Money. That’s why the new tablet from Apple will run the same operating system as the iPhone and iPod touch. Apple has a lot of options to make money through iTunes with the upcoming tablet. If they just put OS X on the device, they just sell another tablet that not many would want. I would, but it wouldn’t be enough people to make a good profit. You can already work at home with an iMac, Mac Pro, or Mac Mini. You can work away from home with a MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. Both of these types of systems, desktops and laptops have keyboard, this way you can work and play. If you want to have a constant connection to the web, you can get an iPhone and if you’re not interested in the $60 a month or more, you can get an iPod touch. So, why a tablet and why iPhone OS?
The tablet does not need to replace any of the above. It’s a whole new device. Whatever connection is has, wifi or cellular, whatever ports, USB or video, here’s some ideas I have or have heard of for the new tablet.
Newspaper & Magazine
More and more newspaper and magazine companies are closing down or switching to all digital content these days. This will help to revive this market. Think of things like the New York Times, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, etc.
eBook Reader & Textbooks
With the popularity of the Kindle and many educational institutes using iPod touches in class, the next big thing is the tablet. The Kindle is black and white. This helps with saving battery and targeting the device to one task but when it comes to textbooks, color, video and the ability to update the information keeps kids from buying a new book every year. I’m sure there will also be ways to highlight and use other tools to research.
Music LPs
Apple announced this year their new LPs which along with your album purchase comes lyrics, liner notes, video, photos and more. This is perfect content for a tablet.
App Store Apps
Of course app store apps already make Apple plenty of money, but if the same apps can be sold on another device, that’s just more money. Now, imagine the apps can be run in windows of their own, stretchable or of course running in the back ground.
Movies, Music Videos & TV Shows
This is all already available on the iPhone, iPod touch, Apple TV, etc, but a tablet is a great device for video. Big screen, light weigh, and hopefully, an OLED screen.
Cable TV
There are a few rumors of Apple working with cable companies on subscriptions from within iTunes. Hopefully this would stream to 5 devices just like iTunes music and apps do. Again, video streaming to a nice sized tablet of your cable tv programming!
All of these things Apple can charge for through iTunes and make a profit on. Hopefully this helps them with the decision to sell the device for less knowing they’ll make more in the future through media and app sales. Either way, I want one! How about you? Do you think the upcoming tablet device will run iPhone OS or OS X? Will you get one?
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