Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The new 64Gb big screen iPod

What is suprising about the new 64Gb iPod with the 12" screen is that Apple don't seem to have got arround to thinking about it yet.

Forget the MacBook Air, it is a niche product that falls between two stools. It is not quite a desktop replacement and its not quite an ultra-portable. It is fine for Web browsing and possibly for word processing but gamers, programmers and many others are going to find it limiting.

Why not go one stage better? Forget the word processing, just give me a dedicated Web browsing and video playback device. The new 32Gb iPod Touch is almost there, just give me a bigger screen. I am 40, my eyes are not quite up to reading from a 3.5" screen over extended periods.

A 12" screen is probably an optimal compromise between readability and portability for me but I would settle for anything in the 8" to 15" range. At the smaller end of the range the device looks like a Kindle killer. At the larger end its a true portable entertainment device.

The reason I think Apple would do better to develop this than the iPod touch is that there is very little reason to buy a touch if you either have an iPhone or expect to buy one. But I would certainly buy a 12" iTablet if it cost in the region of $800.

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