Slashdot Mirror
Apple Patents Tablet Mac (with Photos)
jkheit writes "I wrote a quick news item over at the Mac Observer that might be of interest. Apple patents a tablet Mac. The new photos confirm that this device is a touch-screen Apple tablet. You can see it here."
They are very simple illustrations, not photos.
Would a Mac tablet ever see the light of day? This is not intended as a
troll/flame, but how big is the market for a niche product from a niche
computer manufacturer?
A mirror of the photos^H^H^H^H^H^Hillustrations is here.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
I am just glad somebody is continuing the Tablet trend. I thought about buying one, and not one person ever recommended a Tablet Centrino over a regular labtop. I am at the point where I don't care if SCO wants to revive the Tablet business.
My iBook isn't going to happy when she sees that come home with me. :(
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
One can only assume that it will use bluetooth and other wireless technologies to hook up to anything external. At most there appears to be one connection, which appears to be for an AC adapter.
It looks, should they make it, to be smaller and lighter than a "current" tablet PC. Kinda like an oversized PDA. Like a Newton and a Powerbook got freeky in the back room...
Its so pure, I think I'm going to cry...
Seriously though, I am hoping to see something like this in the near future. Hopefully it will be 'announced' in the next Macworld Boston. Inkwell is such a nice pice of software, it would be great to see it being used in a tablet.
3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
It's actually a revolutionary new transportation system which will enable people to get about without requiring gasoline. In snow you simply stand upon it and carve your way downhill or grab a fender and glide along behind traffice. In the summer attach trucks and wheels and you've got it finished.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Sorry about the misleading title. (A case of fingers before brain) There are illustrations from the patent, not photos. (Perhaps this can be corrected). Anyway, my apologies on that.
Some of us pointed that out to the editors before it was published, but they chose to ignore us (surprise, surprise, surprise)
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
No Ethernet. No space for a floppy. Lame.
Melius mori in libertate quam vivere in servitute.
Though the pictures don't indicate this, I wonder if they could also be filling in a few final functional gaps to turn the iPod into a full-blown PDA? Tantalizing as that might be, it's probably unlikely as well, seeing as how they're making bigger margins on the iPod Photo than PDA manufacturers are making on their product...
Crow T. Trollbot
Read The F+ Patent.
- We claim the ornamental design for an electronic device, substantially as shown and described.
I hope this is a case where thry come thru with it. It looks COOL!
San Francisco Photographers
It is by description not the concept of the tablet computer, but the specific instance of design for and product of the tablet Macintosh-this is original.
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
Could be interesting; too bad the article is so light on details.
Ummm the mp3 market used to be a niche market. Who has about an 80% market share now?
I noticed that in Apple Quartz Composer, there is mention of a TABLET pen location. I tried this with my Wacom Graphire, and no luck. At this point, I figured that apple must be making new drivers for existing tablets. Well, I guess it's an APPLE BRAND TABLET PC!!! Whoohoo!.
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
Apple's minimalist designs look great up close and live, but they look like total crap when translated to technical-esque illustrations like these.
"Like no one has ever thought of making a tablet before? There has to be more to this if it is true."
Ya, but this is exactly what people said when Apple made the iPod.
Apple likes to swoop on good ideas that have been poorly implemented in the past. MP3 players, jukebox software, online music stores, video chat, etc etc. None of this stuff was new, but Apple found a way to make it more accessible and desirable.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Billions?
When the iPod went mainstream it ate everyone's lunch, but at first it was a niche product from a niche computer manufacturer. Now white headphones are becoming as ubiquitous as cell phones.
I'll reserve judgement until I see an iTablet, but the general idea isn't making me all gooey inside either. Who's to say whether it'll make the light of day.
I'd be very surprised if Apple launched an iTablet. Totally shocked if they dusted off the Newton idea.
Very funny, Jobs. And this is different from my palmpilot how, exactly? Oh, yours is bigger, you say?
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
mp3 players were pretty much a hit from the get-go. Not true with tablets outside of some corner-case, vaertical markets (e.g., warehousing).
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
What killed the Newton was syncronization. All the stuff I wrote on the newton was difficult to transfer to the Mac. All my contacts on the Mac was difficult to reliably syncronize to the newton. Don't tell me how to do it. I have used a newton from the day it came out until they day they kiled it. I have all the tools, cards, utilities, whatever. I still ahve 2000 sitting in it's leather case in my house.
So, as soon as palm V came out, small, sync, everything, I was all over it. It was could not be a writing machine, but I could live with that. My Newton became more trouble than it was worth.
But Apple now has sync, at least for what can fit on the .Mac drive. It does not sync macs, and I have found nothing that will do so quickly over 802.11b, but you can do calendars, contacts, mail, and good number of documents, which is has made my life so much easier.
So, this tablet PC, which will have bluetooth and airport, can do what the newton never could. Be an effective remote terminal. You can carry it around for an hour or a day, and, within a few minutes, all relevent changes can be transfered. You can take it to the coffee house, sync to .Mac, and by the time you get back home, your big machine can be updated.
Am I sorely afraid I will buy this thing. Yes. I don't really know what I would use it for, which is the rub. If it is like an iTablet, consumer priced, it would be fun to have. If it was PowerTablet, the investment would be difficult.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
It's ok, it's only a computer, and it doesn't have a personality.
Quiet, you'll hurt it's feelings!
Now I understand why they have been so stuck on 1 button!!!
:-)
A touchpad!
Oooohh.. Jobs was ahead of the curve all along...
- Apple - RSS
- Microsoft - (RSS)
- Google - (RSS)
- Yahoo! - (RSS)
- IBM - (RSS)
Courtesy of PatentMojo.comDoesn't this violate the Etch-a-Sketch design patent?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Incidentally, for those who don't want a full on Tablet laptop, grab a Wacom Graphire 3 Tablet! They're cheap (approx $100), highly effective (used by many professional graphic designers) and can work with Powerpoint, Photoshop, etc. I love mine! It takes a little getting used to, but after that it's a piece of cake.
Physicist, consultant, science communicator
>how big is the market for a niche product from a niche computer manufacturer?
You mean like the iPod? Pretty big, I'd say, depending on the application.
Steve Jobs has made comments about the iPod not lending itself to being a decent video player due to its tiny display. A tablet, on the other hand....
Who moderates the meta-moderators?
Yes, it is. The mirror is real. I'm sorry, but you're quite thoroughly mistaken.
Tiger (10.4) has a built-in feature that allows you to rotate the screen.
Go the the System Preferences and then hold down the option key while you click the Displays button. You will see a pulldown thats labeled "Rotate". Select it and you will see your screen rotate.
All I have to say about this is: 20030076303.
So Apple's clearly copying Microsoft? I mean seriously. This IS one example of where MS totally invented a new market (consumer-grade tablets) and now Apple's trying to get in on it.
Mod Away!!!!!!
Figures. I get to moderate for the first time in weeks, and it's a topic I really need to comment on. ;)
That said, just because Apple has a patent doesn't mean they're going to ever build the thing. Personally, though, I hope this turns out to be the announcement at WWDC. I'd love to have a tablet Mac, just for reading places like here on the couch. My laptop is nice, but not too comfortable... though the keyboard is more useful for chat or long replies.
It's certainly a niche design, so I could see Apple patenting a decent design that their engineers came up with even if they never build the product. That way, they can always change their mind later if the market really wants an Apple tablet.
Words per minute I can type: about 80 Words per minute I can handwrite: about 15 Why do I need a tablet again?
