I for one will breathe a huge sigh of relief on the 28th. Perhaps once the “Tablet” is outed, Apple can allocate a few precious resources to fixing the still glaring problems in Mac OS X 10.6, e.g. non-support for the (tens of?) thousands of PostScript Type 1 fonts still in use everywhere outside (apparently) Cupertino.

you are so wrong, apple would never try and sell you an os x version of the hp slate, crap that runs desktop os-s on touch screens is old news not a revolutionary product

Here’s my dream Tablet:

Runs Mac OS, includes wifi, and has the ability to roam all cellular networks so the gadget always has the strongest network behind it. At the end of the month, each service provider would get their portion of the monthly service data plan. This is the new wave of how the cellular service worldwide should work in the near future. Read more about it here: http://bit.ly/4wq4jU

Apple would be smart to also add full Mac OS apps into the iTunes store or whatever they are going to rename the iTunes store (as it has long passed just being a music store). I can’t imagine any Mac software developer who would pass up an opportunity to sell their Mac software in an ecosystem similar to iPhone apps. Sure, they’ll give some revenue to Apple, but the marketing side of things would FAR outweigh it.

I hope Apple’s latest creation will implement both. It would be a game changer — a completely revolutionary gadget like this world has never seen. And I hope the iPhone 4.0 will follow suit with its ability to truly roam all cellular networks. Wouldn’t that be something?

is that a big iphone in your pocket or you just pleased to see me?

I agree with Leigh. Runs iPhone OS 4 AND costs near $700-800 unsubsidized? No thanks. I’ll spend another $300 or so and have a Macbook instead.

Unless there are developers out there who are willing to make TRUE productivity apps, this thing will be little more than a giant iPhone. Problem is, I already have an iPhone AND it’s corresponding monthly data fee. I don’t need another one.

Besides, AT&T or Verizon either one will gouge the hell out of the consumer on the monthly data plan, and AT&T’s network can’t handle the iPhone data demands as it is.

A couple of points everyone keeps overlooking,.

Apps,
If this thing is running iPhone OS 4.0, just exactly where will you get your Apps from? The iTunes App store! thats where! Fraught with all the BS of the arbitrary and inconsistent approval process, you’ll have spent $700-$1000 on a computer, where Apple gets to decide which “Apps” it will allow you to run on it.

2nd,..
Mentioned earlier,..where will you get these “Apps” from? the iTunes App Store,..that seems to be superfluous or axiomatic,..but everyone’s overlooking the fact that , you will be paying $700-$1000 for a device, THAT NEEDS ANOTHER DEVICE to manage it.
So heres the scenario at Best Buy: “OK, you’re saying that if I dont own a computer,..and I want to buy this tablet device thingy,…I need to buy another computer to ‘manage it’ ??”

LOL. The nexus one pwnes.

Spell check much? Freekin’=freakin’, accent=ascent, psudo=pseudo.

Beyond that though, one can’t help but believe this has been in development for years, and therefore Jobs will have analyzed every possible aspect given the criticisms of iPods,iTunes, and the iPhone. Personally I believe it will run iPhone os 4.0, which be heavily modified into more of a hybrid between iPhone os and os X. I won’t be getting one right away, but can’t wait for the announcement because of the possibilities. The original iPhone was not well thought out, and I bet Jobs does not intend to go through that again. Every base will be covered, and this device will inevitably become ubiquitous, because that’s what Apple does. They take an idea that people scoff at, and sell it to the world, in one form or another. If the iPhone had flopped, there would be no web os, android, or user friendly blackberry interfaces. Like it or not, this will change the portable electronics landscape.

I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that iphone OS is OSX, granted it isn’t as full featured in order to save space and improve performance. You don’t want all the rest of the OSX features, it would do more harm than good. If you’re allowing people to run software designed for a 3Ghz processor with 4G+ of RAM on a tablet with a max of 2Ghz and who knows how little RAM, it’s just going to run terribly and people will call it a bad product. If The Tablet is running a lightweight OSX (iPhone OS), with a tablet specific UI and software controlled by Apple (therefore designed for The Tablet) it’s going to do what it does very well, which is good for business and the Apple way.

