-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
The Apple Tablet Thread Of It's Inevitable
- Thread starter ClovingWestbrook
- Start date
- Status
KilgoreTrout
Banned
LovingSteam said:
I know. I was just too lazy to quote the original dude. :lol
:lol now why would you go and do that? If the Tablet comes with an e-reader 'app' on its 'homescreen' (much like the iPhone's bundled iPod app makes it an iPod) wouldn't you have lost the bet?Burger said:
Speaking of patents...
Apple's Proposed Multi-touch User Interface System
Looking at Apple's recent hardware and software patents in aggregate reveals a coordinated proposal for a multi-touch user interface.
A few years ago, I took stock of several Apple patents that opened up new interaction possibilities by rethinking the ways people could provide input through multi-touch, virtual interface controls, new physical controls, sensors, and more. Several of these including the "multi touch mouse" (now released as the Magic Mouse) have made their way into shipping Apple products.
Yesterday, in anticipation of Apple's "latest creation", Patently Apple compiled a similar list of Apple patents that may see the light of day soon. Looking through their article and at several additional patents from Apple, I compiled a list of the new interaction design capabilities these patents cover. In aggregate, these interactions began to look like an integrated system for managing applications and content.
The overarching UI model is a set of contextual virtual interface elements with audible and haptic (perhaps) feedback that are accessed and manipulated through multiple input formats. That's a mouthful -let's break it down...
Virtual interface elements...
Contextual interface elements...
Accessed through multiple input formats...
Haptic Tactile Feedback (perhaps)...
In Summary...
Together, these proposals outline an integrated interaction model of virtual "floating" controls that are specific to the mode or application the system is in. The controls are accessed and manipulated through touch-based gestures, combinations of mutli-touch inputs, and/or inputs detected through sensors. Users get haptic, audible, and visual feedback when using these input methods to interact with the system's set of virtual controls.
Needless to say, it will be interesting to see which of these proposals (if any) make their way into Apple's latest creation" (tablet?) this month!
StrikerObi
Member
Karma said:
Before 1984, the market for a consumer-level home-use computer "didn't exist". After 1984, the Macintosh birthed the home computer industry.
Before 2001, the market for a personal digital music player existed, but was tiny, fragmented and struggling. After 2001, the iPod re-defined the market and thrust it almost immediately into the forefront of consumer electronics. (Arguably this didn't happen until 2003, when the iPod went Windows).
Before 2007 the market for a consumer-level smartphone was "too small". After 2007, everybody else was scrambling to pick up the remaining consumers that Apple hadn't yet gobbled up with the iPhone.
I hate to sound like a fanboy, but time and time again you fail to consider that Apple has consistently changed the game in every single market they have entered*.
*
as long as Steve Jobs was at the helm.
StrikerObi
Member
Karma said:
Because my laptop is downstairs or in my office, and when I wake up in the morning (or go to bed at night) I want to be able to check things quickly, but I don't really need the whole computer. Sure I could lie in bed with my laptop but when all I want to do is check and see if I have any last minute emails to deal with, or to check up on the scores of sporting events, or whatever, right before I go to bed I don't really want to break out the whole laptop (even if it happens to be sitting on the nightstand). It's just easier to use the iPhone.
If I'm on the couch watching TV and I want to check something online really quickly, I don't want to bust out the laptop. It's just not necessary for keeping up with information. If I am going to do some heavy-duty information tasks (like reading GAF for more than 10 minutes, or catching up on my numerous RSS feeds) I use the laptop. Basically if I'm going to do anything for more than 10 minutes, I use the laptop.
I agree that there will be a struggle here between the tablet and the iPhone. If I want to check something quickly I would still be more apt to use the iPhone, as it will have the same amount or fewer barriers between me and the information I want.
What will be interesting is to see how it functions as a media device. It will undoubtedly be a better media device than a laptop, and it will at least have a larger screen than an iPod/Phone, both of which are advantages.
