Jokes apart, I do love a Mac, for the simple reason that they give me an uncomparable experience whenever I use one of their products. Let’s face it, I use the same browser on my Mac at home as I do on my PC at work, the same Microsoft word processor (yes, Microsoft, I am not that sad), the same spreadsheets; you get the point. What matters to me is the way I use it, how it makes ME feel when I sit in front of a beautiful piece of technology that looks good, works well, is fast and, let’s be honest, that I worked hard to acquire. