Why Everyone Has High Hopes For Apple Tablet

waderoush writes "The deafening roar of anticipation around Apple's expected 'iSlate' announcement on January 27 is strange, to say the least, given the public's utter apathy about tablet computers to date. What's going on? Xconomy's analysis makes three points. 1) Previous tablet makers have shown little imagination around UIs and how a touchscreen changes things. 2) With the iPhone, Apple has shown what's possible in this regard. 3) There's latent demand for a mobile computing device that's smaller and lighter than a laptop but has more screen real estate than a smartphone — something reminiscent of a Star Trek tricorder or PADD. Hence the hopes for the iSlate — which are so high that it may be difficult for even Apple to meet them."

Comments

1 word.

[SharpFang]

Photoshop.

Mac is still, and long will be the favorite computer of most graphicians/artists.

Tablet+screen has some serious disadvantages. You draw in one place, image appears elsewhere.
With a good touchscreen capable of providing precision comparable to decent Wacoms, this can become a dream tool for an artist.

Re:1 word.

[djsmiley]

I remember when I studied graphic design at college... the main point the tutor made was "never do anything in front of the client, this devalues your work".

Basically if you could do something that "would do" for the client in front of them, then they wouldn't see the value in paying you 10x the amount to do the same thing but in "higher quality."

I never went into the industry but I still understand what he meant, but I guess it could be used for mock ups, and for quick changes (as you said); just not done in front of paying clients :)

Of course my tutor could of been talking crap, he seemed to do that alot as well (And hated me for understanding computers better than him, as he had a mac loving complex.)

Re:1 word.

[bhodikhan]

One Word. Cintiq from Wacom. I used the 21" one for over a year. Got tired of my hand covering up the damn screen. I'll stick to a Wacom tablet and a screen. I want to see what I'm working on and not have to deal with digitizer accuracy issues and my hand and wrist covering up my work. I doubt anyone will get much precision using a finger. A Wacom is at least 2400 point per inch. A tablet using a finger cannot have that precision.

Re:1 word.

[fyngyrz]

I want to see what I'm working on and not have to deal with... my hand and wrist covering up my work.

A problem that utterly destroyed the work of amateurs like DaVinci, Michaelangelo, and Raphael, right?

A Wacom is at least 2400 point per inch. A tablet using a finger cannot have that precision.

Well, yes, it can, and more -- by zooming in. And also by utilizing technologies such as bezier and spline curves. Methinks thou protests a bit too much. Also, even if you are stuck with the type of drawing you describe, it doesn't mean that others will be.

Re:1 word.

[Kenshin]

This sorta applies to IT work, as well. After configuring and installing a server, the boss said something along the lines of "I watched you staring at a screen doing nothing half of the time. Why should I pay you for 6 hours?" (Because, apparently, waiting for software going through a lengthy install on a piece of shit cheap "server" is "free time".)

Re:1 word.

[misexistentialist]

Of course staring at you staring at a screen entitles the boss to get paid a higher salary for doing the important work of "management."

Re:1 word.

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"A problem that utterly destroyed the work of amateurs like DaVinci, Michaelangelo, and Raphael, right?"

Apples/oranges. You're not just drawing, you're using visual feedback to edit the image. So there are indicators etc for showing you how big the brush is. On top of that, the accuracy of what you're drawing on the tablet is far lower than applying pencil to paper. You can draw very neat lines easily on paper but you could try drawing the same thing on the tablet and find it is a lot more wobbly. You end up forced to use other methods that often end up just being quicker to do with a mouse. It's a lot harder to draw with a tablet than it is with a pencil. On many occasions, it's faster to do the drawing on paper and scan it in. When the tablet is seperate from the display, at least, you can see exactly where the pixel will land and adjust accordingly.

I had the same problem he did, and it was just as unexpected.

Well, yes, it can, and more -- by zooming in. And also by utilizing technologies such as bezier and spline curves. Methinks thou protests a bit too much.

It depends on what you're after. I mean, you could type LOGO commands into a computer and make great works of art. It's just a matter of how much time you want to put into it. Able to do it != practical. And he's got a point. Sure, it might be fun for doodling, but it'll likely have a distinctive sloppiness that will follow anybody who doesn't take the extra care to clean up after.

Also, even if you are stuck with the type of drawing you describe, it doesn't mean that others will be.

Welp, you're right, there's a million art-styles. Conceded. But, you do have two people now who have painted with screen devices telling you it's not all sunshine and roses.

