I can just hope that somebody will judge it commercially viable, but personally I would buy a Super-iPad (or Galaxy Super-Tab or whatever) in a second.
I would say it should have high resolution. Not necessarily as high as the stunning 326 pixels per inch the iPhone 4 has, but rather higher than the current iPad. And it should be... I dunno, maybe 15 inches. (These measurements are the screen only, and diagonally, like usual for monitors.)
Why? Art books. And comics. Me, I love comics, but I just can't bear to read them on a screen where I have to zoom into the panels and navigate around on the page in order to read and enjoy the artwork properly. OK, the software helps with the navigation of panels, but... I am sure that a super-display would be a totally different experience with comics. And the same with art books, photo books, graphically rich text books, atlases, etc.
In fact, thinking about those categories, it becomes obvious that this is a much-needed product.
The problem of course is mainly two-fold, cost and weight. But given a little time and technology, both have a marked tendency to come down. (And as for weight, actually there are many art books published which are too large and heavy to read hand-held.)
I don't think any other company has the guts or vision to do this until Apple has done it first, so I really hope Apple makes one, and soonish.
(PS: as if the Universe was underlining my statement, the minute I had posted this one, I got the announcement of an iPad story-book based on the Kung Fu Panda movie. If you have seen the movie, it is spectacularly visually rich, and a picture book based on it really deserves a bigger screen.)
UPDATE:
I almost forgot: if a larger tablet would gain a couple of features, like pressure sensitivity, it would become very strong competitors for design and art creation. And in fact for many, many forms of content creation. That actually, more than the reader aspect, practically guarantees the appearances of such devices, hopefully in a foreseeable future.
8 comments:
Good idea, Eo! And...re: this: "I don't think any other company has the guts or vision to do this until Apple has done it first, so I really hope Apple makes one, and soonish."
I hope that it will be someone that totally surprises and impresses us who is NOT Apple! :-)
Clearly Apple is getting some adverse reactions from people who are sick of hearing about them all the time.
But you should realize that if the iPad had been put out by any other company, they would have charged $999 instead of $499.
I wonder how that could be since ALL of Apple's products have ALWAYS cost the consumer WAY MORE than comparables of other makers (w/the exception, perhaps, of Samsung's Galaxy Tablet?). I have 2 of Apple's products and they sit collecting dust 'cuz I'm just not that impressed w/their design! :-(
Personally, I think Jobs needs to go and RETIRE and enjoy what life he has left, giving up the reins to someone just a tad more, um, "relaxed" than he and just let Apple blend in a little more w/their competitors and give others a chance at shining, every once in awhile, as well!
It took me a while to "appreciate" Google (and Android) but...I'm enjoying seeing them getting some [justified] recognition for some pretty cool software (and design) features. I think you would agree? :-)
I could live with that.
With Apple it's like with a good car. You pay more because more things are built-in, because it works better, because the components are better quality, because they have used more time and thought in making it userfriendly, because you use less time cursing and more time producing or having fun.
I have heard many stories about companies with, say, 200 Macs and 200 PCs, and how it always takes one guy to IT support the Macs and five guys to support the PCs.
Yes...I "get" what you're saying re: the car analogy and concur and...let's just say that, the next time, I am buying either a Honda or a Toyota! (fer real!)
And also...I could see where that would suck on a corporate level to have to have so many more peeps around to "hobble" the "inferior" system along. :-/
Yep, the Hondas and Toyotas are very good too, especially these days.
I have paid several thousands for my Mac system. But I could do my job on a PC system for less than a grand, I'm sure. (I just need speed and a very large monitor for photos, otherwise it could be $500).
If there was an ereader that combined the capabilities of, say, the Cintiq by Wacom with the interface of the iPad, you'd have a definite winner. But, there once more, cost and weight would drag it down into the currently-impossible category.
Yeah, but is it *so* impossible? Before iPad One came out, such a device at $500 seemed "impossible" to most.
I think this could be made for $1500, and soon come under a grand.
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