My thoughts:

iPhone UI was designed to be used with one thumb. Apple won’t be using that UI…soooooo, The Tablet will be using the same style lightweight/mobile build of OSX with a tablet specific UI.

There will be much more powerful apps available strictly for The Tablet (i.e. lite versions of iWork, iLife, Adobe Creative Suite, etc, also with Tablet specific interfaces for ease of use.)

The tablet will also run iPhone apps.

Look up videos of people using those custom MacbookTablets that are made by some companies, they aren’t very user friendly. That’s why tablets have never taken off before. Apple won’t be that stupid.

Personally, I couldn’t care less about a tablet.. I think its lame, and a tablet only reaches a SMALL portion of people who could use it.. business people sort of thing.. the average joe has NO use for a tablet..

I would be excited if they were releasing a netbook.. a REAL netbook.. with netbook like pricing.. (250-350 range) I know people are saying that the tablet is going to be Apples answer to the netbook, but, the reality is, a tablet is NOTHING like a netbook, AND it wont be priced anywhere near a netbook price.. chances are, if a tablet is announced, its going to be at LEAST $1000 and that just doesnt compete in the netbook world..

I know that I wont be getting a tablet.. and I think apple is stupid if they don’t release a true netbook.. they are the craze right now.. thats what people are buying.. not tablets.. no one is sitting at their desk saying “oh, man my life would be so much simpler if I had a tablet” but what they are saying is “a netbook would be great, because it’ll fit nicely in my back pack.”

As someone who flies a lot, and speaks at conferences, using keynote to do presentations.. my MacBook is small, BUT when sitting on a plane, a guy my size just cant type properly when sitting there on the plane.. (I’m 6’5 so room is limited) and a tablet doesnt meet my traveling need either, because I want something small that isn’t going to confuse the heck out of customs..

Personally, I think that Apple has failed on this.. and trust me, I’m a BIG apple supporter and user.. the idea of windows computers just makes me sick.. but, I do think that this is a stupid move on Apples part..

We will see what apple does on Wednesday I guess..

John Tantillo did a post a while ago naming Apple the brand winner for all the buzz the Tablet was generating…even though we don’t really know what it is… chalking it up to Apple’s fabulous record for innovation and bringing customers products they really want.

I don’t think the Tablet will be for the health care industry… but this is still my favorite guess/article I’ve read on it so far

OK, I think the Slate, iPad or whatever they end up calling it will be great, but what about the chances that there will be a new iPhone or an announcement regarding the end of AT&T exclusivity??

http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-apple-to-end-att-iphone-exclusivity-on-wednesday-report-2010-1

It could totally happen!

okay…

it’s that simple : apple selling a musical device ?! it’s silly. and you have to know, I’m a huuuuuuge apple fan, but a apple walkman?!! no sir. without NO removable disk !

I need my space and I need my disks. I travel a lot, I have many records, I do not want a silly closed box who will scare customs. I have a serious life, me!

I’m sick thinking of buying some stupid sony product, but they do make good minidisc stuff, apple is silly here. what apple need to do is a tablet Mac. it’s all the craze in newspaper ! Bill Gates himself told it will be the dominant form for computing in a few years, but nOOOo Apple can’t do that ! they know beeetter !

the whole economy is trashed ! Hello, Telecom crisis, Terrorism and all, how can you expect people to buy a stupid little music box you can’t even switch your music at will… It will be expensive and silly. the economy sucks and money is tight. No one is sitting in their room saying “oh, man my life would be so much simpler if I had a little digital box playing music”.

Me, my bag is already full and my cds and cdplayer with a real bass sound amplifier serves me well thank-you.

We can all agree the first mac was not very refined. I thought now Steve Jobs would not like to do an other half-assed product…

go figure.

IcyFog quote:
If you’re tired of the tablet speculation then why did you click on a link that had tablet in the headline?

Its impossible not to read these articles considering the second you open a page there’s a stupid headline waving in your face like a huge red flag. A great example of what I’m talking about is this site. Go check the history of the posts for the last week or so and you’ll see for yourself that most of the articles if their not about the tablet they allude indirectly to the tablet. Take away these articles and there’s practically nothing left to read.

