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Jobs Finally "Happy" With Unannounced Apple Tablet
All the whispers of an Apple tablet PC seem to be culminating in a flurry of rumors suggesting we may see one as soon as next month. Sources inside Apple are saying that Jobs is finally "happy" with the device after being involved in every detail of bringing it into the light of day. As a side result of these rumors, it seems that Apple stockholders are also getting a bit of Christmas cheer with a significant bump in stock price.
... will be only $1999!
One Apple employee who recently left the company also told the Times that the interface won't be anything expected. "You will be very surprised how you interact with the new tablet," the former employee said.
Sounds interesting tho and if they combine that with multi touch, it could be a perfect device to use while laying on sofa.
"You will be very surprised how you interact with the new tablet"
DOS prompt?
End anonymous moderation and posting on
Intel gave him a kick back to use there shit gma video in this and to tie the new next mini and all laptops under $2000 with there carp on board in the i3 cpu.
and a table pc needs awesome graphics because a) i want to play doom! b) i want to play doom!! c) duke nukem forever! Ok i admit it, if i could touch to shoot i wouldn't mind this :P
Will the executive anonymously quoted in the article be leaving soon or have things changed there?
Home of The Suki Series
We will see if Apple's habit of actually rethinking their user interface and user interaction methods can bring some life to the tablet market. I think expecting users to use a stylus with the traditional tiny user interface elements in Windows was a problem holding back the form factor.
However, I have faith that people will come up with plenty of reasons to hate the new hardware when it appears.
It came out last summer that Jobs was intimately involved with every detail of bringing the tablet to market. It seems that the device has finally gotten Jobs's seal of approval: when asked if the tablet rumors were true, a senior Apple executive gave The New York Times a rather coy reply. "I can't really say anything," he said, "but, let's just say Steve is extremely happy with the new tablet."
Translation: the only button is a power button, it has a battery-sucking colour screen as opposed to an e-ink display, it requires itunes on a mac or PC to use, the only Apple-approved way to run programs is via an app store, it has a non-user-replaceable battery, and it will cost upwards of $1000.
Here's what I want a high quality, fast and truly usable tablet for : medical care. It should be possible to walk into a patient's room carrying a clipboard sized device that resembled a giant iphone. You should be able to call up medical records, imagery, and the rest with no detectable latency. (because the tablet should use push downloading : each tablet is assigned to a particular doctor or nurse. The table would cache all medical records for each patient assigned to that doctor or nurse, and if a new report comes out for one of those patients, the tablet should automatically download it over the hospital's wireless network)
It should use a glass topped display, like the iphone, so that you could use caustic chemicals to sterilize the surface. The medical industry has enough money that if this product cost $1500 it would barely be noticed as an expense. (especially if it could boost efficiency)
Apple has as good a chance to make this happen as anyone. Medical users would be running custom software for this tablet, so there's no need for it to be windows compatible. While displaying large 2D images like X-rays will require some CPU horsepower, it's still entirely possible for a low power CPU to do the job. And apple's superior user interfaces and integration with hardware mean that it will be cheaper and easier to train doctors and nurses to use this device.
The biggest technical problems I foresee are back end problems, problems with the EMR software, and battery life.(hospital IT departments tend to fuck things up. If they bought a bunch of apple tablets, they probably wouldn't build and maintain the back end servers and wireless AP correctly)
Also, such a tablet will probably be quite fragile, and fairly heavy.
Remember, YOU (the typical slashdotter running Linux with a windows box for games on desktop machines) are not the intended users for this tablet. YOU probably sit at a desk all day. You have enough technical expertise that tinkering is fun for you, and you don't mind the idea of a tablet on kludgey, cheap hardware that is running open source software.
Wow, Joe, that post was more unintelligible than normal. Did they mess up your meds again?
What do you think about the iSlate name?
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&source=hp&q=iSlate
the kindle killer comes to market
Apple beats Linux, Linux beats Google, "M$ i5 3v111111|_!!!11eleven" stories beat all.
