the specs of the apple iTablet:

* CPU OMAP 34xx 600 MHz
* PowerVR MBX-Lite graphics
* 4.5" capacitive touchscreen 720 x 480 with light sensor for auto-dim
* 1800mAh battery (7 days standby, 12 hours normal use, 3 hours maximum performance)
* 512MB ram
* 32GB flash (no memory slot)
* AGPS with 3D accelerometer/tilt sensors
* digital compass
* 3Mpix digicam with focus
* stereo speakers
* wifi (N)
* bluetooth (2.1) with A2DP
* 3G (UMTS/W-CDMA) on international bands offering HS(U/D)PA, no GSM fallback
* on-screen keyboard or bluetooth keyboard
* sealed battery (apple service agent replacement only)
* firmware locked to Apple
* only apps signed by Apple from iTunes store can be installed
* exclusive to existing carriers (ATT/USA, O2/UK etc)

OK, I made it all up using specs from the iphone 3GS. My question is, would you buy a device that was crippled (fixed battery, apple-signed-only apps, lower-res screen, no 2/2.5G fallback)?

I guess it it was jailbroken then I'd strongly consider it, but the price would have to be fairly good off-contract so I'd not be signing my life away to a mobile(cell) phone carrier!

I am pretty sure they would make it 480x800, and it would probably be a x86 proc running OSX or a Samsung CortexA8 (like iPhone 3GS)

If such a tablet should arrive, i think it should use the same kind of architecture than iPhone 3Gs, like previous iPhones : ARM and not x86.

As for the iTablet ... it's an old sea snake ...
Every year, twice a year, we have the same rumor ... it will eventually become true one day ...

the 3GS is a Ti Omap 3430 according to most websites.

I don't consider that to be "crippled". I never change the batteries in any of my pocketables. It's more ideal to have that option, but ideal vs non-ideal isn't the same as crippled vs non-crippled.

That one is one of the major reasons I wouldn't buy it. I want the iTablet to run a more open platform version of OS X (more like desktop OS X), not the closed version on the iPhone/iPT.

But even having said that, it's not "crippling". To call the iPhone "crippled" by its application ecosystem, when it has a huge, thriving, ecosystem ... is sort of like the opposite of rosey-colored-sunglasses. You're not seeing what's actually there, because of a bias. I share the dislike, but it's definitely not crippled. It just doesn't give me the ecosystem that I want.

This, and the tiny screen size you gave in the specs, would definitely keep me away. I don't want to two pocketables. I want a MID-phone and an ultra-mobile (9" netbook, 9" tablet, or 9" convertible tablet netbook). The screen size and specs you gave are fine for my MID-phone. Definitely not "crippled".

Where have you heard that such a device might not have EDGE? While I've seen several devices advertise their 3G radio options, I have yet to come across one that was "3G only". I wouldn't call that "crippled", but I would call it "stupid" :-}

That* would be a deal breaker.

(* needing to have it jailbroken in order to consider it to be a useful/worth-buying device)

If I have to break the device in order to use it, that's an amazingly good indicator that I will constantly be fighting against it to get what I want out of it, or be constantly frustrated and annoyed by the vendor and how they support the device. I made that decision in September of 2007, when I decided to buy an N800 instead of an iPhone. A week later was the day Apple released a firmware update that bricked every jailbroken phone (talk about a "crippled device" -- of all the things you said, the constant struggle of jailbreaking, risking being bricked, etc. is a much bigger "crippling feature" than anything else on this list). I have never regretted that decision.

If the device can't meet my needs without being broken, it's not worth my money.


So, of the 5 things you commented on (fixed battery, closed app ecosystem, screen, 3G only, requires jailbreaking), I'd categorize them as:

• Deal Breakers: Closed App Ecosystem, 3G only, Requires Jailbreaking
• Not Deal Breakers (but less than ideal): Fixed Battery
• Not Negative At All: Screen Size/Resolution

Sorry I can't agree with that sentiment. I bought an Apple TV with the express desire to "jailbreak" it and install Boxee on it. I don't feel it was a waste of my money. I didn't want to throw a mini in my rack. Sometimes I buy stuff expecting to mod it from it's original intention. I know the risks and I accept the risk.

I think shitting on Apple for releasing an update that had the potential to "brick" a device that the user modified is wrong headed. Apple has no obligation to go out of it's way to make sure the updates for it's device doesn't break it because the user decided to mess with it. People who hack their phones, computers, etc, know the risks and ought to accept them.

If that's the way you read that paragraph, you need to re-read it in a different light. I never in any way said that Apple should change what they've done, or that Apple is somehow wrong headed in what they've done. I said that I knew their direction was one that wasn't compatible with my direction, so I put my money into a device did fit my direction.

(and it did; my leaving the N800/N810 behind wasn't because they stopped doing what I bought them to do, or that they never delivered on key features I had hoped they'd eventually deliver; it was that I realized there were features I wanted/needed that were outside of their device market/design)

Exactly what I am saying. Apple, nor any other company, has no obligation to support the product in a manner outside of its intended marketed purpose.

I consider "jailbreaking is required" to be a deal breaker for exactly that reason. I am a sysadmin by day, and the last thing I want to do is come home and waste my time fighting against my gadgets trying to get them to do what I want. That's "work", not "enjoyment".

That's the vendors job: making the gadget work and do what it's supposed to do. I pay them to make the gadget work and do what it's supposed to do. If the vendor and I don't agree on what constitutes "the gadget works and does what it's supposed to do", ensuring that they're going to provide to me a device that does what I want, then why would I give that vendor my money?

If the vendor isn't going to do "the work", why am I giving them my money?

If the device isn't intended to do what I want, then I'm not going to buy it. I'll find a different solution to the problem, that fits what I want, and is supported by the vendor to do what I want.

Fighting against the vendor and the device is a waste of my luxury time (and thus a waste of my money), and a fool's errand. I did that when I was younger, and had lots of idle time to waste on such things. I have better ways to spend my time these days.

Yup. I know the risk too. And I correctly calculated that risk 2 years ago. I didn't/don't accept the cost of that risk, so going down that path wasn't worth my buying decision. Nor is it worth going down that path for a hypothetical iTablet, etc.

I never once said that other people shouldn't jailbreak their phones, or that the cost of said risk isn't worth it FOR ANYONE. I said that requiring jailbreaking for the functionality I want is a deal breaker FOR ME. That it makes the device, effectively, crippled FOR ME.

John; Duly noted and stand corrected.