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Apple Touch-Screen Netbook?
je ne sais quoi writes "The Apple rumor mill is churning today. Reuters and the DOW Jones news wire are reporting that an anonymous source in Taiwan has leaked that Apple has ordered some 10-inch touch-screens from WinTek, the maker of the touch-screen for the iPhone. It looks like an Apple netbook could possibly be in the works for a delivery date in Q3 of this year, in time for back-to-school sales. CNET and Engadget have completely unsubstantiated mock-ups."
I would not bet the "Netbook" has a keyboard. More like small 10" tablet what has virtual keyboard.
But actually I am not believing this "inside news" at all.
Is it for people that ONLY do a little websurfing and email? Even with that...why not pony up just a few more $$ and get a real laptop?
This is a question in general about the netbooks, not just the Apple one.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I am starting to think a controlled leak is the best way to manipulate your stock.
Now you can have a netbook with smudgy fingerprints all over the screen to match your iPhone.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
Or at least do something interesting like having a second display function as a keyboard.
Above all, update InkWell and provide good support for use as an ebook reader which could do .pdf annotations (adding a .pdf preview of all documents to file bundles would be ideal if such annotations could then be synched back into the document when it was opened in the originating app).
William
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
I don't find this shocking, due to the iPhone and iPod touch. They have learned a lot about the touch screen tech out there. Why wouldn't they expand into this area? It only makes sense that they look into it, remember ordered some screens doesn't make it a complete product for consumers. It maybe a year or two before we see anything for us to buy. Id would like to see it.
Gives Apple's history of pricing their products far more than what they are worth, I imagine the cost of their netbook would be about the same as a low end PC laptop.
Tablet.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
this is not a surprise to anyone who noticed the lengths they go to drill the laptop unibody into our minds - they actually gave reporters the chassis to hand around - together with the lengths they go to have a corner-to-corner glass covering the screen, so that when they offer a "matte" option they hide it as an "antiglare option" even though it's a completely different design - and how they made the "multitouch" trackpad bigger and bigger. They have been boiling the frog alive so that it'll just be a small flick to move that large multitouch trackpad ONTO the corner-to-corner glass screen.
No, there is no indication there will be a physical keyboard. Unibody drills into your mind that you don't open and close and fiddle with different siht.
If it's an Apple touchscreen netbook it will probably cost three times as much as any other netbook, and most people only buy netbooks because they're cheap.
I love Apple, but I really don't think netbooks are the right market for them.
(obviously my comment is written on the presumption the rumors are correct, and they probably aren't)
The Apple Product Cycle:
"An obscure component manufacturer somewhere in the Pacific Rim announces a major order for some bleeding-edge piece of technology that could conceivably become part of an expensive, digital-lifestyle-enhancing nerd toy."
concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
Yet another example of how this is so true.
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
So will it be a computer running a "traditional" OS with the whole Windows, Icons, Mouse Pointer interface or will Apple make it a big iPhone like device that hides a lot of that stuff under a (relatively) minimalist user interface?
Part of me wants the WIMP paradigm because of the additional control I have over files and folders but part of me wants to see how far you can take an interface based from the ground up on a purely touch interface (like the iPhone). [I think the advantage of a iPhone interface is that it is even simpler than a WIMP interface, no need to explain about files or directories etc. Great for the rest of... err.. them, like my mom!]
Speaking of user interfaces, did anyone catch the new "Voice over" feature in the new iPod Shuffle? It seems this might be another (relatively) unexplored user interface design where a visual user interface is not available. Will this be incorporated into other Apple products (like multi-touch was transported from the iPhone to the MacBook touchpads?).
I say "relatively" because obviously voice/audio cue interfaces are not new (every voice mail system uses them) but this is the first time I've seen it in a portable device.
It's going to be a 10 inch touch tablet. Essentially like a 10 inch iPod Touch. For say 800 bucks. It's going to be quarter of an inch thick, it'll be sweet, it won't be a "netbook" (hence the reason for the higher price) and it'll probably be missing something obvious like GPS.
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
Assuming it's priced at normal netbook prices plus "the Apple tax", I'll be buying one. I've wanted to get a netbook for some time but the ones on the market right now just do not appeal to me, at all. Sure, they may be functional and all but, if I'm going to carry around a mini computer, I would like it to be a bit sexay. So, yes, I'll pay an Apple tax to get an Apple branded netbook. Sign me up.