Or, in the order of preference:
1 - "M$ i5 3v111111|_!!!11eleven"
2 - "Apple news and rumors including daily Steve-tracker"
3 - "Linux and why we love it"
4 - "Google - not really evil. Honest."
5 - "Other tech news"
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Intel gave him a kick back to use there shit gma video in this and to tie the new next mini and all laptops under $2000 with there carp on board in the i3 cpu.
That sucks, carp are so boney. :-/
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
"Is Late"? Sounds like a product that will be delayed and delayed again.
Oh, how extraordinary. Someone in a tech company is rumored to be satisfied with an as yet unanounced product. I'm wondering if the guys at Asus are satisfied with their actually anounced tablet product. Because we do know that that thing actually exists.
Jeez, every time someone mentions the word apple, half the press get into a hyping freny....
If he's just now become happy with the prototype, how are they going to be mass-producing it and selling it in just a month?
According to the The Age: apple major product launch set for january 26
Of course given the date it must be the Ocker version rather than the version
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Yeah, after all, who cared about the iPod? And who cared about the iPhone? No one cared. Poor old Apple hardly sold any at all.
Hey, wait a minute...
Translation: the only button is a power button, it has a battery-sucking colour screen as opposed to an e-ink display, it requires itunes on a mac or PC to use, the only Apple-approved way to run programs is via an app store, it has a non-user-replaceable battery, and it will cost upwards of $1000.
And it will generally Just Work(tm) so people on the left-hand side of the Bell curve, as well as people who just want to get work done, will be able to use it with a minimal of hassle.
I have no problem if you want to use an "obscure" operating systems on your desktop, or desire to tinker with things, but please stop being an asshat by disparaging people who want a simple-to-use product and are willing to pay for it.
ura ninny
apple is kool
makes me kool2
Of course -- "most" people buy the iPhone because its sexy, not because it's usable... so what do I know...
Well, for one thing you apparently don't know why people really buy an iPhone - the success of the apps store indicates that usability matters a lot to people. I'd also argue that the same design principles that make the iPhone "sexy" are also what's made it such a useful little gadget.
I've got an iPod Touch rather than an iPhone, but the same argument applies. Having one well-designed device that serves as my hyperfocal distance calculator, my "on the go" email checker, play-games-on-the-train machine, and even (in a pinch) allows me to run a vnc session over ssh is a plus in my book. Having tried other poorly-thought-out solutions (*cough* windows mobile *cough*) (*cough* multiple Linux desktop environments *cough*), I'd say it's pretty obvious design significantly affects usability.
But don't let reason get in the way of your narrative.
#DeleteChrome
Here come the endless stories and speculation; the masses of apple fanboys ready to re-mortgage their condo's to pay for this thing, and the articles; OH, THE ARTICLES!
Dont cha love the 20page reviews with a single paragraph per page and enough ads to lock up your Noscript?
The guy knows what he's doing. They will sell millions of them, whether they suck or not.....
Of course -- "most" people buy Apple products because they're sexy, not because they're usable... so what do I know...
FTFY.
You better believe they'll charge 5+ times too much... and you better believe people will still buy it because it is shiny.
Too bad I ain't suckered in.
PC forever.
At least the perfectly symmetric devices produced by Apple work equally bad for both right- and left-handed users. ;) A perfectly ergonomic device designed for one group is almost completely unusable for the other.
Intel gave him a kick back to use there shit gma video in this and to tie the new next mini and all laptops under $2000 with there carp on board in the i3 cpu.
and a table pc needs awesome graphics because a) i want to play doom! b) i want to play doom!! c) duke nukem forever! Ok i admit it, if i could touch to shoot i wouldn't mind this :P
There is so much grammar nazi bait in this thread. I would go for it but I don't have all day.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
With a 2 year data plan 5gb and then $5 /mb
unless i can stop this device from completely draining battery just by sitting there, I ain't buying
Apple is reportedly close to launching its long-rumored ____. It could be Apple's latest billion-dollar jackpot.