Stevo quote:
Don’t worry about getting “a lil sumpin” done on the Slablet. A fully touch-optimized, cloud-based version of iWork will be available day one. So, you say you prefer MS Office? No worries. MS will have a MS Office LIte app within 6 months of the Slablet’s release. Guaranteed.

Gimme your number and address dude I’m looking to invest in the stock markets and require you and your crystal ball to tell me the future. Another example of someone whose throwing out facts and making assumptions when he doesn’t know anything.

Stevo 2nd quote:
In all seriousness, it makes no sense to run OS X on this device. OS X is not fully touch-optimized and it would feel clunky. IMO, that’s why Windows tablets have failed miserably. Laptop without a lid? No thanks. *That* stays in the store.

Ever stopped to think that maybe Apple did something about that? Not that I really give a crap what OS the tablet may run as long as its useful for my needs I’m happy. I think old Stevo here should pack his bags and move to Cupertino immediately and get a job with Apple so he could tell Steve Jobs what the next big Apple product should be and what it should run.

quote Leigh McMullen
While we’re confident that this will be the greatest innovation in tablets since Moses brought a couple down from Mt. Sinai, that’s all we know. The Apple-Reality-Distortion-Echo-Chamber has progressed from being all a twitter with conflicting expectations to achieving some kind of pig-headed consensus that frankly has got to be totally wrong. Principal among these group-think features is the absurd notion that the Moses Tablet v2.0 will run an OS from a freekin’ Phone.

How can I say this? Leigh I love your posts for the simple fact they make me laugh. Its good to see there’s someone on here who doesn’t take this stuff so seriously and shows that although Apple tech is groovy candy there’s more to life then just Apple. The problem I have with your article is the fact that although you seem to be as much fed up with all the BS about the tablet as I am you still make an assumption about it without any hard facts to back it up putting you in the same camp as all the other BS articles. I’m not trying to be an ass about this I’m simply pointing out an obvious observation.

quote Chris Burke:
Personally, I couldn’t care less about a tablet.. I think its lame, and a tablet only reaches a SMALL portion of people who could use it.. business people sort of thing.. the average joe has NO use for a tablet.

Well Chris you win the award for being the biggest idiot on this thread pun on your 6’5 height intended. First of all I’m a regular joe blow who isn’t a white collar business guy and I need the added application and mobility a tablet if done right would give me. My days are 12 hrs long and are split shifts and during my downtime a device that is more powerful and would have a bigger screen would be far more welcome then just my ipod touch. Have you ever tried surfing the net on a iphone/itouch? It works but lets be perfectly honest its not the most pleasant user experience.

2nd quote Chris Burke
I would be excited if they were releasing a netbook.. a REAL netbook.. with netbook like pricing.. (250-350 range) I know people are saying that the tablet is going to be Apples answer to the netbook, but, the reality is, a tablet is NOTHING like a netbook, AND it wont be priced anywhere near a netbook price.. chances are, if a tablet is announced, its going to be at LEAST $1000
and that just doesnt compete in the netbook world.

Netbooks suck. Apple has said that netbooks suck and I agree with them on their statement of clunky hardware, crowded keyboard, being underpowered and generally a shitty user experience. I’ve owned a netbook and I sold it 9 months later because it was so shitty.

3rd quote Chris Burke:
BUT when sitting on a plane, a guy my size just cant type properly when sitting there on the plane.. (I’m 6′5 so room is limited) and a tablet doesnt meet my traveling need either, because I want something small that isn’t going to confuse the heck out of customs.

Are you seriously trying to say that a netbook is more mobile then a tablet form factor which is lighter and thinner? Have you even seen the size of a 10 inch screen? A 10 inch screen although bigger then a touch or iphone isn’t really that big. Man give your head a shake.

I could go on and on copying and pasting stuff from the above posts but why bother this post has already become big enough.

FINAL SUMMATION:
I have a rather novel idea which involves everyone just practicing the skill of STFU for another 3 days and waiting to see what Apple unveils. Maybe then we can all have some productive discussions that would actually lead to people thinking and (shudder) actually walking away with some new useful knowledge. As it is it doesn’t matter what Apple unveils tablet wise (if they even unveil a tablet). No matter what it looks like or what OS it runs or even what it can do there will be a thousand blogger’s on here who will show just how truly intelligent they are (not) and scream it sucks then go out and buy one just to show off and act like a big shot. It just goes to show how truly two faced and self absorbed society has become.

