Does the Apple tablet exist...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 10:00AM 
The talk surrounding the Apple tablet seem to have morphed from pure speculation and rumour, to a seemingly known position. It's now reached the point where people are no longer speculating if Apple will ever release a tablet (or media pad as some pundits have deemed to call it) to when Apple will release this fabled device.
So does the device actually exist in a form that is anywhere close to shipping?
The rumours have been supported by all sorts of "evidence" such as reported orders for 10" touchscreen displays to "an industry veteran" actually being allowed to see and handle the device (which I don't believe by the way). It's even been reported by The Financial Times that the device will make an appearance as early as next month.
It's reached the stage now where whenever Apple makes an announcement for a special event or product launch, people are automatically going to assume it's the tablet launch.
But I do think we will see an Apple tablet (or similar device) within the next six months.
Why?
Because Apple have not denied it either formally or via their many Industry contacts. They've said nothing. Nada!
Not unusual you might think as Apple are always secretive about their product, I mean, look how they sprung the iPhone on us! (although some of us were pretty much on the money 4 months before the iPhone was launched, give or take one or two features - How come we still can't wirelessly sync our iPhones?)
But if the tablet rumours were unfounded, Apple would need to set the record straight to prevent the damaging effect of continually disappointing us, especially if successive events came and went without the tablet being announced. The principle damaging effect would be the impact on the Apple share price, never mind suffering the wrath of the Apple faithful.
So by not saying anything, Apple are in effect confirming that something along the lines of the tablet is in the works. They wouldn't necessarily have to come out publicly and deny the existence of such a device, but I'm sure they could get the message out via their contacts or at least seed information to reset expectations.
So what form will the new tablet be and what functionality will it deliver?
Who knows?
I just hope they can pull off another technological tour de force to equal the iPhone, and surprise us with features we didn't even know we wanted.
Here's hoping!
Reader Comments (6)
Have Apple ever denied ANYTHING? They tend to say, when asked directly, "we don't talk about any future products". But there's the kicker - I don't think they've been asked directly since all this became "certain".
So I am unsure that the argument holds up here, Don. I am still skeptical that a larger Touch (because that's what a tablet would effectively be) makes any sense to Apple's line. I am also aware that, in 5 years of following Apple, this rumour has been a permanent fixture.
I would be happy to be proved wrong - but I think much of the rumour is more about column filling than reality.
Have to agree David that they don't ever deny anything publicly. However, I have to think that this rumour has the potential to be extremely damaging to them if they don't deliver on it.
Although they would not deny publicly, I'm sure they could reset expectations quite easily with a few select words in certain ears.
As far as fitting into the product line, I can see a place for a larger portable iPod touch for when reading on the iPhone is too much hassle. But again, Apple have a tendency to identify uses for devices we didn't even think we needed :-)
I'm of the view that there is no mainstream market for tablets, especially Apple-priced tablets.
Really, what is they're good for? Typing on screen is too cumbersome and takes up too much space for it to replace netbooks/laptops for the browsing/emailing that most people want to do.
Without an e-ink screen it's a non starter as an ebook reader and the awkward nature of no physical support makes using it as a media player a chore.
There's a small group of people who happen to have a prominent platform in tech journalism that love this idea but I'm tipping it to be a commercial flop unless Don's right and Apple come up with some inventive new use for it.
Well, I for one would like one. At least for a little while. I think it would be pretty cool, actually. Of course, I still like the MacBook Air. :o I wouldn't mind a Kindle, either, but for me it would need to be even larger.
All I want to do is to be able to read a PDF version of a magazine that is the same size as a regular magazine! That's it! Can't be that hard, can it? Sure would save me a lot of space. So it's rumored that I have saved up some non-existent money for a non-existent tablet! :)
I'll be interested in the tablet - 5 years ago I have a tablet PC, and while it was neat, it didn't fit into what I wanted to do. Fast forward to now, I have a Kindle 2 and hate it - for the simple fact it doesn't support user generated content cleanly. For that fact alone a small 10" - 8" tablet would be nice for me.
Although that is the only use I can think of - any other reason for buying it is because somehow I feel I need it, like many other of Apple's products.
Touching on the rumors - the problem with them is they get to be so prevalent in the main stream media people expect them to deliver on it, and like in keynotes past, when they don't satisfy on the rumors people beat on Apple - for not delivering a product they never said they were going to. Also the rumors bum me out, because I'm a podcaster for Mac/Apple things I see everyone talking about the latest rumors and they are unavoidable. When someone gets a rumor right, it spoils the fun of the keynotes for me, because there is no surprise. Personally I'd like to know nothing about what Apple is doing until they release it.
Already started saving! I also tend to think there is some truth in it. I think Apple will avoid the NetBook market in part because the Air is there offering in that space, and there isn't really any margin in the $200-$300 range for them with the volumes they shift, but think they will do something to undermine / re-invent that area.
I don't think this is damaging as it's doing what many marketing people pay good money for, and by which I mean getting people to talk about the company. Not to mention from an R&D point of view discuss openly what people would like to see in a device. This is like free market research!