There’s a lot of speculation about the Apple tablet, but coming November, this is how my desk is going to look. Or at least, this is what I want. Check it out in super high definition:
Click on the image to enlarge. Yes, this makes me wet.
That, my friends, is what I think we are getting.
The Apple tablet I want will run the same basic hardware as the iPhone, with extended video and system RAM to accommodate larger computing needs, perhaps with some limited multitasking for some applications. System RAM is a big system bottleneck right now, and it won’t cost much to add enough to make things flow smoother. The video RAM will be necessary for the higher res of the 10 inch screen. The current iPhone CPU and graphic processor can handle all this well as they are. No need for changes. It will also be very thin. As thin as the iPod touch. Since its guts will be the same, but it will be a device with a larger surface, you also have more space for a larger battery.
Why do I think it will be this way? I believe the hardware will be dictated by economies of scale, which has been the norm since Jobs returned to Apple: Reusable components across each product family to keep costs down. In this case, the product family—which Jobs already alluded to in the past—is the iPhone OS-based product family. Right now, there are two products, as you know: iPhone and iPod touch. My wish is that iTablet or whatever it’s called will be the third. That way, Apple would be able to build this cheaper—and keep the cost of the iPhone and iPod touch down if the tablet is successful.
Logically, the iTablet I want will run exactly the same OS as the rest of the product family. The OS will have the same kernel, the same classes, the same subsystems, the same database organization and the same file system. It will also have some new extra apps, and perhaps a few new gestures—which will trickle down the product line—but that’s about it.
It will run the same applications, changed to accommodate more information thanks to the higher resolution in the screen. Some Apple and third-party ones will be tailored to the higher res, distributed in a package that will have both iPod-sized and tablet-sized graphic assets. Others—like Safari or games—will just enjoy the instant boost in resolution.
And that will be the beauty of it.
First, people who are afraid of computers—probably not you, the typical Giz reader, but most consumers out there—will love this device as much as they love their iPhones or iPod touches. Apple will keep mining the gold, and offering consumers this extremely easy-to-use interface that doesn’t require any mental abstraction. Just click, touch and access the information, media or games you want, mixed with the occasional short mail or chat.
For developers, it’s also a win-win situation. Same code, just add new assets. Same store, same distribution, more development opportunities.
The way I see it, the tablet will open the way to a new kind of computing, after the ages of computing for hobbyist, the age of the command line, and the age of the desktop user interface metaphor.
To me, this is where Star Trek starts, and War Games ends.
