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Could iPhone spawn iThin?


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Could iPhone spawn iThin?
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jcoley2
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Darien CT
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2007-07-19, 07:02

(First, if this has been speculated some where else, I apologize.)

I have been using the iPhone since the second day it came out. Like many, I was a skeptic of the non-physical keyboard but have come to really like it. I have also been a big proponent of a very thin and light Notebook computer.

I was thinking last night, could Apple produce, say, a 10-13" flat tablet screen with no keyboard and make a very thin MacBook Pro (ala iThin)? You could really see the possibilities:

1. Very thin: maybe 1/2" thick
2. 16:9 layout
3. Easily 80 GB (same as current video iPod)
4. Light, maybe 1-1.5 lbs
5. Perhaps add a pointer pen like they do for Microsoft's Tablet OS

This could be the "Silver Bullet" for travelers like me. Not sure on the battery issue since I am no engineer.

I was flipping a channel on the TV last night and saw an old Star Trek episode and got to thinking the future could be here very soon.

Now that I got a job, I can buy more Apple products!
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rasmits
rams it
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Seattle
 
2007-07-19, 07:12

I don't think Apple will ever make a tablet.

Subnotebook perhaps (and hopefully), but not a tablet.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2007-07-19, 07:17

10"-13" is too big. 7"-9" would be just about right.

I know we all like to hate on UMPCs here, but I also have heard a lot of people here talking about how much they wanted what was essentially an Apple UMPC (although they never called it that). They may be a niche market, but I still think UMPCs have a brighter future than full-sized tablets (although, ideally, they'd both have keyboards, as well).

I would love a "PaperMac" or whatever. (That's my punny name for it because it's paperback-sized, paper-thin, and you can write on it.) 7 inches, $799, runs Mac OS X but has an optional iPhone-like interface too. (OMG, it's like the rebirth of At Ease!) It'd be in between the iPhone and the MacBook in specs, screen size, and price.

I think if Apple introduced the "PaperMac," and maybe a 15" MacBook, they would have a virtually gapless portable line - stretching all the way from the iPod shuffle to the 17" MacBook Pro with no major gaps in between. (Obviously, people would still want an 11" MacBook mini, and a 13" MacBook Pro, and stuff like that.)

I think it's only appropriate that Apple's portable line grows some as they become an increasingly notebook-focused. Unfortunately, I think the iPhone is the closest to an Apple tablet/UMPC that we'll get. And, really, with phones as powerful as the iPhone, the need for UMPCs might be, well, shrinking.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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rasmits
rams it
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Seattle
 
2007-07-19, 07:44

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboman View Post
Unfortunately, I think the iPhone is the closest to an Apple tablet/UMPC that we'll get. And, really, with phones as powerful as the iPhone, the need for UMPCs might be, well, shrinking.
Amidst all the things Apple has done these past few years that no one ever saw coming, I'm fairly confident that a Tablet/UMPC will never happen.

What exactly would you use a UMPC for, really? When it comes to handheld computing, the iPhone is about as large as anything should get. Any bigger and you're stepping into the realm of: "Why the hell aren't I just carrying a much more useful laptop?"

It's possible that the iPhone will morph more into a Mac-like device, beginning with 3rd party software development. At that point a UMPC or Tablet would be redundant.

You had me at asl
.......
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zsummers
Avast!
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New York?
 
2007-07-19, 08:20

I want the rumored "extremely thin" MBP. But I think the lack of physical keys on a laptop is a far different thing than a lack on a phone. I think many of the comments here are about to say as much.

"How could you falter / when you're the Rock of Gibralter? / I had to get off the boat so I could walk on water. / This ain't no tall order. / This is nothing to me. / Difficult takes a day. / Impossible takes a week."
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joveblue
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne
 
2007-07-19, 09:01

Uber-thin subnotebook FTW! I'm almost convinced we will see this from Apple in the near future.
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almost2mac
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
 
2007-07-19, 16:44

I could see this, though as a monitor rather than a laptop - make a 17" widescreen that is touchable as a cinema display. Put it in 3/4 glass that juts up from a base with all the ports. Leave an inch of clear glass around it...I'd put that on my coffeetable.
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