I wrote a few weeks ago about the need, yes need, for an Apple tablet. Today the new iMac came out.
Anyone else notice anything interesting?
Pull off that aluminum foot, add touch screen capability to the LCD, and you’ve got a tablet. A fat tablet to be sure, (the iMac is 2″ thick) but a tablet nonetheless.
That thickness is understandable – there’s a reason the iMac starts at $1300 US and the PowerBook starts at $1600 US. Thicker is cheaper.
But the mere fact that the form factor is possible (iMac) and that the thinness is possible (PowerBook) suggests to me that an Apple tablet can’t be too far outside the realm of reality.
And that’s a good thing. I didn’t mention it in that previous article, but tablets are starting to get hot in education.
Getting hot doesn’t necessarily immediately translate into a ton of sales, but it’s the precursor. I know of several tech schools that are starting up with tablets for teachers. It’s something that emotionally and physically connects them to their pre-technology teaching roots – even if it doesn’t, practically – and lends itself to easy live teaching sessions using a projector.
And since education is important to Apple, sooner is better than later.
let’s just hope that the tablet does not go the way of the newton or emate.
I know a lot of teachers were pissed.