“If you’ve only been half paying attention you probably think that the Apple Tablet is a done deal. It isn’t. Outside the impervious hallways of One Infinite Loop the tablet remains a technological unicorn — a mythical beast whose beauty, elegance and singularity we can only imagine,” John C. Abell writes for Wired.
“Wired.com is among the vast majority of publications which fervently believes, however. We have found supporting evidence in all manner of tea leaves, including the decision by Apple to allow iPhone developers to create free apps that can be platforms to charge for something. This is probably just a way of porting the shareware model to mobile. But a free shop window would also be a perfect way for publishers, we argued, to offer readers the same chance to sample without charging them for the privilege,” Abell writes.
“Apple admits nothing, of course. In a recent meeting with media executives, including some from Condé Nast, attendees were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, participants told wired.com. Despite this precaution the word ‘tablet’ was never uttered — indeed, hardware wasn’t even discussed,” Abell writes.
“Tablet speculation mostly centers on what’s in it for the user, and third parties, including the print media,” Abell writes. “But the key is what’s in it for Apple — more specifically, what’s in it for CEO Steve Jobs. We think there’s one thing that makes an Apple Tablet inevitable: Jobs is considering his legacy, and he wants it to include saving the media, pulling it back from the brink at its darkest moment.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Legacy, schmegacy. Jobs is just doing what he’s always done: Pushing forward.
not when they can expand the ipod touch model and add the ebook as a new tool. think about how great those movies will look on the bigger screen, how much easier reading those webpages will be. and if they can add data on 3g/4g into it for when you are away from wifi, it would be Apple’s answer to the netbook.
Thank you, @silverwarloc. You may consider doing the simple research or reading the original story in its entirety, where your “points” are not only addressed, but incorporated into my argument. You’re welcome.
Thank you @mike. You may refer to my reply to @silverwarloc, which more or less covers the bases. However, your cogent analysis of the state of the media does deserve special attention. Apparently, for you, there is nothing in old media worth saving. Fair enough. Others disagree (perhaps the overwhelming majority of the known universe — but that’s besides the point), and it is for this market that a device which caters to the masses who do read old dinosaur big media stuff digitally on a regular basis, for free, might resonate.
Did Apple steal this idea from Archos? Their tablet was announced a long time before the Mac rumors began.
The iSlate will be a nice addition to the Mac Book family. islate.org