The Wonder of the Apple tablet

According to MG Siegler at Tech Crunch ( "The Wonder of Apple's Tablet" ),  the still ontologically challenged Apple tablet is a "must have". And all tablets that came before it "sucked up until now".

The wondrous Apple tablet is wondrous  because it's being described as wondrous before anyone outside of Apple is sure that it exists. The thing is the "Snakes on a Plane" of consumer gadgetry. Everyone has been talking about it. So now Apple may deliver it. Then we'll all have to buy it.


The iPhone was a transformational product because, oddly enough, it was the first mobile phone to take design and usability seriously. Its success was as much a credit to the (continuing) stupidity or callousness of the rest of the market as it was to Apple's willingness to take design  and the associated expense seriously.

However, tablets have been around for years. They've been used widely in industry and in sales. They do not all suck. Some of them were pretty cool. Fujitsu alone made some very nice ones^{see note}. But none of the tablets were successfully marketed to "gotta have it" consumers. So maybe it's fair to say that the marketing sucked. But please, not all of the tablets.

Note (added 1-28-10): It took about a month, but according to The New York Times ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/technology/companies/29name.html ) the folks at Fujitsu have realized that they are pad leaders, not pad followers.

After reading the "Mad Men" reference to the Carousel projector (which, like slates, was  widely used commercially), I'm reminded of the one that I used to own. At this point, I'm more likely to head to eBay for a Carousel than to the line at the genius store.

On the other hand, I do need something to fill the critical gap between my netbook and my phone. I can only dream that the netbook (MSI for me) / notebook (MacBook) gap will be addressed soon. Then there will be more gaps. And more. How about a  product line called "zeno"?

One last thought. Siegler mentions the problems that he and apparently many other users have been having with their large iMac displays. In the glow of the famous "1984" Mac ad, it's hard not to see a touch of irony.  Maybe the hammer was a boomerang?