Rampant Speculation about the Apple Tablet

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Sinecure Industries, Jan 18, 2010.

  1. Sinecure Industries

    Sinecure Industries Well-Known Member

    So the co-owner of Sinecure Industries actually got off his duff (okay, he does all the programming, he's kind of busy) and wrote down all his thoughts on what to expect from the Apple Tablet, or iSlate or whatever the heck they're calling it.

    What do you guys think? Sound like he's going down the right path? Regardless, are you guys planning to make things for the Tablet as well or is it going to mainly be a novelty?

    I honestly have no idea (I was never really into Apple before I started Sinecure Industries with him, but it's growing on me, he's a lifelong devotee), but here's a link to the blog post anyway: http://bit.ly/8ksPcE
     
  2. Syndicated Puzzles

    Syndicated Puzzles Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the tip! I just bought ilifetouch.com I hope your name prediction is correct.$$
     
  3. Sinecure Industries

    Sinecure Industries Well-Known Member

    Cyber-squatting will always be the least amount of work for the most profit, props to you :D
     
  4. bravetarget

    bravetarget Well-Known Member

    Sep 14, 2009
    330
    0
    0
    With Illusion Labs taking their apps to a higher level, I think they may have an inside man. One thing to consider though, is whatever this product is, it will not be a mobile device. It will be portable, sure, but I currently own a Tablet PC and would never bother to fill it with $0.99 apps like I would my cell phone.

    This doesn't mean I'm going to disregard development on the platform, considering all the supposed similarities between iPhone OS, but I don't imagine Apple being able to duplicate the success for indie devs.
     
  5. Flickitty

    Flickitty Well-Known Member

    Oct 14, 2009
    761
    1
    0
    iPhone Dev
    I own a Tablet PC as well, or did, until it fell and the screen shattered. The tablet portion of my PC was a workhorse, mainly used for design, sketching and illustration. This is a stark contrast to my iPhone, which uses the touch screen mainly for entertainment (games).

    The Apple Tablet needs to be fully functional as a replacement to the MacBook Pro (as a Graphics/Design tool). This includes full functionality with Adobe products and other design tools, multitasking and capable of accepting peripherals (mouse, keyboard).

    Overall, it needs to be functional and useful. I hope it isn't a 'bigger version' of the iPhone.

    If it is capable of meeting these basic needs- I no longer have a need for a Tablet PC.
     
  6. EssentialParadox

    EssentialParadox Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2009
    602
    0
    0
    UK / Toronto
    #6 EssentialParadox, Jan 18, 2010
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2010
    I know I'm quite alone with my own thoughts on such a device right now, but I believe it could be huge, even bigger than the iPhone, and it could change the computer industry as we currently know it.

    When I imagine a large touchscreen iPhone/Mac hybrid, it immediately makes me think of sitting on my couch browsing the web on a nicely sized screen, scrolling, switching tabs, and opening links with my fingers and how delightfully comfortable that would be. But further from that I also think about a whole plethora of apps: video editing, photo editing, graphics animation, 3D design, music software, etc... and how much more versatile they would become if you could use your fingers to control them. Anything from Apple's iLife suite, or any of their professional software could all translate incredibly to touchscreen tablet format. In fact, when I think about the majority of software, I realize how rarely we actually use the keyboard. I've spent about 30 hours in Final Cut Studio over the weekend and I never needed to type a thing. But even when we do need to do some serious word processing or coding — applications that do require keyboards — how about simply taking the tablet over to your table, sitting it in a little dock stand and then using one of the slim apple keyboards over bluetooth?

    People talk about if it's going to be a kindle, or a large iphone, or a tablet Mac…… I think i'll be none of those things… yet it'll be all of them, and more. I really believe it could be huge, and potentially replace the idea of desktops and laptop computers, if done right… and that's the key phrase: if done right. But I think if anyone could do it, Apple could.
     
  7. MidianGTX

    MidianGTX Well-Known Member

    Jun 16, 2009
    3,738
    10
    38
    Graphic design is the main functionality I want out of the tablet, being able to take your ideas around with you and sketch things out quickly without the extra fussiness of having a laptop. Games would definitely be neat, and I hope we do see stuff from guys like the Illusion Labs team, but I don't think anyone is expecting it to reach the level the iPhone has as far as apps go. Apple are probably dead against it, people might start using their iPhones as a phone again and reserving their fun for the tablet.

    Oh yes, and as EssentialParadox says... excellent web support, obviously.
     
  8. EssentialParadox thinks so! :)

     
  9. Sinecure Industries

    Sinecure Industries Well-Known Member

    Good call on that
     
  10. I'm definitely interested in developing for it whatever the heck it turns out to be!

    I will be on the website purchasing one the minute it is available.

    Just call me "fanboi"!

    Now I just have to think of the killer app or game for a piece of hardware with unknown specifications, capabilities and APIs!

    How about Charmed with a grid of like 30x30 Charms! Ya, that's the ticket!
    (just kidding! :))
     
  11. FancyFactory

    FancyFactory Well-Known Member

    Sep 9, 2009
    247
    0
    0
    software development
    Germany
    I know this sounds like a fanboy, but this device is a must-buy for me. Relaxed playing and surfing while laying in bed or as full size navigation in car...sounds great to me. Beside of that I will upgrade my game(s) to the specifications of this device if Apple will connect the ApStore to it. I wished there were some confirmed specifications so I could start upgrading...
     
