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Tablet : This means the end of the Mac
- Thread starter knobsturner
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To an extent I agree with JLUGO35. They are a waste of technology if you actually want to do something other than check email or as a web browser or at the most a doc.The funny thing is that that's what a smartphone is made for, and you should use a "real" computer/ desktop/laptop for anything else. Other than that the stuff that is put into it is a bunch of junk.
...except for games played on a flat surface. Solitaire, bridge, checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, tic-tac-toe, hangman, Monopoly, Othello, Bubblewrap, Minesweeper, Race Track, Mah-Jong, Backgammon, Roulette, craps, etc.
I think you're focusing too strongly on the tablet as the sole thing here. It's not the tablet that'll be the end of the Mac laptops and desktops. It's also the multi-touch screen and the software behind it that'll possibly lead to a new way of computing in the next generation. As hardware by itself, it's not really the end of anything. Tablets have been around for decades and yet laptops and desktops are still here. What you might be right about is the possibility that a slate computer could become more powerful to the point that it can replace the need of having a separate hardware but that's not because of the tablet, it's just the natural evolution of computer technologies into nanoscales.
Let me explain a bit more.
People will have to use something on a desk that'll be comfortable for them for hours. Tablet holding for hours is never going to work. So people'll just add the tablet to a docking station that'll give them external keyboard/mouse or maybe even more power if they need it. It essentially becomes a macbook with a touchscreen. Hell even the 10" screen is not going to help here, leading people to buy 24" Apple Cinema screen....which makes it some kind of iMac. That can only happen if the device itself is powerful enough and this won't happen for another generation or so. Nanoscale technologies will help here.
Just because you only seen it twice in your life, you automatically assume it'll be a failure? What Apple has coming out, has never been out in the way it will be. What multi-touch screen tablet have you ever seen in your life? There never has been a multi-touch screen tablet, Wacom based tablets yes with the focus based on stylus. Those past tablets failed because the software and technology has not catch up to the idea of the tablet.
Look at iPhone, too many people said that a virtual keyboard was never going to work, didn't stop Apple from selling tens of millions of it (close to ~50m) and now almost all smartphones will use a virtual keyboard.
It's not the tablet that people are excited about, but the idea of the multi-touch screen with software exclusively optimized for it as well as the App store are what getting them excited. It may be just a big ass iPhone but the software is the key here.
People said the same thing about iPhone and yet iPhone/iPod touches are getting more popular for gaming and in fact many of my friends stop using their DS/PSP completely.
How are they waste of technology when people do the same thing on a desktop that eats up 200-500watts per hour wasting far more than a netbook could?
People have a need and netbook met those needs on a tiny computer. You might as well say laptops are a waste of technology since the difference is that netbooks are using much more efficient parts with a small screen, hell even desktops are a waste of technological resources since people are not taking full advantages of it.
Apple usually doesn't literaly invent new technology. What they do is combining existing technologies (and their software) to create new products that appeal to a much wider market than previous devices.
The iPod is the perfect example: Yes, there were other hard-disk-based players on the market before the iPod but these were bigger than most portable cd players. At the time the original iPod came out, there were flash-based players that were bigger than the iPod. Then comes the software: The iPod was easy to use, as was iTunes. You didn't have to manage your own files. Of course it wasn't (and isn't) a device for geeks who want maximum control but that was actually one of the reasons why it became so popular.
Similar thing with the iPhone. I've been using a Nokia S60 smartphone for many years before the iPhone was even announced. It could, theoretically, do everything the iPhone does (and even some more things) except for the touchscreen. You could install 3rd-party applications, browse the "real" internet, use mail, notes, play music, play videos, watch photos etc. etc.
But the problem is: All that was a p.i.t.a. to use compared to the iPhone.
Now the tablet: Netbooks have become increasingly popular in recent years. They don't have much power, you can't run sophisticated stuff on them. But people who buy netbooks don't need that. If Apple could provide the functionality of iLife and iWork on the tablet (besides the usual webbrowsing and mail), they would already offer more functionality on the tablet than most netbook users need.