Music - www.richardmac.com
Can't predict what it will be called, but it definitley won't have the word Tablet in it. Because Steve doesn't want to be seen as following Bill's (or anyone else's) lead, and tablet's been done. Think Different, remember?
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
The adoption curves are markedly different. The one for mp3 players has been practically straight up. Not so, tablet computers.
Also, the market for consumer electronics (ipod) is very different than the market for computers.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
i got one right here...
granted, it's not a high-res display, and the redraw rate really sucks, but it does come in a nice pink.
for a minute there, i lost myself...
The new photos confirm that this device is a touch-screen Apple tablet. You can see it here.
Guess again..
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
iPad.
this is rather like apple's patent on the itunes interface. problematic by itself, and depressing if it becomes a precedent for future patent maneuvering.
This is obviously the PowerBook G5. Not shown is the processor, which will be incorporated into the power supply. :)
"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." -- John Ashcroft
that tablet PCs are cool now?
Please read http://www.foresight.org/EOC/ - Online version of the Book, _Engines Of Creation_.
I heard there was some guy who wrote a top ten list of his favourite activities on a pair of tablets. That's gotta be prior art!
First and formost, cool. I would have given it consideration, without a doubt. If Apple turned the 12" PB or iBook into a table, that would rock. Now the "doodles" (I find it hard to call them photos, and as drawings they look like basically every other tablet) don't seem to show a keyboard. I've seen pics of PC tablets that the screen can be "reversed" making it a tablet, or used like a normal laptop and I think that's a great idea.
Now what would be REALLY cool would be to make the iBook: Touch (like the name? Come on Apple, use it!) have a touch screen (simple on/off with high resolution), but make the PowerBook: Touch even better. Whether they develop it themselves or partner with Wacom or something like that, that would rule. It would have pressure sensitivity (256 levels?) and angle sensing like the Wacom tablets. Think how great that would be for graphic artists.
Now that might not be cheap. Mass production may help, but Wacom sells the Cintiq montitor/tablet that is 17" and 1280x1024 with 512 levels of pressure for $1799 MSRP. Maybe they'd have to make it an option. So even at 1024x768 if they cut down the resoltuion of touch (64, maybe 32 levels? And the size would be smaller, only 12") they could make it cheaper.
It would be awesome. If anyone could make a tablet that would be great and really cause tablets to take off (instead of being the failure I've heard them called), it would be Apple.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
...no one apart from Apple will be allowed to make a tablet Macintosh?
TIHS ILLEGAL MONOPOLY MUST STOP!!!
Repton.
They say that only an experienced wizard can do the tengu shuffle.
So they took an iMac from its stand. Couldn't have thought of it.
Aren't tablets expensive enough without them being macs? I will get modded down by the mac zealots, but this is serious. What market are they trying for here? I would love it if business ran Linux on cheap PC hardware, but the truth is that the vast majority of business runs on Windows. And I think that "business" will be the consumers of tablets in the near future. Apple is going to have a very small market here. If they try to sell to the PC based people they will most likely be offering a more expensive version of something (table PC) that has not been that well received.
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
mp3 players were coming out around 2000. they sucked ass then, and franly didnt sell that well.
the ipod? got the formula right.
... hi bingo
who have been poo poo-ing tablet PCs to suddenly think differently about these wonderful little devices.
Me hopefully someday I will have a Mac with all the benefits of my Toshiba tablet but without this horrible XP virus cluttering it up!
IMO tablets don't have much of a market compared to there smaller brethren like the Sharp Zaurus.
Could be wrong though. Just haven't seen any tablets in use anywhere.
Since Apple doesn't have any "clone" builders anymore, who else is going to patent it, and who else would build it?
Maybe I'm missing something.
Yea! Good on you!
Now, what was your point?
Have you seen Tablet PC prices? They're through the roof! I can buy a traditional laptop for $1400, but buying something with the SAME EXACT HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS as a slate-form tablet costs me $2000!
Hardware manufacturers still stubbornly insist on imposing a stiff premium for the sexy new technology, which just MIGHT be one reason it hasn't seen a higher adoption rate.
Now, look at Apple's recent behavior vis a vis pricing. Their prices have been going ever down; I can now buy a bottom-of-the-line eMac for about the same price as a workaday desktop PC.
I predict that Apple's lowered prices will intersect with Tablet PC manufacturers' artificially high margins, with the net result that the tablet Mac will be in the same ballpark, value-wise, as a Tablet PC.
Disclosure: I do not, nor have I ever, owned a Mac.
Spoken like someone who doesn't remember the pre-iPod MP3 player days. They were not, I assure you, a "hit".
Also, while Apple only has like 4% of the PC market, they have a MUCH bigger chunk of the laptop market.
But let's face it. If Apple wants to release a niche product at a premium, the are free too. If it stays niche, then no problem. If the market explodes, it would get cheaper (economies of scale and all that).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
It looks exactly how i imagined - rounded corners (white i presume) and a screen that goes as far to the edge as is technically possible - just like it should be. They should stop pissing about with iPods and all other electronics manufactures should stop wasting time designing new phones and crap, this is where the future is, a plain star-trek pad-like device with a few sockets, wireless, hard-drive, touch screen and a plug-in keyboard if you want it, coming in a range of sizes/shapes from watch to phone/pda to full tablet, every gadget should look like this, buttons are so 2004. Ok so we've had pad like devices since the 90's but so-far they've all had stupid buttons on them, and for some stupid reason (batter life or something) mobile-phones have tiny screens that don't take up the entire area.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Regular "new idea" patent: You have to prove that this is a new way of doing something.
Design patent: registers a shape/style/whatever. I expect the Apple patent is one of these.
FTFUSPTO: Definition of a Design A design consists of the visual ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, an article of manufacture. Since a design is manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination of configuration and surface ornamentation. A design for surface ornamentation is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone. It must be a definite pattern of surface ornamentation, applied to an article of manufacture. The Patent Law provides for the granting of design patents to any person who has invented any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. A design patent protects only the appearance of the article and not its structural or utilitarian features. The principal statutes (United States Code) governing design patents are: 35 U.S.C. 171 35 U.S.C. 173 35 U.S.C. 102 35 U.S.C. 103 35 U.S.C. 112 35 U.S.C. 132 The rules (Code of Federal Regulations) pertaining to the drawing disclosure of a design patent application are: 37 CFR 1.84 37 CFR 1.152 37 CFR 1.121 The following additional rules have been referred to in this guide: 37 CFR 1.3 37 CFR 1.63 37 CFR 1.153 A copy of these laws and rules are included in the Appendix of this guide. The practice and procedures relating to design patent applications are set forth in chapter 1500 of the Manual of Examining Procedure (MPEP). Inquiries relating to the sale of the MPEP should be directed to the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Telephone: 202-512-1800. Types of Designs and Modified Forms An ornamental design may be embodied in an entire article or only a portion of an article, or may be ornamentation applied to an article. If a design is directed to just surface ornamentation, it must be shown applied to an article in the drawings, and the article must be shown in broken lines, as it forms no part of the claimed design. A design patent application may only have a single claim. 37 CFR 1.153. Designs that are independent and distinct must be filed in separate applications since they cannot be supported by a single claim. Designs are independent if there is no apparent relationship between two or more articles. For example, a pair of eyeglasses and a door handle are independent articles and must be claimed in separate applications. Designs are considered distinct if they have different shapes and appearances even though they are related articles. For example, two vases having different surface ornamentation creating distinct appearances must be claimed in separate applications. However, modified forms, or embodiments of a single design concept may be filed in one application. For example, vases with only minimal configuration differences may be considered a single design concept and both embodiments may be included in a single application. An example of modified forms appears in Appendix II. The Difference Between Design and Utility Patents In general terms, a "utility patent" protects the way an article is used and works (35 U.S.C. 101), while a "design patent" protects the way an article looks (35 U.S.C. 171). Both design and utility patents may be obtained on an article if invention resides both in its utility and ornamental appearance. While utility and design patents afford legally separate protection, the utility and ornamentality of an article are not easily separable. Articles of manufacture may possess both functional and ornamental characteristics.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Hmm. Pretty close to monopoly status....
