Apple Tablet: Again, Full OS X Please

July 27th, 2009

Rumors of the mythical Apple OS X Tablet are again heating up, and again the talk of basically an iPod Touch except with a 10 inch screen are suggested. And again, I feel the need to mention my desire for full OS X, not the iPhone OS.

I’m so not interested in a “big iPod Touch.” (and I suppose it goes without saying, the Kindle and CrunchPad leave me even colder).

I think people’s love of the iPhone and the hype surrounding the App Store are clouding what would truly be useful in a tablet form factor.

Biggest complaint: how much Apple could realistically charge. Right now the iPod Touch is $229. Stick a 10 inch screen on it and I wouldn’t pony up more than $329. Then think about this: have this same hardware run full OS X and you could seriously boost the price up to $600 — $800 easily.

Why? Well, you could run all the Mac applications: Firefox, VLC, Hulu Desktop, you name it. Photoshop would absolutely rock. Second, add in the secret weapon that is Ink. Handwriting recognition, currently built into every Mac (that has its roots in the Newton), now rarely used, would shine on a tablet Mac.

Still, there are two remote possibilities that would get me interested in a large iPod Touch:

• Time its release around the Beatles’ remastering of their entire back catalog, due to release at 9/9/09 (same day as Beatles Rock Band). Each album is going to have extra content like little videos with likely, never before seen footage, which sounds perfect for the rumored “multimedia album” thing Apple is supposedly working on for this device. And the Beatles’ appearance on iTunes has been hinted at for years. Bundle all this stuff on one device and hey you got some sales.
• Have it work with the Apple TV as gigantic remote, or better yet, have it be the next Apple TV. Maybe store all the content on this device, give it an HDMI out, or sell some little WiFi TV accessory to beam content to.

Other than that, I’m not interested, and will save money for a MacBook Pro instead.