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Another year, another keynote
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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With Macworld looming large on the horizon, the internets are a-buzz with rumors and speculation about what Apple will announce during Tuesday's keynote. I, for one, am hoping for the best... an all new Mac Tablet (gasp!). I know, I know, been there done that, it was called the Newton and Jobs personally struck it down, much to the dismay of Newton lovers around the world. Some wonder why Jobs would resurrect a Newton-like tablet when he himself killed it to begin with... well, let me tell ya, the iPhone is not a Newton and therefore opens up the possibility of Apple resurrecting a Newton-like device in the form of a tablet. I think the time is right for Apple to revive the Newton in 2008... just don't call it a Newton. Everyone I know who's used/seen/fondled an iPhone has been impressed... I mean really, how could you not be? (Lack of cut, copy, paste withstanding.) The smooth form factor, simplicity, multi-touch interface, OS X, the list goes on and on. I found myself suddenly thinking, "wow, this laptop of mine seems awfully clunky." When viewing images in Mail I want to zoom-in by pinch-dragging, not by firing up Preview and hitting the zoom-in toolbar button a few times. How blasé. :) This leads me back to the Mac Tablet... if Jobs went up on stage and said "Here's the Mac Tablet, it's just like an iPhone, but with a bigger screen (think 8") and lacks the cell phone capabilities of the iPhone." I'd be as happy as a green snake in a sugar cane field. ;) Throw in some bluetooth, wi-max (what the hell, why not?), and maybe a touch screen remote control for any nearby Macs or AppleTVs and all of a sudden this thing is a laptop killer. (An HD-capable AppleTV upgrade would also be a welcome update, but that's another post for another time.) As I see it, this device would be running OS X (the iPhone operating system), which, as Jobs announced a few months back, will be opening up in February when the official SDK is released. This will allow third-parties to make the "next big thing" on a multi-touch handheld device that's so small and portable, that you'd have it with you everywhere (instead of a laptop or pda). When the SDK is available I'm sure hundreds of eager developers will begin writing applications for OS X, which assures there will be a wide variety of third party applications ready and waiting for the Mac Tablet. The popularity of the iPhone has ensured a thriving third party community of applications which could work seamlessly across the iPhone and Mac Tablet. This device would be so closely related to the iPhone Apple wouldn't be risking too much to get it off the ground. They already have the software, and could use the iPhone hardware specification as a jumping off point. An 8" touch screen with 20-60 GB of flash memory would be an ideal hardware platform for the tablet. If Apple were to announce this renaissance of the Netwon, I know it would certainly be replacing the 15" MacBook Pro on my living room coffee table. In more realistic predictions, I'm guessing all this nonsense about a new sub-notebook is going to pan out. I think Apple will announce a 12" sub-notebook that will "blow your mind" in terms of thinness. (Think the iPod Nano of notebooks.) I would like to see Apple release a 10" variant as well, but I'm not holding my breath, as Apple tends to think bigger is better when it comes to notebook screens. PS: Will and I will be manning the Panic booth on Thursday and Friday for anyone going to Macworld. We may even be able to do a patented "twin rate" review of the Keynote for ya! ;) See ya there! Cheers, Wade Current Music: Neil Young, Unplugged (1993) comments posted at 12:48 PM Comments: Reply by Reply by Post a Comment |
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