Everywhere in my newsfeeds, I hear rumors of an upcoming Apple Tablet, which will (supposedly) be announced in a few hours (2am HKT =.=). But why would anyone want a tablet?
I think the table will appeal to two primary markets: graphic designers and e-book readers.
1983 Apple Tablet prototype (Bashful)
Back in the day when my dad was a freelance graphic designer, he used to have a tablet pad that he used to do graphics in Photoshop and what not. I thought it was really cool to be able to do graphics on the computer in a similar fashion to how you would do it by hand. It is much easier to design and draw graphics with a pen, rather than with a mouse, which is why a tablet would appeal to those who are in the graphics design business.
The e-book reader (read: Kindle) has been gaining popularity recently. The advantage of e-books is that you can carry a large amount of books with you without having to actually “carry” the books. Also, it’s more environmentally friendly as less trees and less paper has to be used in the production of the books.
Apple Tablet (via Engadget)
If the Apple Tablet were two satisfy only these two functions, it would really be a disappointment because frankly, I don’t think that the average person would buy a tablet computer just to read ebooks. I think that what will happen in a mere 2 hours time is that Apple will unveil a tablet so revolutionary that it will redefine the portable computing industry just as it did with the iPhone and mobile phones. On the right here is a photo rumored to be the device itself (via Engadget), running an iPhone-esque Google Maps application. To actually get the masses flocking to tablet computing, Apple needs to solve a couple of problems first
1. Text input
There has to be an easy way of inputting text. Having an onscreen keyboard is simply too clunking for me. It is possible that Apple will use (or improve) its existing Ink technology, found on its Mac OS X operating system. The ModBook, a MacBook-based tablet made by Axion, uses the same technology.
The ModBook
2. Portability
Its size and weight should be comfortable to carry and write on, similar to a clipboard with a stack of paper clipped onto it. It also shouldn’t be too hot, as you wouldn’t want to burn your arm while using the thing.
3. Applications
Apps have to be able to take advantage of the tablet technology. Whether or not the tablet will run a scaled-down version of OS X or a scaled-up version of iPhone OS remains to be seen. The applications should also be as easy to use as the ones on OS X or on the iPhone.
In short, I expect Apple to release a tablet as awesome and as revolutionary as the iPhone was 2.5 years ago and once again redefine the industry and lead the innovation in mobile computing.
Name: Gabriel Gallardo