Core77

It's amazing what can get a patent nowadays. Every tablet laptop already has this function but apple seems to be able to patent it.

Dear Steve Jobs,

Yes please.

Love,

Paul

If they do end up doing something like this it will need the functionality of the laptop, and not the limited functionality of the ipad (you know, without ability to multitask).

So, apple's next step toward world domination is a 3 pound sidekick?

I'm right there with ya brother! Apple should have thought this Ipad a little more. Let's add on a nice stylus pen so I can draw, sit a the beach, enjoy the day and get my work and socializing done. When they finish this up, hopefully the get that hole stupid Adobe-Flash-Fight over with!

Wouldn't it be great if the screen from that patent was pressure sensitive, like say, a Wacom.

Or you could just go for a convertible Tablet PC...or bluetooth keyboard?

Mac's will always be my weapon of choice. Something like this would cause a worldwide nerdgasm, with web designers and other interactive techies easily transitioning from work to entertainment. Make it so!

This Apple patent seems identical to a 386 Grid laptop computer I used in '95...

I think that we need to look at a devise like this in a different way. There are many situations where a product like this can be great and useful but there are also many ways that it falls flat (no pun intended).

The ipad or any tablet pc for that matter is so limited that it really needs a more powerful computer with more memory to augment it. It needs to be in a case while traveling to protect the screen. You need to look at your hands while typing and you can't rest your fingers on the keyboard making it a somewhat slow and inferior experience than a standard keyboard. You have to hold it while watching videos.
The interesting thing is that a powerful laptop solves most of these problems.

If we ultimately want less devices that do more, rather than many devises that do less, I think we should focus on the combination of the two and not just splicing them together.
The modern laptop is capable of running the most power hungry applications with ease and it has much more storage space than any of these small devices (side note: the ipod touch doesn't have enough memory to house my music library which is why I wanted an mp3 player in the first place). The tablet needs a touch OS and good battery life.

I'm suggesting that we merge the two and get the best of both worlds. A powerful laptop body with physical keyboard and a display that can function as a tablet only when it is detached. I know what you are saying, Lenovo is coming out with that exact product. Yes they are but the execution is very lackluster and that's why I'm writing this. I want more companies to make strides with Lenovos genius idea so that we can finally have that one computer for everything.

Just one laptop that we can plug into a bigger monitor at home for a desktop, or a standard laptop for portability, or a tablet dock for recharging and transferring files. Why do we need three computers (Desktop, Laptop, Tablet) when we can carve that down to one. It doesn't seem necessary. Sorry for the length and slightly off topic comment.

Um, isn't this a tablet PC with the swivel joint? I mean, I like Macs, too, but aren't we getting absurd here? And why have two screens when you can just reuse the one in different configurations. After all, it's not like you can use them both concurrently.

Daftness.

It needs to be in a case while traveling to protect the screen. You need to look at your hands while typing and you can't rest your fingers on the keyboard making it a somewhat slow and inferior experience than a standard keyboard. You have to hold it while watching videos.