Please, an Apple Tablet!

As the rumors build up for the next big Mac fest in France, and as the late, late, late next-gen iMac inches closer to a unveiling date sometime in September, I’m hoping to see something about an Apple tablet.

The tablet market has built slowly, but it has built. And there are important niches that it is entering that Apple needs to be in. Not the least of these is education – the lay-flat form factor of tablets is great for a transition from traditional to technological classroom – but an important one is mobile business.

A midsized mostly-Mac company that I know of is going to go PC, with the tablet form factor, unless Apple comes out with something in that area soon. This is not an arena Apple can afford to lose.

The rumors around the new iMac suggest that it is an all-in-one (of course) with everything – CPU, RAM, ports, optical drive – hiding behind the flat screen. Whether this is true or not is anyone’s guess, but the possible connection to a tablet-like product should be clear.

Apple – it’s time for a Mac tablet!