# Damn it Apple! Just make a freaking tablet computer already! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 5, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252 "2004-09-05T19:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/21 "2005-05-11T15:42:16Z")
When Apple builds a tablet, I will buy it. I want a great big, Apple PDA. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/22 "2005-05-11T16:29:26Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Style doesn’t matter. > > PC users are perfectly happy with their beige boxes tucked under their desks. It really doesn’t matter how ‘cool’ and ‘sleek’ the machine itself looks - that is totally superficial. What matters is the power and versatility, and the iMac is rather too limiting in that respect, I think. Still. What part of GM do you work for? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/23 "2005-05-11T19:44:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I think where Apple might lose out in the future is that they don’t seem to be positioning themselves as the home entertainment centre hub in quite the same way Microsoft is pushing Windows, It’s not about positioning so much as Apple not really seeming to care much about their products. Marketshare (and I’m suspicious of Apple’s numbers), even bouncing up or down a bit, means little. They’re not really growing their long-term base. And that ultimately spells trouble for the computer business. It either vanishes or becomes such a bit player that no one cares. Even today, Apple’s technology is coasting on memories of yesteryear. Their OS has advantages, but many more disadvatanges. Of course, I despise Apple’s customers for getting on board with some of their new products. The Ipod was fine, btu it wasn’t anything special, and the Ipod shuffle was (a) a brilliant marketing move and (b) gobbled up by people who apparently thought they had a new feature. I can understand people buying an Ipod (though not when comapred the competition), but I can’t understand why anyone would by one because it has a random button. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/24 "2005-05-11T19:59:06Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Even today, Apple’s technology is coasting on memories of yesteryear. Their OS has advantages, but many more disadvatanges. “Better than Windows” is the advantage that trumps all others. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/25 "2005-05-11T22:50:58Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > There was a guy who’d converted an iBook into a “tablet” by removing the keyboard, reattaching the screen, and grafting on some kind of stylus sensors over the screen. Is it [this guy](http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/)? ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/26 "2005-05-11T23:49:16Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > [Well hot diggity damn!](http://www.macobserver.com/article/2005/05/10.18.shtml) Par-tay! Apple patents the rectangle! I think they’re onto something! I especially like Fig 9, which demonstrates how the revolutionary new rectangle will be held. But make no mistake: the broken lines being shown (e.g. everything that’s not simply a rectangle) are not part of the design. They are for illustrative purposes only. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/27 "2005-05-12T00:37:15Z")
Another clue that they’re _thinking_ about it. If you have Tiger, and a graphics card capable of Quartz Extreme, go to System Preferences, and hold down option while you click on “Displays”. You’ll get an extra pop-up menu that lets you rotate the display in 90 degree increments. Unfortunately, the mouse/trackpad axes do not rotate along with the display, making it really hard to move around. (If you want to rotate back to normal, you have to quit System Preferences and open it again - for some reason the extra menu disappears when you rotate.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/28 "2005-05-12T00:45:08Z")
> [@galt](#): > > Par-tay! Apple patents the rectangle! I think they’re onto something! That is not just a rectangle, it is a **round cornered** rectangle! Apple also deserves some sort of award for the use of [brevity in a patent application:](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=ptxt&S1=D504,889.WKU.&OS=pn/D504,889&RS=PN/D504,889?tMoJk) ```auto We claim the ornamental design for an electronic device, substantially as shown and described. (plus some pictures) ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/29 "2005-05-12T01:18:21Z")
> [@Lars Aruns](#): > > Is it [this guy](http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/)? Might be—though I thought I remembered the frankentablet having an orange casing. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/30 "2005-05-12T03:01:35Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > I’ll have to become one of those guys who carries around a man-purse. **(Not that there’s anything _wrong_ with that.)** OK,\*\* Sol\*\*. I’ve grown to have a great deal of respect for you over the past year. You’ve helped to educate me and lose some prejudice I carried for far too long. But a frigging man-purse? Nothing wrong with it? Sac up man! You are still a guy, you know. This is a sad day in dufferland[sup]TM[/sup]! Anyway, I try to stay out of PC vs Mac stuff as I’m more partisan on this than any other topic. I can’t imagine ever being swayed. I started out on Apple 25 years ago in school, and today see Mac as little more than a tool for graphic designers and artists. Though PC’s are now, or will soon be, caught up for power. Add to that the massive advantage Windows PC’s have (can Linux or Unix be run on Mac?)