Sun-Times on Apple’s tablet
This has all been overdone, of course, but I think Andy Ihnatko makes some smart, albeit repeated, comments in his post on the Chicago Sun-Times site. Read it here.
On keyboard support:
Apple wants this to be a touch-based computer. If you give people a physical keyboard, they’ll think of the touch system as merely an alternative to the mechanical interface they’re already familiar with.
On open/closed system speculation:
You’ll get a headphone jack, a SIM slot, Apple’s proprietary dock connector, and that’s it. No access to the inside for any reason whatsoever. It won’t mount on your desktop as mass-storage or anything else.
On wireless broadband contracts:
I’m saying they won’t take the risk of a mandatory monthly charge. Either they’ll offer a WiFi-only configuration or every Rat will have the capability of joining a wireless broadband network, should the user choose to sign up for access.
On interfacing with the app store:
The RAT will use the App Store as its sole source of software. Duh. Apple has created a brilliant economy in which they keep 30 cents of every dollar transacted. Would you want to slow down that gravy train?
And most importantly, about the over-speculation on UI:
You want to try to figure out the UI of the RAT? Go get yourself a comic book, or any other rectangle that measures roughly 10” on the diagonal. Hold it as though you’re reading what’s on the surface.
You see the problem? Your fingers get in the way. Think about how big that surface is, too. That’s a lot of acreage to scan, looking for the right buttons to push.
While you’ve got it in your hands, imagine that it’s a sheet of thin steel. That’s heavy, isn’t it? Hard to hold up for long periods of time.
Think about how a user interface would have to incorporate those observations. Now imagine that you’ve been doing this experiment for four years and not four minutes.
That’s a very long list of observations. If you didn’t come up with a workable solution, don’t worry: I think Apple has.
This is why I have to circle back to my assertion that here and now, nobody outside of Apple can predict more than half of what the RAT will be about.
But with all that said, he said a few thing I disagree with. He assumes that book/magazine/etc publishers will be forced to go through the app store and will not be allowed to publish through iTunes. This may be so, but I believe it to be a terrible system that leaves the end-user frustrated. I’d rather not speculate though, so we can wait until Apple announces the device on January 27th. However, more importantly, it will be this, as Andy articulates below:
But philosophically, the RAT will be something more subtle. It won’t serve as the thing you’re reading or the document you’re working on. In time, the user will come to regard the RAT as a window through which they can observe and navigate the modern digital world.