For some formulations, that is.
I like my CD-based MP3 player. I like the idea that I can burn ten more CDRs for a couple bucks and increase my portable MP3 collection by 8 gigs.
With the speed of the patent office being what it is, maybe this is a patent for the Newton, finally being granted.
moo.
..iPod interface, not iTunes. Get your facts straight before whining. It's a design patent. Don't make me have to explain what that is. Please.
If you are using an old monitor, this could render your computer quite useless.
You know that 15 second confirm dialog, which appears anytime you change resolutions? In case the display gets corrupted, it automatically reverts and you've lost nothing but 15 secondss' time.
However (as of 10.4.0) THIS DIALOG IS NOT DISPLAYED WHEN YOU CHANGE THE ROTATION SETTING. I can't imagine why it doesn't - probably an oversight - but it is a major pain in the ass to get the display back to the way it was - particularly in my case, not having another monitor I can use. VNC doesn't seem to work when a monitor is not plugged in (or, it's giving an unrelated error which I can't see anyway), booting into safe mode won't display the pulldown menu, and there are no less than four places on the hard drive this setting is stored (I've deleted 3 and the setting is still remembered, so there's at least one I'm missing).
In fact, I've given up, and am selling the mini to a friend to fund a new iMac
Summary: If you don't think you'll actually USE this feature, don't risk making your monitor useless by testing it. At least until Apple adds that dialog.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/13/apple_tabl et_mac/
Eat it.
-FweE-
(yet)
Please, let's all just wait and see what happens instead of the typical pre-WWDC/MWSF speculation about whatever ThinkSecret claims to have learned.
As the article states, Apple has patents on stuff that it may never make. Might as well grab the patent while it's available, though.
Is this all you need for a design patent, a couple empty white line drawings? Geez, that looks like my wife's cookie sheet. If you're going to patent a design, don't you need some kind of mockup, or at least a 3D model. I could model that thing in about 10 minutes for a design patent.
...::----::...
I am in no way affiliated with this sig.
OP: Apple is going to have a very small market here.
Hint: designers will love not being tied to a desktop computer and Wacom tablet. Designers tend to like Macs. The good ones can afford them.
Why do you think business users need tablet PCs? Most business use is email and data entry, peppered with spreadsheets and presentations.
I imagine that Apple would bring something compelling to the idea, as they have done with personal computers, laptops, PDAs, and MP3 players.
There is a huge market for the right tablet product. Everyone talks about the tablet being a niche only market but they are always talking about current machines and the horrible way they are used in the "enterprise" marketplace.
Tablets today are not great.
Give us a tablet that we can lounge around with and we'll be happy. I hate be tied to my desk and would like a ~$1000 machine to sit on the couch, lay in bed or go to the bathroom with. Yes, a laptop could do the job but tablet's are so much sexier. Plus, I'd use it for more reading than writing....
Tablets of the future is what all true nerds should have.
Get your Unix fortune now!
I've posted this a couple of times before, but it works here as well.
This is a remote. Or Apple's version of one. Look, apple's already said that they veiw thier media in a modular way. That's because they are a weird amalgamation of a software and hardware. This model really affects thier design in a fundamental way. They view both as feeding the other. Unlike Microsoft. Or Sony. Both of those companies don't have the (ability) (balls) (forsight) to realize that you really do benefit from doing both. That's because the new tech market is turning towards usability as it's prime selling point. Witness the iPod. But you know this.
Now, think about the home media center. What is the primary user interface element? The remote. For all intents and purposes, the equipment has acheived a level of abstraction in our heads. What do the butttons on a TV do? Who cares? The remote can do it. My AV receiver doesn't even have all the bottons on the face. Only on the remote. And this abstraction yeilds some interesting results.
One, that you handle your remote more times in the average day than a book or your keyes. We don't even realize how much time we spend with these damn things. They are integral. And they almost uniformly suck. How many remotes do you use? How much fumbling? Your universal remote does most things. But what about when you need to schedule and rank your DVR? The remote falls apart. The fuction is mapped to some button that is not intuitive. It's a giant mess. Sort like the MP3 market ummm.... four years ago.
While the remote is bad at it's primary function, it falls apart completely when it comes to digital media. Enter microsoft with their assinine "Media Center PC" Why God, why? Why do you need a whole new computer in your living room? You already have a computer somewhere in your house. But Microsoft is a software company. They need to sell the software. They're trying to break out of this with the Xbox. And they will haves success. But it's a lackluster implimentation of the central problem: the remoteis the media center, see. How are people going to interact with the Xbox? With the controller and a TV monitor. This is crummy, in my mind, because if thier view of media is to add another box to the den that just happens to deal with my digital media as a second fuction, I call bullshit. Let each componant do what it is primarily good at. The Xbox controller , even if it includes that rollerball thing, still is a poor way to interact with media. It'll be good for gamers, sure. But that will color the rest of it functionality. It already has, really. See, there's no big, legible display to speak of on the damn thing. So you abstract the abstract. The Xbox took over your media and the controller takes over your Xbox, which makes you look at the tv screen as the navigation aid. I'm not sure if I can exactly explain why.... but this feels icky to me.
So, this is where Apple steps in. The Airport express is an important clue. The idea is make a centeral computer and stream over the air the media to a router near the media center. But make the router "magic" Using, I don't know, Rendevou...err... Bonjour. Which just got released for the PC, yes? Pieces are starting to fall into place. So, what's misssing is a remote that doesn't suck for your media that can interact wirelessly with your media. Something like a big lcd touchscreen. And only like an LCD screen. Nothing else. It's the display and the input. Simple. Elegant. Getting cheap. This is a thin client, really. But it won't be marketed as such. No, it'll be the iPod for the rest of your life. It'll be your remote. It'll be your newspaper. It'll be your media manipulator (edit movies, work on garage band tracks, retouch photos). It will be your morning newspaper. It will be the thing you pick up when you put your iPod down. Think about it. All the technology is there. But it's maddening to use, especially for average consumers. They are maing a remote. They just have to be.
A MacOSX tablet would rock. Tablets may not be that exciting by themselves but with OSX? UNIX wherever you are, turn the thing into a terminal and watch videos on it streamed off your mac mini in the other room; instant on feature lets you use it to take notes at lectures; capture video with built in videocam; use your soon to be released ipod/motorola phone combo thingy as a remote control to change the channel, etc. Sure, it's all stuff you can do with a mini laptop and a TV set now but when Apple does this it will be much snappier, trust me ;)
They are making a video iPod with a touch screen interface.
They just added video capabilities to iTunes. Now they need to expand the iPod accordingly, before they launch the online Movie Store.