I would not bet the "Netbook" has a keyboard. More like small 10" tablet what has virtual keyboard.
But actually I am not believing this "inside news" at all.
We are at step 4 already?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I would definitely buy a 10 inch iTouch. But please, no keyboard! If I wanted a keyboard, I would use a netbook. For me, a quarter inch think glass encased touch LCD with wifi would be just perfect for surfing on the couch.
Indeed! I've had two Sony ultraportable notebooks (10" screens). Being able to easily take it everywhere is practically life-changing. Allowing that a few functions were limited (i.e.: serious gaming), computing became available to me wherever a regular notebook (and certainly desktops) couldn't. Pricy, yes, but worth it.
Marching technology forward, prices have dropped and general use requirements have plateaued, leading to the sudden discovery by manufacturers that there is, in fact, huge demand for small light (and now cheap) computers that do most things well, and do them everywhere.
Triangulating this, the iPhone / iPod Touch has shown there's a market even for pocket-sized devices with largely the same capacity. Having gotten a Touch, I've nearly abandoned my aformentioned ultraportable notebook due to (of all things) its relatively large size and inconvenience. That the Touch and iPhone are also iPods is almost coincidental, thanks to the web browsing / email / apps capabilities. Expand the Touch platform into a 7"-10" screen, and bump up the computing power & battery using the extra space, and dang that would sell big. The "virtual keyboard" works fine; maybe not quite as fast as clicking switches, but pretty close - add bluetooth and the keyboard/mouse angle is instantly covered.
Being able to take 90% of your computing needs everywhere, all the time, is huge. Clamshells and keyboards are the big hinderance at this point. A thin multi-touch slate, with instant-on & aggressive connectivity, would sell big. Clicky keyboards are so 20th century...
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
AxioTron : Modbook
It was the inevitable upgrade from the keyboard-free Mac that they released ;).
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary
The other possibility is "iPhone Pro".
But it's really unlikely to be a "Mac" product. Lord Steve has been gradually fulfilling his 1996 quote, and he probably wants to finish it before he dies.
http://www.google.com/search?q=steve+jobs+milk+worth+busy+great
Yeah I expect the "iPad" (for want of a better name) to be more like an iPhone than a MacBook.
See Crystal Ball: Apple's $599 "iPad" Netbook (with pictures) for more.
Sam
Oh, a dual-screen Mac with two touchscreens and a pop-up touch keyboard on either one would be freaking awesome. I'm more of a Linux guy, but that product would open my wallet in a heartbeat.
My sister plans to get a notebook in the next two months.
BUT... it should be way smaller than dad's, cause that thing is just too huge to carry around.
Notebook in question - 15.4" ACER Aspire.
And yes, she does use her desktop PC just for typing, surfing, e-mail and music.
So, a netbook is about just the right size portable computer for her.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
and Amazon trembles.
Its an ipod touch for fat people! Multitouch on a small screen must suck for them.
The sooner the world abandons spinning platters in things designed to move around, the better. I'll take the capacity and cost tradeoffs in exchange for ruggedness anyday.
didnt some make a joke about apple making the iPad for ladies in the late 90's or 2001??? I think it was around the same time we had the colored mac the model skips my mind someone help me out here.
What will the price point be on this device? If it's in the $499 range, it might be worth a look. However, when I can buy a Dell Mini with a 16 GB SSD and 2 GB of memory for less than $350, and install Leopard on it for $85 + the cost of a couple of USB flash drives, why would I want to pay much more than that?
in stores. In the meantime I bought one of those wee ickle Acer Aspire Ones for two hundred and forty-eight euro pounds. My lecturing day has had a huge weight lifted from my shoulders and with the supplementary purchase of the bigger battery, it runs for almost eight hours. One day I am sure it will become a very, very small server although I suppose by then a blade server will be smaller than the connecting socket and use less power than a Gnat on speed.