Re:1 word.

[jdgeorge]

I want to see what I'm working on and not have to deal with... my hand and wrist covering up my work.

A problem that utterly destroyed the work of amateurs like DaVinci, Michaelangelo, and Raphael, right?

DaVinci and the others were not using computers, and didn't have the option of working without covering their art. Furthermore, being unable to see 1/20 of a large canvas or 1/1000 of a wall is a lot less relatively annoying than covering 1/4 of your display area with your hands.

A Wacom is at least 2400 point per inch. A tablet using a finger cannot have that precision.

Well, yes, it can, and more -- by zooming in. And also by utilizing technologies such as bezier and spline curves. Methinks thou protests a bit too much. Also, even if you are stuck with the type of drawing you describe, it doesn't mean that others will be.

What? This comment implies that you have detailed knowledge of what they GP was doing, and what he didn't do, which seems extremely unlikely.

Furthermore, a skilled artist won't have to rely on the same crutches as someone extremely unskilled. For example, I would use a LOT of zoom and computational curve tools, because I'm too uncoordinated to draw nice, clean lines without that kind of help. Sure, I can draw a pretty good picture using all the technical cheats, but it would take me a month to make something that a skilled artist could create in an hour. You can bet DaVinci and the rest didn't use "zoom" and "bezier and spline curves" to paint a portrait.

I feel I should add some trollish comment here, but I'm not going to. But I surely thought about it.

I hate fake media hype

[Anonymous Coward]

"the deafening roar of anticipation" I'm in Australia right, a moderately wealthy fairly technologically developed nation. We're no Japan, but we're no Sudan either. No one I talk to gives a crap about this. My friend is doing a graphic arts diploma and he doesnt even know anyone who cares about this. It will come, if it is good some people will like it. Apple is not a religion, they are a technology company. GTFO with your fake hype.

Re:I hate fake media hype

[dkleinsc]

Obviously, "The deafening roar of anticipation" is so deafening we can't hear it!

Even the Competitors Have High Hopes

[eldavojohn]

If the netbook and smartphone markets are any indication of the potential number of sales that exist out there, then I would wager even competitors hope Apple's tablet takes off. Because it's been shown time and time again that once Apple establishes via ads and quality that it's cool to own an iPod Nano or an iPhone or i-Whatever then the competitors step in and scoop up the very large market of people that want a product like it for less. They're not even knockoffs per se but I would bet that on the whole MP3 player manufacturers like iRiver enjoyed unseen benefits from Apple popularizing the MP3 player. The same might be said of the many cheaper smartphones that followed the iPhone--they were there but not 'accepted' as a necessary commodity for a consumer.

I don't mean to sound like a fanboy but the competitors that have been waiting to market tablet PCs now have the luxury of waiting for Apple to either make a brilliant move or blunder (an expensive wager) and then step in to enjoy the market that Apple works to establish with tablet PCs. The great part is that there are so many consumers that will gladly take a second rate device for cheaper money and in their mind think that they not only got a deal but now are keeping up with Joneses who all have iSlates or iTablets or whatever the devil Apple may hold. I actually think it benefits both Microsoft and Apple for them to release their products in tandem. It adds to the rivalry and people love that. Not to mention, they're certainly going to be compatible with only their respective products so a long time Mac user isn't going to be stolen nor will a longtime Windows user go over to the iSlate.

Re:LOL WUT?

[MouseR]

Expectations were high for the iPhone and yet Apple surpassed all the wildest predictions.

Expectations are even higher with the slate. but competition is trying hard to diminish any possible announcement (like the no-show of Balmer at CES) pointing to the competition not being ready whatsoever.

As for Android catching up, read up on developer's issues with the Android platform. Google's failure to properly guide the platform has created a slew of inoperable devices having their own software layers on top, and hardware specs that are so far off to each other that developers are having a hard time coping with hardware difference.

Their new phone might help, but Google managed to screw up their own platform to day, further delaying any viable competition for Apple.

So, instead of conjecturing, let's just see what Apple has to announce at the end of the month. It could very well be the next iPhone success story.

Re:Oh, my poor rotator cuffs

[jedidiah]

Sit it on your lap at an angle. It's a self contained unit like a phone so there
is no need to have a bulky monitor mounted vertically that's attached to some big
box on the floor. You don't use this sort of device like a PC. It's not a PC.

