Speculation About An Apple Tablet 350
worm eater writes "The Register reports that Apple has filed for a European design trademark on a tablet computer. El Reg speculates that this could may make Apple Expo Paris more exciting that previously thought. Could this be the tech that finally brings the Mac desktop, iPod, and AirPort Express (and let's not forget the iPhone) together into the media household of The Future? (Of course, we've heard speculation about this before.)"
Estimated cost? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
What are you talking about? You can get a tablet PC for under 50$ off of eBay. Granted it'll have a 386-486 CPU in it.
What I love are all these people talking about tablet PCs like the're a new thing. I still have my 486-33 tablet around some place, running Windows 3.1 for Pens off of its 40MB hard disk.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:4, Funny)
And don't even get me started about the deals you can get on wrecked Ferraris.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
Bad analogy. A totaled Ferarri is worth a fortune for the spare parts alone.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:4, Insightful)
So is an old Mac.
OK, maybe not "a fortune" (they were never worth that much when new), but a used Mac - even a broken one - can have surprising value on the second-hand market. "Obsolete" Mac hardware retains pretty good value, despite the fact that all the beige units prior to the original iMac have been effectively written off by Apple's OS division. Of course the fact that everything since the original iMac is still well supported by the OS helps keep the price of old G3 systems - and the parts to keep them running - fairly high.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:5, Funny)
Has there been an update? Anybody got a gopher link that describes it?
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
The price of a tablet will never be less than the cost of a laptop. The cost of a laptop will not be rediculously low like that any time soon.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why would anyone buy a tablet when they could buy a laptop? Think about it. You're stuck with a clumsy interface that is barely usable. It's fine in places like hospitals, but that's a specialized market with specialized applications---specifically, the need to take notes in an environment where putting a laptop on a desk is not always possible, and the need to be able to guarantee that those notes can be stored centrally so they never get lost. Those aren't common characteristics of general-purpose computing, nor are they needs that most people would care about.
If they were cheap enough, they could be useful as a replacement for carrying a note pad to class for school students, or for businesspeople to carry to meetings. However, as long as the interface is less efficient for taking notes than typing (and by its very nature, writing is almost an order of magnitude slower than typing), there must be some other significant advantage to outweigh that huge efficiency loss.
I can think of two possible advantages that could outweigh the loss in efficiency: portability and cost. Portability... well, make it as thick as a pad of paper. No hard drives that thin? Well, there's a problem. Besides, if you can make a tablet that's super-thin, you can make a laptop that is equally thin, so there's no advantage. Cost? Well, it can't be cheaper than a laptop, you say? Okay, no advantage there, either.
When I can buy a tablet PC for the same cost relative to the price of a computer that a Palm costs now, it will make sense. Until then, it's just a cute toy that costs way too much to be useful. That said, my ideal tablet PC wouldn't be a PowerMac G5 or a Pentium IV. It would be a Palm or a Newton, with the addition of an iPod-size hard drive (say 20 gigs), only wider and not as thick. Limited OS, designed for one main purpose---to serve as a note pad. Synchronize it with your computer using bluetooth or something. Use it to carry files back and forth to class, too, if needed. Maybe even make it so that you can run normal applications (slowly) so you can show your professor your work instead of printing it out. In other words, something that would cost maybe $150-ish and if it broke, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
That said, as long as tablet computing is a more fragile, more cumbersome, laptop-priced device, it's an eye-roll, IMHO.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:3, Informative)
$330, and comes with a crapload of accessories. Heck, many early Slate form-factor tablets were barely more powerful than that thing (400MHz P3). Oh, and the Stylistic and Point lines were some of the first Tablet PCs, coming soon after the Toshiba Dynapad T-100, the FIRST tablet PC, 11 years ago.
Also, someone got Windows XP Tablet PC Edition running on the old Stylistic 2300, a Pentium MMX 233 box (below the minimum requir
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:4, Informative)
I would be pretty cool to have an imac with a detachable wireless monitor, but the imacs are supposed to be 17" and 20" neither of which is particularly portable.
Re:Estimated cost? (Score:3, Informative)
Sheesh. (Score:5, Funny)
how much (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:how much (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:how much (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple's stock-in-trade has always been innovative, functional, attractive designs that make people feel comfortable. People pay a $50 premium for the iPod because its design just works for them. They like using it.
