If you read the tea leaves and ANY tech blog or website, it seems that Apple will probably announce and release some version of a tablet this year. My question is; Why?

While a 10″ iPhone/MacBook SOUNDS cool, who would use it other than gadget freaks? We’re talking about a device that could run iPhone Apps, surf the web, have a touch sensitive screen and could be a replacement for the Kindle or your portable DVD player.
Ok, it sounds like I’m talking myself into it.

First, they already have the MacBook Air; basically a very powerful netbook. If the Air isn’t ultra-portable, I don’t know what is. And yet, you still need to carry it in a bag. The beauty of the iPhone is that it fits in your pocket. The iSlate or whatever they decide to call it will need a bag of some sort, be it your purse or man bag. Even with the newest Pine Trail processor from Intel, the device won’t be much of a business tool, will it?

One of the biggest markets for tablet based PC’s is the medical profession where EMR and EHR systems integrate with tablets to allow medical providers to markup charts and bubble sheets as they work with a patient. All of the Practice Management, EMR and EHR programs I am familiar with require Windows to run. Unless this new tablet from Apple allows you to run Boot Camp, it won’t get much penetration into that market, and even if it did allow you to run Windows on a partition, the software providers probably wouldn’t support it. Add to that the fact that you would lose the functionality that you presumably bought the gadget for and it seems a pointless exercise.

The form factor itself is not without precedent. Remember the Microsoft Origami? There was so much talk at the time about it changing the mobile computing world and it failed miserably.

It looks to me like it will be a device for gadget hounds and folks with too much money. I’m probably wrong. At least all the die hard Apple geeks will buy it and that will probably make it successful enough to keep around for a few years.

Your Thoughts?