Due diligence on the Asus/Apple tablet rumor

What I want is a light-weight, fairly full-function computer, good battery time, wireless everything including N, including 160+GB HD, CD/DVD reader/writer and LightScribe, with standard appearance and swivel hinge to make a laptop, and touchscreen/stylus operation available, good price AND be an Intel dual processor Mac. I don't want a teeny thing, but could compromise some screen size (to about 10.4" -12") for weight (less than 4 lb) and portability. At my desk, I would just plug into a bigger screen and keyboard/mouse for ease of use.

The HP TX 1320 US satisfies that description very well, except it is not a Mac. Also, the Panasonic ToughBooks have the nicest implementation of a CD/DVD drive I've seen: a lid on the keypad region; this permits use of smaller (camera-size) CDs. I don't care about the not invented here syndrome. If Apple copied the 1320/ToughBook but made it a Mac, I am sure it would be even better done, and I would buy it like a flash.

Hey Steve, iText is your next Killer App!

While patiently awaiting a replacement for my 12" PB G4, I keep running across rumors of a Mac Tablet. Why would anyone want a tablet, unless they were a UPS delivery guy or some sales representative who had to gather signatures? Then when hefting my son's textbook laden 30 pound backpack out of the back of my car, it dawned on me. Apple needs to create the iText.

Imagine using Apple's content negotiating savvy with text book publishers like they currently work with the music and video content industries. In this case, working out mega deals with school districts and universities worldwide for textbooks with live links to constantly updated content. Textbook publishers would have an outlet for copyright protected content while no longer having to go through the expense of hardback publishing and distribution. The revenue sharing possibilities would inject Apple with cash just like the iPod universe has done.

E-books have been done (see Amazon's Kindle), but they're lame because they don't offer any advantage over purchasing a $1.99 paperback that can fit in your back pocket. But with text books, this opens a whole new world of possibilities. I was just joking with my daughter that it was too bad she couldn't Google her American History text book to find out what significant event occurred in the middle colonies in the mid 1600's. Imagine using a touch interface to zoom in on graphs and multimedia content, or to pull up an instant reference, Google search, or dictionary citation. Flipping through pages would be a natural application for a touch interface and notepad (iText).

Swapping 30 pounds of hardback texts for a sleek 1 pound tablet would be a no-brainer. Built-in WiFi and bluetooth would enable teachers to send e-mail homework assignments, checklists, and (Apple iBoard) notes, while also enabling students to submit classroom assignments and tests wirelessly. In addition to the touch interface, they could use bluetooth keyboards, or have keyboards built into their school desks that the iText would dock into to charge.

The market for this would be huge. Unlike most notepads, which target a very small sales force/delivery/healthcare market, this could mean a iText for every single public school student in the country. Can you imagine the power of having your product in the hands of all those
kids? Let's get Apple back into the education market big time.

I'm hoping Steve Jobs and the folks at Apple are way ahead of me on this one. If not, they had better get busting before Bill figures this one out.

I'm a retiree. There are a lot of us. I retired pretty young and watched a lot of my colleagues do the same. There is a good size market out there that has the means to make discretionary purchases.

We need a step between an iPod Touch and a MacBook. iTunes, video, storage and display of images, contacts and calendars, WiFi connected with email and Skype and limited input capability. Can be easily packed if the screen is no more than 10".

I use a Fujitsu 10" tablet now (along with a couple of Powerbooks). Other than the awful OS, its a joy to travel with and have sitting anywhere in the house with Skype and a program to control iTunes on the desktop always running.

I think there is a market out there. But the machine will have to sacrifice laptop features (keyboard, disk drive, ports) for size and weight.

I don't make many phone calls, but I am eager to retire my Newton Messagepad. I don't need an iPhone. I want a real Macintosh (user can install any software) that is bigger than the iPhone but smaller than the existing MacBooks. It does not have to fit in my shirt pocket, but it should fit in a reasonable man-purse (or lady-purse) without monopolizing it.

If it is also a Tablet so that I can scribble a note on the touchscreen (finger or stylus, I don't care) without having to find a table and chair to use the keyboard, so much the better.

Not interested unless there is a slider keyboard. I don't want my screen real estate eaten up by input, and dragging around a separate keyboard defeats its purpose for me. I'd rather see a lightweight (and full-function) 10" MacBook.

Uh... business users?

Laptops are nice and all, but they are a pain as well - especially when your on the road. I would kill for a solid tablet PC that has a good touch interface like the iPhone but also supports a Wacom stylus for fine writing and drawing work.

It has to have a good variable power draining setup. I want tons of battery when on the go and in the office it should speed right up when sucking in the AC. Docking in the office to a large monitor and keyboard setup, and I have my regular computer.

I can also see casual home users getting a lot of use out of a tablet PC.