Apple has always charged a bit more for its products, though some of that has been staying away from the most bottom level. You can pick up a bottom-of-the-line Dell for half the price of a bottom-of-the-line Mac, but a comparable Dell is usually only slightly less than the equivalent Mac. (Much of that, of course, depends on what you consider "comparable", since the systems use resources in very different ways.)
The question for me is, does Apple have enough clever ideas to make a tablet computer really work? Can they make a tablet that pushes some laptops out of the market? Perhaps they can make the bridge between the power of a laptop and the convenience of a PDA that it becomes an indispensible item.
Or they may end up with a cumbersome PDA/underpowered laptop combination that nobody wants. It'll all depend on the features. If they can get them right, they'll probably charge twice as much as a laptop and sell as many as they can make. Either way, I bet it'll be higher than the price you're comfortable paying, like the iPod, which has managed to be a breakout hit despite its high price by being exactly the right combination of features for people.
Re:how much (Score:5, Interesting)
AirPort Extreme for wireless networking. Rendezvous for zero-configuration connectivity to stuff like AirPort Express. Bluetooth for use with an optional keyboard. Inkwell for real-time handwriting recognition. A voice-driven interface that surprisingly few people take advantage of. And so forth and so on.
Yeah, I think Apple does have enough clever ideas. What they don't have is miniaturization technology. They could certainly build a table about the size of a closed PowerBook, but they couldn't put a G5 processor in it. From a marketing point of view, I think it would be hard to sell any new system with a G4 processor, just from the point of view of customer perception.
That's not to say I wouldn't take one.
Re:how much (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny how they sell so many laptops with G4's in them.
I would expect that processing power is even less of a concern for tablet
computers than it is for laptops.
Re:how much (Score:5, Interesting)
he explained to me how he's in law school and is given much of his research paperwork and books in PDF form. He wants to be able to mark them up and take notes on them in class, and since he sometimes gets the PDF on a CD when he walks in door, he doesn't have time to print out the 100 pages or so.
Also, he was bitching about crappy PDF reading software that's a pain to take notes on. Sure the comment feature in acrobat is nice, but it's not really suited for taking notes in real-time.
Re:how much (Score:5, Interesting)
I honestly don't understand why it would be that much more expensive than a regular laptop. The only things different are a hinge that flips around and an overlay which goes on the screen. The flip-around hinge is really just a redesign, that should be a trivial cost, and the overlay is proven technology that has been in use for years. I can't see the overlay costing much more than an extra hundred bucks. That doesn't add too much to the cost when you are talking about a $1000+ machine.
I could easily see Apple [apple.com] taking a 12" iBook [apple.com], changing the hinge and putting on a touch-sensitive overlay. They already have most of the software to use the tablet in place with Inkwell. [apple.com]
Re:how much (Score:3, Informative)
Well, first of all Wacom is not necessarily the best company to go to for touch screens. Yes they are a decent company but there are many, many more suppliers of this technology. A quick Google search reveals many. I'm not in the field of computer system component integration but I'm certain that a company like Apple could easily find a decent partner at
Common misconception (Score:4, Informative)
You could build a non-pressure sensitive tablet PC, heck, maybe someone has. You couldn't sell it as an Apple. Graphic designers will buy Apple tablets with Wacom parts like chocolate bars. Digital sketchbook done right, yay.
I'd love a tablet. I don't care about the high price right now, I don't care about the lower cpu power. All I care about is that the current tablets run Windows and are made by insane PC firms. You just can't rely on the sleep functionality in Windows laptops.... not until someone you know has been using the specific model you're going to buy for three years and has had no problems.
Re:Common misconception (Score:5, Interesting)
Are Apple laptops that expensive? (Score:5, Informative)
This coming from a person who has never owned an apple (aside from my ipod) and who spent last year working tech help for my university and repaired hundreds of laptops from all brands (but apple) for people.
Re:Are Apple laptops that expensive? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:how much (Score:3, Interesting)
We have exactly the same situation in the tablet PC field today. We've got a ton of different tablet PCs, but they don't really have a market. For one thing, the resolution usually craps out at 1024x768 on a 14" device, too low density for most non-technophile art
Re:how much (Score:4, Funny)
Who doesn't? Commie.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Are they reading my mind? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Are they reading my mind? (Score:5, Funny)
According to my records, you seem to have "WAY TOO MUCH MONEY" and this needs to be remedied. Please donate all you can to me, a POOR COLLEGE STUDENT.
Seriously, this would be cool, but I'm sure there are less expensive ways to do this. Hey guys, are there ways?? I wouldnt mind hanging a Flatpanel on my wall, use it as a small TV, or a touchscreen control. Hmmmmm....
Re:Are they reading my mind? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Are they reading my mind? (Score:5, Funny)
What the hell? You don't have enough MONEY?!? Get off your lazy ass! What's happened to America lately?
When I went off to college I left with no less than 3 ounces of marijuana which I promptly dealt from from my college dorm room! Did I ever have to call my parents up and beg for money? Nope!
College students today expect handouts! You're destroying the very fabric of our society! Jesus, I'd be nothing without my diploma... Where the HELL did I put that thing? Oh shit, that's right. I smoked it.
Re:Are they reading my mind? (Score:2)
But the tablet thing is done. It never really took off. Unless Apple has made some huge (and I mean really huge) improvement over what's out there now, I fear they are just throwing their money away.
Re:Are they reading my mind? (Score:5, Insightful)
consider the evidence:
electronic organisers evolved to PDAs with touchscreen and handwriting recognition.
mobile phones evolved to smartphones with touchscreen and handwriting recognition.
laptops will evolve to tablets with touchscreen and handwriting recognition. to claim otherwise seems foolish.
Damn. (Score:5, Funny)
next we'll be eating all our food from tubes!
Re:Damn. (Score:4, Interesting)
Rumor (Score:5, Funny)
P.S. I started the rumor and I want royalties if i'm right.
Re:Rumor (Score:3, Informative)
This is why there'll never be a source release of Newton OS.
Re:Rumor (Score:3, Insightful)
I suddenly feel like I need a bath...
Apple PDA (Score:5, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Apple PDA (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Apple PDA (Score:3, Informative)
Not the first time Apple's been toying with this.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not the first time Apple's been toying with thi (Score:3, Informative)
(It just occurred to me that I'm misinterpreting you, and you mean the screen could rotate around the vertical axis, so it would point out away from the keyboard without having to be bent over backwards...)
Re:Not the first time Apple's been toying with thi (Score:3, Interesting)
Just make me a GOOD eBook reader... (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple has always been good at making high-quality consumer-grade electronics (iMac, iPod, etc.) and I think a quality eBook reader would do more for them than a "tablet".
Re:Just make me a GOOD eBook reader... (Score:4, Insightful)
Download desired book as PDF.
Open it in Preview.
View --> Rotate Left
View --> Fullscreen
Click mouse button to flip pages.
Done.
Re:Just make me a GOOD eBook reader... (Score:3, Insightful)
Not to mention that e-book readers are more fragile than paper books and more exp
Possibly a remote tablet interface? (Score:4, Interesting)
I think it would be cool to be able to carry around a tablet-esque device and pen that allows you to do things with your computer. Maybe there will be universal remote functionality and other new features. Just speculation...
-- n
Re:Possibly a remote tablet interface? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think it would be cool to be able to carry around a tablet-esque device and pen that allows you to do things with your computer. Maybe there will be universal remote functionality and other new features. Just speculation...
Tha
Size? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Size? (Score:3, Funny)
iPorn (Score:2, Informative)
What if you drop it? (Score:5, Interesting)
The same could be said with a laptop, I suppose, but laptops seem to have OK survivability.
Re:What if you drop it? (Score:2)
Re:What if you drop it? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What if you drop it? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd think that dropping any tablet would cause catastrophic damage to it.
Don't drop it. Seriously, if you think you're going to drop the thing while it's outside of its case, then you have no business using one.
The same could be said with a laptop, I suppose, but laptops seem to have OK survivability.
The only difference between a laptop and tablet is that in tablet mode the entire computer is in one solid(ish) block - you won't break the screen mounts dropping it as you would if you dropped a l
well, it sure beats this (Score:2)
Its for the new iMac! (Score:5, Interesting)
Its not for a tablet Mac or a Videoplayer Mac.
Its for the new iMac!