Analyst speculation says the ___ will be launched in September and be in the shops by Christmas. A new mention of the ___ crops up on Twitter around every eight minutes.
The ___ is rumoured to be any size and scale between the iPod Shuffle and the Macintosh IIfx. Some have described the ___ as a "___-killer." Analyst speculation suggests the ___ will use a fantastic new interface. "It will be a whole new paradigm," said Apple blogger Leander Kahney.
Expectations flared when technology research analysts noted that Taiwanese suppliers had received orders from an unknown buyer for a particular obscure component to be filled by the end of the year. "The only possible conclusion is that Apple will launch a ___ by early next year," said Kahney. "They've been working on the ___ for the past six years. People expect it to be the ultimate Apple surprise. This thing will knock people's socks off."
Apple has refused to comment on the ___ speculation. But Tim Cook, its chief operating officer, recently hinted that the company was working on something "very innovative." Steve Jobs is thought to have been personally involved in the development of the ___ over the past two years.
Daniel Eran Dilger noted on roughlydrafted.com that the ___ would need to be fueled on pain, angst, the destruction of the ecology, the torture of kittens and the tears of widows and orphans, but put together a devastatingly convincing and very lengthy explanation as to why Apple's actions were the only humanly acceptable option for the consumer, the technology industry and the future of humanity, and that Jobs' Nobel Peace Prize was ridiculously overdue. And that all problems were clearly Microsoft's fault.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
There really aren't any technical problems for this. Take your pick of reasons, but hospitals spend plenty of money on terribly designed devices that don't speak to one another.
As an example, next time you are there take a look at the massive proprietary whatchamacallit connectors they use on their machines when much simpler industry standard plugs could be used. And I thought HDMI cables were expensive. Another interesting thought is what happens when one of these wonder devices is stolen? Or is it communicating on impossibly secure wireless?
I highly doubt if there is one single reason for this failure, but sufficiently advanced technology isn't it.
Never go to sea with two chronometers; take one or three.
How about this instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA
Courtesy of The Onion News Network...
Sorry, had to sacrifice mod points to post this. I'm not an apple fan by any means, but you clearly have never used an Apple product outside of maybe a Mac. The iPod Touch and iPhone are simply unmatched today. The interface feels natural and easy to use. I have a Blackberry, my old phone is a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, and I've written software for the Android OS. I must say, out of all of those, the iPhone OS is the cleanest and easiest to use. It also offers the most functionality thanks to the app store. Yeah sure other platforms have app stores as well, but they suck balls in comparison to Apple's app store. In addition, iTunes on the iPod Touch and iPhone ROCKS! If Apple can release a tablet PC that's as great as the iPod Touch and iPhone were, they are going to kick some ass and make a lot of nerds happy in the process. DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Apple, I get no kickback for this post. I am not an Apple fanboi. My primary phone is a Blackberry.
How great can it be, Steve Jobs was excited about the iPhone, after all.
Wait... so does that mean he was unhappy with everything else since he never really expressed this much joy for those things?
Shitstorm commencing in 3... 2... 1...
There is so much grammar nazi bait in this thread. I would go for it but I don't have all day.
The Gauleiter of Grammar achievement has been delayed.
What horrid timing - they're about a month and a half late, if indeed they do come out with this thing next month. Next month will not only be after Christmas, but it'll also be after this healthcare bill has passed.
Granted, there weren't too many, if any, "socially big item" releases this Christmas, that I can think of. No new game systems, no special new electronics (though, I'm sure there are netbooks aplenty under trees), no new product from Apple, and all the big PC vendors pretty much stayed stable throughout the year.
Of course, the "uninsured" demographic will have more money this coming year due to not having to pay hospital bills, which in my experience means the kind of people who buy $3000 Macs as often as it means homeless people. So it might work out for Apple to 'release late' anyway.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
i'm betting it's going to have a brain interface. Using your fingers is so 6 months ago.
