Binary L♥ve

There has been a considerable amount of interest surrounding Apple’s event on January 27th. Various sources have speculated that it’s when Apple are going to unveil their strongly rumoured tablet device. Whether the tablet will be announced or not time will tell, but I thought I’d share my thoughts on it and similarly placed mobile devices.

Not for me

Image courtesy of IvanGoneKrazy

Now if Apple were to announce a tablet device I won’t be the first in line wanting to buy one. Firstly, it will cost a significant amount of money, history dictates that (and the recession doesn’t seem to affect the sale of Apple products) and secondly I don’t have any use for a tablet device. I get by just fine with a desktop computer at home and a laptop at work. A tablet wouldn’t enable me to do anything I can’t already do.

I have discussed the fictional device with several people who all conclude that it wouldn’t be significantly different from an iPhone. A larger, less portable iPhone. It is expected that the device will have WiFi connectivity, a colour (multi-)touch screen, Safari, permanent storage, an accelerometer and some speakers. Other than utilising technology such as electronic paper I can’t see how Apple could possibly get around the rigid physical form that the device will take making it as cumbersome as a laptop to carry around albeit lighter.

What’s new?

What everybody seems to be overlooking is that tablet PC’s have been around for many years. I remember a fellow student using one to make lecture notes when I was at university, and that was four years ago – a lifetime in the technology industry. It was little more than a gimmick with poorly supported hardware (from the operating system point of view) and whilst it’s debatable that the operating system support more have improved over the years, I still think they’re gimmicks.

There are many devices that overlap into the market that tablets may occupy; one of the most recent and heavily publicised being the Amazon Kindle, an e-book reader. I have no intention on getting a Kindle; it’s an expensive gadget for which I have no need in my life. It does beg the question however, have Amazon prepared for the device Apple may be releasing and how are they going to react? Apple have a strong history of drumming up strong demand for their products and it’s more than likely that there’ll be a digital e-book distribution tie-in with iTunes, snatching the market from under Amazon’s feet.

My thoughts on the QUE proReader aren’t too dissimilar. Admittedly it looks slick, has a simple, intuitive interface with the ability to make your own notes on, but with prices starting from $649.00 it’s little more than a expensive boys’ toy – could you imagine your employer buying one for each and every employee? Whilst e-readers are another topic, don’t people remember the days of PDAs and using them to read e-books as well as managing your agenda?

What do you think? Do you think that Apple are set to revolutionise the world with their new technology, or is it set to become a flop?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.