Every time there’s a refresh coming up in the Apple line, there’s one “hopeful” rumor that comes up, with fanboys creating mockups and saying “it’s going to happen!”  And every time thus far, it hasn’t - and I don’t think it will happen this time, either, even though I think I’ve seen more “confirmations” than ever, including the “proof” of patents filed by Apple.  Maybe I’ll be shown this time, we’ll see - but in any case, I have a few reasons I don’t think it’ll happen soon, and why it shouldn’t really happen, ever.

     First, tactile feedback.  Yes, having a screen that you can change languages, rearrange the keys, etc. may sound nice, but a touchscreen tablet won’t be able to give you the feel of the keys while you’re typing.  Need to look away to read what you need to type, or to talk to someone?  You can try to do it, but it’s not going to be pretty, if coherent at all.  I’ve messed with my share of tablet PCs, and it just doesn’t come out quite right. 

     Second, maintainability would be a major factor - how do you keep from scratching the screen, cracking it, keep it free from major fingerprints, etc.  I see enough cracked screens on normal laptops, imagine how often it would happen with an unprotected tablet.  The mockups I’ve seen show the Mac tablet as being simply a tablet, not a convertable laptop/tablet hybrid as most Tablet PCs are.  Users would likely end up having to use a hard case to protect their computer, but having such a case would likely take away from the “pretty” Mac design, not to mention add clutter once you’ve pulled everything out on the desk to start working.

     Third, cost and profitability.  Apple would likely use a glass multi-touch panel, and one of that size would be quite costly to install - and to replace when cracked/broken.  While there would likely be a surge of initial sales, mainly from the idealistic people who think such a design would be AWESOME, users would come to realize it isn’t as flashy as they’d hoped… leaving Apple holding the bag on a lot of unsold tablets.

     Do I think Apple is researching these kinds of things? Of course I do, and I certainly hope they (and other companies) are - it is something worth trying to fully brainstorm/develop.  But as of now, good idea on paper, bad idea in production.

Tags: apple rumors, apple tablet, apple tablet patents, touchscreen apple

This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.