URL: Foxconn said to be tapped to make Apple tablet PC, shipments expected to begin in 1Q10 Teaser quote:
@dogfriend Good for Jobs. There have been some intense rumors recently about tablet and I've been getting more and more bored by it. My last notebook was a one of those convertible PC tablet notebooks, and it was mildly interesting at first, but it got annoying very fast. I almost never used the tablet feature and I hated it for adding bulk to the notebook.
If memory serves, those 'tablets' were on the order of 6 lbs for just the notebook. Add in a charger and carrying case and you were looking at a carry weight of somewhere around 10 lbs. The Apple tablet that is being discussed in the various rumors I have seen is more like 1 lb with a touch screen-based virtual keyboard. Think of a device like a stretched iPod Touch with a 10 inch diagonal measurement screen.
Someone at the higher levels of the food-chain at Apple might have experienced just such a scenario.... Necessity is the mother of invention....
The big problem with tablets (including the one you had) is the "must buy" feature. Having a huge touch screen is cool, but its usefulness is easily debatable for most uses. I had a friend in college with a tablet because "It's easier to take notes on", yet i could take notes faster with my laptop, and my laptop was smaller, lighter, and had better battery life. What everyone is hoping is that Apple has found a way to incorporate the touch features of the device such that they enhance all aspects of interacting with the device, as opposed to only being nice for a few things. I know several artists and web-comic people who use tablets for all their drawing - it's quick, easy, and transfers to their digital medium effortlessly. Great for them. In my world of spending 3/4 of my day writing code, a touch screen is useless, in the current implementations we've seen.
What if the device itself is 500 grams (1.1 lb.), but the charger is the current iPod charger (~100 grams)? Are you still interested? I am.
For me, it's all about a lightweight internet device for travel. The N800 was fabulous for weighing only 5 oz, but was a pain in the butt for writing on, and the non-standard browsers were annoying. The Asus Eee linux netbook is fine for web surfing and writing emails, but at just over 2 lbs is a bit on the heavy side. Market a real linux or OS X computer, at least 8 inches, with wifi and ethernet for connectivity, at one pound or less including charger, and I'll buy it. Start creeping up over a pound, and I'll consider it. 1.1 lbs, yes, probably. At what point is it too close to the weight of my Asus to be worth the bother? I don't know. Depends partly on how nice a machine it is. Not having a real keyboard is a drawback. Having good applications is a plus. Gotta weigh everything. Pun intended.
Another article about the phantom Tablet: Apple's Tablet PC Will Reinvent Computing | Newsweek Daniel Lyons | Techtonic Shifts | Newsweek.com Teaser quote: The only question is when, not whether....
If you really want one there's one already available: Modbook - The first and only tablet Mac computer solution! - Other World Computing
IF you want to be lugging around a 5 lb 'tablet', then the Modbook is for you.... The iTablet will be more like 1 lb....
More news on the Mac Tablet.... Apple tablet: The everything killer - Nov. 16, 2009 Teaser quote: The thlot pickens....