The only problem I see is text input. Handwriting recognition and a touchscreen keyboard are okay for mobile applications but it would be a bit painful for writing longer texts (more than one or two pages). However, they could offer a dock for the tablet and enable it to use bluetooth keyboards so you could use that when you really need to write lots of texts.
Anyway, I see the tablet as an alternative to a netbook, not "serious" computers, although I think the market for such a thing is quite big if Apple did their homework.
Depends on the games. It's useless for first-person-shooters but there are many types of games which could actually benefit from the device.
NO. There's NO way the Tablet will kill off the Mac. They have different purposes totally. While the Tablet may be more of a novelty Mac, the Mac is designed for full-fledged computing rather than a Tablet which could be used for couch surfing or eBooking.
But thats only for YOUR needs. For many people including myself, I don't want my storage and files in the clouds, I want it local. I think there are some people here that think just because the tablet will become their only computer or replace their desktop/laptop needs, it will be the same for everyone else. For example, I don't know many people around me that would even want to use a a screen less than 14 inches, let alone something much smaller. The touchscreen keyboard didn't kill the physical keyboard, and the tablet certainly won't kill laptops.
Lets not forget, tablets have been in existence for many years already, Apple is not reinventing the wheel here.
Unless that device somehow didn't have Internet access for any number of reasons
Really, these days, they sell these boxes into which you plug a hard drive and a network cable. Through your wireless access (which you already have at home for your Internet) you can access them as if they were part of your computer. You put all your files there. Changing your computer ? Doesn't matter, the local hard drive has nothing on it except the OS and a few apps.
I'm always puzzled why people think they need Google or Amazon to do this for them. It has been around for years and in recent times, it's been made easy.
I'd much rather Apple introduce a home server box with a easy front-end like the HP boxes with Windows Home Server than any kind of cloud service. At least, no matter what the status is on my broadband, I can access my files. Seriously, why would I have to pay a monthly fee just to have access to my own stuff ?
Unless that device somehow didn't have Internet access for any number of reasons
Really, these days, they sell these boxes into which you plug a hard drive and a network cable. Through your wireless access (which you already have at home for your Internet) you can access them as if they were part of your computer. You put all your files there. Changing your computer ? Doesn't matter, the local hard drive has nothing on it except the OS and a few apps.
I'm always puzzled why people think they need Google or Amazon to do this for them. It has been around for years and in recent times, it's been made easy.
I'd much rather Apple introduce a home server box with a easy front-end like the HP boxes with Windows Home Server than any kind of cloud service. At least, no matter what the status is on my broadband, I can access my files. Seriously, why would I have to pay a monthly fee just to have access to my own stuff ?
Pogoplug, or plugging a HD onto an AE, and doing Back to my Mac. NAS, or something like a Drobo with BTMM is easy enough to sort.
Amen.
I am an average Joe I am not into programming or anything like that. I have a Macbook that I use for internet, email etc. In fact 90% of my time I dont need all the functions my macbook offers. I am very interested in what the tablet will offer as the reason I love apple products is how they all integrate with each other and make my life simple. Apple is in business to sell lots of product and make money. They are very good at making existing technologies accessible to the average Joe. as an example I take lots of pictures, with my macbook I plug the camera in and then only one button click (import) and my photos are uploaded and sorted by date. I then open itunes and sync my atv and i can view them on a telly whilst playing that latest album I just bought with one click off itunes. Easy, very easy.
If the tablet fits with the current product offering I can see not only new users being tempted by cool stuff like multi touchscreen etc but existing mac users being tempted by how it will fit with their iphone/ipod/appletv/macbook/imac/etc.etc.etc
Unless their text input is truly revolutionary and easier than a physical keyboard, then they'll never replace laptops. Period.
In my opinion, it will just be another gadget. A gadget that I will want, nonetheless, but I don't foresee it replacing the traditional laptop computer.
In my opinion, it will just be another gadget. A gadget that I will want, nonetheless, but I don't foresee it replacing the traditional laptop computer.
This guy thinks that Apple's new tablet will kill off Microsoft.....
Fascinating article:
http://www.topbananas.com/page7/page7.html
Fascinating article:
http://www.topbananas.com/page7/page7.html