“I think we’re all fairly sure at this point that Apple will shortly release such a device and that it will be nominally based on the iPhone or iPod touch. This is key because of the App Store and iPod ecosystems it will leverage. Anything that runs on an iPod touch will run on the tablet,” Bob Cringely writes for I, Cringely.
“Apple has to have unique content for the new device, which is why Cupertino has been talking to traditional publishers and those publishers have been blabbing to each other,” Cringely writes.
“The content has to be somehow better than what can be read on a Kindle. That’s made easy almost out-of-the-box given the iPod Touch software base. Here’s the potential for content that actually does something. I think that’s key. For this device to succeed it has to have a large volume of content that simply does more than you’d generally expect on other platforms,” Cringely writes. “Otherwise why buy the reader?”
Full article here.
I hope to see this device soon and see what potential it holds for Apple.
How about an animated, speaking head. “Your plastic pal who’s fun to be with….”
Who needs FaceBook when you can have “In Your FaceBook?”
Ok, we get the point. We, they, them, us, me, I, and all others really do not know- OK. Guest, predict, think, or other try to see the future; long and short is,again, we are at a loss as to what it will be or is at this point.
Let us settle on the point we do know- nothing. Wait until the damn thing comes out! I am saving my pennies if it is good, otherwise- MacBook!
Got info on the NEW MacBoolk? Please no crickets!
They should NOT market this as a reader. That’s a niche. It’s a super iPod touch. That’s enough.
ok, i’m completely annoyed by the Outback Detergent ad
Steve Jobs wants this thing to be more useful than something to read emails with while you’re on the toilet.
Wow. The glass had better repel more than finger schmutz.
Why would you want this thing when you can get a Microsoft-managed, dangerous SideKick? (Not that T-Mobile is selling any of them right now).
I suspect any hold up on this device is due to Apple working on content. Such a device likely could/would be perfect for college students if all their textbooks were available digitally. Just think of the heavy load taken off their backs, not to mention some cost savings for the publishers (those textbooks aren’t cheap to print!). I imagine that publishers are working feverishly to get their books ready for this thing, while Apple is working out a DRM scheme (no textbook publisher would do this without it, sorry to say) and tuning the iTune Store for book sales. If true, I predict this thing will sell like freaking CRAZY, and in one fell swoop Apple will own the market.
I broached my daughter about digital text books (she’s a junior at Univ Idaho) and all she wanted to know was where she could buy one. Add music, TV shows, movies, virtual keyboard with iWorks (for note taking) and wireless internet access, and this thing sells fast.
She would still need a MacBook for homework assignments.
Yet another POS article by Cringely. Who on Earth thinks that Apple will waste your and its time with just an e-reader? The iPhone and iPod touch are both so much more than that, and I have a hunch that books, magazines and newspapers will be just the tip of the iceberg of what a device like this could do.
What will be interesting is to see how the OS will be different from the iPhone/iPod touch. With a larger surface area, could it be possible to expand the flavor of OS-X to potentially allow for a stronger processor, and thus be able to do more? Would it behave more like a hybrid, bridging capabilities between the iPhone and a Mac? But then, the more power you pack in, the more battery drain might potentially ensue. It may come down to how the powers that be at Apple see such a device, if it comes to market, as being more of a handheld computing device, or more akin to a handheld Mac. Time will tell.
That said, this is all idle speculation right now. My guess is no better than Cringely, but the difference is that Mr. Cringely is acting as if he knows, and is being paid for his work. That anyone takes him seriously amazes me.
The iTunes LP Extras format (or whatever it’s called) is the precursor to what we’ll get from print and other media sources on the iTablet. They’re using this album lp work as stage one of the new format’s development and rollout.
iPod Touch Pro lol
@Nerd Beautiful
Yep, I think you are correct. LP format is a combination of JS/CSS3 and Apple has invested heavily in all this fancy Webkit stuff, like 3D animation with CSS.
“Yet another POS article by Cringely. “
I agree. He is putting up standards that he can say Apple fails to meet when and if it releases anything special.
Standard MS cow crap.
Just a thought.
Actually I am waiting for the Oct financials.
en
@Cringely smackdown
You obviously didn’t read the article. It’s less about the tablet than it is about changing the publishing industry. There is an opportunity for Apple to make the tablet more than just a supersized iPod. Cringely is speculating that it could be the thing that compels big publishing houses to go electronic in a big way.
The predicted tablet would still be everything an iPod is, and published content would still be available on the iPod and your Mac. But the tablet that would be the compelling factor for publishers. That’s Cringely’s basic premise, and he speculates on the tech that would enable it.
I don’t see anything anti-Apple here. You must have your fanboy knob twisted to the “eleven” setting.