Personally, I can't wait for the first really great (delicious generation style) recipe catalog app comes out. That's the killer app for me. I hate having my laptop in the kitchen. I would LOVE to be able to prop up my iPhone for cooking use but it is too damn small. This tablet is the perfect device for it (based on rumored design).
polyh3dron
Banned
Marty Chinn
Member
Everyone keeps talking about media capabilities, but do you guys seriously want to be holding a 10" tablet in your hand to watch a movie or tv show while you're lounging around your house? A desktop or laptop can sit on a surface or even in your lap, but a tablet is something you have to hold. I hate holding my PSP or iPhone to watch a video at length so I certainly wouldn't want to hold a tablet just to watch a video of any length. Some of you guys are willing to though and think that's comfortable?
polyh3dron
Banned
All I know is that there's no way I'll get the first gen one. I've learned by now never to by a first gen Apple product. I waited until the iPhone 3GS came out before getting one and I got the phone I had hoped for at a much better price, and I wouldn't have if I had spent 599 US DOLLARS for a launch model with its lack of 3G and slower processor.Janken said:
Buttonbasher
Member
Those hands are TERRIFYING
H_Prestige
Banned
Damage control already begun? Wait for the device to be shown first before forming an opinion on it.
There will probably be a stand accessory that it comes with or you have to pay extra for, although at that point it's like why not just use your desktop. I guess really it's only pro is that you can take it anywhere around your house.Marty Chinn said:
Edit: like this one from that other tablet:
SuperPac
Member
Marty Chinn said:
I agree, when I'm at home or already near/in front of a television, I wouldn't use this device. I've no reason to believe that the media capabilities of this tablet would change how I watch or video movies/TV at home. I'd still do that on a television. I don't watch many TV shows or movies on my desktop or laptop or iPhone when I'm at home now so I'd assume that would continue.
Though I've rented movies to watch on the iPhone on trips and TV shows on my laptop so if this device had that capability I would use it when traveling.
Marty Chinn
Member
Korey said:
Ya, I don't see why not use your desktop or laptop if you have to put down a stand to holster it. Unless the stand is built in which I'm kinda doubting knowing Apple. Heck why not watch it on a TV at that point. I would think the media capabilities is a small side perk not a focal feature because it just doesn't seem practical. Even typing can be tough if you have to hold a large object with one hand while using the other to type.
Funny. Ive always thought that the keyboard part of the laptop was the most uncomfortable when trying to browse the web on the couch. Gets hot and is hard to balance on my legs.
Holding a kindle is waaaaaay easier when lying down or sitting around.
Assuming this tablet is thin and light, I think it'll be easier to use around the house than a laptop.
Holding a kindle is waaaaaay easier when lying down or sitting around.
Assuming this tablet is thin and light, I think it'll be easier to use around the house than a laptop.
SuperPac
Member
Charred Greyface said:
Some of this shit is sick. I think Patently Apple's report that collects the tablet-related patents that Apple has filed for really put a huge amount of potential in this device.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/01/apple-the-tablet-prophecies.html
Its going to be a simple* purposeful appliance. Every thing the IPod line does +some. All they need to do is allow 1 or two applications to be backgrounded. You pick it up check and check the web on your lunch break; you pick it up and play a mobile(bite sized) version of your favorite games; you wake up in the morning and scan you mail; then you have apps, I like them for the most part, they are purposeful; I want to check my eBay auctions but don't what to unlock my computer, I can use whip out my device and view the status.
N
NinjaFridge
Unconfirmed Member
H_Prestige said:
Shut up. This shit is going to be revolutionary, we don't need to see it or really know anything about it to know it will blow us away better than a thai hooker.
uh uh no way
Banned
Burger said:
actually, the iphone is a phone.
Shogmaster
Sloppy seconds
A little late, son.Tobor said:
Also, to be more accurate, you guys will be touch-tards.
Shogmaster
Sloppy seconds
Stylus is a piece of plastic. I'm an EMR pen-tard.Tobor said:
Yeah... doesn't roll off the tongue...
SafariPad gave birth to the iPhone. I have no doubt Jobs is pumped.
