Prediction: the Apple Tablet will flop

Dec-26-09, 3:00 am by Hanford
File under: tech, Apple

There's been a lot of rumors going around about the fabled Apple Tablet. For the longest time I've been a skeptic of it ever appearing, but now the rumors are just too loud and too frequent to ignore.

I'm skeptical of the Apple Tablet taking off. And after the jump I'll list my reasons why.

Size

According to the rumors it's not going to fit in a pocket. So everywhere this tablet is going to be, a laptop might as well be there instead. If you're going to lug something around, why not a full fledged laptop?

This is why the iPhone works: The iphone is only amazing because it fits in my pocket. I only use my iPhone's smartphone features when I don't have my computer nearby (and even then, I often give up using my iphone due to just how slow it is) If my computer is with me, I'm always using it instead of my phone.

No keyboard

This is a big deal. I've owned two tablet PCs, mainly for art, and I love them. But I love them for drawing and doing pen-like things with them. And even then, I find myself dying to have keyboard all the time. For typing. For keyboard shortcuts. For simple file management. You may argue that an on-screen keyboard could fix that. But trust me -- from someone who has used drawing tablets for over a decade and owned two tablet PCs: Try using Photoshop with only an on-screen keyboard. It sucks.

Summary

Combine those two points above and you have the anti-synergy (entropy?) of my flop theory:
People will always prefer using they keyboard laptops and computers when they can. And due to the tablet's size, it's rarely going to be anywhere where your laptop's not, because if you're going to choose to carry something that doesn't fit in your pocket, why not grab the one with the keyboard?

I'd love to see Apple prove me wrong. Apple seems like the kind of company who can create markets where none existed before, simply due to their image and marketing. I understand the concepts of Apple's previous revolutions: iPod's "1000 songs in your pocket" and the iPhone's "internet in your pocket", but I don't see what the tablet fulfills.

Note: There are a lot of conflicting rumors, But for the purposes of this post I'm assuming the tablet has no real keyboard, and is too big to fit in your pocket. Perhaps the size of a kindle, or bigger. If the tablet turns out to not fit this description, all bets are off.

Oh, and by flop, I mean adoption levels like Apple TV or the Macbook Air.

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Brian Williams wrote: Feb-14-10, 5:09 am

urghghg yes as i thought proof reading is essential, sorry.

p.s. what captcha system is this? is it bespoke? (BetaComment)

Brian Williams wrote: Feb-14-10, 5:06 am

I think you are missing the point.

The ipad isn't for situations where you would use a laptop, that's what a laptop is for.

Its not for "work" in current sense or intensive application use for most of the reasons you said. It isnt a device trying to be better at those kind of things because currently a laptop/pc is more than adequate.

it is for people that want to have a refined experience doing general things like browsing the net, playing games, reading pdfs and sending emails.

It's marketed at people who wanted a device that is more portable than a laptop and does all the genera purpose things that someone would need or want to do whilst they are out and about or simply relaxing.

The thing is, there is a market. I know, I find a laptop too large to relax with on the sofa i also know that a iphone is too small...so i default to the laptop I know that this device would be a great way to read ebooks and a great way to keep organised or even if i had a business a great way to take orders. It is at the end of it a device, wait to see what people will do with it.

If it was something that i did often and i had a disposable income i would contemplate buying one but as a student with a very strict income its not even a choice.

sorry if this makes no sense i edited it so much it lost continuity.

Peace

Brian (BetaComment)

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