  12. I love a bit of speculation. Interesting post, but I disagree. I think concerns of battery life, portability and just all round physical usability will dictate a very thin device with a low power chip. Plus Apple owns an ARM manufacturer now. So I think that basically means its going to be very similar to the ipod/iphone in operating system and probably not a massive step up in capability.

    I'm sure they won't be pushing it like a big iphone, and apps won't be compatible with it by default, but at a hardware/OS level thats what it will be. I think the rumours about Apple pushing this for media reading will be true, and more than that all the noise mainstream news has been making about paid content will be about this device. Many newspapers and magazines will launch with the device and its reader will be very slick indeed. I won't be focused on book reading like the kindle at all. People have been downplaying how big this market is, I think they are wrong. Mostly people on the internet just read stuff, but noone knows how to make money off content. This device will try, and quite possibly succeed.

    Video editing and all sorts of other apps are possible, but for the serious users I don't know it'll have enough grunt. It'll definitely be a good games machine.
     
  13. EssentialParadox

    EssentialParadox Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2009
    602
    0
    0
    UK / Toronto
    Yeah, I have to agree on people not having appropriate expectations for the importance of it as a magazine / book reader.

    If Toucharcade could release a weekly/monthly digital magazine, looking like a professional magazine in a store, but without the large printing costs, not only could it increase revenue for the publisher, but full-page magazine style ads would be incredibly attractive to advertisers too. It's well known that people hate web ads, yet people tolerate magazine ads, you could even go as far as to say they enjoy looking at them; I often find myself stopping to gaze at certain full-page ads in magazines when they're interesting/beautiful enough.

    …But it's not just magazines and advertisers who have the potential to benefit from it. Most people don't realize that most popular magazines don't make money from readers purchasing copies. The $5 you spend on a magazine is split between the store selling the magazine, the distributor shipping out all the magazines, and the factory printing the magazines. The actual publisher makes the money off of the ads inside the magazine. So when you remove the store, the distributor, and the printing factory, you leave the potential for all these magazines and newspapers that are destined to hit iTunes to be…… completely free of charge. It's essentially podcasts in print form. Let's wait and see shall we! :)
     
  14. Actually you're probably right about free content EssentialParadox. I guess it will somewhat mirror the App Store with free and paid content, some making lots of money from adds, some from sales. It'll definitely build on the podcasts model of distribution.

    The real question is what kind of net access it has. I think it might be solely wifi, maybe with iphone tethering. It may not even have a camera. People will freak at the low specs, but they'll sell it with the image of sitting at the coffee reading the morning paper with this cool futuristic device.
     
  15. Sinecure Industries

    Sinecure Industries Well-Known Member

    I would definitely pay to be in some of those magazines, especially if we could make an awesome full page ad that was just... cool. Bonus points if the ad was clickable!
     
  16. EssentialParadox

    EssentialParadox Well-Known Member

    Sep 21, 2009
    602
    0
    0
    UK / Toronto
    Could you imagine having a beautiful full page ad, but then a 'preview' button on the ad that the user can click causing the ad to fade into a video trailer? Or even a demo!


    greendestiny, I assume Apple to release a WiFi version and a 3G+WiFi version. It's basically what they do with the iPhone & iPod touch.
     
  17. Sinecure Industries

    Sinecure Industries Well-Known Member

    That would be epic. Now if that's not possible I'm going to be so disappointed :(
     
  18. Kyle Poole

    Kyle Poole Well-Known Member

    Apr 28, 2009
    808
    0
    0
    I enjoyed reading the blog post, and I agree that the currently rumored names like iSlate, iPad, etc are all terrible.

    I'll go on the record here with my prediction that it will be the Mac Touch, adding to the Mac mini and MacBook line. It is basically the top half of a MacBook, without the bottom keyboard, but with a touch screen. Full OSX with multitouch support, and a new iLife with touch features.

    It will have a separate App Store, to download apps taking advantage of the touch screen. Building existing iPhone apps for the Touch is easy with an updated Xcode, just set the target to the Mac Touch, recompile and submit (assuming your code adjusts to the current screen resolution). But it will also natively support full OSX apps (like using a touch pad as a mouse on your desktop).

    MY REASONING: it has to compete with the current line of cheap netbooks, as well as the slew of Android tablets announced. Windows 7 also has tablet support. If Apple comes out with an "oversized iPod Touch" that costs $600-$800, nobody will be impressed. But with all the current rumors, when they announce a full OSX tablet, everyone will start drooling.
     
  19. HappyFuntime

    HappyFuntime Active Member

    Agreed. Mac Touch seems like a pretty good name to me. I also agree that it seems smart for Apple to include a more fully-featured version of OSX, able to run existing desktop software as well as apps designed specifically for iPhones or tablets. That would definitely add to the wow-factor, at least for me, but whether that's feasible or even prudent remains to be seen I think.

    The whole idea of publishing magazines in a digital/tablet/podcast format is really the most interesting part for me though. I just bought a National Geographic in the mini mart down the street for six bucks plus tax, if i could have just downloaded it onto my tablet for a couple bucks the switch would be a no-brainer, plus having a search or favorites feature added to the mix, it could take publishing to a whole new level.

    Besides, having a Star Trek computer IRL has a certain geek appeal anyways :D
     
  20. I'd place money on you guys being wrong with respect to the tablet running a full version of OSX. The iPod/iPhone OS has just been too good for them. I think they want to take this nondesktop metaphor as far as they can. I'm hoping there will be improvements with multitasking and some sort of extension to the itunes library for generic documents/data - so that multiple applications can work on the same data.
     

Share This Page