One metric of whether there is any substance to these rumours is the extent to which they begin to push Apple’s stock northwards; quite literally, are people buying these rumours. That specific companies are now being named as collaborating with Apple give this a bit more credibility than earlier reports. The apps for the iPhone and iPod touch are proof of concept for handheld computers with a touch screen interface, and the revolution has only just begun. There is clearly a niche here that Apple is best positioned to fill.

How about maps in addition to books, newspapers and periodicals.

Wouldn’t it be neat if the tablet incorporated a web cam and some eye tracking software that would automatically scroll the page up as you reach the bottom of the page?

Or should it be “scroll the page down”?

Yikes? A $900 newspaper reader.  NYT & WSG will be jealous.

Yikes? A $900 newspaper reader.

Well yikes if that is all that it would do. It would probably run all sorts of apps.

Having this periodical content served up via subscription is in my opinion the killer app for a tablet. I just love the idea of waking up and grabbing my tablet and having the NYT, Time Magazine, and This Old House (as an example) waiting for me. They would be paid for, just like a paper subscription so the quality of the content can remain the same. It could save newspapers as we know them as their printing costs could drop. the trick is that the tablet has to be open so the user can put user generated content on it as well. Not like that locked in silliness of the Kindle.

Having this periodical content served up via subscription is in my opinion the killer app for a tablet. I just love the idea of waking up and grabbing my tablet and having the NYT, Time Magazine, and This Old House (as an example) waiting for me.

I still like the feel and portability of a magazine. A big part of that is being old school and used to printed material. However, I do like the idea of not using up trees, or even recycled paper, and that a document on a computer device is searchable. Will the Apple Tablet be comfortable to hold, easy to read (even in bright light), customizable, and robust? If so I will probably go for it, I may be an old dog, but I still can learn new tricks.

Our progeny will probably grow up and be comfortable with ebooks, epaper or whatever we end up calling such devices. That being said it will probably be a real long time before printed material is not seen outside of a museum.

When i get to thinking about this rumor I am alway brought back to last-year’s patent of an iMac with a side-loading dock.  Many assumed it was for a Macbook.  I’m not so sure.  Docking a tablet in many ways makes much more sense.  Many also assumed it was for an iMac product…again, I’m not so sure.  With AppleTV still relegated to “hobby” status I am curious if this tablet device will not have something to do with it.  As an AppleTV owner who LOVES his, I admit I have always felt a bit like a paid beta-tester for the iTunes purchase/rental services, UI tweaking, syncing, and most recently control of the device via iPhone or iPod Touch Remote App.  An Apple branded flat-panel TV with an integrated dock for the tablet makes SO much sense to me.  Un-dock it and use the tablet as a remote/ keyboard/ second display/ game controller all over WiFi.  Dock it/ store it in the Apple TV to sync and charge.  Take it with you and your content goes too.  With the rumors building toward critical mass I am more and more convinced that this mythical tablet will materialize.  When it does, I genuinely believe it will be more than an oversized iPod touch or a reader.

Hopefully, it will be just a bigger iPod touch or a small Mac as we have lots of uses for a general hand-held computing device that iPhone/Mac developers could code for. In health care environments we could use this as a digital clipboard with patient on-line notes.

Have reseted buy a book-reader so hoping it also supports the current eBook standards.

In health care environments we could use this as a digital clipboard with patient on-line notes.

Agreed. The iPhone is a great proof of concept of what a handheld can do in patient management and research, but a well designed tablet can do even more.

I’m not sure what newspapers look like on a Kindle but I would love to see newspapers available on a tablet device—so long are they are presented in the right format. The nice thing about physical newspapers is that I can scan each page quickly (probably less than 3 or 4 seconds) to see if any headline or heading catches my attention. And, often, what catches my attention is some obscure article at the bottom of the page. But you can’t do that on a web site where the information is so hierarchical or requires a lot of links to the next page. As an experiment, I have even tried locating an obscure but interesting article in a physical newspaper then going to the newspaper’s website to try to find the same article but was unable to do so. But, if anybody can figure out a good way to present a newspaper on a table, Apple would be a good bet.

As an experiment, I have even tried locating an obscure but interesting article in a physical newspaper then going to the newspaper’s website to try to find the same article but was unable to do so. But, if anybody can figure out a good way to present a newspaper on a table, Apple would be a good bet.

Like some of news apps on the iPhone, or the web site that is optimized for an iPhone. You get table of contents with then title and a line or two linked to the article.

I read the online edition of the San Diego Union-Tribune. There is an index of some of the articles with links to the story, but ofttimes they have several unrelated stories on that page. In short you may miss a story that would interest you because not all of them are listed.

I’m not sure what newspapers look like on a Kindle but I would love to see newspapers available on a tablet device—so long are they are presented in the right format. The nice thing about physical newspapers is that I can scan each page quickly (probably less than 3 or 4 seconds) to see if any headline or heading catches my attention. And, often, what catches my attention is some obscure article at the bottom of the page. But you can’t do that on a web site where the information is so hierarchical or requires a lot of links to the next page. As an experiment, I have even tried locating an obscure but interesting article in a physical newspaper then going to the newspaper’s website to try to find the same article but was unable to do so. But, if anybody can figure out a good way to present a newspaper on a table, Apple would be a good bet.

If you haven’t already, take a look at

<http://prototype.nytimes.com/gst/articleSkimmer>

to see how a newspaper can be presented over the internet. It seems to me that the “Article Skimmer” does indeed answer the complaints voiced in the above quote.

If you haven’t already, take a look at

<http://prototype.nytimes.com/gst/articleSkimmer>

to see how a newspaper can be presented over the internet. It seems to me that the “Article Skimmer” does indeed answer the complaints voiced in the above quote.

Thanks for the link! That is a huge improvement over the standard newspaper websites. But does it include the obscure articles?

Sorry, guess I haven’t got the quoting thing down yet. And, unfortunately, you can’t edit your posts (that I know of, anyway).

If you haven’t already, take a look at

<http://prototype.nytimes.com/gst/articleSkimmer>

to see how a newspaper can be presented over the internet. It seems to me that the “Article Skimmer” does indeed answer the complaints voiced in the above quote.

I checked it out, nice an clean. It also pretty good on my iPhone.

Thanks for the link! That is a huge improvement over the standard newspaper websites. But does it include the obscure articles?

The above is in response to my recommending the NY Times “Article Skimmer” in a prior posting. Not having a printed copy of the NY Times to make a comparison I have no idea what my not appear in the Article Skimmer. But it certainly would be interesting to know!

Has it occurred to anyone here that the format and overall look are strangely Apple-like, and the sliding behaviours look tantalisingly like they are designed to drop as-is into an iPhone OS device?

Even though the help panel gives a number of navigation shortcuts for keyboard-based navigation, the overall behaviours of the interface look like they are tailored for iPhone multitouch, and for a screen not far from the dimensions rumoured for the “iPad”...

Oops! My bad! My comment was about the New York Times Article Skimmer that was linked to TaliesinSoft’s posting… I can’t help thinking that this prototype (although it has keyboard navigation enabled) is specifically designed for a large screen iPhone OS device.

My comment was about the New York Times Article Skimmer that was linked to TaliesinSoft’s posting… I can’t help thinking that this prototype (although it has keyboard navigation enabled) is specifically designed for a large screen iPhone OS device.

Since I first encountered the New York Times Article Skimmer a few months ago a number of significant changes (well, improvements) have been made. Methinks that the Times does indeed want to “get it right” before replacing the current normally in use website interface.