Here is a great article speculating that the new iMac to be released in 19 days in Paris, is to be a miniature iMac, sort of like the old color Classic Macintosh.
http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=-750
Its small screen will conect wirelessly to the Internet, the Ethernet, via the new mini Apple wireless hub. It will also likely have a small keyboard and mouse to go with it.
Since its supposed to be with an aluminum body, perhaps it will come in mini iPod colors too.
Roger Born
writing.borngraphics.com
Sorry, no refunds.
Re:Its for the new iMac! (Score:3, Interesting)
A quick & dirty apple-ification of the Vaio W series they compare it to in vague terms comes up looking like this little piece [danamania.com]. Certainly looks like it could be made by apple, but with the history of the iMac really being something unique, I suspect it'll be Just That Bit More.
Re:Its for the new iMac! (Score:4, Insightful)
This would seem to be a step back from the original iMac design. Unless it is the LCD that connects to the base unit. But you'd think Apple would have put that in the filing.......
I'd imagine it's for some sort of new "iPodish" like device. Perhaps a PDA or maybe something that would link up to a Bluetooth enabled Cell phone?
It's interesting regardless.......
OS X light? (Score:3, Interesting)
It's probably design specs for the new iMac (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:It's probably design specs for the new iMac (Score:4, Informative)
Speaking of the new G5 iMac, ThinkSecret [thinksecret.com] has a report [thinksecret.com] that confirms this, along with supposed specs for new 17" and 20" iMacs.
Re:It's probably design specs for the new iMac (Score:4, Informative)
Size (Score:2)
Its bigger than you can fit into one hand, and might be heavy at that size.
Athough it might be a good size for reading text or naturally writing in cursive a few notes.
And depending on the price, I would be very interested in buying it if it had good PC/Linux connectivity.
I haven't read the patents... (Score:3, Informative)
See here: http://www.thinksecret.com/ [thinksecret.com] and here http://www.appleinsider.com/ [appleinsider.com].
Not actually happening... (Score:3, Interesting)
1. Cost is too much. Non-Apple users already see Macs as too expensive, so a Tablet (unless it were uncharacteristically inexpensive), would just fuel the fire.
2. Appeal. Yes, I know it would be sexy as all get out. But really, Macs are a niche market... I use mine to code and write webpages, and love how easy it makes many things, as well as the tinkerability of th OS, but the market for Macs is still (sadly) around 2-3%. Tablet computers would comprise a subset of that, so they wouldn't be economically feasible. Think G4 cube.
3. Finally. Technical issues. From the drawings, this thing is pretty thin. Apple would have to find a very low heat, low energy processor to use (the G4 qualifies), but also a very small size Mobo, GFX card, etc. With all the logic board problems of recent iBooks, I would seriously doubt whether they're considering releasing something as iffy as a Tablet.
Then again, they did (without Steve, btw) originally bring us the Newton, iPod and widespread GUI, so perhaps they will revolutionize Tablet PC's as well?
Just my 0.02$
As Long as We're Talking About Unicorns (Score:5, Interesting)
No, not a tablet. I'm imagining an LCD screen for your Mac/iMac that detaches from its stand and can be carried around the house. Wireless video voodoo. Not intended to be a standalone computer but just a portable display with touchscreen. Needs Wifi and a Mac nearby. You can use it as a remote for AirportExpress, as a 'non-portable laptop,' i.e. it doesn't leave the house, usually. Maybe you can take the screen over to a friends house or to work and log into a Mac there with it. Hmmm....
Re:As Long as We're Talking About Unicorns (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:As Long as We're Talking About Unicorns (Score:3, Interesting)
I reckon that if the base station has the G5 CPU with the screen detachable then it would be very useful. It'd be an iMac most of the time.
Then when you move about with it the video streaming screen function kicks in. It'd have it's own cut down OS like the iPod that is optimised to run the video stream and the simple tablet interface. There could be some data storage using iPod type microdrives.
The video could be streamed using FireWire of UWB as described here [techweb.com].
Then imagine all the feat
Re:As Long as We're Talking About Unicorns (Score:3, Funny)
Re:As Long as We're Talking About Unicorns (Score:3, Interesting)
The issues with Mira/Smart Displays were.
1. Too expensive.
The prices were $1000 to $1500, for that much you might as well buy a Tablet pc.
