4 ms·

There is absolutely no proven market for a 'tablet PC'. None whatsoever. Despite them being available for years in various forms.

by axod 18y ago

dkarl 18y ago
Because they're all terrible. They're all just small laptops with touch-sensitive screens and a few touch-screen software features. I've been itching for a tablet PC since at least 2003, but I've never bought one because I want one that doesn't suck. (Wait, I did buy a Nokia n800... sigh.) Apple's tablet won't suck, because Apple will 1) put a lot of work into creating a UI that works well with the form factor, and 2) have the guts to cut hardware features if that's what it takes to create a decent product. Funny, I sound like an Apple fanboy, even though I came here to express my irritation with OSX. Right now, if somebody gave me an iMac, my first impulse would be to install Linux on it, but you just have to look at the non-Apple phones released since the iPhone launched to see that Apple is on a completely different plane when it comes to smaller devices. I can't wait to see what they do with tablets, though perhaps it would hurt their prestige to release a novel product for a small market... they wouldn't be able to keep the hype within reasonable bounds, and expectations wouldn't be met.
- axod 18y ago
  The iPhone works, because it's small enough to hold with one hand, while you type with the other. I can't see anything much bigger working TBH. At some stage, you need a keyboard to type on, and to hold the screen at a good angle. And then it's not portable so you may as well have a netbook/laptop.
  - dkarl 18y ago
    I typically move my 15" ThinkPad around by grabbing about (checking...) four inches of the corner with one hand. I admit it's a strain to hold it up and type with the other hand, but a tablet would be lighter and more compact. The ThinkPad is heavy and has a long lever arm.
scorpion032 18y ago
Just like there was no market for a touch phone before the iPhone, or no market for portable media players before iPod. By no I mean, lesser, much lesser.
- axod 18y ago
  OK, Go for it. What's the use case for a tablet?
  - dkarl 18y ago
    There are lots of daily uses where it would be ideal to have a decent-sized screen and no keyboard. Web surfing in bed (or lying on the couch,) playing simple games in bed, using recipes in the kitchen, videos and news on the road (like an iPhone without the iStrain.) Put a notch in the back so you can hang it on a wall, and it's even more versatile (and even better in the kitchen.) Plus it would be a nice compromise for traveling when the iPhone isn't enough -- have a bluetooth keyboard in your hotel room for blogging and email, carry a nice thin tablet during the day. Actually, that last scenario pretty much sums it up. It's a small laptop with no hinge, with the keyboard reduced to an optional accessory that you can leave in your briefcase, or in your hotel room, or on your bedside table, or wherever, except when you actually want to bother with it. Of course, most tablets fail by integrating the keyboard, keeping the hinge, and not providing a decent touch-screen interface. Really decent tablet interfaces have been limited to special-purpose applications for medical entry, warehouse inventory, GPS, or what-not.
    - axod 18y ago
      The kitchen is the only use case I can see working. A netbook/laptop is far more usable in bed than a tablet would be. >> "have a bluetooth keyboard in your hotel room for blogging and email" The bottom bit of a laptop isn't just there for the keyboard, it's there to hold the display at a nice viewing angle. So you'd need some extra device for that as well. Maybe it'd take off, who knows...
      - 18y ago

There is absolutely no proven market for a 'tablet PC'. None whatsoever. Despite them being available for years in various forms.

by axod 18y ago

There is absolutely no proven market for a 'tablet PC'. None whatsoever. Despite them being available for years in various forms.

dkarl 18y ago

Because they're all terrible. They're all just small laptops with touch-sensitive screens and a few touch-screen software features. I've been itching for a tablet PC since at least 2003, but I've never bought one because I want one that doesn't suck. (Wait, I did buy a Nokia n800... sigh.) Apple's tablet won't suck, because Apple will 1) put a lot of work into creating a UI that works well with the form factor, and 2) have the guts to cut hardware features if that's what it takes to create a decent product. Funny, I sound like an Apple fanboy, even though I came here to express my irritation with OSX. Right now, if somebody gave me an iMac, my first impulse would be to install Linux on it, but you just have to look at the non-Apple phones released since the iPhone launched to see that Apple is on a completely different plane when it comes to smaller devices. I can't wait to see what they do with tablets, though perhaps it would hurt their prestige to release a novel product for a small market... they wouldn't be able to keep the hype within reasonable bounds, and expectations wouldn't be met.

axod 18y ago
The iPhone works, because it's small enough to hold with one hand, while you type with the other. I can't see anything much bigger working TBH. At some stage, you need a keyboard to type on, and to hold the screen at a good angle. And then it's not portable so you may as well have a netbook/laptop.
- dkarl 18y ago
  I typically move my 15" ThinkPad around by grabbing about (checking...) four inches of the corner with one hand. I admit it's a strain to hold it up and type with the other hand, but a tablet would be lighter and more compact. The ThinkPad is heavy and has a long lever arm.

scorpion032 18y ago

Just like there was no market for a touch phone before the iPhone, or no market for portable media players before iPod. By no I mean, lesser, much lesser.

axod 18y ago
OK, Go for it. What's the use case for a tablet?
- dkarl 18y ago
  There are lots of daily uses where it would be ideal to have a decent-sized screen and no keyboard. Web surfing in bed (or lying on the couch,) playing simple games in bed, using recipes in the kitchen, videos and news on the road (like an iPhone without the iStrain.) Put a notch in the back so you can hang it on a wall, and it's even more versatile (and even better in the kitchen.) Plus it would be a nice compromise for traveling when the iPhone isn't enough -- have a bluetooth keyboard in your hotel room for blogging and email, carry a nice thin tablet during the day. Actually, that last scenario pretty much sums it up. It's a small laptop with no hinge, with the keyboard reduced to an optional accessory that you can leave in your briefcase, or in your hotel room, or on your bedside table, or wherever, except when you actually want to bother with it. Of course, most tablets fail by integrating the keyboard, keeping the hinge, and not providing a decent touch-screen interface. Really decent tablet interfaces have been limited to special-purpose applications for medical entry, warehouse inventory, GPS, or what-not.
  - axod 18y ago
    The kitchen is the only use case I can see working. A netbook/laptop is far more usable in bed than a tablet would be. >> "have a bluetooth keyboard in your hotel room for blogging and email" The bottom bit of a laptop isn't just there for the keyboard, it's there to hold the display at a nice viewing angle. So you'd need some extra device for that as well. Maybe it'd take off, who knows...
    - 18y ago