Speculating the Apple Tablet's Interface

[Rob Williams]

This coming Wednesday, Apple is holding an event in San Francisco where it's expected to make a couple of big announcements. Even Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, has been clear that there's something big on the horizon by saying, "We're starting this week with a major new product". Even if you don't follow Apple news too closely, you'd pretty much have to be cut off from the world for the past few months to not know that the product Steve is talking about is the "Apple Tablet".

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You can read the rest of our news post here.

 

[Rob Williams]

Here's another potential product that might be offered if Steve doesn't announce a tablet on Wednesday:

http://www.pidjin.net/2010/01/25/iwish/

 

[madstork91]

Since I am -the- guy, and if not just one of the guys, who throws this is Rob's face every now and again, I will chime in.

I told rob about 4 years ago that touch screen was the wave of the future, that it was going to be big, and that most portable devices would have it.

Enter the blackberry w/e it was that took things to a whole new level, followed then by a tablet PC (you know the fold down things) then the iPhone.

Once the iPhone hit everyone was amazed by this new thing they could interact with by touch (even though you could do touch before). Rob is right though, the interface is what makes this baby worth it. So simple that a 4 year old could navigate it with intent (though with little to no actual purpose in doing so).

Being over here in Korea for a little bit I can tell you that every new phone just about has this. (since the iPhone was only just released here about a month ago) And whats more there is a new phone out that has a number keypad that slides out. Big deal right? Did I mention that the keypad was see through? With no apparent electronics behind it? http://www.siftwire.com/lg-crystal-gd900-single-keyboard-phone.html

I hope apple hits a homerun with this. I really do. Because then people will begin to actually take a tablet PC serious, and I may be able to actually look at one as a means to review data on a job site without fear of the things crashing. No, not an apple, one of its rip off competitors that sells for half the price.

P.s. Windows7 on a tablet pc. Even without all the bells and whistles, would be a dream.

 

[Rob Williams]

That LG cell phone looks great... I like it. But, when I upgrade from the piece of crap KRZR I have now, I'll probably get something with a full keyboard, as I can't stand typing text messages with just the number pad. For touch, I am not into it. For things like navigating around the UI, it's fine, but for things like text messages and text entry, give me a real keyboard any day of the week. I want to touch real keys, not just a part of the screen.

As far as I'm aware, there already exist tablets with Windows 7 on them, but I can't recall any of the exact models or company names right now, just that I've seen them floating around. Still, I'd expect Apple to deliver a far different UI than something to match OS X, unlike what we'd see with a Windows 7 tablet.

 

[MacMan]

I want to believe that Apple will hit this out of the park, but I have some doubts. For one thing, there has been so much hype over this dang-blasted thing that its going to be really hard for Apple to live up to it!

One thing that gives me a little hope is that Steve has apparently been quoted as saying something like,"... it's the best thing that he ever did!" For a guy who did so much for the tech world, and a guy who is famous for being picky, well, this is indeed a good sign!

I remember showing Rob a video of multi-touch and his reaction was, "it looks interesting, but I can't see too much use for it!" I still have the e-mail to torment him with too, and now everyone and their dog is rushing to capitalize on multi-touch. However, what has my interest piqued about the tablet is that it will use even more advanced and novel ways of using touch, taking it to a whole new level according to some, and I hope that is the case.

A haptic multi-touch screen is expected, but like everyone else I will just have to stay glued to my computer monitor and see exactly what Apple has got up its sleeve. If its a success, then watch out, Apple's Q1 yesterday has the company now in the $62 billion-a-year sales range, which is just behind Microsoft's $65 billion per year. Success with the tablet could push Apple up and beyond Microsoft for the first time ever!

 

[Rob Williams]

For one thing, there has been so much hype over this dang-blasted thing that its going to be really hard for Apple to live up to it!

That's what I'm worried about also. Did the iPhone even have this much hype?

I remember showing Rob a video of multi-touch and his reaction was, "it looks interesting, but I can't see too much use for it!"

My opinion on this hasn't at all changed ;-). There's only so much people will want to do with touch/multi-touch.

As for overtaking Microsoft, that would be incredible. It wouldn't at all surprise me to see it happen, either. Microsoft sells a lot more product, though. Apple just happens to charge a lot more for everything it sells. But, any way you look at it, to be that close to Microsoft is impressive.