

The Apple Tablet - adamhowell
http://daringfireball.net/2009/12/the_tablet

======
DannoHung
I think Gruber's got it right.

Of course, as a Power User, this leaves me... I dunno, miffed? Annoyed?
Agitated?

I'm like 90% sure I'm going to want this thing if _only_ for the fact that
it's an eBook reader plus other stuff, but I don't see it being able to
replace my laptop for programming when I'm away from home. That's not Apple's
fault for introducing something that doesn't completely subsume the personal
computing experience, but it leaves me somewhat anxious that now I'm going to
be carrying around an iPhone and a MacBook AND an MacLet (iSlate, iTablet,
TaBook, iWhatwever) when I go on a trip or something.

That's just too much gear! I at least hope there's some sort of unified power
solution between MacBooks or iPods and this thing.

~~~
mechanical_fish
While we're all making predictions with no basis in fact: If in fact Gruber is
right and the MacLet will not be a giant-screen iPhone, but rather an entirely
new thing intended as the future of personal computing, I predict that every
app available for the MacLet will be officially available for the MacBook. The
most straightforward would be an officially-supported MacLet emulation mode
for MacBooks.

If Apple really is going to position the MacLet OS as the next step in MacBook
evolution, they're going to want to gradually transition MacBooks, and the
bulk of their owners, toward the MacLet way of doing things. And the way to do
that is the same way that Apple has pulled off every other major architectural
transition in Mac history: Emulation.

Actually, let's have even more fun by noting that the Mac tradition has always
been the other way around: Introduce the shiny new thing, but provide
consolation by having it seamlessly [1] emulate the tired old thing. That
implies that the MacLet might have a _Mac OS X Desktop_ emulation mode, not
the other way around. Now _that_ would be interesting.

\---

[1] Well, seamlessly _enough_ to make it usable, but not so seamlessly that it
doesn't still feel tired and old. The freight train of Progress must not be
derailed!

~~~
DannoHung
To continue the baseless speculation: I think your second point would be
closer to likely because old and busted lacks the touch screen input in this
case.

------
socmoth
whenever i read these thread i think about the famous cmdrtaco quote about the
original ipod launch:

"No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."
<http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/1816257>

and that was after launch. pre-launch speculation about how it isn't worth
buying because of some hypothesized reason are mostly for fun!

~~~
minsight
Apple has a long history of releasing products that look like losers when one
compares a bullet list of features with the competition. I bought a Sansa with
twice the storage of the current ipod and grew to hate the device, despite the
fact that it won on paper. Apple's products have design and usability features
that the competition has never even considered. (one example - the dozens of
times that the magsafe connector on my MacBook has saved the day).

~~~
RyanMcGreal
I've had a Sansa for two years and have had no problems with it. It was cheap,
it's easy to use, it has good storage, it doubles as a cheap voice recorder,
it's easy to add and remove music (I use Rhythmbox on Linux or drag-and-drop
on Windows), the battery lasts a long time. I'm curious to know why you hate
yours.

~~~
minsight
Mine required manually switching from one mode to another (which ended up
being about a 3-5 minute reboot, as it had to then detect all of the music on
the device) when I wanted to add new music. I'd plug it into my mac and it
would sometimes show up and sometimes not. There were times when I'd be
attaching and detaching it over and over again for about 15 minutes. I change
my music daily (I have a long commute), so this became quite onerous and
hated.

------
SamAtt
Most important part of the article...

"But there’s one question at the top of the list, the answer to which is the
key to answering every other question. That question is this: If you already
have an iPhone and a MacBook; why would you want this?

The epigraph I used to start this piece — the bit about Steve Jobs demanding
that a tablet be useful for more than just reading on the can — indicates that
Apple will release nothing without such an answer. I agree that such an answer
is essential."

I'm no prophet so I won't even guess whether he (or everyone else for that
matter) is right or wrong on what's coming. What I will say is the "Cone of
Silence" he refers to is encouraging.

As he points out in the article the last time Apple had all the engineers drop
off the grid like this was before the iPhone launch. Given that I have to
assume Apple thinks they have something big here (on the logic of the cone's
impenetrability being proportional to how great Steve J. thinks the product
is)

~~~
wallflower
> all the engineers drop off the grid like this

"The demo was not going well..."