2. Not enough bandwidth for watching DVDs, playing games.
3. Difficult to set up. You only get RDP with XP Pro, so some smart displays shipped with an upgrade from Home to Pro, its
They would sell really well... (Score:4, Funny)
if done right (Score:3, Insightful)
I've never used a tablet pc but always liked the idea. If apple came along and did it right, who knows what could happen.
Of course it could just be a new display for the iPod, or they just want to protect their research on something that they won't actually use.
Wonderful! (Score:3, Funny)
Personally it'll never sell... (Score:4, Funny)
Why would people buy an Apple tablet PC when they could have a P-P-P-Powerbook [slashdot.org] for practically free, and with all the ability of a tablet?
-Adam
Explain to me slowly... (Score:5, Interesting)
Obviously, Steve Jobs is better at this than I am (or I'd be making one dollar a year plus a few benefits), but this would not seem like a clever move.
Re:Explain to me slowly... (Score:3, Insightful)
I beg to differ...
I have an Acer C111 sub-3lb (or sub-1.5kg) TabletPC that does include a reversible screen (you can close it with the screen facing down) and a keyboard. If Acer can do it, I'm sure Apple can make a MacTablet (or whatever) with the same form factor.
As for the "slow explanation" you asked for which, I assume (but correct me if I misunderstood the title of your post) addresses the question of why anyone would wan
Re:Explain to me slowly... (Score:3, Informative)
I just hope... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I just hope... (Score:3, Insightful)
Imagine drawing a square, triangle or circle and seeing your PDA recognize the shape. Or scratching out a word and the OS understands you wanted that part deleted. Or circling text you wanted selected. Or using written carets to mark inserts. Plus you didn't have to learn some obscure "written" commands for the OS to understand your writing. The OS, over time, learned your handwriting. I've heard that future versions
Re:I just hope... (Score:4, Informative)
It is NOT a tablet. (Score:3, Informative)
http://engadget.com/entry/8312965763231519/
I think this new screen is for the new iMac.
It is wireless.
It may detach from the CPU/hard drive.
It is aluminum (in colors?).
It has the full OS X.
It may be small like the old Macinosh Classics.
Here are the links:
http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=-750
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/13/apple_tab
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/imacg5specs.html
Roger Born
writing.borngraphics.com
Please Yes (Score:3, Interesting)
Tablets do for handwritten work what word processors did for typing. Yes it's a niche, not everyone uses hand drawn notes, diagrams, etc... but it's also not a niche that's going away. A tablet computer is much preferable to lots and lots of paper notepads.
As for price... well, I need a notebook too for programming and got a combination tablet/notebook, it cost the same as other good notebooks like IBM T41 and the Powerbook with similar specifications EXCEPT the display, which is more low resolution. That is... the tradeoff was between higher resolution and the ability to write on the display... fair trade. (fwiw, keyboardless tablets seem useless to me... but they might make sense in hospitals, for delivery people, that sort of thing)
Another reason to get a tablet from Apple besides the fact that this tablet is the only reason I have to run WinXP is I suspect Apple will smooth the edges... the interface in XP Tablet is not really as pen freindly as it could be.
I hope they do this. But having said all that... Jobs has vowed not to before... he loathes the Newton experience (so I hear anyway)... so I'm not holding my breath.
It's iWalk all over again... (Score:3, Insightful)
Wake me up when we have an official word from Apple...
penmac (Score:3, Informative)
I was there. It was cool. There were lots of variations and one that went into production and was sold in Japan, briefly, before it was pulled for fear of competing with Newton.
No hard drive? (Score:5, Interesting)
If this is a tablet computer equipped to do a network boot of OS X through 802.11g, would it be possible to have the unit work as some sort of a thin client without a hard drive? Perhaps rather than a unit working independently of a computer, it would be a thin-client supplement for a desktop or laptop. I've always wondered if this could be done, because I presume that it would lengthen battery life and could be very thin in design. I would love to see a tablet computer that simply looked like a detached screen of a powerbook without all the buttons and extraneous shapes the Tablet PCs have. That may be possible by excluding a hard drive, CD/DVD drive, and keyboard from the unit.
I recall reading something that may have been a hint about this alleged product. Here's a quote from AppleInsider [appleinsider.com]...