Posts, MyBio or Sig, may contain satire, sarcasm, bolded nouns be sardonic or even witty & be Church of SD
FTA:
Steve Jobs last year dismissed netbooks, even going so far as to suggest Apple's third-generation iPhone - a smartphone device that offer multifunctions - could serve as a netbook. Jobs told analysts in October Apple isn't "tremendously worried" the slump will drive customers to less-expensive PCs and added, "we don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk." (emphasis added)
Funny how all the PC manufacturer's manage to. Sure most have previous generation hardware, but it's typically 2 to 3 generations between apple redesigns anyway.
I checked on the Internet, and can confirm that this is true.
On a side note, can slashdot have a special place for articles with titles that end in a question mark?
I can see it now... The Nintendapple DS!
Apple has a way of completely rethinking whatever category they go into, and then revolutionizing that category in such a way that all other contenders now play catch up.
Look at the iPod that entered a market already dominated by other MP3 players and became the market leader. Look at the iPhone that entered the smart phone market and created a device that everyone has tried to copy.
If Apple is entering the netbook market. I would assume that their "netbook" won't look like a typical netbook. Nor, will it operate like a typical netbook.
Most netbooks have separate memory from their storage. (512Megs of memory vs. 8Gb of storage). I suspect that the Apple will use the same memory for both storage and memory.
Most netbooks are modeled upon being smaller versions of laptops. Apple's won't follow that model. Most netbooks also run standard desktop OSs like Linux or Windows XP. Again, I doubt Apple would take that approach.
Look at how people use Netbooks. They surf the Tubes, they chat, they use Internet based applications. They don't necessarily use Microsoft Office or connect to a typical business network. They don't even normally store documents on their netbooks. Apple will use this information to create an entirely new netbook format.
I suspect that it will look something like a large iPod Touch with a keyboard. There will be no mouse (touch screen) and no desktop (like the iPod Touch). You can store files, but not use standard Mac OS X applications. Initial release may not even let you install applications although I suspect that some sort of AppStore will let you download special "Netbook" applications that are based upon current iPhone apps.
I would not be surprised if that keyboard is a full sized keyboard stored in a typical netbook format. I suspect that Apple's netbook will weigh around a pound. Maybe less. And that it will include a 4Gb size, an 8Gb size a 16Gb size, and a 32Gb size. Of course, iPod functionality will be built in too. You will also be able to synchronize it to a Mac and maybe a PC.
that apple is just going to have a small notebook that happens to have a touch screen as opposed to a 10 inch tablet. Although I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get an apple tablet. I've been waiting to see if they would ever create one.
Only 'flamers' flame!
Does slashdot hate my posts?
I wrote up an analysis of this idea, taking into account other recent information and trends, back in Jan.: http://latibule.net/cgi-bin/print_blog.cgi?blog=raj_blog&article=5
Why is the Apple icon on slashdot a G5? Times have changed....
Think Deeply.
the 17inch MacBook Pro has a lot of room beneath the keyboard.
Instead of a keypad, there could be room for a 10inch touchscreen.
It would add some extra value to this relative expensive member of the MacBook family.
hmmm ... do you need a Codex then?
Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
Anyone think this might be the debut of the 3-dimensional GUI that Apple patented last year?
If you're going to make a fake photo of a TOUCHSCREEN netbook why would you put a useless little track pad below the keyboard?
An Apple netbook is something I might want to buy, but if Apple pulls the App store trick with this thing again they lost me as a customer. I want to run what I want to run on my computer, not what Apple thinks is good for their market position in one way or another.
-- Cheers!
Actually, I think a 6" screen would be about perfect. Large enough for notes, web pages, reading, tv shows and movies, games, and more. But small enough to be pocketable and also small enough to have really good battery life (I want at least 8 hours of games of movies.)
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
...on your definition of "piece of junk." What Jobs considers to be junk is probably acceptable to most users, which is why manufacturers other than Apple seem to sell plenty of these cheap PCs.
It's so you can connect to a series of tubes!
That's both insensitive and racist. These days we call it an African American Mac.
If we take into consideration what we have learned from Asus about netbook costs and combine it with what we know about Apple then I predict that it will be announced at $1000 and be released at around $1750.
why a G5 Icon when Apple uses Intel???
The Apple touch screen notebook 'news' must be one of the biggest vaporware items for the last 5 years.
Whatever Apple does it will be over priced and like the new Shuffle it will be able to talk to you to brainwash you into buying a MacBook Pro 17".