"By January 2007, when Jobs announced the iPhone at Macworld, only 30 or so of
the most senior people on the project had seen it."

[http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_ipho...](http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/16-02/ff_iphone)

------
stcredzero
Here's my bit of wild-eyed far-out speculation:

A lot of people are speculating that the killer app for the Apple Tablet will
be X or that it will be Y. However, the bigger picture involves the following:

    
    
        - What major inconvenience does it solve?
        - What Possibilites inherent in the form factor?
        - How will it fit into the Apple ecosystem?
        - How will it fit into the general ecosystem?
    

At least 3 out of 4 of these are key questions for _any_ Apple product.

Major inconvenience solved:

I believe that the Apple Tablet will be a UMPC. It will have enough memory to
store all of your personal data (perhaps not including video content). I would
be the ultimate solution to all sync problems. In true UMPC fashion, you would
be able to conveniently carry your data with you _everywhere_ including on the
plane. It will act as a "hub" for such data.

Possibilites inherent in the form factor:

Everything the iPhone is a little too small for. An agenda can work on the
iPhone screen, but it would be _much_ better on a 7" or 10" screen. A 7" or
10" screen is large enough to be a digital "Moleskine" or sketchbook. It is
comfortably large enough to be a whole house remote control. It can serve as a
richer augmented reality interface than an iPhone. Photo touchup in the field
-- better on a larger screen than the iPhone.

How will it fit into the Apple ecosystem?

Everything will sync to the tablet. The tablet will be primary store of such
information. Mobile Me will be the web accessible copy. The iMac will be there
for an even richer input/display and have the computing/graphics horsepower
for serious work. Laptops will get phased out, in favor of inexpensive,
lightweight input/display clamshells. (Bonjour is the key to Apple's future!)

How will it fit into the general ecosystem?

The UMPC will come into its own. Laptops & netbooks will die off, become the
purchase of those who can only afford one piece of kit, or morph into high-end
specialist machines.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
_Laptops will get phased out, in favor of inexpensive, lightweight
input/display clamshells._

This is a pipe dream until we either get a better input device than the
keyboard (speech?) or we no longer need to move text from our brains to our
computers. Until then, people need keyboards, which means that tablets won't
overtake laptops. Just my .02. Hope Apple has something revolutionary enough
up their sleeve to prove me wrong.

~~~
swolchok
Let's take it as granted that you and I can type faster than we can write for
many kinds of inputs. Can Joe Six-Pack?

~~~
barrkel
Where people are motivated to type rapidly, they do so quite effectively,
especially when young and communicating with their peers.

------
mlapeter
Maybe it's just me, but I could see many uses for a tablet beyond just reading
in the bathroom or in bed. For any job where you're standing/ walking and
taking notes (real estate agents, etc), it's awkward to try to open a macbook,
and the iphone is too tedious.

Pair a tablet with a solid voice to text app, and it'd be pretty useful for
lawyers, reporters, etc.

~~~
wendroid
You mean something like an Apple Newton?

~~~
access_denied
Without the arkward pen?

------
sdh
I just want a DRAWING tablet from Apple!!! The smallest Cintiq is a thousand
bucks and I have to have a computer attached to it! Give me a drawing tablet
that I can also read PDFs on (and wireless on a pricier model) and I'll be all
set.

Also, I want color. If it isn't color, I'll just buy a kindle.

I don't care about keyboard. iPhone style is painful, but I'll endure. Bonus
points if it can recognize handwriting.

------
GBKS
A table will not replace a computer that is used for a desk job like
programming, I think it will be a great multi-purpose device for more casual,
every-day activities. Pretty exciting to think about the possibilities.
Letting my mind roam for a few seconds, here are some ideas.

