

An Insider On the Apple Tablet - iag
http://gizmodo.com/5335942/an-insider-on-the-apple-tablet
Come on, you have to admit it. This article has all of us gizmo fanboys drooling.<p>ASK HN: How many of you guys would shell out $800 for this thing? Honestly. I'm thinking about buying it for my dad.
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nudded
John Gruber says it's going to be 2010 and gizmodo is wrong claiming it will
be released soon (<http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/08/13/insider-eh>)

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Devilboy
Gizmodo is just guesstimating Christmas 2009 so Jan/Feb 2010 could still be
correct

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iag
This is my first time posting... can somebody tell me how my submitted title
got changed to something else? :)

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e1ven
Hacker News has editors, mostly YC alumni, who patrol the site to delete
irrelevant articles, and try to ensure that titles are clear.

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iag
Ok... I'll refrain from "Apple WIN" titles from now on. :) Thanks!

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tlrobinson
$700-900. Hmph. Might as well buy a MacBook.

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iag
iPhones are 10 times more expensive than other cellphones out there, but
they're still selling like hot cakes wouldn't you say?

It's about the perceived value. I literally want a bigger version of my iPhone
so I can do work on the fly. $700-900 is a steep price, but I am really
considering it.

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ajross
Why a bigger iPhone and not a smaller macbook? Unless your job is almost 100%
read-bound (or sketching, I guess) I can't see this being a good replacement
for "doing work"...

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rodyancy
The majority of the market this is targeting doesn't "do work" on computers,
they consume media.

I remember after first getting my iPhone 2g, and playing with it for a day
straight, when I went back to my laptop I wanted to manipulate the UI by
touching the screen. When I say "wanted" I mean I uncousciously reached for
the screen on a couple of occasions. I got over that quickly, but it made me
consider what this form factor would be good for and whether it would sell.

I agree that this machine won't replace the laptop as a work machine. I do
think that it may be a better solution, from a UI standpoint, than the current
netbooks on the market. Have you seen people at coffee shops typing on those
things? I know it will be better than a netbook in bed or while laying on a
couch, which is were I find myself using my iPhone and not my laptop.

Also, $700 isn't that much when you consider that the Kindle is $300 and used
to be $500. Think how much more you will be able to do on an iTablet, or
whatever you want to call it.

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whatusername
"The majority of the market this is targeting doesn't "do work" on computers,
they consume media."

Very very true.

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AndrewO
My guess is it's going to be called the Newton ][.

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aichcon
The iPad would be interesting ...

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Timothee
I think that 'iPad', while interesting, wouldn't work because it's so close to
iPod that many accents would make them sound too similar.

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geuis
This is a case where I believe there is a tablet coming out, but this is
simply another unsubstantiated claim about a conversation with some dude who's
playing a dude who's playing another dude. Unless someone has an actual
freaking picture of one of the damn things, its all bunk and blog bait.

What I would really be interested in seeing are the log leaks that directly
revealed the first versions of the iPhone. I forget which site did it, but
essentially some smart admin looked through their web server logs and saw a
handful of user agents that matched up to the then unreleased mobile Safari.
Or maybe this was for the unibody Macbooks, I forget.

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jacquesm
[http://www.blogcdn.com/de.engadget.com/media/2009/08/2066969...](http://www.blogcdn.com/de.engadget.com/media/2009/08/2066969618_131dda3e08.jpg)

that might be 'shopped' ...

the image at the bottom of the article looks realistic though. Hard to tell
these days.

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alaskamiller
I find it interesting that someone, assumably high up enough in the pecking
order, is sourcing information like this. I've always been interested in the
psychology of it. What's the motivation? The cheap thrill to see your handy
work through a third party on a popular website? Cashing in on a rise in stock
(+3 today)? Or maybe it's false information being planted and this is all
sanctioned by marketing?

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TrevorJ
In a company like Apple which has a careful crafted brand image and huge
marketing clout, I the leak might not be unintentional.

The thing is, speculation _will_ happen, so it makes sense to manage it by
controlling the most credible speculation (thereby ruling out the more wildly
speculative stuff that could reflect negatively).

If it is released as a leak then Apple has no obligation to live into it if
things change, but they get to co-opt the chatter so it's the best of both
worlds.

-edit- grammar.

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TomOfTTB
That's always been one of the most ironic things about Apple. They go after
leaks without mercy but they clearly leak information themselves when it suits
them.

The best example of this I can remember is the leak that Apple would be using
Intel processors. Word got leaked the Friday before Jobs' Monday keynote and
it almost certainly came from Apple. It's a very basic PR strategy: leak
shocking news up front so people get the shock and anger out of their system
and are then somewhat open minded when you make the announcement.

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gojomo
The big question for me is whether it can mix simulateous reading and typing,
as well as a traditional hinged laptop does (with one surface for typing and
one for viewing).

Otherwise, it might prove awkward as a remote-getting-stuff-done unit -- in
libraries, cafes, airplane seats, etc.: if flat for typing, it's hard to read;
if angled for viewing, it's hard to type.

A symmetrical hinged dual touch display, as in the next-gen OLPC2 prototypes,
might do the trick. (Could lens/optical tricks make the seam nearly invisible
when flat? I wouldn't put it past Apple.)

Here's the OLPC 2.0 dual-touchscreen concept:

[http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/27/olpc-xo-2-to-include-
mult...](http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/27/olpc-xo-2-to-include-multitouch-
and-possibly-haptic-screen-from/)

[http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/olpc-2-0-dual-
touchscreen...](http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/olpc-2-0-dual-touchscreen-
mockup-surfaces-in-the-wild/)

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andreyf
I can't imagine a hinged dual display being "sexy" enough Apple. If you
absolutely need a keyboard, get a bluetooth one.

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gojomo
Trick optics or a flexible display might make it sexy enough. "Look, there's
no seam!"

But also running with your idea -- what if the unit contains an ultra-thin
detachable wireless keyboard, achieving surface-angle diversity even better
than a hinge?

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TweedHeads
"Yes...[iPad]."

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pmorici
I'm holding out for the 50" iPhone that can play Hulu.

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pmorici
I'm serious, a TV with an integrated web browser so you can watch Internet TV
on a TV w/o a hassle.

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jdoliner
Yeah let's hear some guesses as to what the name is. My guess is The Leibniz.

