Pros and cons of a touch-screen Mac tablet
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster thinks that Apple might release a tablet next year.
"Between indications from our component contacts in Asia, recent patents relating to multitouch sensitivity for more complex computing devices, comments from Tim Cook on the April 22 conference call, and Apple's acquisition of P.A. Semi along with other recent chip-related hires, it is increasingly clear that Apple is investing more in its mobile-computing franchise," Munster wrote to clients.
Munster believes that the tablet will feature a touch-screen display measuring between 7 inches and 10 inches. The tablet would have software resembling the iPhone's operating system.
Apple has remained tight-lipped, as usual, about work on such a product. But if the company offers a tablet, would its touch screen be a hindrance? It's too early to tell, naturally, but here are my initial thoughts.
Some pros
Assuming that the tablet would function very similarly to the iPhone, I think that there are a few upsides to owning such a device.
The tablet's touch screen would provide an intuitive experience. I'd be able to swipe my finger across the screen to flip through pictures. The pinch feature would allow me to zoom in and out whenever I need to get a better view. And moving around the screen would take just a few movements of my finger. It would easily best a mouse.
Apple would probably ditch the keyboard and mouse, at least for the device's primary functionality. It would have a relatively small footprint. If you wanted to tote the tablet around or simply save some room on your desk, that'd theoretically be no problem.
The tablet's touch screen would also likely reduce the time it takes to perform basic tasks like opening a new program. With a mouse, you need to take control of the pointer, drag it to an icon, and then click on that icon to open an application. A touch screen, by contrast, requires you only to move your finger to the icon and tap it to open the program.
Some cons
While a touch screen offers some obvious benefits, it isn't necessarily ideal.
Since fingers typically get oily, smudging would be a major concern with an Apple tablet. As with the iPhone, keeping the device's screen smudge-free would be practically impossible. On the iPhone, it's not such a big problem, since the display is relatively small, and you typically won't spend extended amounts of time working on it. But having to constantly rub down a display of 7 to 10 inches with a soft cloth to get work done would get annoying quickly.
The lack of a keyboard, in addition, would seemingly make a tablet practically impossible to use at a desk, and it wouldn't be as easy to hold as an iPhone.
Time will tell how Apple would address those issues--perhaps an external keyboard for the desktop, such as the one that came with the Apple Newton, would do the trick.
Product designers have been grappling with this touch-screen dilemma for years. They've found that arms feel sore and cramped--hence the term "gorilla arm"--after prolonged use of a touch-screen device that users hold up to perform basic movements.
If Apple installs the iPhone OS on the tablet, we can safely assume that the device will sport a virtual keyboard. Although I could deal with typing difficulties on the iPhone, since it doesn't require much typing to begin with, having that kind of inconsistency would be unacceptable on a tablet. It would turn the device into an expensive iPod Touch.
The bottom line
Determining the viability of a Mac tablet isn't so easy; time will tell whether one is even released. There would undoubtedly be some benefits to having a touch screen. But there would also be some pitfalls that would need to be dealt with before it became a must-have product.
So I'll leave it to you. Would a touch screen work on a new computer from Apple? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
I do agree, though, that this wouldn't benefit Apple in the long run - it is a niche market and is fine for those like Sony or Amazon, but Apple needs to come out with something big to turn users on their heads. A tablet seems viable, and I think would work if they marketed it towards their original target audience - media-centric professionals. Heavy Photoshop users and graphic/web design folks who don't want to use a Wacom tablet AND a Mac could use an all-in-one device to make their lives easier. Another idea is that it would come with some sort of built-in stand so one could sit it on a desk and use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (like Apple's Bluetooth keyboard and Mighty Mouse) to type out emails or whatnot. This would help Apple push more peripherals. Throw in a lack of a CD drive and only one USB port (a la the MacBook Air) and they could sell more hubs and external CD drives.
It's all speculation at this point, but I'm excited to see what Apple has to offer.
Or maybe, just maybe, they're going to do something completely different that will shock everyone instead of lining up with everyone and their ideas"
You are probably right.
I'm guessing that if it's not a touch-tablet Mac then it may be part of that new 3D interface system. I can't wait to see how that stuff turns out.
It will open another platform to the ap store applications but not to major software vendors for the Mac (because if you could use those aps, some users would find a way to use it instead of a MacBook.
Most importantly, it would replace the iPod touch with a more expensive product, preserving Apple's success at maintaining high profit margins.
harlan
Well......
--It's a "problem" whose sales are increasing rapidly in a very down economy...
--It's a "solution" to those of us who want a really pocketable, really real internet device without paying $100/month for embarrassingly bad cell phone coverage, particularly in the nation's largest cities. (Or who don't want our current activity shut down by an incoming call on our Verizon phones)
--and with a mic and Skype, it's a free (or nearly free) phone. Plus the rumor mills are rife with talk of giving it a camera and other improvements (like using the room for the phone electronics to stay doubled up on the iPhone's memory, e.g., a a 64 GB Touch with still zoom and video cam? What's not to like?
Whatever else Apple has up its sleeve (and this is a very complicated set of decisions for Apple), it is NOT replacing the iPod Touch.......
Mount it in my kitchen and use it for all my recipes, greasy fingers & all...
Oh. And could I route my iPhone calls there, too? Speaker phone like the Verizon hub?
Sweet...
Handwriting recognition is not mentioned above, but apparently Apple has been making some progress in this area. Pen-based computing as well as voice recognition are other options as well, but it is unlikely that Apple would banish the virtual, screen-based keyboard for other input methods. More likely, you might have a choice of several.
Apple will likely create a third OS tier, something designed for the device category between iPhone/iPod touch and their computers. This phantom tablet would be a candidate for this new OS as would AppleTV. My thought is that this OS will be more like the iPhone OS rather than the computer OS.
It is unlikely that Apple will target this device as a computer replacement. Netbook usage has shown that people don't like working on that class device for very long for things like office documents. Yes, there will be some basic editing tools (iWork, etc.), but don't expect to spend 8 hours a day in front of this thing working.
The App Store and iTunes Store will be the drivers for this new device, as will streaming video. It would make sense for Apple to rewrite Front Row as an extensible portal, with the App Store providing access to new services (Hulu, etc.), much like some of the HT software (Boxee, etc.) as well as content from your home computer(s).
Not from Apple, but it's a $300 tablet computer that's coming much sooner. Has an optional keyboard:
http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/
- by IgnatiusTheKing May 22, 2009 9:36 AM PDT
- A Mac tablet would almost certainly have bluetooth and would be able to use the current Apple keyboards and mice.
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