\- Note taking: can it be good enough to work like a pen on paper? \- Clip to
a portable dock to use like a laptop/desktop \- Perfect for presentations and
meetings where a laptop may be too bulky \- Hang it on the wall and show
photos \- Reading recipes in the kitchen \- Maps and GPS (especially with
voice input/output) \- No more printing required, the tablet works as a
companion to my desktop/laptop \- Video chat \- Browsing, reading, videos \-
Access to light-weight web apps, email, docs, etc

Developers got incredibly creative with iPhone apps (like the Ocarina app),
I'm sure there will be a ton of simple, surprising applications coming out of
the ecosystem.

------
epall
The two best killer apps I've heard of for the iTablet are gaming and
magazines. It seems likely to me that this will be the first Apple device with
Apple silicon for the CPU, and from what I hear that means it's going to have
some serious 3D muscle. The magazine bid is riskier, but has significant
payoff. The Kindle isn't going to deliver gorgeous full-color content any time
soon, but the iTablet surely will. I predict games and magazines will be the
killer apps for the iTablet.

~~~
prawn
Some game-changing plan involving magazines and news publishing seems likely
to me. Fixed-format, locked down accounts, etc. Bold interactive ads with
audience data potentially tied to specific user info. Whatever Apple does, it
will be bold.

I'm not convinced, however, that gaming will be a major part of it.

------
xsmasher
There's a large gulf in battery life between phones and laptops - there are
plenty of times where I'd like to browse something on my laptop, but I don't
feel like getting the charger from the other room and plugging in. So a device
that gets 8-12hrs battery life under use would have a different use profile.

There are also apps like instant messengers, skype, email etc. that you'd like
to be always-on. The iPhone is a one-app-at-a-time, goes-to-sleep often device
that's not well suited to those applications.

Slapping in a user-facing camera for video calls would also differentiate it
from the iPhone.

~~~
chaosmachine
Putting a user-facing camera in a tablet device sounds hard. It works in
laptops because they're fixed in place, and it could work in a phone because
they're easy to hold with one hand. A tablet would probably be too big/heavy
to hand-hold. Putting it on a flat surface wouldn't work either, unless the
camera could swivel somehow, and Apple isn't really big on moving parts.

~~~
die_sekte
I think that there are some patents by Apple which describe cameras behind the
screen. Say thay use multiple Nano 5th Gen cameras and some magic to
scale/whatever.

------
richcollins
No one seems to see the true potential for disruptive change in a tablet --
that you can ditch the mouse and use all 10 fingers (or some subset thereof)
to control the UI. This is a much more natural way to interact with things and
might increase productivity by an order of magnitude for a large number of
tasks.

~~~
dmix
Unless the tablet is big enough your hands will be covering up a big portion
of the screen.

Also, unless is can partially fold, your head will either be facing down to
look at the screen or if it's vertical your hands will be raised to type. Both
of these things are terrible for long term use ergonomics.

I see the benefit for travelling or as a household device. But I don't think
touch screen technology has shown potential for increase productivity with any
full-time/professional use.

Besides, I use 10 fingers to control the UI on my macbook.

~~~
richcollins
You're assuming a few things:

1\. Covering up the screen is a problem.

I can see how it could work to cover the screen while manipulating but move
your hands to the side when you aren't.

2\. A drafting setup is terrible from an ergonomic perspective.

Is there a history of overuse injury in people that work at drafting tables?

------
wallflower
My guess is Apple will handle the hard part (the interactive book/magazine
interface) and allow publishers to just work on publishing their content in a
series of well-defined feeds to iTunes.

In my mind, the real killer app for the iTablet is rich, collaborative, social
catalog shopping. Why can't they make J. Crew catalogs come to life? Where is
the interactive Amazon.com catalog? Thinking further in this direction, I
believe advertisements on the iTablet may go beyond traditional ads.

The most intriguing part of the iTablet is the what-if's

What if Apple were able to convince the top 25 textbook publishers that it
would be a good thing to have iTablet textbooks, I think that would be a major
selling point for college students.

What if they finally cracked the problem of voice recognition or handwriting
recognition by doing the hard computations in the cloud?

What if the on-demand tactile keyboard patent has actually been implemented?

Popular Science's mockup done by publisher Bonnier’s R&D group with design
firm BERG (hot articles)

[http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/our-
vision-...](http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/our-vision-
future-magazines)

Wonderfactory's mockup of an interactive Sports Illustrated magazine on a
tablet (linked statistics):

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntyXvLnxyXk>

~~~
gcheong
"What if they finally cracked the problem of voice recognition or handwriting
recognition by doing the hard computations in the cloud?"

