We went “major league” on print and IPEX last week, so let’s have a change of focus for issue 8, and with Apple’s much fabled iPad now alive and kicking in the UK market, and Taipei’s Computex very much the talk of the week with the computer fraternity, let us talk tablet.Firstly, unless you have been on a fact-finding mission to Mars, you will have noticed much hype and excitement about the development and subsequent marketing of the iPad. Well, it is now here in the UK and has been on sale for a week. I was able to get my sticky fingers on one this last weekend at my local, friendly, neighbourhood Apple store; a very busy store I should add: the iPad has certainly created interest. It really is everything that I had imagined and hoped for; it is a superb piece of technology.
However, as many commentators have already mentioned, it really is also a big iPhone. Nothing wrong with that at all, but do you want to shell out some considerable cash on a big iPhone? I’m really not sure that I do. I am quite happy with my iPhone, but I don’t think I really want a big one in exchange for £500 or £600. I want to know what you would do with a iPad; what groundbreaking application or task are you going to give to this great piece of technology to justify that spend. This really is the one flaw that I can see in this glorious product: why do I need it? I am easy to convince, so do send in your suggestions on an e-mail to PIND.editor@gmail.comAccording to Steve Jobs, however, I might be thinking in too narrow a plane. He suggests that we need to view this introduction in a broader sense. He believes that the tablet will replace the desk-bound PC in the long-term. That's a big call! Do you agree?
The competition from the “non Apple” sector is hotting up, but to be honest Apple has the market to itself for some months yet. The developments on show at Computex were exciting according to the techies that were present, but most are still products in development, and many will not actually hit the streets for at least six months.
The best of the products on show have been covered by our friends at Engadget during this last week or so. Windows 7 devices such as the Asus Eee Pad probably made as bigger mark as any. A 12-inch screen, Intel's Core 2 Duo processor, a keyboard docking station for real typing, and 10-hours of battery life have to make this a serious competitor in the market. In dollar terms we are talking $399 to $499, but we are still talking first quarter 2011 before you can get one. A smaller Asus Eee Tablet could complete the line-up priced between $199 and $299.MSI appears to be hedging its bets with both an Android and Windows 7 based offering. Both look inferior to the above in my opinion. LG looks more serious with a 10-inch Windows 7 based product, including (take note Mr Jobs) a 1.3 megapixel front-facing webcam and an SD card slot.
Intel’s Moorestown seems to be getting more than its fair share of mentions this week. Suggestions from Intel, however, that you won’t see a real life product much before the end of 2010.
One tablet that is most definitely eye catching is the dual 14-inch screen Kno. That’s quite a bit of screen real estate, and still they claim a battery life of 8 to 10-hours.Finally, back at the Apple iPad camp, it was noted that the iPad Camera Connection Kit is now in such short supply in the US that the $30 option is now trading on e-Bay for upwards of $180. This handy kit does certainly help to overcome some of the shortcomings of the product, with a plug in SD card reader and a plug in USB port, but even then the USB port does have its limitations! A keyboard, yes, an external drive, no!
If you are a new reader of PIND you might be asking why all the tablet talk? It might not appear to closely linked to the printing industry, but we are looking at it from the publishers perspective. It could be the start of a major revolution for publishers, and that certainly would have an impact for printers, so it needs watching from both sectors! 
PIND008
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