\* in the area of available software products and capabilities, configurations, compatability, etc. I know some of you would marry your Mac if you could, and if you prefer that to PC fine, but I just don’t see Mac being in the market in 20 years if they don’t do something amazing to garner market share. And it will have to be something more than a fancy case and Madison Avenue. \*Seriously, I don’t even know if Mac can run these. It’s not meant as a dig, just don’t know. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/31 "2005-05-12T03:17:43Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Add to that the massive advantage Windows PC’s have (can Linux or Unix be run on Mac?)\* > \*Seriously, I don’t even know if Mac can run these. It’s not meant as a dig, just don’t know. ☹ > [@](#): > > The most widely-sold UNIX-based operating system, Mac OS X offers a unique combination of technical elements to the discerning geek, such as fine-grained multithreading, Mach 3.0 microkernel, FreeBSD services, tight hardware integration and SMP-safe drivers, as well as zero configuration networking. Tiger’s state-of-the-art kernel features improved SMP scalability and 64-bit virtual memory, while standards-based access control lists take UNIX permissions to the next level. [Apple Mac OSX Unix](http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/) ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/32 "2005-05-12T03:59:36Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > can Linux or Unix be run on Mac? [Yellow Dog Linux](http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/) Just fightin’ ignorance, y’know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/33 "2005-05-12T04:15:40Z")
Thanks for the replies. Learned something new. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/34 "2005-05-12T06:17:57Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > \*Seriously, I don’t even know if Mac can run these. It’s not meant as a dig, just don’t know. ☹ I know this board is about fighting ignorance and all, but this is one of those times where I find I just have to 😃 at the sheer level of un-knowledge being flaunted in public. 😉 The choice is simple – use a Mac today, or wait until Microsoft cobbles together a half-assed copy in 2006… or maybe 2007… or, eh, whenever… ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/35 "2005-05-12T06:23:28Z")
Sorry, I’ll attempt to hide it at every opportunity. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/36 "2005-05-12T06:35:03Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > I point on the new iMac; the office in my building all has these HP models that tuck the entire computer into a few vertical inches, much like the iMac. So why is the iMac, which is coming out later than the HP, all that revolutionary and interesting. > > The HP takes up a comparable amount of deskspace. Yeah, but does the HP have the iMac’s signature sudden death at 3 months? Which requires the mid-plane to be replaced, the major cost of the machine. Luckily mine was under warranty, this time. I’m pretty sure its a design defect that will happen again. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/37 "2005-05-12T16:15:50Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Yeah, but does the HP have the iMac’s signature sudden death at 3 months? Which requires the mid-plane to be replaced, the major cost of the machine. Luckily mine was under warranty, this time. I’m pretty sure its a design defect that will happen again. ☹ I’ve had an iMac for about five years, and I haven’t had any major problems. All I had to get done once was have it reformatted, because it had slowed to a crawl. I guess I got lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/38 "2005-05-12T17:45:59Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > can … Unix be run on Mac? :eek: [Two weeks short of four years](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_v10.0). ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/39 "2005-05-12T19:00:16Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > Microsoft DID NOT bail Apple out a couple years ago. Microsoft bought $150 million in non-voting shares, that’s all. At the time they did this, Apple had over $2 billion in the bank. Apple was never in serious danger of going under. That’s not all. There was also the little matter of MS committing to developing a non-ported Mac Office product for 5 years, as well as other Mac products like Mac IE and MSN Messenger for the Mac. When that ran out a couple of years ago, MS announced that they were still committed to creating a unique Mac-Only version of the Office suite, including RDC and VPC. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252/40 "2005-05-12T19:28:42Z")
…though Microsoft did stop development of Internet Exploer for the Mac, probably because (a) it was getting spanked hard by all the other Mac browsers available, and (b) they couldn’t make money selling it. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-it-apple-just-make-a-freaking-tablet-computer-already/263252.md?page=3)