Re:No hard drive? (Score:3, Interesting)
Obviously there's also a docking station with, eg, tablet stand and keyboard...
Would be nifty. Not sure it's wouldn't cost a jillion $.
Re:No hard drive? (Score:3, Interesting)
So, if Apple is ordering a ton of 60 GB drives from Toshiba, and if they're not used in iPods, where are those drives going? With judicious power management, and a stripped down kernel an
Have you actually USED a tablet???? (Score:3, Insightful)
My question is, have you actually USED a tablet? Not picked it up in the store, picked it up from a friends desk, but actually carried one around for a couple of weeks as your only computer?
I have been using a Compaq (yeah, it is HP, but this one is labeled a Compaq) T1000 with the transmeta chip in it.
It does have its quirks, and it is slow on the boot. Other then that, you will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. The utility of these things makes them more than worth it. You have to really need the writing functionality though.
With my job, I do a lot of "green pad" work. I have diagrams all over the place. No more with the tablet, they are all stored on the computer and easy to search. It is also great for reading all of those Intel and Motorola PDF manuals. Given, this is not a game machine, but for what I do, it is really handy.
I have run into two types of tablet users out there, and they are at the extremes. Group A are the folks that have them, hate them, and can't wait to get rid of them. This group largely uses the tablet as a laptop, and does not seem to use any of the writing functionality. Group B are the ones that use the heck out of them.
The software is still catching up. There are a couple of applications out there now that make the thing well worth it, if you need those applications.
I would not be so quick to dismiss these things outright.
One possibility (Score:3, Interesting)
Take an iBook.
Remove the keyboard and mouse, and add integrated bluetooth.
Leave in the Airport Extreme card.
Change the screen to a touch screen. Rotate it around and place it flat against the spot where the keyboard was.
Take out the FireWire, one of the two USB ports, the VGA connector, the modem, the ethernet card, and the optical drive, and replace them all with a dock connector.
Shrink the hard drive by replacing it with the new Toshiba 60 GB drive. Shrink the motherboard about the same amount.
Add a little metal stand that has the same freedom of movement that the iMac monitor arm has, but with a base that's just big enough to hold the two USBs, a FireWire port, a modem, ethernet, an integrated Airport Express, the optical drive, the power transformer, and a weight, and has an easy-to-release connector to hold the computer and a Dock connector.
Throw in a stylus, a bluetooth mouse, and a bluetooth keyboard (you can set them up using the stylus on the touchscreen).
What do you have? Maybe a 10-in iBook that's also an iMac?
I don't see this happening (Score:3, Interesting)
This history makes it a rather risky move for anyone to enter that market. I just don't see Apple making this move. I see them sticking with their excellent laptops.
Now I do see them considering more integration between computers and the iPod. Apple may well license iPod technology to other vendors than Motorola (for their upcoming iTunes compatible phone). Before too long 4gb of memory in a cell phone is going to be commonplace and that's what the iPod mini has now. I think Apple's deal with Motorola shows that Apple knows they won't be able to sell the hardware forever, so they've taken steps to move the technology beyond that.
I think an iPodPhone is a great idea. One less gadget to forget to grab on my way out the door in the morning. I don't see Apple making the phone, though, so count out your dreams of an iPhone. An iPod-white SonyEricsson T630 with 8gb of memory sounds great to me, though! Talk about a big selection of MP3 ringtones!
Re:What happened, Apple? (Score:2)
Re:What happened, Apple? (Score:5, Informative)
Not quite! I'm a big fan of PDAs and portable computing. I've owned many PDAs, including Newton Messagepad 110 (which Apple gave me when I was working at Adobe), but before that I had a Tandy 100 [old-computers.com] and an HP 100 [uta.edu] both of which pre-dated the Newton by quite a bit.
Apple coined the term "PDA" (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What happened, Apple? (Score:2)
the tablet pc is an idea that was more consumer driven, and microsoft just responded to it. probably more to enter the market now, and scare any innovation. like they've done numerous times. so, if they bomb, it's chump change. if they take off, then microsoft controls the market. whe
Re:Cost? (Score:2)
Yeah, a lot of companies sell tablet pc's. But why haven't they become the next big thing? Apple seems to be good at figuring that out. That's why people care.