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Yet Another Reason Why OS X Proper On The Tablet Would Be Nice

July 28th, 2009

So Apple is exerting tight control over what apps are available for the iPhone. No surprise there, really. They’ve pulled apps in the past.

And this is yet another reason why we should all want full OS X on an Apple Tablet. So we can install whatever apps we please, without the approval or disapproval of Apple.

Or: a hybrid OS would be another alternative. How about sticking all the iPhone OS apps in a layer above, like Dashboard. Think iPhone app = Dashboard widget. But please, don’t limit the device by limiting it to apps purchased through the App Store.

But this is really, ultimately about control and profit. I fear Apple is going to lock this whole tablet down and make it an adjunct to the iTunes Store. Which is not a product I’m interested in. I don’t want my Macs to turn into huge iPhones.

In terms of purchasing software through the App Store: the iPhone is as far as I’ll go. Our computers are called “personal computers” for a reason.

Do we really want a future where all our software has to go through Apple first?

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  • jcieplinski
    The "lockdown" of software in the App store has two major benefits. 1)For developers, it practically guarantees that apps won't be pirated. 2)That in turn allows developers to charge far less per app. So we get apps much more cheaply than we ordinarily would, and developers make plenty of money selling at a lower unit price and reaching a much bigger audience.

    Adobe has screamed for years that Photoshop would be $100 if 70% of people didn't pirate it and pay them nothing. The App Store is proving that would work, at least in theory.

    As far as this tablet goes, I trust Apple to be smart enough to know what will work or not. Personally, I still can't see ANY advantage of a tablet over a laptop like the Air. But there has to be some new market for this thing beyond the tech geeks who have been clamoring for it for ages. Otherwise, Apple wouldn't bother creating it.

    Full OS X sounds like a great idea. The only problem I foresee with that is that OS X wasn't meant to be navigated with your fingers. There are far too many small target areas that need to be clicked. And we all know how Steve Jobs feels about the idea of a stylus, so I don't think it's likely that we'll be using a stylus with this thing. But you never know.

    Some sort of hybrid? An entirely new UI built on top of OS X? Could be, but that sounds crazy, too.

    This whole project sounds crazy to me. So I'm just going to sit back and let Apple explain it to me when the time comes.
  • Yeah, it definitely still sounds crazy. Perhaps some of our grasping is the
    idea that Apple has some uber master plan in the works - as in, the reason
    why the Apple TV has not seen a major update in some time, or why the
    portables are all called "MacBook Pro" is because this tablet has some
    overlap with the Apple TV and MacBook. But probably, not.
    At this point I just must have faith that Apple has some angle on this that
    none of us have thought of yet. Maybe it's the return of the Newton...
  • jcieplinski
    Exactly. There are all kinds of reasons not to do a tablet. But there were all kinds of reasons not to do a phone or a music player, too.

    This could very well have a strong link to the Apple TV.

    I think the change of all metal laptops to MacBook Pro definitely has something to do with this new product's place in the lineup. It would at least hint at a price point (somewhere between $400 and $900) and at the audience (consumers). So our dreams of doing Photoshop on this thing may be unrealistic. Maybe it's really targeted at the people who are now buying netbooks—people who simply want to get on the web and do email and word documents on the road. Personally, I think the iPhone covers that ground perfectly for me. But I may not be the target for this product.
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