Previous comments have noted that design patents are relatively easy to get around, but you have to wonder where the line in the sand should be drawn. Is this patent really that different than if Toshiba had tried to patent a tablet x86, or a tablet computer in general? I mean to be quite honest, other than the nicely rounded corners it really doesn't look that much differnet than a Toshiba. How specific do the design patents need to be in order to be enforcable? Are simple sketches like those included in the patent application really enough?
I imagine that is referring to an interface to Inkwell. Inkwell is primarily useful for users of Wacom tablets. You know, those things that let you draw with a pen? Well, Inkwell will let you use it for handwriting recognition and as a mouse as well. Inkwall has existed in OS X since Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). To sum it all up, this is nothing new and is no golden arrow pointing towards the amazing future of Apple tablets. Please be careful not to throw misguided bread crumbs out that the Mac rumor sites will try to build nests out of.
Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
Yea - who woudl ever buy a "niche" audio player from a "niche" computer company.
Oh, btw, I think I heard in some recent news that Apple is going out of business
.
-shpoffo
You need to diustinguish between hd & non-hd players. Look at the adoption curve 2000-2002. Granted the ipod came out in late 2001. How long have tablets been out?
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Does anyone have the pat. application number?
I will get modded down by the mac zealots
You're begging for it too.
You can't take the sky from me...
Well, tablets don't sell to well from what I've heard.
But the question is - why? I'll tell you my opinion - price! They've always been way too damned expensive.
the "Apple Tax" may be the same so the costs would be about equal.
Well here's the thing. New iBooks are selling for $999 (12" 1.2GHz). Routinely, if you're willing to buy a refurb, or a slightly older or less-featured model you can grab them $699-$899. The mini's $499 and $599. Then there's the bottom of the line powerbook starts at $1499 (12" 1.5GHz)
Where's that leave the iTablet in Apple's price lineup?
Personally, I think the iTablet is a great idea if Apple does it well (light, 4 hours++ to a charge, wifi built in). They could use low-end 1.25GHz G4's in it to save on battery load and cost. Leave the cd/dvd drive off the thing.
But it all comes down to cost for me, and I assume most people. I'd not be willing to pay much more than $100-$200 over the current cost of the base iBook for the iTablet.
http://slashdot.org/~tf23/journal
waiting for two minutes for the site to load is two minutes I will never get back.
The "pictures" look like a legal pad. How is this news? Oh, since this is Apple it must be important.
Let me know when Apple releases a functional tablet. Until then, I'll stick with the legal pad.
...of drawings. :(
Note that this patent is for a finger touchscreen tablet like a PDA, and my tablet has a wacom pressure-sensitive pen digitizer in the screen.
:-), but not so useful as an art / design machine (my understanding is that to have both pressure-sensitive pen and finger, you would need two seperate, difference hardware systems on the screen, which would be expensive).
This is interesting. A year ago, I was predicting that Apple would get on the tablet bandwagon (and possibly pull off another ipod), because tablets are so suited to art, which is ostensibly one of apples big markets. (I have a normal wacom digitizer on my desktop, but I find I prefer to use the screen digitiser of may tablet for photoshop, etc, - even though the CRT of the desktop beats any LCD on a portable).
Yet their design is for a finger touch screen. This would make for perhaps a better interface than pen for something simple like an ebook or portable video player (a video ipod allowing you rent DRMed movies from apple
I have a convertable tablet (it operates in slate and laptop mode), and my experience is that it is a vast improvement over laptops when in laptop mode, but slate mode, while kind of cool, it typically limited to low-input tasks like watching DVDs, because I type at twice the speed I write.
So I doubt this tablet is going to be marketed as a mac. It may contain a mac, but it's going to take aim at more specialised tasks.
Unless they stick one of those laser keyboards on it that convert any flat surface into a keyboard. It's about time someone built one of those into a slate computer.
And now that epaper is becoming possible, ebook readers that failed to suck might be another ipod waiting to happen.
this is rather like apple's patent on the itunes interface. problematic by itself, and depressing if it becomes a precedent for future patent maneuvering.
A design patent is not quite the same as what one normally thinks of when talking about patents. Basically all this move indicates is that nobody can release a tablet that looks like what Apple would design. It's meant to prevent rip-offs, not stifle innovation. Of course, I fully expect someone to claim that rip-offs are innovative.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
no, the mp3 player market faltered for a while before Apple picked up the slack.
The tablet market has faltered for a while too, let's see what comes of it.
I'm with you, man. You got modded down, probably for using naughty words, but I totally share your sentiment.
If aspiration is a virtue, achievement cannot be a vice.
I love Garageband even though I'm not a Mac user based on the sheer simplicity of making music with it. Apple's laptops are very nice looking, and thin and light-weight. Now, I play the piano/keyboard, and my dream is if I could actually play a virtual, touch-sensitive keyboard right on the touch screen. And if it is saved in Garageband, I'm in right now!
This sig donated to Pater. Long live
[I] Be an effective remote terminal. You can carry it around for an hour or a day, and, within a few minutes, all relevent changes can be transfered. You can take it to the coffee house, sync to .Mac, and by the time you get back home, your big machine can be updated. [/I}
Sync? screw sync-- I do it live. OP suggested transferring changes to a machine elsewhere, I suggest, RUN THE MACHINE ELSEWHERE from remote.
All my data is at HOME, not possible to lose due to mugging/leaving in a taxi....
I can't lose any of it.
(ya know how BOA lost a laptop with thousands of customer files on it? why-? why aren't these laptops just massively secure thin clients- if needed in the field where wifi is not available- freaking tie them to a cell phone.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
This option only appears on machines with a certain type of Radeon video card or higher. Machines with GeForce cards will not see the option.
Because Apple computers are toys that people like to accessorize with???
It's more like Apple is the only computer maker that has a significant investment in design, and thus the only one with a reason to protect that investment.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
In the UK we have a concept of design-right.
This concept is similar to copyright, but protects a design.
Therefore, I presume a design patent is eqivalent to design right.
If you know otherwise, please speak up.
Also it would be of interest to know if the design patents carry similar penalties for abuse "classic" patents, or are more like copyright.
I love my Motion M1200, but *if* Apple makes a tablet running OS X, my wife gets the Tablet PC.
What if the Hokey-Pokey really is what it's all about?
Does prior art trump a design patent like it would an idea patent?
2 ,00.html
2002 - Ok, design doesn't match, but it's a nice effort:
http://www.wired.com/news/images/0,2334,56086-530
2004 - Hrmmm... make it slightly thinner, and viola, it's the same damn thing.
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
No need to, they've got the originals... left behind when the Newton got thrown out with the bath water.
Umm ummm ummm, yeah, it did. But the MP3 market was a niche market because the technology was not popular and Apple created a player people liked.
Apple's computers and notebooks are marketed as "upper class" computers. They are clearly not competing with the PCs if you look at their price, their hardware lock-in, and their software.
I imagine their tablet PCs will go into the same niche market rather than into the broader one. Which is probably fine with Apple since they seem to be making plenty of money from this niche.
Damn MS and OneNote. I live by OneNote on my laptop (not even a tablet) PC, and am desperately trying to find a way to run it in Linux short of a full-blown VMWare environment...
Good try, but no. That didn't fix it.
I wonder how long it will take Microsoft to copy this great idea...
- X
- Y
- Tilt X
- Tilt Y
- Pressure
- Tip Button
- Lower Button
- Upper Button
Also worth noting from the ADC Library documentation (for Cocoa) above:Important: Tablet events are available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later versions of the operating system.