2 words: handwriting recognition

[maillemaker]

The reason I want a tablet computer is that that I can write on it with a stylus like a pencil, and take notes, including sketches and mathematical and engineering symbols, on what is essentially a limitless notebook, and on top of this I can annotate my notes with audio, video, and hyperlinks.

And on top of this I would like to store my textbooks in it.

I could go to school with one single item.

Re:2 words: handwriting recognition

[seffala]

I could go to school with one single item.

If I'm going to choose one single item to go to school with, I'm choosing pants.

Choose pants. It's the right thing to do.

Re:LOL WUT?

[alen]

iphone only became usable with the 3G and 3GS added business features

the original iphone only had a real browser while packing less features than cheaper cell phones

Leaks build expectations and...

[alfredo]

Apple knew they'd be releasing after CES, so they had to play the expectation game to depress sales of competing products. Would you buy a tablet now if you knew that a company that has a track record of being a game changer is going to release a tablet? We know the design will be elegant, and we know through patent searches their tablet could have some interesting features. What will it do? Think of what market they haven't disrupted? That is a clue to the possible functions of the tablet. Will they even release a tablet? We won't know until the Steve says "one more thing."

More like a tricorder?

[Tired and Emotional]

So will it come with a warning to not wear a red shirt while using one?

Article is myopic, overlooking past examples

[WillAdams]

No mention of Go Corporation and PenPoint (Jerry Kaplan's _StartUp_ should be required reading for everyone who writes anything about pen computing). The NCR-3125 came out in 1991, running one's choice of Windows for Pen Computing or PenPoint.

Fujitsu in particular has been doing pen computers running various versions of Windows for a long while, w/ models of the Fujitsu Stylistic ranging from the 500 (1993 or so) to the contemporary ST6012.

William
(whose NCR-3125 was donated to the Smithsonian by the guy he sold it to)

Re:Lenovo Thinkpad X41/X60/X61 Tablet

[BobMcD]

For this new tablet to succeed, it will need to be lighter, yet allow people to install third party applications.

This could hang it, I think.

If I'm right, and the buzz sort of supports this, then it will be a larger iPod. That means your only hope of getting new software on the thing will be the Apple store. And while there are a lot of apps out there, those certainly do not encompass the entirety of what I'd want ever want to do with a computer. Which is okay now, because an iPod is clearly not a computer. But if this new device blurs the line too far away from 'throwaway gadget' to 'computer' Apple may run into trouble.

Re:Nothing Latent About It

[elrous0]

Since it's smaller than a laptop, but bigger than a smartphone, maybe we need to give it a new name. I propose the term "netbook."

Who *wouldn't* pay $1000 for something like that?

Re:LOL WUT?

[betterunixthanunix]

"Expectations are even higher with the slate."

They are? I remember people talking about the iPhone and how they were planning to get one...why can I not find anyone talking about the Apple tablet now?

"competition is trying hard to diminish any possible announcement (like the no-show of Balmer at CES) pointing to the competition not being ready whatsoever."

Actually, Apple's competition already makes tablets, and they have been making them for years now. People were excited about an Apple tablet years ago, with a bit of a bump in that excitement when the iPhone was released, but at this point it is just an overdue entry to an already crowded market.

"As for Android catching up, read up on developer's issues with the Android platform."

Right, let's just ignore how many people are actually using Android, and focus on unhappy developers. This is kind of like saying, "Mac OS X catching up to Windows?! Nonsense! Look at how many developers are pissed off about Objective C!"

Re:1 word. Niche application

[ColdWetDog]

I want to get a mac so I can become succesful

They do have an integrated spell check....

No Need for Competitors to Have High Hopes

[DingerX]

By the time Apple's announced it, the competitors should be working on their projects. There will be competing models -- heck some are already announced. And I'm hoping they build something different from what TFA wants:

We need something in between: a device that is small and light enough to take anywhere, but has a screen big enough to let you edit a complex video, watch a high-definition movie, view a whole book or magazine page, or paint on a virtual canvas—and, ideally, use multiple applications at once.

Edit a complex video? what huge advantage does portability and low power consumption bring to video editing?

What we need is something with a decent interface, USB ports, and tons of free software. The USB ports must be there so you can hook up a keyboard. TFA is wrong: virtual keyboards still suck, and will suck. Handwriting recognition cannot be fast and accurate without retraining the writer. Voice recognition is cute, but for most people cannot be the basis for a sustained interface: unless you have a compelling need to use your voice, it's usually slower than typing, far less accurate, unwieldy to edit, cognitively consuming (as you must concentrate on the screen transcribing your spoken words), and socially awkward (until, at least, the computer talks back).