I wouldn't want my tablet to require an internet connection for the UI, but in
my mind an effortless handwriting interface is what a tablet computer implies.
When taking notes or writing letters,drawing, or even coding is as effortless
as pen on paper, with all the advantages of a digital document, that is when
tablet computing will have come of age.

------
jsz0
My guess is the tablet will run Touch OS 4 and the 4th generation iPone/Touch
will inherit most of the new features as well. A multi-tasking UI, Expose,
widgets. All would be welcome additions to the iPhone. You've already got the
concept of a Dock so extending it to be a multi-tasking UI seems obvious. The
iPhone would benefit from a user home directory that was accessible between
all applications. If we have an E-Reader app for books, magazines, catalogs,
etc it seems like they would extend this to the iPhone/Touch as well offering
content formatted for the smaller screen seamlessly. The only area of
difference I can think of would be the need for a windowing system on a 10"
display. It probably wouldn't make sense to limit developers only to full-
screen applications with a higher resolution display. This might be a clever
way to offer iPhone/Touch application compatibility to the tablet. Instead of
restricting access to these apps, or automatically scaling them full-screen,
why not just run them in a window?

~~~
xsmasher
Rumor has it that some iPhone app devs were asked to retool their apps to
allow "full screen" use by removing any assumptions about screen size. That
supports the idea that the tablet runs the iPhone OS, not OS X.

------
cpr
I don't think there's any question, based on rumors and on Apple's (perceived)
DNA, that it'll have a high-res (OLED?) 10" screen and some kind of on-screen
tactile feedback (see recent rumors & patents).

I.e., for Jobs to be extremely pleased with it, it must have at least 2-3
major hardware breakthroughs, outside of any software/content breakthroughs.

So plan for the above plus CPU/GPU real power from an Apple-designed
ARM+graphics chip, plus some whizzy new (unreplaceable, of course) battery
technology.

I have to imagine it'll also come with a couple of breakthrough apps like an
interactive catalog (see the leaked Ikea mockup) and some kind of virtual-
paper-like (or better) interactive magazine/newspaper reader.

Jobs wouldn't be happy unless it completely leapfrogged people's expectations.

------
angelbob
I don't know whether this is what Apple's doing.

But I recommend people keep thinking this way -- if it's not what Apple's
doing, then _you_ should go do it ;-)

------
ynniv
You know, I could do much of my daily work from my iPhone, if only it let me
run multiple, unsigned, applications and use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
Add an external monitor port and USB for drives and printers, and I'm happy.
The iPhone 3G is already as powerful as a mid 90's desktop.

~~~
grinich
You just described the MacBook Air.

~~~
barrkel
But the macbook air is very big and heavy. It's even bigger and heavier than
my PC laptop.

~~~
alastair
dont know if 'very big and heavy' is how i would describe the air

~~~
barrkel
It certainly is compared to an ipod touch, which seems to be the appropriate
comparison wrt a tablet for walk-and-compute scenarios. It is also rather
unwieldy, IMHO, due to the large screen size. I prefer my Toshiba Portege;
it's both lighter and smaller in the dimensions that I care about.

------
axod
A tablet isn't more portable than a netbook. It's less functional, doesn't
have any protection for the screen, no way to stand up the screen to a good
viewing angle, no keyboard.

It's a dead duck. Don't know why this is news to anyone.

