I read maclife.com and yesterday’s story titled “One Multi-Touch Screen to Rule Them All” caught my eye. I immediately began thinking I was going to see real evidence of Apple’s version of the tablet PC. After creating the iPhone and iTouch, it would seem the next logical step would be to create what mac rumor sites have been talking about for years – the MacTablet (also called the MacBook Touch).
But instead, the maclife.com story was about the awarding of the patent that Apple filed for back in 2007 for the multi-touch screen. I was sorely disappointed.
For years I’ve watched some of my friends who never converted to Mac (why???) use various PC laptops, and the tablet PC always intrigued me. I don’t understand why Apple didn’t jump on that bandwagon given all the technology, creativity, and innovation they obviously hold. They didn’t have to be the first to market with it, but at least make a mac version that we all know is going to be better.
Other laptop makers are continuing to innovate the Tablet PC approach, and now we’re seeing touchscreen laptops with even more capabilities. While these laptops are certainly not the norm, I believe they’ll catch on more and more as features and usability improve.
I love mac laptops – in fact, I just bought a brand new MacBook. And while there have been improvements in the line of mac laptops (unibody construction, glossy displays, multi-touch button-less trackpack), even I can’t point to something that makes me say “Damn! Look at that!”.
I thought the MacBook Air was going to change all the rules when it arrived on the scene, but I quickly realized a few things:
- The specifications aren’t anything to brag about (1.6 Ghz processor!!)
- It has no internal superdrive so I have to buy it SEPARATELY and then keep up with it
- It only has one USB port
And to top it off the MacBook Air costs $2499 for the “better” version.
Apple should continue to improve their MacBooks just as they have – because those make sense for most of us, and we love them. But I’d like to see some new laptop products start to make a splash and show that Apple innovation that we’ve all loved from the beginning.