So if the task requires extensive texual input, it's going to require a real keyboard. What are the odds that Apple's 1G tablet will have a USB port that works in host mode, or a non-proprietary accessories connector?

As a tablet user for two and a half years, I have an idea what they're useful for: a helluva lot. Every task where a computer can help, but isn't the focus of the activity works better with a tablet. Every task where a computer is too heavy, or has too awkward power requirements works better with a tablet.

Every task that works better with some other portable gadget is not for a tablet. You want a phone -- get a phone. You want a camera -- get a camera (now, a decent webcam that works with * and Skype is a different story). Windows 7 ain't gonna fly here: a tablet needs to be instant-on, and low, low power (think ARM). So, maybe the iSlate will take off; hopefully someone else will succeed in selling something better. But the market will soon explode with every variant.

Re:Hype and Results

[gad_zuki!]

>Apple enters the market with their own device, which has a bunch of features that may or may not have been seen in other devices, but on the whole is a very well integrated package. Somehow, they saw a way to make the product work.

This really shows a lack of knowledge of Apple's history.

1. The Newton. Palm made this work. Not Apple. Later on Apple copied the Treo format (phone + PDA) Palm made popular and merged it with a virtual keyboard.

2. Apple Pippin. Failed game/multimedia console. Nintendo64 and PS2 got it right.

3. Power Mac G4 Cube. Failed on the market. Infamous for cracking case. Now, there's no shortage of small cube PCs. The PC world got this right.

4. Apple QuickTake. Failed digital camera. Everyone gets this right.

5. Macintosh TV. Failed TV/PC combo. Now TV is just a PCI card away or done with steaming/downloading.

6. Apple's "Hockey Puck" USB Mouse. No one gets this right because its such a bad idea.

7. eMate. Low cost Newton based PC. OLPC and others get this right.

Apple tries a lot of things and they fail more often than they succeed. The idea that theyre the ones who can fix the tablet market is a bit of stretch. Heck, I like tablets, but I understand their limitations, especially in regards to keyboards/inputs. Perhaps it will have something like the iwheel.

Mathematicians and Engineers, for starters.

[maillemaker]

>Who writes anything anymore?

Mathematicians, Engineers, Physicists, and basically anyone in a technical field of work or study have to resort to writing because inserting mathematical or engineering symbology on-the-fly while typing is very tedious at best.

I love typing, and I am very fast at it, and it worked great for all of my liberal arts studies.

But for the real work, I have to use pencil and paper.

Re:FIRST!!!! well almost

[samurphy21]

This was always a sticking point for me in the Mac vs Windows debate. Windows users complain about the one button mouse as if it's a crippling feature, when in fact, the MacOS UI was designed with a one button mouse. Granted, once you go to third party apps like, say, photoshop or UT2004, you're longing for the right click, I suppose, but it does make it a less cumbersome interface for MacOS itself, as well as apps designed for the environment to have only the one button.

I work tech support for a windows heavy environment, and the bottom end users are so mind bogglingly confused about the two buttons that it's laughable.

"Click on the icon"
"Right click or left click?"
"If I say click, I just mean left click"
"Ok, it brought up a menu.."
"No, you right clicked on it, use the left button"
"Oh.. Now i have a properties window"
"No, you left clicked the menu.. not the icon.. close that and start over"
"Ok, I have the menu up again, now what? I right click on properties?"
"... bring it in, I'll do it"

Re:If it can't fit in my pocket...

[Arthur Grumbine]

"Voice operated"? "Wearable"? You're still in the stone age, buddy.

Give me an implanted (without surgery, though - like some kind of pill), thought-operated organic quantum computer that automatically grows to match the absolute latest/best connection/processing/storage/display technology. Also, it can't be more than $199.

Where have I heard this before...

[geekoid]

*wavy screen*

1) Apple can't beat nomad

2) iPod is too expensive

3) If it doesn't play open format, it's in no way competing with nomad/creative.

*wavy screen*

Re:1 word. Niche application

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Case in point: the fastest Mac's money can buy are Core 2 based 3 GHz machines where you can already get i7's

iMac comes in the 3GHz Core 2, i5 and the i7. You may want to go to apple.com and click on the big f'n picture of the iMac before you post next time...

I do agree with you on the "slow" model refresh, but I haven't notice a real need to be on the bleeding edge either...