Apple Tablet PC Revealed in Patent Filing : Tablet PCs : MobileMag
Three months ago Apple filed a European design trademark for some sort of a handheld or tablet-style computer (it’s hard to tell how big it is from these sketchs that accompanied the filing). Read into this what you will, but people have been buzzing about a tablet Mac for months and months now and Steve Jobs himself admitted that the company developed a new line of PDAs which they then abandoned at the last second. A new multimedia tablet, or could this possibly even be the design for the new iMac, which could turn out just be an all-in-one flat-panel PC? — Dvorak Uncensored contributor, Chris Coulter
Thoughts on the Notepad Non-Starter
Ach vas? HP Notepad, one of the best
These devices are throwbacks to the early days of pen-based computers that were terrible flops in the market. So what has changed to make a difference? Nothing. And that’s the problem. But the real stopper is that people want notebook computers more than ever. The notepad computer would be the third choice and an expensive one at that. Most people on the fence are opting for the “convertible” laptop that can be turned into a clunky notepad machine. I suspect the pure notepad will die off as before no matter what Bill Gates thinks.
That said, perhaps Apple has a new idea that would make the platform viable. I doubt it. I suspect that these patents are just placeholders just in case something good happens to the platform and Apple HAS to enter it.
Until they can get the performance of a tethered-monitor, like the Wacom Cintiq, then I agree most of the notepads are non-starters.
http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index_15x.cfm
Even if one of the next-gen WiFi connections allowed something like the Cintiq to be wireless, you would still be “tethered” to the host computer. Great at home, or the office – but useless on the factory-floor, or on the road.
The relatively-high cost of the Cintiq (for a LCD-monitor and integrated touch-screen) does remind me of how little the rest of the system (keyboard, drives, cpu) adds to the cost of a laptop/notepad computer system.
I don’t see the power of a desktop computer being crammed-into a notebook, anytime soon. As a Mac user, recent discussions have focused on when Apple will get a G5-chip in a laptop, since the newer 90-nm chips use less power than the .13-Micron. Answer seems to be: less power – yes, but concentrated in a smaller package – so higher heat-removal requirements per unit of surface area. Don’t expect liquid-cooling to help – since there is no room in a 1/2-inch thick laptop for the plumbing! 🙂
Mike — I agree about use on the road; at least, until Verizon and others ramp up faster cell-based pc cards. But, “factory floor”?
I can wardrive my own boosted G-network from a quarter-mile away with a dinky 6″ antenna stuck on the roof of my pickupat >100mbps. Surely, adequate for most industrial uses, especially with reasonably-placed repeaters.
I have one client, now, who drives from Santa Fe down to the airport in Albuquerque without losing the Verizon connection to his laptop. That’s about a 65 mile run from his home. Given the variety of growing solutions for urban/suburban corridors, the only folks out of touch will be somewhere between El Paso and Midland!
My bad.
I was mainly thinking of the video through-put – since a monitor like the Cintiq lets you harness the power of an AGP/PCExpress card in your desktop PC/Mac – with the only limit being the refresh-rate of the LCD.
I don’t know what through-put a version of WiFi would need to transmit video signals at that rate – to a wireless monitor/touchscreen – without the need to carry the whole computer around (notepad PC). Also, with the wireless monitor, would latency become an issue – as distance from the base increased – and round-trip time became noticeable?
Also, when I mentioned “factory floor”, I was thinking of the limited-case (in hind-sight) of the semiconductor manufacturing plant (fab) that I work in. Un-authorized RF is a no-no. 🙂
Mike — though I haven’t played with it, myself, wander among some of the contributors in the avsforum.com or the tivocommunity.com [especially the “underground”]. There are a number of folks who feel they can stream decent standard digital video with any of the flavors of boosted 80211.g.
By my opinion, tablets/notepad pcs are purely supplimental machines, and not for power users. They’re intended to allow you to do many things, but mainly stay connected, organized, and operational.
Do those that haven’t played with a good pure tabletpc, go try one out. The convertibles are heavy, so I’m not a fan of them, but the others are gold. Motion Computing has one of the best setups around, and all the updates for XP Tablet Edition are free upgrades, thats 2004 and 2005.