-Tony
it's not like it's an earth shattering idea. lot of manufacturers should be having this in the works.
take a 7-9" netbook, pull off the keyboard, give it a virtual keyboard, cell modem and wifi and a touchscreen and you're done. technically it's fairly simple and i'd buy it in a minute to travel with or take home with me.
i have a 12" thinkpad touchscreen tablet, but it's a little thick still with the keyboard i could do without, windowx xp tablet isn't very intuitive, not to mention to use the internal cell-modem i have to pay $60 to verizon for a plan even when i already have a data plan on my phone. i end up just tethering.
-Tony
http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/
Can you write an app for the iphone that allows you to track and remotely control your phone via GPS by sending it sms messages with commands?
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
At least a 10 in diagonal screen.
2 USB ports. (one for storage as needed, one for keyboard as needed)
The ability to read and edit PDFs.
Word processing software.
Internet connectivity (obviously)
A stand so I can set it up like a laptop as needed.
That'll do.
Any of the above missing? I'll keep looking...
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
That's BS. There are plenty of decent looking phones out there. The iPhone is nothing special in that area, except perhaps that Apple made sure it has mainstream appeal.
As for the onscreen keyboard, I get better results from that than any hardware keyboard on a similar sized phone. The only way to make a physical keyboard more ergonomic is to make it bigger. And I don't want a slider phone, it would be uncomfortable in my jean's pocket -- that's better ergonomics right there.
In spite of the fact that I don't like Apple products, mostly due to the proprietary nature of their designs and the inflated prices, I'm very excited to see if this pans out, and I'll tell you why.
I've long been keeping an eye on the tablet PC. In theory, it seems like the perfect interface. Everyone knows how to use a pen and paper, and a tablet emulates that to a T. In theory, anyway. But sadly, a lack on interest from manufacturers has left this type of machine a niche mainly coveted by graphic designers due to the lack of simple, polished utilities for the input method.
Simple, polished, user-friendly. Those are the things a tablet needs to hit the big time. And who's the reigning king of all three of these design elements? Apple Computer.
If Apple decides to build a product, they do it right. They brought the PC into the mainstream, the MP3 Player, the touch screen. If they bless the tablet with their sheer force of consumer exposure that anything Apple decides to build, the tablet won't just be a well-oiled machine, it'll be downright fashionable. And it'll usher in a whole new kind of user-friendly in the world of computer interfaces, even in the ones that aren't built by Apple.
If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention.
Good meat though.
After all, I am strangely colored.
On the other hand, one could argue that an app-driven mobile device was really missing, whereas no one is missing a 10" device to read text, to surf the internet, to watch videos or read print media content. Part of the reason the iPhone is successful is that everyone always has their phone. The iPod Touch is really not as useful as the iPhone simply because it's not always connected, but it has enough similarities to the iPhone that it is a great device for a lot of people.
I used to be excited by the idea of an Apple Tablet, but for some reason I've become much less interested since then. I guess I've realized that until a data-only plan for a secondary device (i.e., a device other than a phone) becomes really affordable, or until tethering becomes a real possibility, something like a tablet has limited utility.
I'm also extremely skeptical of print media content and TV shows going to a tablet device. I can understand why corporations and (of course) the print media are very excited about those ideas. But I don't really see how what happened to print media (its failure as an advertising mechanism in competition with internet advertising) means that what it really needs is a $1000 tablet to make it succeed. If people are willing to pay for print media, they should be willing to pay for it now, on a computer. But are people willing to pay for it enough to offset the huge loss of advertising dollars? IDK, like I said, I'm just skeptical about the whole thing.
Actually, they didn't sell hardly any until they started listening to their customers and came out with a USB Windows filesystem compatible iPod. And the 1st gen iPhone was a dismal failure until Apple gave customers what they wanted vis-a-vis 3G, native applications, and carrier subsidies.
So yes, nobody cares about new Apple products until they pull their heads out of their butts and listen to their customers.
