The Teckki Says

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is over, and there are always announcements, along with outright speculation, over what will hit and what is hoped. The biggest specualtion right now is for a product that did not even appear at the show, nor did its manufacturer exhibit there. Everyone is waiting for Apple Computer to announce a tablet computing device.

Apple does not comment on speculation regarding product releases, and has been known to announce products that no one knew was coming. A lot of us are waiting for the "Apple Tablet", a device that is rumored to be a larger, non-cellular version of its iPhone product. Since Apple is extremely successful in guarding information about new products, we really don't know. Even if we did, should we rush out to go buy one?

We should remember the launch of the iPhone. It was cool back then, but we quickly forget that iPhones weren't selling for $99 or $199 with a two year phone contract. These 1.0 versions were selling for $499 and $599. They were no where near as capable as their successors today. One thing that seemed to be better back then than today was that no one was complaining about AT&T's data network and the drag it is on Internet browsing

If Apple does produce a tablet product, there is no doubt will it be drop gorgeous cool! But Apple also has a reputation of charging at the higher end for that cool. It won't mainstream at that higher price for some time. It is also rumored that it won’t be part of a wireless carrier's data plan, opting to be a wifi device, meaning there's no AT&T or Verizon to subsidize the cost. This is the biggest single reason that $99 iPhones exist. Certainly, Mac desktops and laptops aren't dropping as fast in price as iPhones did.

The question is how much are you willing to pay for cool that happens to be first generation? Cool wears off after use, and hardware doesn't have upgrade pricing like software. One thing I've learned about the tech industry is that it usually takes about three tries to get something right. Microsoft Windows didn't mainstream until version 3.0, and iPhones are flying off the shelves at 3.0. If Apple announces a tablet, I want one, but I don't get paid to be cool, I get paid to make sure my clients have the widest reach on mainstream Internet platforms, and the tablet won't satisfy this requirement just out of the gate.

Will you buy one if it is released? Will you be the leaders that show us the way, buy one for the eye-candy effect, or really make this device catch fire?

Let me know.

In a recent article in Business Week, Can the Apple Touch Sell the Tablet?, explores the next attempt of technology (remember the first from Apple, the Newton?) to compute with the whole hand instead of just the fingers. The question may not just be can Apple pull it off, but what if they do?

The article suggests uses and losers. One thing for sure is that it will bring about transformed landscapes. If tablets become widespread, they will transform the way information is input into computing devices. Integrate a keyboard, mouse and a screen, and everything, from typing to point-and-click movements to screen viewing, goes through a transformation. It will take the new generation, those who did not grow up with the current technology, to sort things out.

However, some things won't wait. Web sites will have to be redesigned. For instance, small buttons that a mouse pointer could find with ease will have to be bigger, cutting into screen real estate, which will most likely be smaller. Animation will probably play more into web design, sacrificing maintainability and a customer's ability to self-modify their sites.

In other words, this technology has the potential to be revolutionary, taking the current-but-soon-to-be-obsolete way of doing things with it. Tablet computing will change an interaction that has been in place since Apple made the mouse widespread.