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Tablet Mac Becomes Reality
teknokracy writes "MacMod has a story about a unique Mac hack. Joseph DeRuvo Jr. says: 'As a Photographer and a Dyslexic the idea of being able to use a Tablet as a platform for showing photographs, editing, and an extension of my badly organized memory is very appealing. ... So taking matters into my own hands I cut into a Dual USB iBook and didn't look back.' It seems our intrepid hardware hacker hasn't just flipped around the LCD and added a semi-functioning touch screen - he's completely engineered a new kind of mac portable, complete with a CF reader, properly installed touch sensor, and topped it all off by properly engineering it all into an Ives-worthy design. With all the trouble these particular iBook models have experienced, why not hack one up for fun and turn it in to something useful?"
Sweet Hack! One thing concerns me, though: he had to remove the keyboard. How in the world does he type on this thing?
How am I supposed to fit a pithy, relevant quote into 120 characters?
With all the trouble these particular iBook models have experienced...
Not to mention what its users have gone through.
Could this potentially void my warranty?
The site is already down. Using the NYUD cache of it shows a message that the site is down...MirrorDot has it though.
If Apple released a tablet computer (oops sorry, can't use the English word 'Tablet' anymore its owned by MS) i think they'd take the market - make it a little bit smaller tho and im sure they would manage to fit a slide-out keybord in there too!
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It's been done before
Kearney: "Hey, Dolph - take a memo on your Newton: beat up Martin."
Eat up Martha.
Kearney: "Bah!" (throws the Newton and it hits Martin in the head)
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
Having to work with engineers who do field inspections. Tablets are very much appreciated by people in many different areas. Just imagine any profession that used a clip board pre digital and you have a place where a tablet can be used.
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said: "I drank what?" - Chris Knight (Val Kilmer)- Real Genius
I recently bought a Tablet PC off eBay (Compaq TC1000) for use in a data acquisition system. I can see how the Tablet PC might be useful for certain vertical applications (like my own), but IMHO it's not a very good platform for general computing.
Suprisingly, the handwriting recognition is not that bad (with SP2). The biggest problem I've found is that the OS is simply XP with a few "tablet" features bolted on. The Tablet PC really needs an interface developed from the ground up to make use of the pen-based interface.
For example: As we all know, Windows uses the second mouse button for contextual menus - some of these menus are not easily accessible (or accessible at all!) using left-clicks. Left clicks and left double-clicks can be done by tapping the pen, but right-clicking is done (on my machine at least) by holding the pen to the screen for a few seconds. This is pretty kludgey; the contextual menu pops up at unwanted times, like when I'm trying to drag-and-drop icons, or maybe when I'm thinking for a moment and I'm letting the pen rest on the screen.
That's one example, but their are others. Like I said, the handwriting recognition isn't too bad, but it's awkward for entering things like URLS (despite some helpful tools such as ".com" buttons). My model is "convertible" tablet, and I find that 90% of the time I'm using it in laptop mode.
YMMV
Proof, if proof was needed, that Macs are so simple to use that even a complete idiot can use one!
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Mac OS X would be much better on a tablet than Windows.
Apple should license Mac OS X to a tablet PC manufacturer. (Producing it themselves would be too risky.
I know that the idea of a tablet Mac has been discussed to death and even rebirth, it's been around so often, but the sheer amount of interest in a tablet mac, one with that special Apple touch and attention to detail garners such an enormous amount of interest every time it's mentioned that I seriously wonder why Apple hasn't decided to take a risk and Just Do It(TM).
/.'ed, but also the mirrors and the fact that almost every second user created prototype on Mac fan sites is a tablet or PDA style device shows that the interest certainly is there. An Apple Tablet could have a design and features that would finally make the tablet concept kick off, since it's an utter niche product on the Windows side of things.
The fact that not only is TFA's server
Think about it. What could Apple do to make people want a Tablet and what would its target market be? My ideas, by no means perfect, would be:
1. A device that is bigger than current PDA's but smaller than current Windows Tablets, i.e. somewhere around ISO A6 size, or just a bit bigger than the old Newton. This would make it easier to hold (current Tablets are too heavy and too big to hold in one hand while writing with a Pen) and at the same time have enough space for a useful interface and space to sketch on for artists.
2.Very good handwriting recognition. This is important. I think they were getting there when they killed the Newton.
3.An OSX variant with a simplified interface which is more geared towards using a Pen. This would mean perhaps larger controls and a Dock replacement, perhaps a sliding Dock so that necessary apps are within easy reach.
4.A touch screen that enables users to use their fingers as well as a pen. (Therefore the larger controls)
5.Wireless videoand audio streaming. I know Apple has been working on a protocol that is supposed to be good for video streaming. This would or could perhaps tie in with other Apple products such as the iPod and Airport Express where this Tablet could be used as a remote control. This is why being able to use it with one's fingers would be important.
6.Other software and hardware tie ins with Apple products and software, such as the ability to use it as a monitor on movie sets with firewire or usb connectivity, or a cut down version of FCP or iMovie that allows one to cut small video clips. Perhaps a small paint application as well, or a sound editor.
7.It should be shipped with applications that leverage the platform such as a simple sketching application for students and artists, a Apple writing application that makes taking notes as easy or easier than WinXP TE's note taker. Perhaps make the sharing of sketches and notes and media simple via Rendezvous.
8.Apple should make Frameworks for this OS variant available in XCode in order to allow developers to come up with nifty applications as they have for the classic OSX. Java should be included as well to make it interesting for current mobile developers.
9.The target market would be students for artwork and note taking, home consumers for its tie in with Airport Express and iTunes and the iPod, industrial users for use as a digital notepad and checklist, and enterprise users for its note taking and sketching abilities and the ability to make presentations.
This is all a wet dream of course, but I think I'm not alone in wishing for a Tablet with that special Apple touch.
How is this useful? /.'d server (read: not loading), and since the pictures make this story, this link is useless.
The pictures are still loading off the
I hate how people think google cache is useful regardless of the content it's caching.
Listen I'm no engineer I do not have a machine shop available to me, I did the best I could to get the thing working. I could not save any more room then the height of the hard drive, the flash card reader case had the guide rails for loading the flash cards in,( I did not want bent pins, or to fumble with trying to get the card seated when I am in a hurry ) Also, I wanted to be able to remove the individual components when I needed to, I had already gone through one bad USB hub. So that's where I was coming from.