With the rumors around the Apple tablet reaching a fever pitch, a number of sites have taken to rounding up pre-iPhone speculation and using it to push the idea that we don’t know anything about the so-called iSlate. The thing is, we probably do.
The iPhone came out of nowhere and surprised just about everyone. It made the various speculative mockups look laughable. But there are a couple reasons why we do know what the iSlate will be about.
Apple has done touchscreens before
It will probably look similar to this
By definition, a tablet PC is going to have a large touchscreen. Normally it’s hard to guess what a company might do with such an interface, however the iPhone has been around for 3 years (and 3 iterations), so we know have an idea of how Apple likes to use touchscreens.
Apps
Not even Apple saw how big apps would become, although it’s now obvious that they must be a focal point of the tablet — they just make too much money to ignore. It’s unfeasible that the Apple tablet would not feature apps front and center.
We’re expecting a computer this time
But it won't look like this
In the build up to the iPhone, all anyone could think about was the iPod, which led most of the rumors to involve an iPod with phone capabilities tacked on. Finding out that the iPhone was actually a computer in your pocket was a pleasant surprise. But a tablet is supposed to be a mini computer. No surprise there.
Basically, as long as Apple does indeed release a tablet PC, there is little room for the speculation to be too far off base. It has to be an app-centric, touchscreen-based PC (not a glorified media player or e-book reader). Other than the keyboard implementation and the size, not much else can be a huge surprise.
But of course, I still can’t wait for it.