Northeast Securities analyst Ashok Kumar says here that:
“The Tablet will also include a docking station… This could be a crucial feature for consumers who harbor an ongoing love affair with keyboards. For those unsatisfied with touchscreen typing, a dock would connect to a keyboard and mouse.”
Really? A docking station? What is this, 1995?
1. If you’re unsatisfied with touch screen typing, you’ll have a laptop.
2. Want to use a keyboard/mouse? It’s called Bluetooth, Mr. Kumar.
3. The iPhone doesn’t have a physical keyboard and it’s done pretty well for itself.
4. I seriously doubt Apple would do anything so inelegant. If it even had a USB port I’d be surprised. Who is wrong here? Ashok or me? Speculate away in the comments. Image by Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo.
2. Want to use a keyboard/mouse? It’s called Bluetooth, Mr. Kumar.
3. The iPhone doesn’t have a physical keyboard and it’s done pretty well for itself.
4. I seriously doubt Apple would do anything so inelegant. If it even had a USB port I’d be surprised. Who is wrong here? Ashok or me? Speculate away in the comments. Image by Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo.
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6 Comments
Agreed.
Ditto, there is no need for a dock.
Allow me to disagree that there is no need for a docking station. I don’t think Apple would call it a “docking station” nor would it be what you think of when docking your laptop at your desk. But the thing will have to charge and sync somehow and a dock connector like the iPhone would make sense as the hardware already exists.Even more “Mac-esque” would be to run with the art theme the announcement used and have an “easel” or stand of some kind that wirelessly charges the device, hooks up to your iMac to sync the device wirelessly, and puts the device in a more vertical position like a monitor. Or perhaps even lets it act as a second monitor. Just some thoughts.
Inductive charging is one thing (which I thought about, but I don’t think they’d include it on the first model) but having a dock to attach a keyboard and mouse still seems out of the realm of possibility for me. It could sync over wifi, charge wirelessly, connect to keyboard/mouse over Bluetooth – no need for a dock of any kind.I’ve actually heard one argument that Apple won’t allow keyboard/mouse connectivity at all because it will want people to use it the way it was intended – multitouch. Not sure if I buy into that or not, but I thought it was an interesting idea.I’m doubtful of a stand/easel simply because…I dunno… it just seems so clunky. That, and I don’t think they’re going to position it for desktop use/as a desktop replacement.
Dock? Check. Good idea? I don’t think so.
I always thought it would have a dock – obviously it needs a place to charge. As far as adding a keyboard – I admit I’m surprised. I would have been even more shocked if it had a mouse.