And the tablet PCs out there... they are close. Just slightly missing the mark. HP came out with one that was touch controlled and rigged for multimedia, which is a pretty cool little device. The downside is that the touchscreen sucks so bad I found it unusable.

It has to have it all, variable power, good for multimedia and business, & easy to use.

Apple Mac Touch Mock up:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2376/1891947416_0517df164e_o.jpg

There is a huge potential market for ultra-portables in education. Apple currently doesn't have a dedicated device for this market. They got rid of the eMac in July of 2006, and while the MacBook is nice, and the iMac is OK - what is needed is a device that will cost around $500-800 and be able to perform most of the functions that a "simplified MacBook" could perform, but with increased portability that a tablet would afford and the touch interface that would simplify things. There is no device that Apple sells currently geared specifically for the K-12 educational market in this price range. The eMac was the last device marketed by Apple in this space.
Apple has gained tremenous marketshare in the high school and college demographic, but not in the K-8. You grab that market and those students will be demanding a Mac when they move up the educational ladder. Think of the tablet as a stepping stone to a notebook.

Apple currently has their Apple Mobile Lab, but even the low end MacBooks are probably more than what is needed in most classrooms, especially K-8, and the MacBook's keyboard and touchpad interface doesn't work with kids under 5th grade. They type too slow, and the touchpad is a pain to work with because it's not very intuitive. And the price is a bit too much for most schools to consider buying them 1-to-1 for students.

An ultra-portable with a touchscreen interface works with lower grades. With an e-book reader, the ability to take notes directly on the device, watch a video, and do some math or science applications you have just about everything that's needed to pull off a successful device. Most teachers currently don't utilize their existing computers to full effect because you don't have enough machines to make it effective. Most teachers I know use them as a "center" where they rotate kids. A tablet would change this dramatically.

If you're worrying about how to do word processing, you break out the recently introduced slimmed down aluminum keyboard, minus the 10-key and it will fit in a desk easy, and its dimensions are almost exactly 10 x 8 1/2 that the device would probably be. If the iPhone can fit it's functionality in a 4 1/2 x 2 1/2" space, then there should be plenty of space to hold a large battery on the device, so you can make it through a 6-8 hour school day.

If you have 30 of these in a classroom, with the simplified interface, with the teacher able to use a simple version of Apple Remote Desktop to keep everyone on the same task, copy over files to devices, and be able to observe students at work then you have a winner.

Imagine not having to pass out papers, collect them, or get everyone on the same page in a textbook. The teacher simply cues up where everyone should be on his/her tablet, and then sends the command wirelessly to all tablets in the rooms and everyone is instantly ready to go. I can't tell you how difficult it is to have my students all stay together when you give them a laptop because you don't have than measure of control. You could give this potential to an ultra-portable.

You do need to make them rugged, but other than that you don't need an optical drive, or for that matter many buttons at all. The school could buy an Xserve and have all portables backed up to the server overnight providing backup services, install updates, etc.

The iPhone's interface would be close to perfect for the tablet, just enlarge it. You may want a single USB port to plug in a digital camera, or other peripheral. Printing can be done wirelessly. You'll need to make sure you have some sort of cover over the ports to protect them against water damage or dirt, ect. If you put all the interface ports on one side, and use a cover of some sort over them, the device should be fairly rugged. 3rd party vendors can come up with additional protection for the device, like they are doing for the iPhone.

If you could set that up in a tablet, the content would follow, and teachers would jump at the chance to use them. I know I would.

Who needs an Apple Tablet anyway.....well there is one group screaming for them. But they don't really matter to Apple.
Artists...I live in Los Angeles and the number of artists who hate PCs but love Macs...have found this wonderful device called a Tablet PC..and they swear by it, the only problem is its a PC..and most want a Mac version. This is where Microsoft went wrong as well, there is a huge community of artists here and around the world who want to be able to draw, paint, and sculpt on a computer but want the functionality of seeing the pen touch the paper...it frees up your brain since it improves hand eye coordination instead of drawing on a mat 2 feet from the image you are trying to create.
Who is using the Tablet PCs here...people at Cartoon Network, Disney, VFX studios...and these aren't hobbyists...this is full blown production work. But like always what do artists matter...no one cares and no one thinks about them...If Microsoft and Apple would target them with TABLET technology...I'm sure they would be met with a rush of artists that still don't know the potential but would be excited by the prospects. I've seen it first hand folks....It's a completely ignored market just waiting for someone to do it right...and they are begrudgingly using PCs while crying for Macs.

I really want an iTablet. I need something that will deliver to me what the UMPCs now do not. I need it to be light, instant on, internet, an amazing note taking/productivty software iNote, awesome handwriting recognition.. something to replace my Palm Pilot, Asus R2H, and my IBM Thinkpad.