~~~
glhaynes
I _almost_ agree, but it seems clear now that Apple is working intensely on
just such a product. They've earned trust that they just simply don't
introduce things of such large scale that are fatally flawed.

~~~
bmalicoat
I think you're right. I also don't see the point declaring something a dead
duck before it has been seen (or even announced!). Apple understand what a
good consumer product is, the only not stellar product they've had in a while
was the Apple TV and even that did not bomb. I definitely think it is wise to
wait and see.

Personally with a laptop and a smart phone, I'm interested to see how they can
make it appeal to me, but I'm willing to let them try.

------
tungstenfurnace
Tablets will be great for small children, who will interact with educational
software using their right forefingers on the touchscreen.

Tablets will eventually be cheap, rugged and capable of being turned on
quickly. (Perhaps a convergence with electronic paper will occur.) They can be
left lying around in the play area. No chair/desk/keyboard arrangement will be
required.

One upshot of this is that educational software will get much, much better
than it is now.

------
10ren
The input method is what stops the iPhone from being a "general computer". The
iPhone is read-mostly. Great for web-browsing and games, but while you _can_
write emails/documents on it, it's... sub-optimal. Without a better input
method, a tablet is just a bigger iPhone, for which smaller == better.

Therefore, this "tablet" either has a keyboard; or something comparable (or
better!) - maybe that cool MS idea of seeing your fingers _through_ the
device, as you type on the back, and see ghosts on the front; or... it doesn't
exist.

Steve's problem: Moore's Law means that by next June, the iPhone could be 4
times as powerful. But doing so would alienate the customer base, so current
iPhones are only about 10% more powerful. Fine. But this opens a competitive
opportunity... which Steve can block with a "show pony" device, that is
essentially a 4 x iPhone in power, but doesn't compete directly with the
iPhone. The purpose is to claim the tech + cool leadership, not to make real
money.

~~~
kscaldef
Effective typing requires good tactile feedback, not being able to see your
fingers.

~~~
GHFigs
Apple has filed a number of patent applications for tactile feedback on touch
screens in the last year or two.

------
zmimon
I think the tablet has plenty of uses, but it's the flaws that hold it back.
We actually have a tablet at home and it was very useful on the couch and in
various other roles. However there are a couple of features that are a must
for such a device that I can't see being able to be provided easily:

1\. I must be able to drop it from 6ft onto a hard surface and do zero damage

2\. I must be able to pour a whole cup of coffee on it with zero ill effect

3\. It must be able to be stolen with a cost to me of less than $50

These are the killer problems for me that make it an unsuitable thing for
'casual' use. If I have to treat it with kid gloves, watch it like a hawk
whenever I put it down in public, assume a posture of paranoia about food and
drink while I'm around it .... then it's just a failure at its main purpose.

~~~
GHFigs
How do you reconcile those being "musts" with the wild success of products
that don't have them? Not even paper satisfies all of those supposed
necessities.

~~~
zmimon
Point taken. I would say that satisfying point 3 relieves the need to satisfy
point 2 (if I can replace it for less than $50 then I can handle the
possibility of coffee getting poured on it). So paper works.

~~~
philfreo
... and how about the success of the iPhone? It barely passes #1...

~~~
zmimon
Well, it's not trying to be a "tablet", so it's not lying around the living
room. 95% of the time it's sitting in your pocket when not in use, very safe
and comfortable.

------
frankus
I wrote a couple of blog posts on this, but here's the summary:

My secret hope is that it has an eInk screen that slides down to reveal an
LCD, at which point the eInk acts as a reconfigurable keyboard for netbook-
style interaction.

I'm also wondering if it might instead have a couple of 7" screens arranged
Nintendo DS-style (that would add up to 10"). You could, in a pinch, run
unmodified iPhone apps on one screen with a keyboard and/or dock on the lower
screen. And it would make a great two-page-at-a-time eBook reader.

I also think mobile videoconferencing might be a feature that's given a major
push, since MacBooks don't have built-in mobile data connections and iPhones
don't have user-facing cameras.

~~~
ugh
Apple tends to shy away from kludgy solutions. Which is why I don’t think you
will ever see something like you described from Apple.

(Not to say that your imagined product wouldn’t be nice to have for at least
some people. It’s just not in Apple’s DNA to do something like that. Just one
example: The Nintendo DS is great product but also something you would never
ever – ever! – see from Apple.)

