What Will the MacSlate Be?

A friend asked me today what the iSlate will be. Will it be a computer? Will it be an accessory? Will it be a glorified iPod Touch? If so, what would the purpose be? In that very instant I had a revelation. I happened to look down at the Wacom tablet that sits on my desk and that's what sparked the idea. It's going to be all those things. I think it will be much more accessory than either Mac or iPhone. And I think it's going to be called MacSlate. MacPad is too easy to make jokes about. About the only other name I've seen that sounds like it would be an Apple product is MacBook Touch. But that name doesn't quite fit with the product I'm imagining.

Imagine sitting at your computer, but not being forced to sit at attention in front of the keyboard, as you would be if you had a traditional keyboard. Imagine sitting back in your chair and typing on a keyboard in your lap, as if you had a bluetooth keyboard. Now imagine using the same device to mouse around your screen using multi-touch, like a huge trackpad or iPhone surface. And imagine not having to switch gears to do either of those things. They just happen. You type a letter on the full-size virtual keyboard, save it and then pinch it to pick it up and drop in into an e-mail. Then you get up and leave the office, taking your MacSlate with you. But as soon as you leave the confines of your wi-fi network or bluetooth range (you'll get to choose), your MacSlate becomes it own (limited) computer, much like a MacBook without the clamshell. But it's not meant as a replacement for your MacBook. No- it's meant to interact with your Mac and iPhone or iPod Touch, not replace them.

It will also be a media device that will play movies and music, just like an iPod Touch. It will also play games. I expect that it won't come with a wireless connection from a particular carrier, but I envision the MacSlate being 3G capable and able to join any carrier's network (for a fee, of course.) It would run mobile apps, but not necessarily full Mac apps.

Many of the gripes I've heard about people who use touch-screen phones, such as the iPhone, are that the screen is just too small and their fingers are too big, especially when using apps. The MacSlate will be able to sync to your iPhone or iPod Touch the same way it does your Mac and display the apps and games you already own on its 10.1-inch screen. It's a much more manageable size to play games on. Imagine Star Wars: Trench Run or a driving game played holding a device that more closely approximates the size of a real steering wheel. You would steer just as you would with your iPhone, but it would take interactivity to a whole new level.

Upon getting home, your MacSlate would automatically sync with your Mac at home and would become the monitor. Essentially you'll be screen-sharing to the MacSlate, so your Mac will actually be doing all the processing work.

You would be able to actually draw on the MacSlate itself with your fingers (or perhaps with a stylus for more precise detail work). But imagine working on a Photoshop project by actually pushing pixels around. Imagine burning or dodging a photo with your fingers or applying the Heal tool in Photoshop to someone's face by making several lightly-touched passes. Imagine painting - creating the underpainting and layering the paint based on the force of your touch - right on the MacSlate. Pretty cool. We've gotten pretty good at it using trackpads in recent years, so why not?

So that's my prediction for what Apple's tablet will be. At least, that's the only device that I could think of that would make me want something in between my Mac, my MacBook and my iPhone.