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porsche993 · Nov 17, 2003, 07:40 PM

All appologies for starting a controversial topic....

I was in a meeting today where a few people had these new TabletPCs, which got me thinking...

How feasible do you think it would be for Apple to produce a mobile tablet Mac. Dare I say the "Apple PowerTablet" ???

All Newton jokes aside, could this be the BIG announcement in January ?

sean

hadocon · Nov 17, 2003, 07:46 PM

Originally posted by porsche993:

All Newton jokes aside, could this be the BIG announcement in January ?

sean

Nope.

anaphora68 · Nov 17, 2003, 08:01 PM

There is a small enough market for it for PC users, there is no way Apple would consider something like that, they do not command enough market space in the buyer segment that would consider tablet PCs. Apple has a niche market they cater for and their machine development path indicates that. They cater to graphics designers, through and through. They are trying to open up to students and enterprise, but they will always be machines geared towards artists.

shabbasuraj · Nov 17, 2003, 08:31 PM

i would rather see a PDA before a tablet, or a sub 12' notebook for that matter...

...this is never gonna happen, i know...

nate_02 · Nov 17, 2003, 08:49 PM

Originally posted by shabbasuraj:
i would rather see a PDA before a tablet, or a sub 12' notebook for that matter...

...this is never gonna happen, i know...

I definately don't think a PDA would come out in January although I would like to see one.

anaphora68 · Nov 17, 2003, 08:55 PM

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't put it past apple to design a cell phone or some kind of communications object. Bear with me for a second, they put a lot of moey into developing iSight, and they have been perfecting their consumer products, so why not a camera phone or some other such object? I would sure by one...

This is a total hare-brained shot in the dark...

MacsGalor · Nov 17, 2003, 09:59 PM

Originally posted by anaphora68:
Call me crazy, but I wouldn't put it past apple to design a cell phone or some kind of communications object. Bear with me for a second, they put a lot of moey into developing iSight, and they have been perfecting their consumer products, so why not a camera phone or some other such object? I would sure by one...

This is a total hare-brained shot in the dark...

I would like to see this also. If Apple makes a cell phone I will buy it!

danbrew · Nov 17, 2003, 10:29 PM

Yeah, me too. If Apple made a cell phone, I'd buy one in a second. Nevermind that they know nothing about the cell phone business - it'd be kind of like them knowing nothing about the presentation/graphics business or the browser or the chat business - I'd buy one in a second regardless of their expertise.

Hell, I'd spend $700 on the Z600, why not the same amount on an Apple cellphone - you gotta know the carriers would jump on it.

anaphora68 · Nov 17, 2003, 11:59 PM

My reasoning behind it was why the hell shouldn't they, they've had success with everything else they've tried, and their designs are sure cool and have some kind of appeal.

Hell, it would be a good showcase for bluetooth connectivity (hey look it stores addresses AND is a bluetooth modem!) and some other cool, gimicky features.

Oh well, we can dream right?

Now how bout that G6?

PowerMatt · Nov 18, 2003, 02:12 AM

No cell phones, no PDAs, no tablets. The market has too many cell phones and PDAs. Tablet PCs are going to be the mini disk of computing. (A few people will buy into the concept, but will be an overall failure.) I don't think that the anouncement will be hardware related. I am looking forward to a new and improved Apple Works. Other possibilities may be a FCP port to x68 & Windows.

[food.for.thought]AI is running a story about possible dual-G4 PowerBooks.[/food.for.thought]

RayX · Nov 18, 2003, 02:53 AM

Originally posted by anaphora68:
Hell, it would be a good showcase for bluetooth connectivity (hey look it stores addresses AND is a bluetooth modem!) and some other cool, gimicky features.

The Sony Ericsson T68i or T610 already showcase bluetooth beautifully.

With apps like iSync (syncing of contacts and calendar), Salling Clicker (remote control of any application), bluetooth faxing with Panther, and GPRS internet access.

I think Apple should stick to what they do best for the time being, computer hardware (including iPod) and software (including iTMS).

A PDA and mobile phone seem a little out of scope to me, and technology for tablet PCs still seems to be a little way off yet.

shabbasuraj · Nov 18, 2003, 03:50 AM

tablet PCs will become mainstream in the next 2-3 years...

Design is the limiting factor here, not hardware...

M$ will be looking to capture that market segment with the release of Longhorn in 2005 or 2006...

so until that market is well established, perhaps Apple will never jump on board with a PowerTablet...

anaphora68 · Nov 18, 2003, 08:25 AM

Appleworks? No way, Apple pretty much abandoned that one, they can't compete against MS office, especially now that you can get a full version of the suite for 149.00.

Apple will probably never make a tablet PC, the market segment is too small and Apple would have to make one knowing full well they would be producing them at a loss.

jasong · Nov 18, 2003, 08:50 AM

Anyone who dismisses tablets as the next BetaMax has never used one. Will they replace the laptop? Never. But there is a viable market for them. The tablet is designed for anyone who needs to walk around with a clipboard filling out forms. Yeah you could do this on a PDA, but the screen is too small, and it's processing power is limited. I have used tablets that weigh 5 pounds that run for 10 hours on battery. If it makes it through a work day, that eliminates the one advantage of a PDA.

Just because Apple doesn't make one doesn't make it a bad idea. I would love to see an Apple tablet (I don't expect one, I just want to see it, and as someone about to become a student again, I would buy it).

-- Jason

brapper · Nov 19, 2003, 12:29 AM

Originally posted by porsche993:
All appologies for starting a controversial topic....

I was in a meeting today where a few people had these new TabletPCs, which got me thinking...

How feasible do you think it would be for Apple to produce a mobile tablet Mac. Dare I say the "Apple PowerTablet" ???

All Newton jokes aside, could this be the BIG announcement in January ?

sean

there's a big annoucement coming in january?
since when?

shabbasuraj · Nov 19, 2003, 03:52 AM

every January there is ....

http://www.macworldexpo.com/macworld.../V40/index.cvn

SF here we come...

PowerMatt · Nov 20, 2003, 11:26 AM

Originally posted by anaphora68:
Appleworks? No way, Apple pretty much abandoned that one, they can't compete against MS office, especially now that you can get a full version of the suite for 149.00.

As it is now, AppleWorks sucks. Apple has already developed Keynote. The *new* AppleWorks would include Keynote as well as other office programs, yet unreleased. They wouldn't have to call it AppleWorks, but you get the idea.