On a similar note, Quartz Composer showed up in Mac OS X 10.4 as well. Note the pictures in the ADC document as well. They depict a tablet connected to an iMac or Apple display. It seems to me that none of this is talking about a tablet PC. If it is, they sure went through a great deal to hide it.Beware, Nugget is watching... See?
I'd say PIRATES have about an 80% market share now!
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Tablet isn't quite PDA. So copying is quite obvious here.
Whoops! Research please!
Apple Computer is a huge computer manufacturer. In fact, they are the 5th biggest in terms of recent US sales figures, and sales are increasing more rapidly than any other manufacturer. [Source: IDC, 4Q2004 report]
So even though Apple only holds 3.8% of the market:
1. Dell @ 17% of market
2. HP, @ 16% of market
3. IBM, @ 5% of market
4. Gateway, @ 4% of market
5. Apple @ 3.8% of market
And there you have it. They may be small compared to Microsoft's 95% OS penetration, but they are large in terms of being a product manufacturer, neatly falling in the "2nd tier by volume" along with IBM and Gateway.
-truth
I had a steady B+ in my AI class until I failed the Turing test...
actually, I'm referring to their dubious patent on the iTunes software interface. and no, I don't require your explanation of design patents. they are harmful, and must be neutralized.
well, The Register covered this when Apple filed for the European Design Trademark LAST AUGUST.
Jeremy Logan's Website.
Can you substantiate that figure ? More than one in ten people on earth bought a new cell phone last year ? I don't doubt it was a lot, but if that's true: wow.
check out this:
m l
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
for this guy it was basically a "roll your own" job, but there is a company which already produces a touch screen ibook, and could've easily made a Mac tablet based on the design ages ago. Their website here:
http://www.trolltouch.com/pages/products/ibook.ht
You need to diustinguish between hd & non-hd players. Look at the adoption curve 2000-2002.
O.K., show me the curve. Oh, wait -- you were probably just pulling that out of your ass. Sorry.
-- I'm old enough to have lived through six different meanings of the word "hacker."
It's been done before. =P /me gasps.
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
And it's even a MAC!
Windows has detected an undetectable error.
Wait for Crossover 5.0 :)
nah, no sig... move on..
Looks more like an Etch-a-sketch than a tablet PC. There's prior art for that.
iDropIt
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
Which sits on a heat sink the size of an iBook.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
i can't agree with you on that one. Do some comparisons of features on your own or check out the latest system shootouts. dollar for dollar the Apple is the better deal. http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2 005/0503_dt1300.html/
but personally i think this item might be the portable video player for the iTunes/iFlicks video service. Think H.264 on this baby. mmmm.
is anyone else thinking what i'm thinking?
tablet mac is the missing video ipod.. except it's actually got a big screen so you can watch movies whereever you go..
MABASPLOOM!
Smalltalk (well maybe not Smalltalk, it would have to be renamed before it gets taken seriously.)
:-)
Whaaahaha!!! I WANT ONE! NnOoWw! (And I'm the one who's got to shell out the dough!)
If this thing hits with a price point of $800, it is going to be BIG splash.
I suspect that it will run with a G4 processor for the better temperature handling.
It doesn't have to come with all the gegaws. That is what USB and FireWire is for. My iMac is only a screen on a pedestal now. Its not a big leap to come up with a tablet.
Hell if its a tablet, it shouldn't come with anything but the strict minimum, 802.11g AirPort, PostScript display capabilities, and QuickTime. So it needs some OS X components. The new core architecture's all set up for it. Ram is down to $100 a gig so that's not the problem.
Its got to do hand writing recognition (old tech by now) and write to a honking great big flash memory or maybe he's got the iPod drive capacity in mind and its got to synch with an iMac. eMac or PowerMac.
This could be GREAT! (And knowing what Apple can do, it really could be.)
Do it Mr. Jobs.
Make good on the DynaBook. (Bill G. will eat hit %^&#-ing hat.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Jobs comes down from Mount Cupertino. "I bring to you these fifteen . . ." SMASH ". . . ten new features for 10.5!" /Mel Brooks
Actually, the difference between a copyright on a design and a patent on a design is the ease to go after people copying your idea. design patents are closer to copyrights than utility patents. uspto.gov has more information on this, and a number of other people have posted more information on it.
I just thought of something that's just crying out to a wireless input pad.
The MacMini!
Rather than get all heated up over the MacMini and then having to connect up your old monitor, keyboard and mouse to it, remote a tablet to it.
Swell, my DynaBook idea has just gome up in smoke...
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Apple actually built a prototype Mac (System 7) tablet back in the mid-90's. They got as far as the "prototype" plastics being made and did a small run for internal testing (maybe a couple of dozen?). I saw some in use in the Tokyo office in '96 where they were being used to test the (Japanese language) handwriting recognition software. They were sturdy enough for day to day use and were left in the lunchroom for employees to use (the idea was to get lots of input with different people's handwriting styles). I don't recall why the project was killed then.
An MP3 player is just a modern Walkman. The "Walkman market" hasn't been "niche" for about twenty years.
"Niche" != "immature".
The tablet PC market is niche. It's niche because its practical applications - advantageously over existing alternatives - are very small.
MP3 players have never been a niche market. They've been am *immature and growing* market, but the idea of a "pocket music player" hasn't been a niche market since the late 70s/early 80s.
the margins are too low, (thanks to Microsoft's comoditizing the whole market) and anybody that they 'partner' with is less than whole-hearted about it.
Bill G. comoditization means that they don't do any R&D or Design anymore (and that all the fuckin' boxes look like crap, differentiated only by cheap plastic panel)
Bill G.'s not going to lose any sleep over this but maybe he should.
It WON'T be running Windows.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
I'ld find that hard to swallow!
Having the tablet capability makes tablets to not have the "SAME EXACT HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS".
mental note: eat up martha. d'oh!
Wrong type of data loss..
n ews_lz1ed17middle.html
I'm not talking about "the only copy" I'm talking about "any copy"
and I'm sorry, it was Wells Fargo, not BOA that had a laptop stolen.
THEN ANOTHER ONE
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040417/
the laptops contained THOUSANDS of customer records on the local hard drive.
Why?
proper security should mean data is not on an removeable, insecure machine. it should be backed up and remote always....
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
CodeWeavers gets my cash as soon as Crossover can bring me my OneNote.
Wonder if there's any chance of being able to drag and drop images from Firefox as can be done in Windows. Haven't really looked into whether Crossover handles such clipboard, copy/paste stuff...
Only in America could a company get a "design patent" on a damn rectangle.
Not that that will stop me from buying one.
That is why we have trademarks. It is a dangerous precedent for design elements to be patentable.
Really... we should patent "patenging: a way to prohibit everyone including me from requesting a patent for anything" and it would be the end of these unsane stupid story.
people should be granted design patents, not software patents. design patents denote a unique design. apple obviously created the brushed metal interface for itunes, since it created OS X and there was no other completely similar product before, so they legally should be entitled to owning the fact that they created it, and if someone makes one like it on windows, they can sue them. thats how patents work. however, if apple got a patent for the tablet idea itself or how to input to one, thats another story, those are more ambiguous. but design patents are crucial for creativity.
...iPad. Like a pad of paper, to draw on, to write on, read notes, and present art or view video. the name would converge with the Pages software metaphor, and of course fit in the i* naming convention.
I can see it as a good product for kids, students,\ artists and business people having to make a presentation of any sort. The apple cool factor really appeals to all those markets, and could help the iPad over other tablet designs.
