The rumors of a Mac tablet have apparently been circulating the Interwebs for a minute now. I only heard about it fairly recently. I became interested in the idea when I did hear of it. I’ve seen other tablets and liked the idea, but saw no real use for them, personally. I could definitely see a secretary or maybe college students using this to its full potential, but not an everyday user like me. But when I saw more details about this Mac tablet, I was a little more intrigued at the idea. I figured it’ll basically be an iPhone on steroids. then I saw THIS link and THIS link, with more details. Unconfirmed, of course. And so, I REALLY started thinking.
I have found that I have become a pawn in the Apple marketing game. I am a sucker for anything Apple. I have had numerous iPods. I have owned two Macbooks, my current 13″ MBP and my old 13″ MB which is now my wife’s. I am trying very hard to put myself in a position to get rid of my desktop PC altogether and get a Mac Mini, or preferably an iMac. And I actually considered getting the Apple TV. Luckily I did not. I even noticed recently that I have also become a bit of an Apple/Tech snob. When I hear about people getting Mac computers or iPhones, even if just considering them, I actually try to convince them not to. Like if some how they will not use it to its full potential. When I caught myself, I thought, “What, like I do? Where am I getting off dictating how other people should spend their money.” I’ll still give my opinion when asked. Unless the person uses the computer as much as I do, they really don’t need to spend the money associated with Macs. The average user can get a good PC, AND maintain it for a mere $600 and be perfectly fine. Interwebs, homework, multimedia, maybe even some budgeting. But for someone like me, I am constantly re-encoding music and videos. Editing movies and pictures, among other computer tinkering. And all that strain caused me to be reinstalling my operating system almost every 4 or 5 months due to bugs and errors. I don’t have that problem with my Macbook. But the average user won’t experience that unless they fail to maintain it properly.
The reason I went in to that diatribe is to stress how iffy this tablet seems to me now. Like I said, I went out and got this 13″ MBP. I made it a point to get the iPhone 3GS. And I was already thinking of ways to get the tablet when it comes out. But once I saw the details, albeit just rumors, I realized how silly I was being. This really will be a HUGE iPhone 3GS. Supposedly running the exact OS that the iPhone does. Meaning it will not be a full OS X. It is going to take the iPhone experience to a new level. But come on, are you really gonna carry this thing around. At 10.7 inches, reportedly, it will be easier to carry than a notebook. Essentially it’ll be like ripping the screen off the keyboard of a netbook, and carrying just the screen around. Pretty cool, huh? BUT… if it isn’t a full computer, what are the advantages? If you need a full computer you can just carry you’re notebook computer like I do. If you just need simple accessibility on the go, you have your iPhone or Blackberry, like I do. The next step will be just carrying your Apple tablet, which will have a SIM card. So it will BE your phone as well. Just leave it in its case and use the bluetooth headset to answer your calls. Which will tell you who’s calling so you don’t have to look at the caller ID. Sounds pretty cool huh? But what about when you go clubbing or on a date? Are you really gonna lug this thing around? I might, cause I’m a geek and that’s how I roll. But the everyday consumer isn’t going to bother with these things. They’ll stick to their cell phones and notebooks separately and be perfectly happy. So I fail to see how Apple is gonna market this. That being said, they are masters at it. Every new iPods come out with slight differences from the last one, and yet still cause a frenzy every time. Same for the iPhone, same for the Macbooks, and same for the iMacs. And all this while remaining considerably expensive.
If in fact it does make a splash, I agree that print media will be looking to get in on the action. Something like this will be so easy to carry around and let you read your periodicals anywhere. Look for major newspapers and magazines to start offering subscription downloads for the Apple tablet. And not to mention the death of the kindle. At least as we now know it. This thing has a lot of potential if done right, and although it will be pricey, if any one can pull it off, Steve Jobs and Apple can.
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AC