I predict: tablet is dismal failure, on the Apple TV level until next rev.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Wow. Actually, that's a comment based on marketing survey data. It's not opinion, fanboy. Google it before you comment.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
I'd just like to point out that Microsoft did not, in fact, invent the wheel mouse. It was introduced commercially by Mouse Systems in 1995 in their ProAgio and Genius EasyScroll models. Microsoft didn't launch their scroll wheel mouse until 1996.
(They didn't invent the optical mouse either.)
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
thanks for the laugh, Sulphur!
IBM/Lenovo's Thinkpads will most likely undercut this tablet and exceed it in quality. That, and they're straightforward with you, unlike Apple who overpromises and purposefully under-delivers until the final generation.
That, and they usually have no trouble running whatever OSX that gets cooked up, whether it be a thin x300 or a do-it-all w700ds.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
And the 1st gen iPhone was a dismal failure until Apple gave customers what they wanted vis-a-vis 3G, native applications, and carrier subsidies.
They sold 6 million of the original iPhones before the 3G came out in 5 quarters. That is hardly something that is considered a "dismal failure".
If my year-end bonus was tied to company stock performance, I'd release some rumor such at this.
Keep Doing Good.
Well, for one thing you apparently don't know why people really buy an iPhone
I think he's closer to the mark than you.
Most consumers don't do analytical independent reviews before they spend, they simply react to the raw 'that looks cool I must have it' wave of emotion that hit the general population from time to time.
Sometimes reason is not needed, especially when trying to understand the nature of a fad.
Actually, they didn't sell hardly any until they started listening to their customers and came out with a USB Windows filesystem compatible iPod. And the 1st gen iPhone was a dismal failure until Apple gave customers what they wanted vis-a-vis 3G, native applications, and carrier subsidies.
umm. The first generation iPhone sold around 6 million units in the first year (at a good profit margin and with Apple getting a cut of subscriber revenue). It was Apple's first phone, and only sold in the US. Dismal failure? No. Was the subsequent model better? Yes.
The iPod was also quite successful (and essentially a market creator) even before Windows support was added, although I don't have any numbers handy to back this up...
We'll see about the tablet. I'm intrigued.
Other manufacturers like Fujitsu have Tablets for years with HSPA built-in, so where is the innovation here?
Obvious homophobe moderators.
You are welcome on my lawn.
If you read my comment more carefully, you'd see where I said people guesstimated it at around $899 BEFORE Kevin Rose commented that it looked like it'd be selling for a lot less than people were expecting. That means a lot less than $899....
There's also been quite a bit of rumbling about Apple planning on selling 2 different tablets, not just one. Most likely, the first model out will be around 9" or 10" in size, and be the cheaper model. That sets the stage for a second variant to come out that might have a larger surface-area and be more of a complete OS X based tablet computer. It may well be the later which caused people to have those "over $1,000" estimates, and that'd make sense if it's going to be a full-blown portable computer, potentially replacing an existing model like a Macbook or Macbook Air.
(Personally, I think Apple would do well to design a new iMac which lets you detach the system from the base, and then carry it around as a tablet ... but who knows?)
IMHO, it would be pure stupidity for Apple to release a plain old e-book reader, "e-ink" based or not. The market is already flooded with such devices, and early adopters have jumped all over the Kindle, over most of the competitors. The main reason Apple might want to join in is so they can sell book content on the iTunes store (which is basically becoming the 'iTunes media store" anyway, vs. the "music store" title it still retains to date). That's why I'm sure they're going to aim a little bigger than just another book reader.
This may come off as trollish or flammatory, but bare with me...
While one certainly can discuss Apple and/or Microsoft in terms of usability and market or impact on culture and such, using them are still about engaging in the sucking of satans cock, figuratively speaking. Just a perspective. Peace.
Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
Google it before you comment.
I tried and failed (googling iphone and sexy doesn't really give the results I want in this case). Care to hand out a link or two?
Yeah, it's actually closer to a knockoff of the WinImages Chapter/Verse bar than it is any Apple product. And it is way faster than digging through menus, if you're using the GUI. If it's keyboard shortcuts you are used to, it's the same speed.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.