The Apple netbook, and the return of Steve Jobs
The Apple netbook is beginning to turn into the Obama era's interminable almost-here Apple product, just like yesteryear's "OS X on Intel" (which ended up happening) or "Mac tablet" (which didn't). Well, I suppose it's more accurate to say that the netbook rumors are really just the tablet rumors reborn, slightly reworked to match up with a market segment that has taken off in ways that tablets never did. In fact, some of the form factors being floated under the "netbook rumor" heading seem to be more or less straight-up tablets. As I've noted, I have a hard time seeing the point of a low-powered computer (or high-powered iPhone OS gadget) that you can't properly type on and can't carry around in your pants pocket, which is what a tablet means to me.
[ For more on Apple netbooks see Apple netbook rumors resurface and Can an Apple Netbook Ride iPhone Success? ]
Nevertheless, still more rumors seem to be coming out, and they continue to include touchscreens, so who knows. If I had to put money on it, I'd still say iPhone OS-based, real keyboard, 10-inch touchscreen, $600-$700. But what sort of took me by surprise was the news today that Steve Jobs himself may be heading up the project. It was Jobs who said "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that," which has been used to pooh-pooh Apple netbook rumors ever since, so if this is really true, it might indicate that Apple's CEO thinks he's come up with some nifty game-changer for the product category.
But more important that Jobs' netbook design judgement (he's not infallible, after all) is just the rumor that he is in fact working, since everyone's been so worried about his health for the past several months. If Phil Schiller announces "one more thing" at WWDC, and a curtain is pulled back to reveal an Apple netbook held aloft by Jobs, I guarantee you that there won't be a dry eye on the house, even if the netbook ends up flopping.
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The ecoPOOP STRAIGHT !!!
SJ, the opposite he will do, WHENEVER makes he a statement like that can bet you, a piece of excrement for $500 he will learn to make NOT, in fact !APPLE must UNLEARN what they have LEARNED !!!
Where the motherboard is the graphics card APPLE will make, a new ultra low cost computer architecture, I see, and with RAM and storage unified will it be.
APPLE's greenness with EcoRAM as the highlight will also be another marketing push on the intro of the new device.
It, check out ...
http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=1165
"Here are the main EcoRAM benefits that Spansion is pitching:
- One-eighth the energy consumption of DRAM
- 10 times the reliability of DRAM
- Read performance that meets rapid access requirements
- Appropriate densities for a data center and write performance that is 2 to 10 times faster than traditional NOR flash memory"
AND http://brancobusiness.blogspot.com/2008/06/addressing-dram-drain.html
Then anything else a laser traced and tracked keyboard more likely I think is, but a LOT of user testing such a ground breaking design require would, hiatus SJ's thus. A touch pad on the BACK hope for also I, CONSTANTLY my iPhone am I cleaning greasy kids stuff of the screen off !!!
"We don't know how to make a
"We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that,"probably means it's going to be around US$900.