Apple Tablet: Will Jobs Deliver?

Apple is hosting a press event on January 27th, 2010. It is widely expected by the consumer electronics press and bloggers that this will be the unveiling of the mythical and long-rumored Apple tablet device. That is to say, they are to announce a product in the constantly failing, niche category that falls somewhere between a smartphone and a notebook computer. Tablets as we know them usually have 7″ to 12″ screens, and usually run the gamut in terms of operating systems. From over-sized media players, to full-blown desktop operating systems like Windows, to variations of Linux, to Windows Mobile, and now Android, tablets are home to variety. Tech companies have really tried almost everything to make a tablet device compelling to consumers. Yet they keep failing. Apple itself has experimented in this market (and failed) with the Newton, which was more PDA-like in its nature.

Photo of the Apple Newton next to the iPhone by Blake Patterson from Alexandria, VA, USA

The most defining features of tablets are generally the lack of the keyboard and focus on the touchscreen, and maybe even handwriting recognition. Tablets try to accomplish so much, but they’re not really great at one thing. It won’t make phone calls.  However, it browses the web  better than a smartphone, and  comparable to a PC browser if done right. It plays music and videos on a bigger screen than your iPod (or media player of choice, I own a Zune), but you can’t really take it with you for a jog. In simple yet not entirely accurate terms, it’s like a giant iPod Touch.

So tablets are this mix and match collaboration of  electronics jammed in a form factor that is its triumph and it’s downfall. It’s lighter than your laptop but bigger than your phone. So where do you put it? You can’t put it in your pocket, so it has to go in a bag. Well then you might as well carry a small laptop and get more productivity out of it. It’s not really that portable then. Is it just a device you use on your couch, while laying in bed, in the back seat of a car, or on the bus? Is it like a magazine/newspaper replacement that you use to consume media and news?

No manufacturer has gotten the tablet just right yet, as is evident by their failure in the mainstream market (unlike smartphones and laptops). Maybe it’s just the form factor that’s wrong. Do we really need a device that sits between laptop and phone? Apple wants to change that. Hopefully they’ll succeed and find out what everyone was doing wrong in the tablet market. Speculation knows no bounds, aside from finally a user interface that makes sense on a  touch screen of that size. Will it use WiFi or have an always-on Internet connection via 3G? Apple might wrangle up some content deals for on-demand video, music, and especially books and periodicals; they’ll give all those e-readers a run for their money. Also, a screen of that size really lends itself to video games. They really can’t shoehorn OS X into that device, the UI would be too forced like on Windows tablets. If they use the iPhone OS then they can leverage their gigantic App Store. Apple’s other challenge aside from making the device compelling and useful is the price. If the device is too expensive only the Apple fanatics will buy it. Apple will place this product above their iPod Touch line so it most likely will not cost less than $200. However, if it costs more than $500 few people will be willing to drop that sort of cash on a non-essential device.

I want Apple to pull off this product successfully and bring some innovation to a market that’s in sore need of it. Personally, I’m not an Apple fan, but this is a product category I’ve always been interested in. Steve Jobs better rock our socks off when he gets on that stage.