All-things-Apple-Disclaimer: I could be horribly wrong.

------
saturdayplace
The big question for the tablet is "What niche does this fill?" To be
successful, it's going to have a handful of pre-packaged use cases (the
iPhone/Touch had web browsing, mail, mp3 player, calling) and share the
iPhone's support for apps.

The niche question gets answered by 3rd party developers who are sure to come
up with more brilliant ideas for use cases than Apple's engineers will on
their own. Already in the comments here people have stated the niche they'd
like this to fill for them. The draw for a tablet arises from the combination
of nice form factor + portability + the apps that nails my niche.

Maybe I really should pick up some Cocoa...

------
jamie
Surprisingly, it sounds like some of the guesses aren't too far off from the
Microsoft Courier concept. I have to say, some of the ideas in that concept of
a persistent, everyday computing device sound compelling. Something half way
between an interactive moleskin and a kindle.

[http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-
microsof...](http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-
secret-tablet)

I wouldn't be surprised to see apple co-opt some of the interactions of a
physical notebook. It would fold up in fit in a small messenger bag pretty
easily.

~~~
jamie
Also, it would be a throwback to how people worked before laptops. If you've
ever been in a meeting where 20 people sit around a conference table and talk
over their laptops, you'll recognize that as much value the laptop brings to
the meeting; it's distracting having a physical object that's 11" tall
blocking your body and attention.

I liked it better when people showed up to meetings with paper notebooks.

------
aufreak3
Compared to some of the other frenzied write ups about the coming of the great
white tablet, I liked this one. It felt like an honest and intelligent
rumination with an undercurrent of anticipation about the device. Good job.

------
alain94040
My view: a newspaper reader. Everyone reads the news. No one reads books
anymore. Expect a content deal so that I can get major newspapers, in a
pleasant format, and read them on my couch when I come home.

Plus a web browser, video player. That should be good enough to make a very
interesting product.

Pointing out issues with the current iPhone software that wouldn't work _as
is_ on a larger screen is calling Apple engineers stupid. I don't think they
are.

~~~
dunstad
_No one reads books anymore._

Explain why libraries are still operational, please.

~~~
gcheong
Free wi-fi/internet access?

~~~
dunstad
Made me laugh, but McDonald's has that plus food.

~~~
GHFigs
McDonald's does not provide computers, though. People who patronize the
library for internet access the most are those who don't own a computer at
all. In other countries, this role is often filled by internet cafes, but they
never really caught on in the U.S.

~~~
dunstad
Excellent point. I suppose books could be kept in libraries for atmosphere,
even if nobody used them. Funny how a sensible point, when approached from the
wrong angle, can be rendered nonsensical.

------
sker
Sorry for the meta-comment but why does this article has so many votes?

I read the whole thing and it's nothing more than pure speculation and
"analisys." What I took from it is that The Apple Tablet will be a full
working device like the many tablets we've seen since the beginning of the
decade.

Is the author someone famous in the Valley or something?

~~~
dreyfiz
The author's analysis is top-notch because he actually understands what the
newest incarnation of Apple is about, unlike most of the people who write
about Apple.

~~~
sker
I think the author's writing skills are top-notch. The article was
entertaining to read from the beginning to the end and he looks like a smart
guy with great ideas.

That said, I don't think his analysis is that great in this particular
article, that's why I quoted the word analysis in my original post. Like I
said, this feels like pure speculation backed by intuition on the author's
part. His analysis doesn't use any sort of sales numbers or statistics to show
where the market is heading and why Apply would take certain decisions.

~~~
DougBTX
_this feels like pure speculation backed by intuition on the author's part_

Yes, it feels like that. Since he explicitly says as much in the article. Few
other Apple pundits are so self-aware.

------
carterschonwald
Here's the key technical innovation which I think would open the door to
really cool tablets, apple or otherwise. Fast refresh rate e-ink style
displays (presumably with some manner of touch and/or stylus sensitive
screen). That combination would (at least for me) make it the perfect reading
and note taking tool.

