iTablet: scam or spoof?
I'm not
sure if this is a spoof, a scam, a fake, or a pipe dream, but a group of individuals are offering tablet modded iBooks on eBay. Why, you may ask,
am I so skeptical of the purported iTablet? Oh, just a hunch. Take for example this small tidbit from the website's top
page:"The image above is a very close approximation of what iTablet should look like when constructed. The iTablet is not built yet. We will build them as they are sold. And they are going on sell today! We are selling them one at a time, through eBay auctions."
The "are going on sell today" aside, this entire enterprise smells of fiction not fact. You'd have better luck trying to recreate Joseph DeRuvo Jr.'s home-brew version.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mrtotes said 2:11PM on 1-11-2006
Well it makes sense that the one USB port is taken up to provide the touch screen connectivity without them re-building the iBook too much. The "we don't fix them" sounds too honest for a scammer as does the bonkers "No handwriting recognition. The touchscreen technology used in iTablet is not compatible with InkWell, Apple's handwriting recognition technology. " This does quite sound like some bloke in his shed modding an iBook.
Reply
Neil said 2:11PM on 1-11-2006
What a great idea for Apple. A tablet iBook (or MacBook) would be perfect for the student market the iBook already fits into.
Reply
Mary said 2:12PM on 1-11-2006
re: tablet In my experience and what I have read of scams they are usually written in bad English and really make no sense as this one does. They also usually want payment through Western Union. So beware, be aware!
Reply
Michael Kalus said 2:27PM on 1-11-2006
Oh, they are so going to get spanked by Apples Legal team. The site design, the name.......
Poof goes the iTablet.
Reply
Jacob Varghese said 2:31PM on 1-11-2006
Why would people want a Tablet PC? I don't get it. Handwriting software is still not perfect. Wouldn't a small laptop (10-12") be a better choice?
Reply
shrimp said 2:58PM on 1-11-2006
it doesn't support ink well and doesn't come with any handwriting recognition.
sign the Mac tablet petttion
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/tablet_mac/
Reply
jonas said 3:00PM on 1-11-2006
microsoft seems to think that tablets are something for the future. they're investing large amounts of money into the tablet business and have some interesting stuff going on (check out the videos over at channel 9.)
i bet apple is going to do a tablet mac someday. but not until prices drop a bit more, and students start using them :D
Reply
yonatron said 3:15PM on 1-11-2006
I used to go along with the "why do people want a Tablet PC" argument until I started wanting one. And it's not because I want handwriting recognition. I want a laptop where I can draw on the screen. I'm in college (again, after many years) and have been debating getting a laptop for note-taking. I was in a class where some kid was typing away and saw the professor draw a relevant diagram. He picked up his stylus and copied it.
I can't do that with a mouse or trackpad, and I'm certainly not gonna carry a Wacom around with me.
That said, those of us who want to draw on our laptops and/or turn 'em into sketch pads are probably too small a market for Apple to try and appeal to, so I'm not expecting a tablet Mac soon.
W/R/T to the people selling the "iTablet": even if they're gonna come through, why the hell would anyone buy this without having any indication that these people know what they're doing? If they don't have any pictures, it would seem as though they haven't even tried to build one yet. I hope nobody is stupid enough to bid on this before eBay yanks the auction and Apple shuts down the site.
Reply
xSmurf said 3:16PM on 1-11-2006
I believe this old MacMod article is "somewhat" related ;)
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
I believe this old MacMod article is "somewhat" related ;)
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
Reply
JC said 5:07PM on 1-11-2006
This is very do-able and the price is right in range of the components that are needed to make this work. I have all the pieces (and when I say pieces i really mean pieces cause their in a pile in my office right now). I have the touch screen, the spare display, logic boards, batteries, etc..... I have been trying every trick in the book to "spoof" OS X into thinking I have a Wacom tablet plugged in, to turn on Inkwell. So far I can't get it to work unless I actually plug in the tablet. So if anyone knows how to "hack" Inkwell, please please PLEASE pass it along!
As soon as that is done, then I have a machine shop guy ready to crank these things out! :P
Reply