An Insider On the Apple Tablet

http://gizmodo.com/5335942/an-insider-on-the-apple-tablet

by iag • 17 years ago

29 30 17 years ago

gizmodo.com

Come on, you have to admit it. This article has all of us gizmo fanboys drooling.

ASK HN: How many of you guys would shell out $800 for this thing? Honestly. I'm thinking about buying it for my dad.

tlrobinson• 17 years ago

$700-900. Hmph. Might as well buy a MacBook.

iag3• 17 years ago

iPhones are 10 times more expensive than other cellphones out there, but they're still selling like hot cakes wouldn't you say?

It's about the perceived value. I literally want a bigger version of my iPhone so I can do work on the fly. $700-900 is a steep price, but I am really considering it.

ajross• 17 years ago

Why a bigger iPhone and not a smaller macbook? Unless your job is almost 100% read-bound (or sketching, I guess) I can't see this being a good replacement for "doing work"...

sahaj• 17 years ago

iphones are not 10x more expensive than any other competitor. compared to the pre, g1, blackberry storm, HTC touch series, sony experia, the iphone is actually the cheaper alternative.

geuis• 17 years ago

This is a case where I believe there is a tablet coming out, but this is simply another unsubstantiated claim about a conversation with some dude who's playing a dude who's playing another dude. Unless someone has an actual freaking picture of one of the damn things, its all bunk and blog bait.

What I would really be interested in seeing are the log leaks that directly revealed the first versions of the iPhone. I forget which site did it, but essentially some smart admin looked through their web server logs and saw a handful of user agents that matched up to the then unreleased mobile Safari. Or maybe this was for the unibody Macbooks, I forget.

siculars• 17 years ago

it was the iphone safari useragent that was detected in the wild before the release. here is a link, dunno if it was the first sighting though...

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/iphone-user-agent/

jacquesm• 17 years ago

http://www.blogcdn.com/de.engadget.com/media/2009/08/2066969...

that might be 'shopped' ...

the image at the bottom of the article looks realistic though. Hard to tell these days.

AndrewO• 17 years ago

My guess is it's going to be called the Newton ][.

mrtron• 17 years ago

Trinity....named after Newton's notebook?

aichcon• 17 years ago

The iPad would be interesting ...

Timothee• 17 years ago

I think that 'iPad', while interesting, wouldn't work because it's so close to iPod that many accents would make them sound too similar.

gojomo2• 17 years ago

The big question for me is whether it can mix simulateous reading and typing, as well as a traditional hinged laptop does (with one surface for typing and one for viewing).

Otherwise, it might prove awkward as a remote-getting-stuff-done unit -- in libraries, cafes, airplane seats, etc.: if flat for typing, it's hard to read; if angled for viewing, it's hard to type.

A symmetrical hinged dual touch display, as in the next-gen OLPC2 prototypes, might do the trick. (Could lens/optical tricks make the seam nearly invisible when flat? I wouldn't put it past Apple.)

Here's the OLPC 2.0 dual-touchscreen concept:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/27/olpc-xo-2-to-include-mult...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/olpc-2-0-dual-touchscreen...

andreyf• 17 years ago

I can't imagine a hinged dual display being "sexy" enough Apple. If you absolutely need a keyboard, get a bluetooth one.

gojomo2• 17 years ago

Trick optics or a flexible display might make it sexy enough. "Look, there's no seam!"

But also running with your idea -- what if the unit contains an ultra-thin detachable wireless keyboard, achieving surface-angle diversity even better than a hinge?

iag3• 17 years ago

This is my first time posting... can somebody tell me how my submitted title got changed to something else? :)

e1ven• 17 years ago

Hacker News has editors, mostly YC alumni, who patrol the site to delete irrelevant articles, and try to ensure that titles are clear.

iag3• 17 years ago

Ok... I'll refrain from "Apple WIN" titles from now on. :) Thanks!

jdoliner• 17 years ago

Yeah let's hear some guesses as to what the name is. My guess is The Leibniz.

alaskamiller• 17 years ago

I find it interesting that someone, assumably high up enough in the pecking order, is sourcing information like this. I've always been interested in the psychology of it. What's the motivation? The cheap thrill to see your handy work through a third party on a popular website? Cashing in on a rise in stock (+3 today)? Or maybe it's false information being planted and this is all sanctioned by marketing?

TrevorJ• 17 years ago

In a company like Apple which has a careful crafted brand image and huge marketing clout, I the leak might not be unintentional.

The thing is, speculation will happen, so it makes sense to manage it by controlling the most credible speculation (thereby ruling out the more wildly speculative stuff that could reflect negatively).

If it is released as a leak then Apple has no obligation to live into it if things change, but they get to co-opt the chatter so it's the best of both worlds.

-edit- grammar.

TomOfTTB• 17 years ago

That's always been one of the most ironic things about Apple. They go after leaks without mercy but they clearly leak information themselves when it suits them.

The best example of this I can remember is the leak that Apple would be using Intel processors. Word got leaked the Friday before Jobs' Monday keynote and it almost certainly came from Apple. It's a very basic PR strategy: leak shocking news up front so people get the shock and anger out of their system and are then somewhat open minded when you make the announcement.

nudded• 17 years ago

John Gruber says it's going to be 2010 and gizmodo is wrong claiming it will be released soon (http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/08/13/insider-eh)

Devilboy• 17 years ago

Gizmodo is just guesstimating Christmas 2009 so Jan/Feb 2010 could still be correct

pmorici2• 17 years ago

I'm holding out for the 50" iPhone that can play Hulu.

pmorici2• 17 years ago

I'm serious, a TV with an integrated web browser so you can watch Internet TV on a TV w/o a hassle.

TweedHeads• 17 years ago

"Yes...[iPad]."

An Insider On the Apple Tablet

Related Stories