MacTab: Convertible MacBook Design
Written on May 09, 2007 by Nick Santilli and 9 people have commented
CrunchGear pointed to this the other day and I’ve been daydreaming about it since. The fact that it’s a tablet mock-up does not necessarily get me excited. The part I dig is the short description of how the design would function:
It [the keyboard] stays in place with a combination of magnets and notches
There are always photoshopped examples of stuff people would like to see, and they often just mimic whatever design look Apple’s using at that point in time. But the designer of these sick looking images - Yann Le Coroller - really put his own thought into this beyond strictly the aesthetics. Nice work!
#1 Twist says:Kind of reminds me of the old Powerbook concept Apple had made except that wasn’t a tablet. The concept I am thinking of was featured in a MacWorld or MacAddict magazine back in the mid to late 90’s (pre-G3 I think). The screen was removable, had a stand built-in, and had a sensor in it that allowed you to set it up in either portrait or landscape orientation and it would automatically adjust accordingly.
It is neat but the modBook with a better price and better pressure sensitivity would be fine with me.
#2 donebylee says:Wow, that is a really great idea. I would definitely buy one if it wasn’t too outrageously priced.
#3 apller says:*boring*
the pen is a outdated input devide. multiple fingers/multitouch is the key!
#4 Peter says:“… sick looking images …” ?
#5 Rob Hawkes says:“*boring*
the pen is a outdated input devide. multiple fingers/multitouch is the key!”
Could you be any more incorrect? We don’t write with our fingers, we use pens because they excrete ink and are precise. Pens are used in computer graphics because they are extremely accurate. This isn’t the iPhone!
#6 Honza says:Right. I want a pen. And forget the keyboard.
#7 knight says:Chances are, knowing what we know about mulitouch, if Apple was ever to make a real MacTablet, it probably use a combonation of a pen & multitouch interface.
Think about it, you use your fingers to click and drag a file into a folder, then double tap it to open the file, Photoshop launches, you still use your fingers to do that cool two finger zoom then you use the pen (already in your hand) and you start touching up the photo. I think that could be a very cool way of working.
That’s just my thoughts.
#8 sjmills says:My handwriting sucks and I hate to write. Give me a keyboard.
That concept looks cool and might be sorta nice for those people who use a portable computer mostly so they can take it with them and always use it at a desk. I use a portable computer so it can rest on my lap and is made up of one part, not multiple parts that might need to be disconnected and reconnected, or would easily break because they’re designed to come apart.
#9 Kendall Tawes says:That looks great but I would still have a standard track pad in the keyboard. I don’t want to have to use a pen when I’m sitting back browsing the web at my desk, reclined in my desk chair. but I would love to use the pen when I’m about town or stopping for some tea or coffee.
Regardless a tablet Mac like that would just be incredible.