Mac GUI City :: iTablet Thread

cactus · **Citizen** Topic Starter

With speculation mounting that Apple will announce its new iTablet on 26th or possibly 27th January, here's a place to discuss your expectations, wants and rumours about this (still hypothetical) new device.
If the iPod and iPhone pathways are followed, the second generation models in 2011 will be far superior to the original. But there's something about being first to have one. What do you think ?

Do you want one ?
What features would you like ?
What features do you think it will have ?
Will it actually be useful or just a coffee shop poseur's toy ?

Dog Cow · **Mayor**

I wouldn't mind having one, sure, if it were a gift or something. I probably wouldn't pay for one.

As for utility: for centuries, man has gotten work done seated behind a desk, whether with pen in hand, typewriter at the ready, or at the computer console. I can't imagine this paradigm changing any time soon.

jamie-jamie · **Citizen**

The computer just became the next step in the guy-at-desk equation. I think that the tablet computer is the next step in the whiz-bang-cool consumer gadget equation. Would I enjoy one? Maaaaybe. Will I get one? I kinda doubt it.

Christopher · **Citizen**

I don't want one because I don't need something as portable.
I'd like it to be rather powerful so that it lasts longer than 6 months.
USB 3.0, Firewire 800(or 1600 if that ever happens), full size dvi jack, multi-touch with slide out keyboard and trackpad.

cactus · **Citizen** Topic Starter

I'd like one, but I'll probably wait for the second generation machine with more processors, twice the storage (flash ???) and a better battery. Experience with early incarnations of hardware have not been good, so I'll watch and wait. The Snow Leopard Gonk

experience also encourages this attitude. Unless the hardware looks VERY good - just like a small iMac.

I'm expecting the iTablet to cost more than I'd expect, more than I'd like, so it becomes an exercise in justification of cost vs. use. If as some suggest, it's just a way for Apple to sell media from the Apple-store or Amazon, then the iTablet's not for me.

My main concerns are about connectivity. I like the multitude of sockets on the back of Apple desktops (and my Samsung TVs) because that means they are versatile and can be connected to lots of hardware. That makes the kit versatile beyond Apple's imagination.

Wireless connection as with the Air Book is fine and dandy, but means that you need extra gizmos to connect other hardware or just can't. Extra gizmos to carry around reduce the portability aspect. I'm not really in the market for something to pose in WiFi-capable coffee shops etc. as I don't use the overpriced coffee shops in the UK.

I guess my main use would be as backup to a digital camera on the move, taking notes on my photographs, but what's wrong with my (good-enough-technology) cheap paper notebook and biro ? So as a minimum I'd need USB connectivity for my camera and similar mobile gizmos. (There are some nice, portable USB oscilloscopes around with a footprint that would happily sit under a tablet.) In fact many things connect by USB these days, so several USB ports would be good, but I hope Apple use standard connectors, not fragile miniature ones to save space.
Same with DVI sockets. In my view Apple made a mistake with non-standard minature sockets on their LED Display, limiting it's use to notebooks although otherwise I'd have considered one for my Mac Pro.

Also despite my comment about coffee shops, I'd value being able to connect, tweak and download from my web site on the move. Downloading log files for example would be useful as otherwise they turnover and are lost during a long holiday. Worth the cost of a coffee or maybe look for a free WiFi outlet at a Waterstones bookshop.

As to the OS, I'll stick my neck out here. I'd like a (cut-down?) version of OS X that will allow some OS X applications to be installed. Not just Apple-approved applications from the Apple-store as with the iPhone. If it's substantially the same OS as on my desktop, that would save time and effort. Probably wishful thinking.

Apple say we will be surprised by how we interact with the iTablet. That could be voice command, but it's scarcely usable in Apple's desktops machines. Not by non-Americans anyway and with obvious differences in pronunciation across America, I wonder how many Yanks actually find voice control useful.

I'm guessing a 3D GUI like coverflow, but working up and down as well as sideways. And I'm guessing a gesture-driven way of communication using one or more built-in cameras. Not sure I'll like that, but it seems to be the way that computer geeks think we should work. I'd expect the screen to be touch sensitive as well.

Some pundits deny that the iTablet will have a camera. Why would Apple do that when a camera is built into every laptop and newish displays and iPods ? So I'm going to guess that there will be at least one camera watching you.

Dog Cow · **Mayor**

Just imagine using a camera in a tablet: you have to hold up this huge thing, aim it, and so on. Ha! Laughing

Christopher · **Citizen**

Well the date all the geek pages said it would has just been confirmed. 27th Jan.

cactus · **Citizen** Topic Starter

Dog Cow wrote:

Quote: Just imagine using a camera in a tablet: you have to hold up this huge thing, aim it, and so on. Ha! Laughing

What you describe as "huge" is probably only ten inches long.
Just hold the device so your face (or other body part) appears on the screen.
Like using a shaving mirror. Simples !

Dog Cow · **Mayor**

cactus wrote:

Quote:

Dog Cow wrote:

Quote: Just imagine using a camera in a tablet: you have to hold up this huge thing, aim it, and so on. Ha! Laughing

What you describe as "huge" is probably only ten inches long.

That's still larger than a conventional camera, isn't it?

Christopher · **Citizen**

If I'd get a tablet, I'd like it to be mounted in my car with 3G so I can stream internet radio or something like that. Or if I was self employed, I'd use it while walking around a person's house, writing up the sales ticket or quote. The machine would then be networked to a wireless printer of sorts so I can just pop into my vehicle and give it to the customer.

cactus · **Citizen** Topic Starter

At around a thousand dollars I guess it won't stay in your car too long. And that's the downside of all these pretty toys. You have to pretty well keep them in your hand all the time. Even then there are plenty of muggers ....

Tablets seem to be pretty standard in the later incarnations of Star Trek. Don't have the styling of Apple products though.

Dog Cow · **Mayor**

I'd want a tablet which could fold up, so I could slip it in my jacket pocket. Seems like having to lug it around like a laptop would be counter-productive.

cactus · **Citizen** Topic Starter

I'd prefer a tablet around A4 sized so I could read a document with a reasonable number of words on a page without straining. Less of a problem for the young.

That's what I wonder about the Star Trek versions. Crew members don't seem to have to look at them for long to assimilate a report, but they don't appear big enough to display many lines per screen.

Christopher · **Citizen**

cactus wrote:

Quote: At around a thousand dollars I guess it won't stay in your car too long. And that's the downside of all these pretty toys. You have to pretty well keep them in your hand all the time. Even then there are plenty of muggers ....

Which is why most self employed people in my area use old cheapy computers to do there work on.

jamie-jamie · **Citizen**

I guess for me it's that question of... is there anything that a tablet would let me do that can't be done with a combination of my computer and iPhone?

For grabbing little bits of information or quick communication, the iPhone is perfect. For getting things done, the computer is perfect. I can call, text, and tweet on the iPhone. I can write, read, and code on the Macintosh.

I just fear that the tablet would be too much computer to be convenient but not enough to be useful.

Maybe the big thing is that I've never done the new media thing. I don't "consume content on myriad devices." I watch TV and movies on my 30" TV. I watch Angry Videogame Nerd and Nostalgia Critic on my computer and iPhone. Computers and phones are much better suited to music-video scale things. Five to ten minutes is great. Any longer than that and it gets tedious.

In my opinion, of course. YMMV.