But I'm cautious about thinking this is going to be as revolutionary as the iPhone from a gadget-lover's perspective. After all, the iPhone likely charted the course to where the touchy fun-pad is landing. We had no idea what the iPhone was going to physically look like, we probably won't be surprised at all by the physical appearance of the touchy fun-pad.
What I expect to be wowed by is (in descending order): the home screen experience, the input gestures and contextual wizardry (palm detection, etc) therein, the productivity apps focus, and the mechanism by which normal iPhone OS applications can run.
Shogmaster
Sloppy seconds
Better. :lolTobor said:
Shogmaster
Sloppy seconds
Understandable with the shitty connection... /VerizonJuice said:
Shogmaster said:
Yeah, it is a shitty connection. However, I don't like calls to begin with, and the data network is always perfect for me, so I don't care a great deal.
In fact, when I first bought an iPhone a couple years ago, I realized that the number of calls I was making plummeted, simply because I could either find or communicate whatever I needed to online, saving me the call. 800-GOOG-411 seems like a distant quaint idea at this point.
krypt0nian
Banned
Cool. Look how that turned out. Apple stock to fucking skyrocket! :lolTimbuktu said:
Ninja Scooter
Member
Karma said:
It might be now, but it is a potentially growing market, which is why Apple is so good at what they do, they seem to be able to shift trends and predict what people are going to want.
Liu Kang Baking A Pie
Member
Isn't the handheld gaming market between Sony and Nintendo bigger than the regular console market by now?
Ninja Scooter
Member
Liu Kang Baking A Pie said:
Probably. Its just kind of obvious. More and more you see kids using their phones to check myspace/facebook or listen to music. People using them as their primary email device. You don't have to be a genius to see that there is something there that this tablet could potentially tap into. Someone else said it better further up in this thread. Before the iPod people didn't know they wanted 2000 songs in their pockets. Before the iPhone everyone thought smartphones were only for business men. The people thinking of reasons to be skeptical of this device sound like dinosaurs.
SuperPac
Member
Juice said:
The $64,000 question(s) in my mind is all about how Apple's positioning this device, which'll be indicated by how powerful the initial "killer" apps they have for it will be. And I don't mean processing-intensive I mean function-intensive. Are they doing a tablet version of iWork, is text entry easy/convenient, can it really be used for note-taking (IMO the iPhone can't be), does it have a stylus for when I need to draw something on it. If there are no advancements in that area, then what about consuming content on it -- books, magazines, newspapers, web -- will it all be integrated into one viewer app? How much will subscriptions to that content be? Is buying content as easy as it is now on the iTunes Store? Lastly, what about 3G data -- how important is connectivity for this device? Now that I've got an iPhone with always-on data, I dunno that I could step back to an iPod Touch type deal with only wifi.
If Jobs thinks this is the most important thing he's ever done...that's a big statement (if true). And that only raises my expectations at a time when I'm trying to keep them in check.
Something that would be great is if it interacts really well with your home network.
Let's put it this way:
Screen sharing with your mac.
That way it can have all of it's own fancy UI and what not, but ALSO have full 'mac OS X'.
There's a reason for you to have it and a computer as well right there.
Imagine accessing your desktop environment by touch, via an app. It can be it's own thing as well as that.
If you want to take it all the way - Back to my Mac. Maybe access your stuff on a new UI.
Anyway, I like my laptop for viewing on my lap. it's a good distance to do stuff. I also use my iPhone extensively - huddled in bed, camped out on the couch - it's great.
Let's put it this way:
Screen sharing with your mac.
That way it can have all of it's own fancy UI and what not, but ALSO have full 'mac OS X'.
There's a reason for you to have it and a computer as well right there.
Imagine accessing your desktop environment by touch, via an app. It can be it's own thing as well as that.
If you want to take it all the way - Back to my Mac. Maybe access your stuff on a new UI.
Anyway, I like my laptop for viewing on my lap. it's a good distance to do stuff. I also use my iPhone extensively - huddled in bed, camped out on the couch - it's great.
- Status