It seems like it's a 5.5 x 8.5 design, which is exactly the same size as my note books in college, and my sketchbooks in art school. that size format is perfect for college because of the desk size in most lecture halls, and is really great for rough sketching. That's also about the size of Vintage International's novels.
It's bigger than most PDA's but I could really see this as a huge revitalization for that market, as well as the subnotebook/tablet market. I always thought the biggest deficiency of the PDA was the lack of natural handwriting input, the small form factor, and the lack of backward software compatibility. The Subnotebook/tablet really didn't appeal to me because of the keyboards were too small (and i have small hands!), no handwriting recognition, too many hardware features and they seemed too thick for me.
Convergence between these two categories could be a real money winner if apple tries to keep the feature set down following the success of the mini. leave out the modem, Ethernet, maybe video out, non-upgradable memory, USB, Firewire, and instead go with wifi, bluetooth, Dock connector, stereo minijack, and combo drive.
I could see something like this come in at $749 and really start where newton left off. Newton was folded, largely because it was way before its time and it was introduced at a point in Apple's development where everything was based on creating more margin. now that they are more consumer oriented, something like this could really fly.
It seems to me that none of this is talking about a tablet PC. If it is, they sure went through a great deal to hide it.
The tech inside a tablet PC is exactly the same as any other tablet -- and it's all (due to patents) owned by Wacom. So, basically, it's a moot point -- it doesn't prove or disprove the existence or planned existence of an Apple tablet computer.
There is a guy that made a tablet from one functioning and one non-functioning iBook. It's really do-able I'm in the process of doing it myself, which is why I have the sig I have.
If you're really serious though you should sign the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/tablet_mac/.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
It's doubtful that Apple currently has any real intention to follow through with this.
So Please! Encourage them a bit http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/tablet_mac/.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
IBM? Don't you mean Lenevo?
That is why we have trademarks.
No, actually, it isn't. A trademark is entirely different. For example, a trademark prevents someone from putting your logo on their product, whether it looks like your product or not. A design patent prevents someone from copying the design of your product, no matter what logo they put on it.
It is a dangerous precedent for design elements to be patentable.
Except it isn't a precedent at all -- design patents aren't a recent thing. They were incorporated into patent law in 1842. It seems like they are among the least dangerous parts of current patent law.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
I guess chipset, CPU type, CPU speed, RAM type, amount of RAM, hard drive size, battery life, video chipset, onboard networking peripherals, screen resolution and and screen size are not hardware specifications, then?
Because -- for a given amount of money, I can buy a laptop with a faster CPU, larger hard drive, better video chipset and better screen resolution than any tablet PC.
The shape of a computer (its form factor) is not very significant. It hardly counts as a hardware specification. About the only difference between a tablet PC and a run-of-the-mill laptop is that the tablet PC has extra engineering work put into it to make everything fit into such a small space.
You've got the wrong end of the stick. It's software patents that are evil. Not design patents.
Yeah, let's distinguish between hd and non-hd players.
What's Apple's marketshare on non-hd players. 60%? More?
What adoption curve are you talking about that wasn't totally dwarfed by Apple's entry into the market?
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
i tend to believe him because he was actually shooting a photo documentary about the invention of the newton at the time.
Have you used an iBook alongside whatever Dell's selling for $1000 nowadays?
"Upper class" meaning "Superior in every way", yeah.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
OS-X seems to handle dragging images from any app to any other app as I would expect it to. Since the Mac was the queen (well excluding RISC OS) of drag and drop for years.
On related note (no pun intended), how on Earth can you take notes in a program that doesn't have a search'n'replace function? I like OneNote interface, but am sick & tired of copying from OneNote to notepad and back just to change multiple occurence of a word in the text.
Not shown is the processor, which will be incorporated into the power supply.
;-) Excellent idea (and I don't think it will make replacement power supplies more expensive.. they are already extremely pricey, especially the ones from Apple)
Have you patented this idea before posting it? Boy, think of how small the future desktop computers will be if you incorporate everything into the power supply!
Georg
And you can store 60GB of music, photos, addreses, notes, calendar info, etc in your shirt pocket, right?
Is that a music collection in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
Bingo!
Seems I was right on. Oh, and don't worry that Apple won't follow through. They will.
Just think how it should be and that's the way it will be. Steve Jobs is the closest to a geek and a techie a CEO will ever get. And he never compromises when he know's how it's suposed to be done.
I predict the following:
The Apple Tablet - probably called iNewton - will have a form factor slightly smaller than the 12" iBook, will - of course (Apple isn't dumb, y'know) - have no keyboard and most certainly have no optical drive. It will have top-notch handwriting recognition (think "Newton with the brakes removed"), a special variant of OS X and it will boot extremly fast. In around about 5 seconds. It will probably have a pen with the ability to switch to ink and a on-screen warning when the pen is in "ink-writing" mode. Some bluetooth thingie in the pen issueing that warning. It will have no clutter, but all the stuff you need and will be the first tablet to truly replace pen and paper.
And - of course - it will sell like hot cakes.
I actually suspect Steve Jobs to present it at the next Mac Expo. Because everytime I think "Gee, that would be nice to have", Apple has it 18 months later the latest. It's allways that way.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Whilst their hardware and OS integration is admirable.
I concede that the iPod has a well designed interface and overall decent look and manufacturing quality, but I would never pay the Apple premium, maybe I'm just not as trendy as you lot.
Apple PC designs, however, are really nothing revolutionary.
Would you like white or candy-colored?
Here have some smoothed rounded edges on that!
Viola! revolutionary design!
Maybe I just don't appreciate their sense of aesthetics. I thought the iMacs were downright fugly, and the G5s whilst not looking utterly horrid, I just personally don't find anything especially attractive them.
Wake me up when their PCs don't like like Mattel
or Tonka designed them.
This isn't meant to be a troll, but watch me get modded flamebait by the Apple nazis.
http://www.macobserver.com/images/viewimage.shtml? src=/images/news/2005/20050510tablet/figure7.gif
His thumb is as long and lanky as his other fingers, and he's completely missing his pinky except for a nub. Presumably he lost his pinky in a tea drinking accident at the catillion.
Not to mention he appears to have had his legs amputated and yet is capable of standing via hovering in mid-air. No doubt, he made a deal with Satan to grant him such forbidden magicks of the ancients of the templed pillar-cities of lizard people.
Last but not least, the man's face indicates to me this individual is none other than TV's Dave Coulier, sitcom actor from Full House and our favorite host of Out Of Control. Hah-hah! CUT-IT-OUUUUT!
Slashdot requires you to wait longer between hitting 'reply' and submitting a comment.
and i'd think eliminating drug patents is a much higher priority than software patents.
No, he was meaning Lenovo
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
I have, I have a 12in iBook, and my sister has a D700. The D700 is much faster than the ibook, and screen has more resolution, and came with more ram, 2nd mouse button and a DVD burner for about the same price. The iBook on the other hand seems better built than the Dell and came with OSX, and much better battery life. No matter what anyone tells you, iBook is not usable with 256 mb of ram. In terms of number of features, the Dell wins hands down, but in terms of joy of computing. I like the iBook more.
What does that have to do with anything. You can't buy Linux Brand computers. You can however buy Macintosh Brand computers.
Oops, typo. The article I pointed to had it correct though.
In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
After studying the patent extensively for 1 minute, I have come to the following conclusions
from the artist impression:
1. Only available in white.
2. It will be pretty much useless since it has no GUI. Only a couple of diagonal lines on the display.
3. The only input/output ports it has is one hole on the side.(Well, I can't see fig 7 and 8.)
4. It's for users with thick eye-brows.
"I used to have that really cool,funny sig
(Or, I'd wish it to be.)
