Comments on: Snow Leopard features hint at Apple tablet

Some of the upgrades to Mac OS X show that Apple could be headed toward software that would translate well to a larger touchscreen device.

[ballmerisanape]

The "tablet" is in the trackpad. Every Macbook-Macbook Pro comes with a multitouch trackpad.

[Kikarok]

The physical trackpad itself is actually no different from that of any laptop, as they all use the same capacitive touch surface for trackpads; OS X just has drivers in place which allow multiple touches to be detected and utilized.

[huddie klein]

I don't think the main reason behind snowleopard is a yet-to-be-anounced tablet.

What Apple is doing is this: making their OS so small and so light that they can run it on a wide array of (mobile and desktop) devices. One codebase, that's what Snowleopard is about.

[NewEnglander]

So Apple makes "Me too" products. But it does so better than just about anyone else.

[kelmon]

I'm sorry but I think you are looking for things that just aren't there. Yes, I'd agree that such features could make a tablet Mac easier to use but that doesn't mean that a tablet Mac exists or will exist. Besides, given that Inkwell has existed in the Mac OS since 10.2 (so, about 6+ years ago now) and a tablet Mac hasn't appeared yet there is no timeline implied by these features.

Personally, I still think a tablet Mac running the desktop OS and desktop applications is a rubbish idea, just as it has been with Windows. Desktop applications do not work well on a tablet, not least because it is much easier to input data using a keyboard and therefore you might as well just use a notebook. The only way that a tablet Mac is successful is if it runs its own OS (probably based on the Mac OS X, just like the iPhone) and it has its own applications that are written for a tablet environment. Even then it has to answer the question: why use a tablet to do this instead of a notebook?

ENOUGH WITH THE APPLE TABLET!!!! No more hints or rumors. Until there is legitimate proof or specs...can we please stop speculating? It will come out when it comes out.

[rjh60]

I can see a new "tablet device" for use by college students. If it has excellent handwriting recognition I can se it used as a device for classroom notes, especially if it has the ability to organize and sort the notes by whatever criteria the user wants, and it can also be used to download textbooks, watch online lectures, plus games, an mp3 player, and a picture viewer.

[brettcamp]

i personally think that the whole "touch" phase technology is going through is a little overboard. i mean whats wrong with buttons????

[Denebola42]

Yes, a tablet would be a nitch market but not sure if anyone else mentioned this but the modbook, I think it is called that, is a modified Macbook with GPS and touchscreen etc. Well, I can tell you who would make use of this in the field. People who work indoors or especially outdoors that don't option to sit down while writing on a computer. There are people like Geologists, surveyors, archaeologists, etc. Indoors, I suppose people doing inventory, or even going from station to station, machine to machine writing down science notes or whatever, or engineering stuff where you need something a bit more powerful than a PDA. Now, for outdoors you'd have to water proof it a bit although I remember a company that would dip your phone or pda or whatever in their "resin" plastic stuff so even if it fell in water it was ok...you could have that done. But, yeah, pretty impossible to type on a regular keyboard while standing up...and quite slow and ineffecient. The average person sits down when using their internet, computer whatever...so keyboard is what we use and have learned to use fast. However, depending on what I end up doing...or as a second computer I would love a tablet Apple computer. You could use it for hiking, certain jobs like I would not mind at all doing Geology or something to that effect instead of IT. I love the outdoors. Even if I did Telecom stuff outside...that would come in quite handy. The uses are only limited by your imagination truthfully. I mean, look at people who do all kinds of crazy/wonderful stuff with electronics and have blogs and post links on websites. Just because you or I would not benefit from it does not mean many others would not, or at least enough others to warrant making it at all. Not every machine, or piece of electronics is mainstream that is useful. There is stuff made in industries that you and I have never heard or nor will ever need, but are very necessary. I hope this does not sound like a put down. I'm used to just writing down facts...too much school report writing and reading articles, and science books...though lately I have been slacking on that while job hunting.

[ejlenny]

Speaking to a computer will be about as awkward as speaking to someone on your phone via a wireless earpiece. While I agree most people would want to type a private email, for example, many people are already standing in checkout lines having "private" conversations into wireless headphones. We are definitely in a paradigm shift.

[kockgunner]

It was pretty obvious that they are making the OS touch-friendly with the addition of dock expose, where you could hold a dock icon to activate it instead of pressing a keyboard shortcut. Also, Finder has a slider to resize icons now which usually took a few clicks unless you have a multi-touch trackpad. The Chinese input is also a giveaway as are the playable thumbnails in Finder.

[aixelsid]

I don't think Apple will make a tablet. Whatever innovation (i.e. multitouch) they will come up with, they will implement it in the trackpad (which they've already done)