Not for heavy-duty work; of course not. Anybody who has the chance to sit in front of a nice 20+ inch display will not forego that for a little 7-10 inch walkabout. But what makes the (presumed) new device valuable is that “walkabout” capability.

I’ve kept steno notebooks of meeting notes, project status and such since the mid-80s. A lot of that has started migrating into Wikis and so on in recent years, but I still generally keep a pad handy for times when carrying around a notebook, plugging it in or dealing with a low battery, etc, are just too much of a hassle. Also, I can draw diagrams freehand in a notepad, an ability that I haven’t yet found a use-it-without-thinking replacement for. If Apple would create a device that was as portable and useful as those steno notepads – while still being sufficiently Mac-like that I can carry around documents and do useful, light work with them in hallway meetings and such – then that really would change the game. I see things like the new Dell five-inch “entertainment” pad and they look cool, as far as they go… but they’re running Windows or (potentially) Linux, and I really do have better things to do with my time and my data. The Macs I have now are the most reliable, useful computers I have ever owned – and I’ve been programming since ’79, buying my first “PC” in ’83. (The previous “most useful” computer I’ve ever owned is my not-yet-fully-retired PowerTower 225; how many Windows PCs of that vintage are still running?)

Steve, you’ve a transformational opportunity here, the need for which is driving the frenzy of speculation. You can either deliver something which validates that hope, or risk another Newton-level blown opportunity. Please, for $DEITY’s sake, get it right this time.

Color me deeply disturbed, too, about the “iPhone on steroids” tablet as opposed to the “slimmed-down MacBook Air” approach. Whereas I’d snap the latter up right away, to have an omnipresent Mac notepad for hallway conferences and other impromptu events, it really does depend on whether or not I have access to my real-work apps. The iPhone is a wondrous device, and I use it as an app platform as much as I use it as a phone or music player, but it was created to solve a *fundamentally different problem.* Historically, Apple has given the impression that they understand this idea. It’s supposedly one of the reasons for why an Apple tablet hasn’t been tried since the Newton: Steve&Co understand that they get only about one shot every decade to make radical change work. If they build a system for an unsustainable niche when they had the opportunity to create a market-changing device, the repercussions on Apple – the company and its current customers – will be grim indeed.

A pure tablet is not my all-in-one machine. The new ones are netbooks without keyboards, limited in function, however fun to have on one’s lap in front of the tv or in the bed.

Will a small slim tablet fill that void? For some perhaps for many no. The loss or a real key board is far from a positive and the price apple usually demands a problem as well.

It is always fun to see what apple designs but my lightweight netbook finds its way in my case when I travel, My MacBook Air stays home and my I phone is on my belt and my Kindle makes it in the rotation on occasion.