My Prediction for the Apple iSlate
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Apple's new tablet device will be both a portable computer and a multi-touch controller for our existing desktops.
As the anticipation builds for Apple's big announcement at the end of this month, I've been thinking more about what an Apple tablet device might be like. I agree with John Gruber from Daring Fireball:
Gruber makes a very well reasoned case for what this device could be, and the ways that it will be more innovative than we've imagined. There's no doubt that Steve Jobs subscribes to the Henry Ford school of technological innovation, i.e. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'a faster horse.'"
Jobs wont give us a bigger iPod or a more portable MacBook.
Apple's new device will be a fundamentally unique computing device that is both a multi-touch location-aware and motion-sensitive personal portable extension of our desktop computing experience and a multi-touch peripheral controller that we will use to interact with our desktop computing experience.
This is what will make it such an important new step in the evolution of digital experiences as we know it. This device opens a gateway to an entirely new way of interacting with a computer. A new behavior based on the more intuitive gestural abilities of our hands and ten fingers.
For years now I've thought that eventually the keyboard and mouse would be replaced by a multi-touch interface directly layered over our existing desktop. But, what was missing for me is how that might actually work.
Four months ago, a Chicago-based designer named Clayton Miller (@claymill) made this enlightening concept video for how a multi-touch interface for our computers might work.
UPDATE: Further evidence for here in the details of Apple's multi-touch gesture patents.
The mythical Apple multi-touch tablet could be this device, and more...
What are your bets?
As the anticipation builds for Apple's big announcement at the end of this month, I've been thinking more about what an Apple tablet device might be like. I agree with John Gruber from Daring Fireball:
...there’s one question at the top of the list, the answer to which is the key to answering every other question. That question is this: If you already have an iPhone and a MacBook; why would you want this?
Gruber makes a very well reasoned case for what this device could be, and the ways that it will be more innovative than we've imagined. There's no doubt that Steve Jobs subscribes to the Henry Ford school of technological innovation, i.e. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'a faster horse.'"
Jobs wont give us a bigger iPod or a more portable MacBook.
Apple's new device will be a fundamentally unique computing device that is both a multi-touch location-aware and motion-sensitive personal portable extension of our desktop computing experience and a multi-touch peripheral controller that we will use to interact with our desktop computing experience.
This is what will make it such an important new step in the evolution of digital experiences as we know it. This device opens a gateway to an entirely new way of interacting with a computer. A new behavior based on the more intuitive gestural abilities of our hands and ten fingers.
For years now I've thought that eventually the keyboard and mouse would be replaced by a multi-touch interface directly layered over our existing desktop. But, what was missing for me is how that might actually work.
Four months ago, a Chicago-based designer named Clayton Miller (@claymill) made this enlightening concept video for how a multi-touch interface for our computers might work.
10/GUI from C. Miller on Vimeo.
UPDATE: Further evidence for here in the details of Apple's multi-touch gesture patents.
The mythical Apple multi-touch tablet could be this device, and more...
What are your bets?
4 Comments:
I like the idea... but I've yet see this kind of device interoperability by Apple. The remote app took how long to come out for the iPhone?
Like John Gruber, the question of why I would own such a device if I have an iPhone and Macbook has been dogging me. I'm afraid that the market is so niche and yet the attention is so large that Apple, no matter what amazing product they bring to us, is going to suffer a hit on the Tablet in terms of stock price and general sentiment. I can see reviews starting with "It's a great product, but..."
Hopefully I'm wrong.
Is the Tablet the entry level product for the Apple curious?
Is it a device to rule all other devices as you've hypothesized?
Is it a reading device?
Is it none of the above?
Is it a unicorn?
If Apple can make a device that interfaces with a computer somewhere between an Xbox controller and a cintiq, I would be super happy. Add the Wii-mote and you've got a power glove.
Tom Cruise wasn't far from the future when we were watching Minority Report.
-@MNPlanner
I think its going to be a combination reader, and part touchscreen, with sliding and swiping windows al la "Minority Report." Obviously the portability aspect and price will also play a role. But as you and Bud point out, there has to be something that does require the
"buy" factor beyond it being a distant cousin to the iphone and MacBook. Perhaps it has some unique social media aggregator?
I have to believe that Apple and Jobs have thought about this, and as always we'll need to have it.
From an editing/motion gfx/vfx perspective, this was one of the first thoughts that occurred to me - how much easier it would be to interact with programs using gestures similar to what I use on the iPhone. I think that a portable, personal, customizable interface to use in whatever suite I am working in is exciting.
You are spot on in this prediction, and I cannot wait to see how using a device like this will effect my workflow.
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