A wireless screen for the Mac mini (or other desktop). Imagine that you have a Mac with screen, keyboard and mouse on your desk. You pick up the screen, which nicely slides out of the stand that charges it, and walk away, around the office or your flat or whatever, now using the same computer as a tablet Mac. You sit down in the couch, and it is a remote control to your Airport Express.
The screen itself has no real processing power or storage. Not more than is required to run some remote desktop client. Maybe it can serve as a remote BT hub for other peripherals (let's say a headset and a webcam, and suddenly it is a videophone).
Maybe it can be used on its own without an owning computer, like a screen for a iPod photo or iPod video.
Now, if they did this, a natural next would be a battery pack for the Mac mini, allowing me to have a "computer brick" in my backpack, and a really sleek tablet mac in my hand that'd punch a whole lot more power than those PC tablets.
And no, that's not the same as a PowerBook -- anyone tried typing standing up away from a desk?
Of course, this is all just wishful thinking, but some parts of it just might come true. Please?
Copyright can provide protection for patterns on products, e.g. the rounded white square with the central silver Apple logo on the top face of a Mac Mini.
This operates similar to copyright but with a much, much shorter term - up to 15 years depending on circumstances. Apple generally will not be able to protect products using unregistered design right because it is a US corporation - they may be saved if the designer is a "qualifying person", e.g. an EU citizen. US corporations do not benefit from unregistered design right because the US does not provided an equivalent right.
There is an EU-wide version that have a term of only 3 years from first publication.
These are available in UK and EU flavours and are granted by the UK Designs Registry and OHIM respectively on application. Both have a term of up to 25 years and are equivalent to US Design Patents.
Registered designs can protect patterns and shapes but the registration may be revoked if the design fails to meet certain novelty and individuality requirements.
The unregistered rights, namely copyright and unregistered design right, differ from registered designs in that copying must be proved in order to enforce them. For registered designs, infringement is simply a matter of whether the alleged infringing design looks sufficiently like the pictures in the registered design.
don't they have software that lets you use the notebook's onboard motion sensors to "play" with the screen by tilting, tipping, the device... the greatest gag of them all would be to combine that tech with a tablet pc for the ultimate high-tech "Etch-a-Sketch"! Just flip and shake the screen to clear it... that gag alone would sell tons of units...
Software patents are different in that software already has adequate protection under copyright. Software patents are bad. Patents in general are not bad.
Apple's smallness is an advantage in this case. after all, they can literally change their entire line-up in 2-3 years... without causing much software pain because they have better controls. The acceptance of tablet PCs has never been the hardware, but rather all the "old" piles of keyboard & mouse software nobody wants to fix for the tablet... right now if I want a MS tablet I still have to re-buy all my apps anyway... converting from Win to Mac is a lot cheaper proposition if the mac's software "just works". I've noticed lately, Apple's becoming very good at "forward thinking" in their technology... forcing changes needed in the low level stuff that allow the next steps to be relitively painless to the users...
Next up, the suppository Mac...
As Microsoft already patented the double-click feature on tablet pcs...
This is a rumour only:
c .php?t=9
This patent might be the outcome of the purchase of FingerWorks, Inc http://www.fingerworks.com/ that has some pretty neat heat sensors for keyboards and mice. Something that might very well be used in that tablet Mac. Read the FingerWorks story here : http://fingerfans.dreamhosters.com/forum/viewtopi
Apple likes to swoop on good ideas that have been poorly implemented in the past.
That's right folks! And we call this process 'innovation'! Try an example sentence: The iPod is a product of Apple's 'innovation'!
Now, when icky companies do it, the process has a different name. We call it 'copying'! Example sentence: Windows is a product of Micro$oft's 'copying'!
Remember, this material will appear in your Slashdot Exam! Those not scoring 100% will be beaten on the head with penguin dolls until they conform! Conform! CONFORM!
Enjoy!
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
Why innovate when you can just rip off Microsoft?
bollocks. you mean they wouldn't be developed under a capitalist system, and have implicitly assumed that everything is best served by a capitalist system.
how about the example of drugs research being developed by government funding? plus in this case the most harmful problems like AIDS and cancer would be tackled first, not viagra. note also in the case of viagra it is not a cure - pharmaceutical companies under a capitalist system have an interest in avoiding cures since they'd destroy their own market, better to have something people need to take all the time.
A gyro (it's not really a gyro, is it?) would have problems telling absolute orientation. Also, it'd have to be quite sensitive to detect slow movements. If the PB contained a water level (sort of), that'd be interesting!
I mean under the system that's in operation in most places in the world. Living under communism would be a heavy price to pay for freedom from patents. However if you fancy it, you'd better get a move on. North Korea is about the only place left for you. Though they'd probably shoot you when you tried to get in. Cuba possibly, if you're prepared to compromise on the communist ideals somewhat. Good look.
So, what's misssing is a remote that doesn't suck for your media that can interact wirelessly with your media. Something like a big lcd touchscreen. And only like an LCD screen. Nothing else. It's the display and the input. Simple. Elegant. Getting cheap. This is a thin client, really.
I have to agree because I've long said myself that bulky tablets don't interest me, but I'd definitely buy a good "wireless monitor". For the office, I could just pick it up off the desk and walk to a meeting. For the home, it is the smart TV you can take anywhere (or maybe just the remote if you have a big media center :-). Pair something like that with a Mac mini and you get a really interesting digital hub for not a lot of money. That seems to be more inline with Apple's strategy than a vanilla tablet would be.
it's hardly communism to have the government fund research.
if that IS communism, then you better tell your local homeland security officer you've discovered the UK is communist, because I'm being funded to do research.
get a clue, noobie.
My employer makes a "convertible" Tablet PC, one that can be used as a standard laptop or a Tablet by flipping it over. I'm trying to get one for business use, to replace my current 4-y.o. desktop. The idea is: I can do the "spreadsheets and presentations" (not too far off) with a real keyboard and mouse during office hours. Then after hours, I can take the Tablet home and get arty. I'm also curious to see what difference Tablet input makes to games like C&C or Civ 8-) I'd be a little careful of pigeonholing "business users" as uncreative types who have no use for a Tablet - we need to eat while working on our next magnum opus, eh! Also, don't fall for the Hollywood FUD that only Apple computers are suitable for creative work - if you believe that, congratulations, you've been successfully marketed at (a.k.a brainwashed). It's all about the apps, not the OS.
(this is not a
Well offtopic here, but...
Eliminating drug patents would likely destroy the private drug-producing industry. Imagine sinking 1.5 billion dollars into a product, the research, the testing, the FDA approval, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, only to release it and have cheap generics available two weeks later. Brand-name drugs are costly because they have to pay for the expensive research behind them. Generics take someone else's finished product and duplicate it.
While I don't like the price difference and the waiting period that these patents produce, I understand that drug companies might simply stop researching new medicines without them; it would not be cost effective.
Patents were made to protect the company, because without those protections, the companies might not exist to provide products and services to the customer. Disadvantageous? In one sense. In another they are crucial.
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
While the government can and does fund research, it would cost you and me much more to have it work that way.
If the government sinks 200 million into the creation of a new drug and then release that information, they get no return. Yes, the "betterment of mankind" and all that, but there is no compensation to the government (i.e. you and me) for footing the bill for research. Unless you decide the government can charge companies for using their research... which sounds suspiciously like licensing out patented information.
