Most of the tech blogs I read, on a weekly basis, reiterate the chance to see an Apple tablet released.
They insist on speculating on the form factor. Some of them predict a bigger iPhone. Some of them are looking forward for a convertible Macbook. Honestly, I’ve no clue if this is going to happen, but I believe they are missing the key point.
There are, I think, good reasons related to the little acceptance the market has given to tablets. While I love tablets and I own two of them, I’ve to admit that what is still missing is a killer application that can drive the shift from the traditional keyboard. Microsoft has done a good job with One-Note, getting close to building one. But reality is that, despite the unique features offered by One-Note, I can live without it. And this is why I spend 90+% of my typing time on a Mac.
A killer application for tablets should leverage touch and pen input to a level that changes the way we do things dramatically. Today, most of the tablets in the market are traditional PCs that offer some complex way of inputing data with a pen. It is funny, sometimes fascinating, but not a good reason enough to move to a new platform and pay for the associated premium.
What Apple did with the iPhone is what we should expect from an Apple tablet. Not just a tablet with an Apple logo and OSX but something that redefine the tablet category and offer a new and incredibly nice user experience.
Could be tomorrow? In a year? Who knows? But please don’t give me a bigger iPhone with no additional touch specific killer apps. The chance to buy a modded Macbook with a touch screen is already there but looks like nobody is truly caring about it.
