have a fair bit of functionality for annotating .pdfs now --- it's just hidden away in the menus for some reason. If Mac OS X only had NeXT's tear off menus, one could customize said menus into persistent button bars which would allow highlighting, strike through &c. quite easily.

Instead, one has to customize the toolbar to add these features.

Power users really use keyboard shortcuts and not buttons..

I use Preview.app several hours a day, with a lot of annotation, and for the most part it works perfectly.