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
say it isn't so ...
Question Authority before IT questions You
um, how about making the public healthier generates less cost and more tax.
and how about the fact that the government is supposed to work for us, so making our lives better is a good thing.
OneNote is good, but I wonder what kind of note-taking app Apple would come up with for a Tablet Mac.
BTW, do you think they'd call it the iTablet, the Newton, or the Einstein?
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
Apparently, you have to flip it over and shake it to reboot.
Those aren't photographs. They're illustrations. Does anyone in America understand diction these days?
I have a website. It's about Macs.
Last time I looked the UK was a capitalist state. Which has rather spoiled your original point. Now you point seems to be that we don't need patents because governments fund research. But they only do that in very limited spheres. There are few finished products that some from government funded research. You wouldn't have got you Mac for a start.
I think you've got a little bit of growing up to do. I'll leave you to it.
They note that the dotted lines
in the drawing are not part of the
claim.
That means the man in in the drawing
holding the device is part of claim?
They can start collecting royalties from
each of us?
The mp3 player market faltered because nobody came out with a good product until the i-pod. Your either had a 64 mb player that was small and compact, or a hard disk player that weighed 5 pounds and had batteries that only lasted 2 hours. Compare that to CD walkmans at the time, which had batteries that lasted for a sufficient amount of time. Were somewhat light, and could carry a variant amount of music, depending on how many discs you wanted to bring with you. And they cost less than even the crappy 64 mb mp3 players. The i-pod was the only player to offer an advantage over the old cd players.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I imagine the Mac tablet, if made available, would be much more expensive than the toughbook, but I would certainly consider it.
Note-taking on the Newton rocked for its time. The bulkiness (for a PDA) was the biggest drawback but the handwriting recognition was generally pretty good. Assuming they have advanced the technology in the last 6 years I would expect an Apple offereing to blow anything else away in this area.
Why, oh why, didn't I take the Blue Pill?
If you look back to the '60's and the introduction of the tiny transistor radio, it's obvious that the idea of a handheld music player has been around for a long time.
I drank what? -- Socrates
Comment removed based on user account deletion
No, he means IBM, because even with Lenovo owning the manufacturing of those computers, the brand name will continue to be IBM. ;-P
I can understand why someone would mod this as flamebait, but I strongly disagree with their decision to do so.
The fact is that it's dangerous on Slashdot to try and point out the rabid, kneejerk defense of Linux and Apple, and the rabid, kneejerk condemnation of anything having to do with Microsoft or Windows, and this post is a fairly funny, insightful commentary on this phenomenon.
Wish I had mod points.
No gods, no demons, and no masters. Secular Humanism!
"In terms of number of features"
Hardware features, you mean. How's that Dell's photo management and video composition software?
Features are one thing. Capabilities are another. I think you've well encapsulated the Mac vs. Windows dichotomy with your last statement.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
After 30 years, they finally made it.
>Last time I looked the UK was a capitalist state.
were you wearing retard-o-glasses at the time?
we're a mixed economy, fool!
you fail it.
Oh, thank _cripes_ some one pointed that out!
. [/rant]
[rant] Gorram clueless reactionary loudmouth kneejerk fanboy conspiracy-mongering doomsayers . .
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
I had a fancy LCD remote. I programmed it from scratch to have a really easy interface--the controls were consistent from device to device, things like "next track" and "previous track" were always labeled the same way and in the same location. The startup page had buttons for each device, which led to the pages for those devices.
But you know what? It sucked. Backlit or not, an LCD is a really lousy interface for a media remote. I sold the unit and bought a Harmony remote, which has physical buttons.
I'm assuming Apple is smart enough to know why LCD interfaces suck, because the iPod doesn't have a flat touch surface for all the controls.
Then again, maybe I'm wrong. I find the current iPods a major step back from the good design of the 3G iPods, because they've lost the easy-to-find-by-feel buttons for play, pause, next track, previous track. (Very useful when using the iPod in the car.) So maybe Apple is going to produce some hideous remote with an LCD screen.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
It's the iNewton! I always thought the Newton had a great potential. A new version of it would be definitely cool
"Words of wisdom: drop that zero and get with the hero" -- Vanilla Ice
Only a patent filing by Apple could launch over 500 comments on Slashdot...
Macintosh humor! MacComedy.com
I worked on the O/S and some utilities for this. It was announced at an WWDC as the Hancock and was canned in favor of the Newton. It was based on a Powerbook Duo, and like the Duo, would dock into a desktop setup. I google'd someone's essay about Apple's previous tablet computers (including Hancock).
As I recall, portable CD players that would play MP3 CDs were considered the player of choice for geeks in the know. (Burned the to cd as as filesystem)
Design patents are very easy to, pardon the pun, design around.
Take a look at those drawings. The thing is just a flat rectangle with rounded edges! It's going to be hard to design a tablet computer while designing it to look unlike a tablet.
Reducing medical spending by increasing research spending is not a guarantee of overall reduction, nor does it guarantee an increase in taxes. It could improve the situation, but I would need to see some data to see if there would be an offset. There are far too many factors for a quick analysis. Here are a few of the issues off the top of my head:
How much is spent annually on US-based drug research?
What tax changes (sales, income, targeted product taxes...) will need to be made to fund drug research?
How much branded drugs are produced domestically?
How many generic drugs are not?
What is the reduction in healthcare costs brought by eliminating branded drug costs?
What is the decrease in the mortality rate?
What socio-economic sectors are most affected?
What passthrough benefits will the business sector see from this (employee absenteeism, productivity, healthcare costs)?
What monetary benefits will the public see?
These are only scratching the surface, I'm sure.
I don't disagree that making the populous healthier is a Good Thing (TM). This can be accomplished through many actions and behaviors, many of which are less expensive to implement than widespread government-funded drug research. Preventative healthcare is something that fell by the wayside as health care became less common, and is making its way back thanks to HMOs (one of the few benefits of them) because it reduces thier costs).
The government should - and does - work for us. However the balancing act is a very tricky game. "Us" includes the individual, the companies in all there iterations, and the public at large.
For a person who is suffering with a disease, it is best to get them medicine immediately, regardless of cost (see Universal Health Care*). For the drug companies, it is best to protect their research - their 'property' - for a period of time that allows them to recoup their costs, thus enabling them to continue to flourish as a business.
For other businesses, it is best to keep reduce their healthcare costs and their tax burden, providing them more money to (hopefully) spread around.
For the public, the best is to reduce tax burden, improve health, and ensure there is a place for them to work.
We have to compare all of the issues for all of the people to make the choice. Some things are better served by different levels of government control/interaction. Not everything can be based solely on direct benefits. Note that there are also the philosophical/ethical issues... We fancy ourselves a primarily capitalist society, so how do these plans fit into that view?
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
What about the Newton!?! Apple was the first company to come out with an electronic device where the input device was a pen! Although it was plagued with short comings and misreads. Apple has always been an innovative company. I think we all might be pleasntly surprised
Um, that's the definition of a niche market, buddy.
-mkb
There is also the issue that the illustrations are of a featureless rectangle.
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
That sounds more like Bill Gates and Longhorn to me
--- Don't ever trust a woman until she's dead- B.B. King
I used one of those for a while, as I kept my mp3s backed up to CD (until I hit 100, then moved to DVD)
However, a player like that denies you support for ordered playlists, something most every user seems to want. I know I much prefer having my newest-added tracks in one list, mixdowns from my band in another, etc. compared to having to scroll through a massive directory of artists to find what I want.