~~~
quan
Even with such innovation, it would never match the iPhone touchscreen and I
don't think Apple is willing to compromise like that. If Apple do think in
this direction, I think it's more practical for them to have 2 equal size
screens, an iPhone-like touchscreen for videos, games, and dynamic web
browsing and an e-ink screen for reading books, magazine, and static web
contents. The touchscreen can be used to control and navigate the e-ink screen
(think of your laptop monitor being the eink screen and the keyboard being the
touchscreen). It can be folded in like a laptop to protect the 2 screens or
fold out (with both screens on the outside) when in used.

Now that is one way Apple will convince me to drop updwards of $600 despite
owning a Macbook, iPhone, and a Kindle.

~~~
city41
Two equal size screens is not Apple though. They are all about simplicity and
being directly obvious. They've even managed to work it so their laptops just
have one big surface for a trackpad. They never even released a mouse that had
two physical buttons.

~~~
extension
It might work if they can sandwhich the two screens together, so it just looks
like one screen that changes modes.

------
gfodor
The keyboard problem is a non-issue. On the go, you use the screen. When you
place it in its nice shiny iPhone-esque dock at home, the screen is upright
and a wireless keyboard and mouse can be used and it looks and feels like a
PC.

~~~
jsz0
In a mobile scenario you could have something like an empty laptop shell as a
case. No display, no guts. The tablet docks into the top half and the bottom
half is a keyboard. Probably wouldn't be any larger than today's MacBook.

------
JulianMorrison
There's a better reason why Apple won't build an e-reader. Kindle already owns
the high end - it's the ipod of ebooks - and Apple has no interest in playing
in a market where all the pressure is to simplify and undercut.

~~~
zmimon
So how do you explain the iPhone? The smart phone market was well and truly
catered for when Apple entered there. Apple's primary method of business is to
price themselves in a tier above everyone else but to provide a (perceived or
real) value proposition that makes people buy it anyway.

~~~
JulianMorrison
They could still _cut in on top_. Which they can't on e-readers. Kindle is
already pushing the technology to its present day limits.

~~~
zmimon
Sure ... but I think Apple has a way of redefining the "high end". Smart
phones were already considered expensive when Apple launched the iPhone.

~~~
JulianMorrison
The problem is e-ink. Right now it's grody grey, monochrome, and has a 1/2
second refresh time. Apple can't work with that.

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colinplamondon
My bet is that it has a PixelQi screen- eink mode that does everything the
Kindle does, but better, and then a normal mode for web browsing, email, media
content, and applications.

~~~
Herring
Nope, it's normal screens.

[http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/12/28/apple_orders_1...](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/12/28/apple_orders_10_inch_tablet_displays_and_robust_glass_panels.html)

~~~
mbreese
Let's be honest... no one really knows.

The Taiwan papers aren't known for their accuracy when it comes to parts
orders for Apple. Also, who's not to say that Pixel Qi is licensing their IP
to Foxconn for the actual glass production?

~~~
wooster
Yeah, Pixel Qi is fabless, so any production is done by someone else.

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vorg
It'll be fold-up like a netbook, same size, no keyboard or mouse, but with 2
screens, both touch-sensitive, but one with a texture you can feel, so you can
type on it easily. When you unfold it 180 degrees and tilt it around, it'll
act like one big screen you can watch movies on.

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maxklein
The tablet is going to be an iPhone and iPod Touch accessory. That's what will
sell this thing, and that's what they will have in there. A tight integration
with the tens of millions of mobile devices out there.

~~~
jacquesm
I figure it will be the other way around, with the phone and ipod accessories
to the tablet.

After all a tablet can pack just a bit more punch than either a phone or an
mp3 player. Use it as a speakerphone or with a headset and you could lose the
phone entirely if you're taking the tablet with you.

Same interface, bigger screen.

Think iphone on steroids.

~~~
maxklein
It will be a way to get your pics off your iphone. Play your music loud.
Transfer files to iPhone. You drop it on your desk, 'dock' your phone by
dropping it on it and there you go.

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c00p3r
Just a traffic-sucking piece of keyword-stuffed blah-blah-blah. Good SEO.

