OT: CES 2010 and the emergence of the Tablet PC (for comics)

[joe_collector]

That's why I think a portable home 3D projector has a much better chance, at least until true "no glasses" 3D TV tech hits.

[letsgrumble]

, nice image. We own iPOD Touches, iPOD Nano's, and my wife even has a MacBook Slim, but there is no way I'm walking around with something called an iSlate. Maybe if I drive an iDinosaur to work at the iRock Quarry and ate iBronto Burgers for dinner.

 

BTW, I was reading some CES reports on the 3D TVs, and I can't believe they're still hyping these old school 3D techs that require everyone to wear glasses. That's soooo lame.

 

The only reason to subject yourself to 3D glasses is to go see a wild action movie on bigass IMAX 3D, which compared to lame-o3D TV, is like going from your current 55" 1080P 240Hz HDTV to an old B&W 12" CRT. Not even in the same ballpark, and the only possible answer is 3D home projectors.

 

The upcoming high-end 3D home technologies, which will allow true 3D effects without any glasses or tricks, are still "in development", but until they go mainstream, this "home 3D TV" is just a fad waiting to crash.

 

Haha - I agree. As soon as I read that each 3D TV comes with two faddish 3D glasses, I was sceptical. I don't think I'll be buying into it until it's a proven technology and not until I can get it cheap at Costco... and I'm also going to make sure a migraine pandemic doesn't break out from watching too much 3D TV.

[Davenport]

Any opinions on if this will have legs as an eComics reader?... PSP

 

 

[sckao]

Personally, I think that PSP form factor won't work.

 

I don't like the pan and scan format. I want to see an entire page on a portrait-oriented screen.

 

 

[shortstack comics]

I agree with sckao. For comics reader needs to be

much larger

[Davenport]

I agree. I was just curious since Sony seems to be putting a lot of marketing behind it.

 

That Skiff design strikes me as my fantasy reader...if it was full color.

Something large, thin and light. Oh, and supports .cbr/.cbz formats.

 

[dupont2005]

And 3D TVs going mainstream? , not even half of the homes in the US market even owns ONE HDTV. It'll be until 2011, likely, before those even hit mainstream levels and pass the 50% mark.

You can look at it like that, or you can look at it like this. Nearly half of all televisions in the United States are higher end models employing technology developed within the last few years.

 

 

I wonder what you were saying when the MP3 player first came out?

[comicwiz]

For reading comics, the tablet is a format which might make e-reading an enjoyable experience. But the drawback (as other have already alluded to) is the upfront cost. Rumours are placing the Apple tablet at 1K, but it is also being tagged that way through a nationwide broadband service so that could mean the upfront hardware purchase might be more if you decide to opt out of the broadband package.

 

As a first and second gen owner of Acer tablets (these were smaller-scale notebooks with screens that could rotate 180 degrees, and be used as a notebook [clamshell mode] or tablet mode), the hardest sell on a tablet is the on-screen keyboard. I know this can be manageable with a touch screen, but having the versatility of a full-scale keyboard instead of an on-screen one is a change that you might not ever really warm up to.

 

The one software which I really liked (and I'm hoping won't be absent from the Apple tablet) is voice recognition. I had Windows XP tablet edition on both my tablets, and the voice recognition software was an amazing feature to have - useful when you want to run off an idea and or don't want to bother jotting it down with the stylus. The handwriting recognition of the Acer tablets (XP tablet edition) was an incredible thing to see.

 

Where I also saw benefit from using Acer tablets was with freehand drawing. I often found myself doodling and sketching and that might not have been possible if I didn't have a touch screen interface available to me everywhere I went.

 

The one thing I am apprehensive about Apple is whether it will be the game changer everyone is expecting - quite frankly, Apple needs to embrace open source otherwise this will become just another port to Apple's iStore and the same brand of kool-aid that has kept me from buying anything that bears their logo.

[sckao]

A lot of people are jailbreaking their iPod Touches... especially the kids these days. (So they can customize their interface and run 3rd party apps.)

 

I think Apple is tacitly heading this way as I'm sure they recognize that this is what caused them to stall and almost fail in the 1980s/1990s.

 

There's no way I'll be buying ANY tablet for 1K really... It'll be a hard sell at $500. (Considering that's the price of a cheap notebook and that $500 is more than a Netbook costs.)

 

 

[500Club]

For reading comics, the tablet is a format which might make e-reading an enjoyable experience. But the drawback (as other have already alluded to) is the upfront cost. Rumours are placing the Apple tablet at 1K, but it is also being tagged that way through a nationwide broadband service so that could mean the upfront hardware purchase might be more if you decide to opt out of the broadband package.