An anonymous source in Taiwan? http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/
> Or at least do something interesting like having a second display function as a keyboard.
goof luck tryimg to touch tyoe on that.
I had to hand back my 15" Macbook Pro when I quit my job, and the new one only provided a desktop, so I dug-out my trusty 12" Dell with a 700MHz P3 and 256MB RAM. Lo-and-behold, the thing is -awesome- for what I need it for, which is to connect me to a remote session with my -real- computer. All I need is a keyboard, mouse, screen, and WiFi to do everything I have to.
Personally, I'm happy because I no longer have to 'sync' my work between two machines, there's nothing of -value- on the laptop if it gets stolen, and it's smaller and cheaper. Also, I can run Linux on it, since it's -mine- and it's got no driver problems because it's -old-.
My boss saw me doing this today and asked if he should budget a laptop in for me. I asked if they had any 12" laptops spec'd (knowing we don't), and kindly offered to just keep using my own (with any extra $ going towards RAM for my desktop).
Some day, this ancient laptop will die, and then I'll get a netbook. I think the Atom 300 CPU is exactly what I need for those rare times I am disconnected from the grid for long enough and want to play a movie.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
Dont know why everyone assumes the device will be a computer. There are other devices that could be created that would benefit hugely from a touch screen. For example, a portable ichat enabled video unit so that people who dont have a mac can video conference without needing to outlay $ on a full computer. The iphone is missing one critical piece of functionality that the other competitors have which is video support.
Maybe even a universal remote so you can control your itunes library, appletv, and all of your other devices (possibly even including some home automation). A 10" tablet device would do that nicely, although its probably a bit big for that purpose based on apple's prior history of sleek design.
Could even be a high end portable video player. 10" screen would be pretty sweet.
In any case, will be interesting to see what they come up with. Remember that one of the key apple mandates is to find a key market where there are not many competitors, or the competition is rubbish, and saturate the market with a device that is revolutionary compared to the competition. Thats what they did with the iphone, and I think they are preparing to do it again.
>>The other possibility is "iPhone Pro".
Uh, no, unless it includes a telepathy feature, because NOBODY is going to hold a 10" tablet computer up to their ear to talk. Regardless, the laughter from onlookers would drown out the conversation.
In this age of compact electronics with organic forms, an iPhone Pro based on the platform in discussion would simply be iPhone's take on a 1985 bag phone.
Future iBook -- two touch screens on both sides. You open it like a paperback book and flip the (animated) pages by sliding the finger on screen. Turn it into a normal laptop orientation and an on-screen keyboard will appear on the bottom touch screen where you can type using both hands. Integrated SIM card - make phone calls. Built-in camera - make video calls to another iBook over 3G. Imagine the explosion of games taking advantage of both screens.
Ok I must be dreaming.
Apple has no interest in building something as low margin as a netbook and has said as much...
Really, the netbook is killing the whole PC industry right now. Developing the atom was the worst mistake intel ever made. It's killed their entire business model.
None of this is substantiated but I'm still thinking it's going to be DEAD ON. If I'm wrong this is still the device they SHOULD make :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Navigator Dontcha just love that thick plastic frame? :D
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
iPod, iPhone, and next, the iTablet?
A revolutionary new product type is conceived. "Everyone will want one! Everyone will have one!" Then a few products come out, and it turns out that only a few people want one. The conventional wisdom changes: "Never mind. Kinda lame. Just for gadget enthusiasts." Years later, Apple creates the first implementation that isn't a fiddly high-overhead pain in the ass to use. The revolution finally arrives. "Everybody wants one! Everybody has one!" Then other companies spend years trying to figure out how Apple's product is different from theirs. Thousands of people like me who kind of hate Apple hold out a few years and then give up and buy the Apple product.
I haven't decided whether I will wait out the iTable cycle, if that's what is coming. I can't stand OSX (I have a Mac Mini at home gathering dust because someone persuaded me I had to give OSX a chance,) but if the alternative is waiting until 2013 for a decent competitor, I'll buy, and I'll give Apple credit for another "first" regardless of the predecessors. Why? Because I'm familiar with some of the currently available tablets and have no desire to carry one around, and knowing fucking Apple, they will come out with a product I want to use, and I will have to swallow my resentment and buy one.