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Apple Tablet: unannounced but selling well
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 24th September 2009
Although the Apple Tablet is still nothing more than rumour, a fifth of survey respondents were willing to buy one sight unseen.
As reported over on AppleInsider, a survey by market research outfit RBC Capital Markets of 3,100 people showed 21 percent of those questioned were gagging to buy an Apple tablet - despite there being no product announcement from the company or even any official mockups of exactly what the product would look like.
The survey made the assumption that the Apple Tablet would be netbook-like, with a price point somewhere between $500 and $700 (£305-£426). Sadly for those 21 percent, this may not be the case: new Apple products often fetch a significant premium over their counterparts from other manufacturers, and that pricing structure feels significantly lower than standard unless the company is working on a device with the performance of a netbook - and we know how the company feels about those.
With that said, the assumption on pricing made for the purposes of the survey match the predictions made by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster back in May, when he said that Apple's tablet machine would be closer to a sized-up iPhone than a ModBook-style device.
With so many people willing to buy a product sight unseen, the survey proves at least one thing: Apple's brand is still one of the strongest around.
Do you think that a low-cost tablet from Apple would be the next big thing, or does it all depend on the price - something Apple hasn't been great on in the past? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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yes. the courier concept is much more appealing.
but you never know what apple are conjuring in their pristine white dungeons
especially at those prices, the power of apples brand eh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZGIn9bpALo&feature=related
but that's never going to happen, especially the full Mac OSX part.
I really couldn't care what they are coming up with to be honest, I rather dislike the excessive markup of apple products far too much to buy into them
I own an iPod but in all honestly nothing they do has wowed me over since the iPod, and even then that's gotten stale over the past few generations so i dont see apple wowing me anytime soon
MS on the other hand keep pulling rabbits out of hats, Windows 7, Zune HD and looks set to continue the trend with Windows Mobile 7, Office 2010 and this concept etc
It reallys eems to me the shoe is really starting to be on the other foot
Even if the hardware was as good as an Apple product it would still have MS s/w.
Win 7 is still f'ing horrible imo, they ruined windows explorer, control panel/registry are still abominations.
Zune HD is a farse, only in US - ads that actually stop you using the app you wanted 40 seconds ago...
Windows mobile 6.5 is the next release, with retarded hexagon space wasting design if they call it 7 they are just pulling the wool over your eyes like with win 7....
What was wrong with office '03? They certainly didnt convince me with the retarded new file types that no-one could read for months...
On the tablet, I would only consider it if it were a full blown OS; the hardware would therefore be more like a laptop and not useless like a netbook...
If I wanted to buy a brand new iPhone 3GS today (handset only) it would cost me £900 (http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=183742).
Surely a tablet is going to be more expensive than that.
Or does the assumed price include a ridiculous contract with a large monthly fee?
you are converting wrong. US->UK in electronics is a 1:1 rate right now. Ignore the currency conversions.
I for one would love some thing like a mac air in a 10-12" touch tablet form with room for a 3G sim card in it. Laptops on the couch and dinner table are not ideal for casual surfing and while the iPhone is good, I don't think the screen size is great for reading longer texts. Basically, a Touch with data connectivity and a bigger screen, more memory and a low power processor.
I was just quoting from the main story. But OK - if they are guessing that the price for a tablet will be between $400-$700 I don't see how this can possible be true given that the price of a 3GS handset is £900 ($900?).
Surely a tablet with a larger screen will be much more expensive than the phones, unless the prices they are quoting are those with a massive subsidy and hence a monthly contract to tie you in.
Sooo who wants to bet it'll be exclusive to AT&T?
Not a chance, what with the scrutiny they are getting in congress right now.
It's a decent thing, too. Up to 8 hours battery life, toughened daylight-readable WACOM screen with pressure-sensitive pen, Wifi, multiple microphones and speakers, fingerprint security, really rather good handwriting recognition, 1Ghz Pentium M, 2Gb RAM, 30Gb HDD. Construction is unusually good for a PC: glass-reinforced plastic shell over a magnesium frame. It is powerful enough to carry an office suite, drawing programs, OneNote, e-mail, Skype and web. It is really handy for sketching out diagrams or to run a Powerpoint from.
But it has its limitations too. Input is pen-only; signing up to a network is awkward; booting up from hibernation is slow and from Off excruciatingly slow, its Windows interface is clunky (with constant balloon nags) and not really that suitable for tablet use and I had to mod it a bit to make it more functional. Rotating the screen requires the press of a button; then watch the screen having to rebuild itself.
Here's teh money bit: although I eBayed mine for about £780,-- the cost as-new for a delectable item like this is £1200,--.
I also own an iPhone 3G. Its interface is used with almost telepathic ease (almost --even that has a few minor inconsistencies). It is snappy, intuitive, pre-emptive, light, has decent battery life; construction is solid. If Apple does make a tablet, I can't help but thinking that it is going to be a lot slicker and more practical than the PC-based unit I have now --and cheaper to boot.
Meanwhile Apple invented the One-Tunes-To-Rule-Them-All integrated system of a media device, computer software and marketplace that seamlessly interconnect. The iPhone is a small technological miracle --anyone who thinks it is not does not really understand hardware or the concept of convergence. The notebooks are engineering masterpieces. Every detail makes me practically weep with ergonomic joy. PCs and Microsoft products don't do that for me. With the possible occasional exception of Logitech.
Microsoft makes incremental improvements and modifications, but Apple innovates. Sorry.
Appreciate your post, the time and effort you took to get it all down as well. Good stuff.
you aparently have never worked with a microsoft back end. there is a reason that it is the business standard. everyting integrates, everything works.
the reason windows gets such a bad rap in the consumer market place is that it is way more open than mac. MS supports all pc hardware, and has to be open enough for manufatures to write whatever drivers they need. mac does not have anywhere near the hardware choice of pc, plus the fact that if you are a gamer, you have only one platform, and that is windows. it is that way for a reason.
mac can afford to have a mostly closed system, they market (and market well) to a very select user base that does not need that openness.
In all honesty buying anything before you've seen a working model, let alone the full specs, is rather stupid. Regardless of who is making it.