 

As a first and second gen owner of Acer tablets (these were smaller-scale notebooks with screens that could rotate 180 degrees, and be used as a notebook [clamshell mode] or tablet mode), the hardest sell on a tablet is the on-screen keyboard. I know this can be manageable with a touch screen, but having the versatility of a full-scale keyboard instead of an on-screen one is a change that you might not ever really warm up to.

 

The one software which I really liked (and I'm hoping won't be absent from the Apple tablet) is voice recognition. I had Windows XP tablet edition on both my tablets, and the voice recognition software was an amazing feature to have - useful when you want to run off an idea and or don't want to bother jotting it down with the stylus. The handwriting recognition of the Acer tablets (XP tablet edition) was an incredible thing to see.

 

Where I also saw benefit from using Acer tablets was with freehand drawing. I often found myself doodling and sketching and that might not have been possible if I didn't have a touch screen interface available to me everywhere I went.

 

The one thing I am apprehensive about Apple is whether it will be the game changer everyone is expecting - quite frankly, Apple needs to embrace open source otherwise this will become just another port to Apple's iStore and the same brand of kool-aid that has kept me from buying anything that bears their logo.

 

Probably won't matter. If Apple doesn't, others will. The iSlate can be a game changer, but it won't own the game.

[sckao]

I still think iPad is a better name than iSlate...

 

Or iPADD after Star Trek.

 

Personal Access Display Device

 

 

 

[comicwiz]

There's no way I'll be buying ANY tablet for 1K really... It'll be a hard sell at $500. (Considering that's the price of a cheap notebook and that $500 is more than a Netbook costs.)

 

I agree. This tablet needs to be priced somewhere between a netbook and a notebook. $500=hotcakes. $750=pushing it. $1K and up, not so much. On the point about hacking Apple products, it almost never makes sense because:

 

i) all their products will inevitably need a restore to factory default, and that will wipe away the software used to hack it.

 

Even if you manage to keep things humming along without a glitch;

 

ii) they'll inevitably get you through updates.

 

IMHO, the tablet can totally become the game changer everyone is expecting, but not if its based on Apple's tired model of needing to be in control.

[joe_collector]

I wonder what you were saying when the MP3 player first came out?

 

Wow, someone actually compared a 3D Glasses TV technology to MP3's.

 

Seriously, I probably have more electronic gadgets in my office that you've bought in your lifetime, so please don't pull this idiotic "JC is a Luddite" stuff. I *love* good, useful technology, but current 3D glasses tech just doesn't qualify.

[dupont2005]

I wonder what you were saying when the MP3 player first came out?

 

Wow, someone actually compared a 3D Glasses TV technology to MP3's.

 

Seriously, I probably have more electronic gadgets in my office that you've bought in your lifetime, so please don't pull this idiotic "JC is a Luddite" stuff. I *love* good, useful technology, but current 3D glasses tech just doesn't qualify.

No, I'm comparing MP3's with digital books, magazines, newspapers, and comics. If you don't think the e-reader will replace college textbooks and daily newspapers you are seriously mistaken. Just like people were when they said nobody would ever pay for a digital copy of a song. Hell, you think HDTV isn't mainstream when nearly half the homes in America already have them and every major network broadcasts in the format? Glad to see we have such a tech expert to school us on our misguided ways.

[whisp]

Tablet is going to become very mainstream due to Windows 7 on part. Before it was specialized but now anyone with a Windows 7 OS can buy a touchscreen monitor and have it let alone all the new laptops I have been watching that are coming out all have for the most part tablet abilities and even go as far as to have removable tablet screens (Lenova U1 plus a few others from dell and hp) that can be used either as tablet or e-reader. Mac is also going to be doing more work with tablet and their laptops.

 

I am waiting for the day where the screen just appears in the air, I can touch it and all I have to carry around is a small keyboard/system unit that fits in my pocket.

[joe_collector]

No, I'm comparing MP3's with digital books, magazines, newspapers, and comics. If you don't think the e-reader will replace college textbooks and daily newspapers you are seriously mistaken.

 

Then mark me down as mistaken, as I've always been a fan of convergence, and all these one-trick ponies are never going to make any headway with the "all in one device" kids of today. Maybe it'll be an iPhone with an extendable screen for reading, but today's market doesn't want to carry around 5 devices, they just want ONE that does EVERYTHING.

 

And that's a fact Jack, and tech companies know this - these e-readers are targeted at the fogeys and Luddites who don't have a clue.