Just saw it here, lol

http://islateapple.org/islate/sasquatch-spotted-with-apple-tablet/

Truly foolish article. PowerPoint? Really? You’re outing yourself about that here? I guess you only use a toaster that you have to boot up, log into and search for the program to burn your bread, and then pull down a menu to eject same and to quit and shutdown. Ho hum. You’re missing all those windows and dialog boxes huh?

You are not everyman, or everywoman for that matter. It is still the case that only a minority of the world use a personal computer. Even in America, there are still tens of millions of such folk. What will bring them into the fold is a computer that is unbelievably easy to use. A true ‘no-brainer’ device that is language, location and culture-agnostic. I mean a device for which even the most basic education or even no education at all will not be, automatically, a barrier to adoption. (I refer you to ignorethecode.net/blog/ and to Farhad Manjoo discussed elsewhere on CoM). The iPhone/Touch OS has shown that such a combination of great power and simplicity is possible. No, actually it’s proved Apple’s 25 year old mantra:

‘ease of use, promotes use.’

And the outcome of this will be huge success for Apple. The outcome will also be to take Apple into UI and UX realms where it is hard for others to follow, other than by skin-deep copies that may look-alike but they will certainly not work-alike.

As for this comment of yours

….’But does it have Powerpoint? Pages? Word, Excel, Lightroom, Aperture, Entourage, Omnigraffle, anything you know, productive?’

It is too sad really. Most of the world is not interested in the things that you seem obsessed about. Most people want to use computers for the new NEW serious activities, like having FUN, a word you may not have come across before.

Get a life. Better still, find a topic you understand, and blog about that instead. Like, ummm, toilet accessories say or, better still, write about getting (paid for) responses (sic) from Amsterdam prostitutes. You seem to have some practical expertise there. Well, you said it.

Stick to what you know chum. The rest of the world has moved beyond PowerPoint et al. We’re about to have fun, in addition to all the serious stuff we already know how to do on full-blown computers. Horses for courses. You should consult a proctologist, pronto, if you feel deprived at the prospect of not having every app you use replicated everywhere. Eeesh!

Odd that we never hear anyone moaning about their inability to reprogram or customise the workings of their TV or HiFi, microwave, pre-iPhone smartphone etc etc. I don’t see anyone working them selves into a sweat trying to second-guess or even preach to Dell, HP, Sony, GM ( the genuinely untalented companies) on their product strategy. Why is that? They surely need some guidance.

What a bozo you are. Here’s a suggestion for you. Re-visit your article. Take out all the nonsense the self-indulgent, irrelevant, waffle and the cover-your – arse retractions and your masterly achievement here is that you have said nothing. Less actually.

‘Q-DOS’ to you. You would be at home there.

Leigh, I appreciate the reply. Your viewpoints on a full fledged OS vs. the iPhone OS focused mainly around software that will reside on the device. Yet you have no idea what Apple has been cooking. You also don’t seem to have any coding experience or knowledge in that area, so I don’t see anything about iPhone OS platform limitations. If you know them, you certainly didn’t bring them to light in the article.

You mainly focused on reasons why it would either remain or be taken out of your bathroom. Your article provided the equivalent of a students saying, “that teacher sucks, man.” I tried to pick out a formal argument as to why you didn’t see the new tablet having a mobile platform and found the only rationale you provide to be a limitation of current Mac OS software and it’s incompatibility with the iPhone platform. That lead you to the conclusion that the device would be nothing more than a over priced cook book reader.

I expected a lot more depth and critical thinking for someone who holds such a position and has written books. Your little puff piece was nothing more than an attention getter (and I’m sure it did that quite well).

In closing, I’ll leave you with this: http://www.cultofmac.com/apples-tablet-is-based-on-iphone-os-publishing-bigwig-says/27788?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cultofmac%2FbFow+%28Cult+of+Mac%29

It’s not a shocker to me, but it may leave you with amazement…