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Apple tablet found in the wild
TEN YEARS AGO it was the names of the deckhands in Captain Pugwash, five years ago it was who really sang those dreadful Milli Vanilli songs, now in 2009 the big rumour on every one's lips is whether or not Apple will launch a tablet PC.
Spotted in the wild almost as often as the Beast of Bodmin, Apple's tablet PC is one rumour that just will not go away, a persistent folktale that is not helped by an ever-growing list of people claiming to have provided kit for it, caught one in their chicken shed or grasped one in their mitts.
So another day another rumour. Although it was only last week that the Apple Insider web site was talking about a release 'early next year', someone else has chipped in and suggested a release this September. If that sounds like a quick turnaround it is worth considering that the unit is supposed to have been in development for four years. So, if there is one thing we can be sure of, it's that if Apple will release such a unit it is taking its time about it - possibly because it is Steve Jobs' pet project, or possibly because Itablet sounds like a pharmaceutical remedy for a vision problem.
Far be it from us to stick our noses up at anything that comes from an anonymous source, and indeed the claims found in a report for Barrons Online are backed up by juicy details and glowing if somewhat confusing comments. The unnamed analyst explained, "It's close enough now to a final design that in Asia, there's no other product in the waiting room or in the bullpen." Hmm, the waiting room? Perhaps he is confusing this tablet with his usual medication?
Further speculation, such as is rarely seen outside of satellite television psychic shows, includes the proposals that the device will essentially be an outsized Ipod and will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of what nearly every other tablet costs, that is, between $700 to $800.
Perhaps buoyed by the reaction all of this was likely to cause, the analyst then went on to suggest that other manufacturers are dragging their heels on their own releases. He added, "There are dozens of ODMs making products for Lenovo and other PC makers that are all waiting to see what the Apple product is."
We can only imagine that this allegation has made an entire industry go, "How dare you!" µ
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I'm sure when it's announced it'll be treated like it's as significant as the third tablet in the 15 Commandments from the Mount of Sinai.
I am adjusting my designer tinfoil hat as I type this with shaky hands...if someone was communicating with extraterrestrials, what would the symptoms look like? All of a sudden, devices which were much more technically-advanced than all others would appear on the market (iPods, iPhones), and would crush the terrestrial competition. Now the iTablet or whatever may continue this pattern. Sending out mind-control rays from the devices could sure help with this (sorry folks, these new iPod nanos only work with Apple-designed brain-wave antennae, ahem, I mean "earbuds").
Wake up, people! Jobs could either BE an alien or he could be working for them!
"Nano-Nano"
While we are rumor-mongering, can we possibly link the apparent lack of progress at Pixel Qi (the daylight-readable, reflective/transmissive, full-color LCD folks) with this Apple tablet? Wouldn't surprise me in the least to see this device appear as the "first" (besides OLPC, of course) major consumer device to use this display technology to "scoop" (in typical Apple fashion) the e-reader industry, as well as the netbook and possibly laptop industry, all in one fell swoop. A powerful tablet PC/ereader that can be used outdoors, on the beach with up to 40 hrs battery life...yeah, I bet that would sell a few units (as well as the wireless distribution of millions of "iBooks" via "iTunes).
This would explain the "scarcity" of Pixel Qi screens at present if Apple has some kind of a 'me first' agreement with them. And Steve always likes to be first (sorry if this turns out to be true and I ruined your surprise, Stevie, or if you didn't think of this, shame on you!)
towards Aberdeenshire, where the Caledonian pine forest blends into moorland. Screamin' Banshees and nighttime "caterwauling" miaows/meows and wails. The Cait Sith; a large black beast whom Highlanders believe is the reincarnation of a witch that only appears when Cairngorms or worse things are about to slink down the alley looking for a fight an 'owling to the moonlight on a hot summer night.
Ya gotta be kiddin, right? The Inquirer, that bastion of Yellow-Tech Journalism making cute over The Rumour Mill?
and coming from apple, it'll cost two grand. And in a way I hope it's not powered by god-awful atom.
Maybe $1499.
At least wait for the damn thing to be released.