
Apple tablet launch: live coverage - prat
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jan/27/apple-tablet-launch-live-coverage
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pasbesoin
I'm wondering whether there is provision for wireless keyboard and mouse. Last
week, a friend was asking whether they might substitute this for the Macbook
they are considering purchasing. Their overall computer use is pretty light
and Internet focused: Email, browsing, some light document editing (which
Google Docs or similar could handle). Having the form factor of a tablet,
without having to make two purchases, would be of use to them.

(My personal reaction to this approach was not entirely positive (e.g.
guaranteed access to data and security of same?), but I take their point.)

P.S. Or wired input accessories. Wireless just seems more intuitively in line
with the design and form factor.

Also, this was before the stronger rumors circulated about it hosting the
iPhone version of their OS, although I was speculating/suspecting about just
how locked up it would be. And without Flash (Gruber, et al.), its "general"
browsing and online document editing potential will be limited.

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roc
My guess? No.

If the tablet supports keyboards, people will think of it as half a laptop.
The keyboard will be denigrated as an unofficially-required-but-not-included
peripheral. Everyone will get stuck on the usability annoyances of lugging
around a tablet with separated keyboard and 'how do you prop up the screen'.
(Chance of integrated kick-stand is around 0)

Further, devs will get keyboards and write software that assumes people have
them too, exacerbating the above.

A pen is iffy. I don't think Apple wants anyone thinking of the tablet as
another-pen-based-mistake. Not while finger-on-iPod is such a smashing UI
success. But the upside to a stylus is pretty huge (maybe they'll attempt to
re-brand it as something else; a 'brush' perhaps).

But I think physical keyboards are right out.

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ugh
I think Apple may allow kayboards and mice but not right away. They might very
well wait two or three years to first "educate" everyone about how tablets are
supposed to work.

Just an example: I don't think it would harm the iPhone now if Apple started
to sell pens. It would have hurt the iPhone when it started.

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roc
On the contrary, I think the longer the platform goes without kb/m, the less
relevant they become. At this point, with so many people so used to touch* and
typing emails on their iphones about as quickly as they did on their
blackberry, how many people in Apple's market would choose the hassle of a BT
chiclet keyboard?

(*the most common usability complaint I hear RE: Android, is apps that don't
expose functionality through on-screen UI, iphone-style, but via the 'menu'
button)

As for pens, Apple may be content to let third parties handle that. User
expectations don't get confused, but much of their power can still be
harnessed.

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roc
For the record, I literally /facepalm'd when I saw the keyboard/dock.

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paulsmith
Naïve question: is there a live video stream of the event?

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GHFigs
There hasn't been in years. Usually a stream comes up within an hour after the
event ends.

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ntoshev
Sounds like a promotional opportunity for Justin.tv.

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mrduncan
It'd be a great opportunity for anyone doing video. I think the real reason
that they don't stream live is that the video quality usually isn't that
great. By releasing the videos later they can provide higher quality and give
it a more polished feel.

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jsz0
Given Apple's track record I'm sure this will be a wonderful device but I
think pricing is going to be a big problem for them. I would expect an iPhone
2G style price drop by summer if the price tag is over $800 as rumored.

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SwellJoe
The price issue, I think, is key. No one has mentioned, as far as I know, that
since the device is designed to be always-connected, it could be bundled with
a mobile contract (albeit a data-only plan), just like an iPhone, and thus
heavily subsidized by the carrier. While most of us know that a two year
contract is a really expensive way to get $300 knocked of the price of a
phone, it does allow for really amazing devices to have really amazing looking
prices, like $200 for the iPhone or $180 for the Nexus One. I suspect the
tablet could see a similar subsidized price (and similar lock-in to a single
carrier that made a deal with Apple, hoping for a knock out hit like the
iPhone has been for AT&T; they'll be disappointed, but the deal probably could
have been made).

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allenbrunson
looks like the screen is four times the size of an iPhone. it can run iPhone
apps, either tiled or pixel-doubled to fullscreen. it is of course tied to the
App Store. there will be an emulator to develop for it, just like the iPhone.
the new SDK and emulator is supposedly available today.

the liveblog sites are too overloaded for me to get much more than that.

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savrajsingh
I wonder if anyone is using qik.com to stream the event from their iPhone...

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thras
From the Engadget leaked photos, it looks like it has both cellular
connectivity and a front video camera. Video calling, here we come.

Still, the more I find out about the device, the less interested I am. It
looks like it's just going to be a huge iPhone. Fun, but not _useful_. And
while I miss almost nothing about my previous smartphones before the iPhone, I
do miss the ability to be able to install whatever I wanted. Locked devices
foster an entirely different application ecosystem -- one that's not super
useful for programmers, I find.

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anigbrowl
I'm with you. Although I feel sure (tr: believe without specific evidence)
that this will be a well-made device and cause even more people to throw money
in Apple's direction, and I like tablets a lot, I'd prefer something built
around a more open platform. I can live without the cellular connectivity.

Obviously Windows and Linux desktop metaphors are inappropriate for a device
of this size (the main reason they haven't taken off in this space
previously), but to my mind the front end is only a shell anyway, no?

This isn't meant to rain on Apple's parade, though. Rather, kudos to them for
pushing into new territory and bringing the future that extra step closer.

