Those of you out there with a keen ear to the ground on all things ‘technology’ will no doubt by now have heard muffled whispers from California regarding a new Apple device, soon to be launched on the open market (in time for Christmas, sources reveal candidly): a tablet-style computer designed for swift, on-the-move web surfing, MP3 listening and movie watching that you can pop in your handbag (ladies) or school satchel (gents). With no keyboard (save for a virtual device on the screen when you need it) the whole surface area will apparently be one large touchpad, similar in operation to the current iPhone.

(Above) A design concept for the new Apple Tablet. Allegedly.

So far, so Cupertino. Now, impressive as this may sound, am I alone in thinking this is going to massively affect the way users view and browse websites? Currently users move around by clicking links with their mouse/trackpad, and can be quite precise in doing so as the on-screen pointer is so accurate. Take this away and you have users jabbing their thumbs at navigation elements that may be too small, too close together, or even both. Witness someone trying to use an iPhone for the first time on a normal website (like myself) and you’ll get the idea. Dextrous I ain’t.

So, then, what’s this going to mean? Are sites going to be forced to have larger clickable areas in order to cope with the fat-fingered? Are we going to be in a position where as well as the standard desktop version of a website, you also have a mobile version plus a ‘tablet’ optimised layout more akin to a touch-screen information console (no doubt with graphics sliced up in Fireworks, God forbid) than a traditional website? Not only that but tablets have a smaller screen area and are designed for viewing on a flat surface, i.e. so you’re looking downwards at your lap or tabletop. I can hear chiropracters and opticians around the Western world rejoicing in glee already. Without seeing one in the aluminium, so to speak, it’s hard to say but surely potential screen resolutions will be going backwards rather than forwards, never a good thing for designers who defend and cherish white space and marketeers who insist on everything fitting on the one screen.

I’ve two words for you here, people: internet television. In a previous life, for my sins, I was involved with a mail order corporate who firmly believed this was the way forward. All websites were designed from on high with huge fonts and massive buttons so that the couch potato users who were their target audience could see and navigate from the comfort of their own sofas. They were, in short, hideous. Thankfully the advert of cheaper computing and even cheaper, ubiquitous broadband soon saw the end of that particular fad, but you get my drift.

Will it happen? Will it be a red herring concocted by Apple’s adoring legion of fans and consumers? I guess you’ll have to watch this space. On your PC, mobile or tablet…

Tags: allegedly, Apple, rumours, tablet, touch screen

This entry was posted on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 1:03 PM and is filed under Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.