$1000 is like the kiss of death.  I hope Apple is not back on the “insanely high” pricing model that stunted the Mac when it first came out in ‘84.  It’s not as if the short-lived $600 iPhone is ancient history too.

Pricing it at 1 G seems to me like a really stupid thing to do.  If it’s true, that is.

Does this make any sense?
www.clearwire.com + Apple device

They’re floating a thousand to adjust people’s expectations. You can’t have all the things people are dreaming about for 600. I think it will come in at 899 for the base model and 1099 for the high end. And they’ll sell every one they make.

1 grand a bit pricey but depends on what it can do. Bluetooth and wireless are very important. Am hoping for an SD slot too. Don’t really care about being tied to a carrier like the iPhone is to crappy AT&T. I do want one but the deal breaker will be if its tied to a carrier.

I am putting my money down on that if the mac tablet comes in at $1K, then it will herald the return of the name “iBook”, and the name iSlate will be quickly forgotton.

Honestly, at that price it won’t be any kind of Kindle killer, and why would the netbook crowd pay when a fully functional MacBook with full OS X (and even limited multi-touch functionality) costs about the same? I don’t doubt that they would still sell well, and I understand the logic as it is an integrated device (screen, etc.) but $1,000 isn’t going to get it into the hands of the masses. The iPhone was truly and utterly unique when it debuted, and could thusly fetch a premium price. At this stage of the game, the tablet, not so much, IMHO. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what they reveal . . . I sure hope it isn’t the Cube part 2, because that would really be too bad.

The iPhone was truly and utterly unique when it debuted, and could thusly fetch a premium price.

Agreed. Heck, throw another wrench into it if it includes cellular connectivity, and it can be subsidized.

Imagine the late Don LaFontaine with this movie trailer voice-over: Apple Computer presents: “The Cube-Part 2”—Rated R for self-inflicted violence….Heaven forbid.

$1000 is way to much for anything in this size. I’m looking towards more like $400-500.

Also, the lack of an included cellular modem surprises me.

The 8GB 3GS iPhone costs $500 (16GB: $600; 32GB: $700)[1]. What on earth makes you think a bigger, faster, untethered device would be priced at or below the iPhone?

How much would you pay for a 10” MacBook Air? That’s how much you’re going to be paying for a tablet. You’re not going to own an iPhone, an iSlate, and a MacBook. If you want a keyboard, MacBook; if you don’t, iSlate.

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[1] That’s the price without AT&T contract. Anyone who thinks $200 is the actual cost of the device has no idea why they’re paying $80/mo. to AT&T.[2]

[2] Even those of us who understand subscription-based accounting are still wondering why we’re paying AT&T. ZING!

[2] Even those of us who understand subscription-based accounting are still wondering why we’re paying AT&T. ZING!

What does subscription-based accounting have to do with ATT? The reason for that accounting method has NOTHING to do with the iPhone being a phone or having a contract with ATT. For one thing, ALL iPhone sales, including unlocked phones sold without contracts (e.g., Singapore) are counted that way. For another, the Apple TV is is also subject to subscription accounting.

Subscription accounting was used because Apple wanted to be able to add major features to the Apple TV (and, later, the iPhone) via free firmware updates. (iPod touch owners have to PAY for these updates.) Not long ago, Apple released an update that turned on the built-in 802.11n capability in Intel Macs. They were forced to charge for the update. (I think it was $1.95, though one could get the update free if one had bought an Airport base station after a certain date.) They could avoid that mess by essentially saying that they were providing the product piecemeal. Rather than try to figure out the value of each upgrade, they elected to spread the income out over the “life” of the product, which they defined as 2 years.

It would be like a car company selling you a car that is supposed to have a radio, but there’s none installed. They promise to install the radio later at no additional charge. From an accounting basis, they could not realize the full purchase price right away. They would have to defer part of that income until the radio was installed.

$1K sounds right. Remember, Apple is NOT for the masses. It’s an aspirational brand and as such, it cannot be available for cheap.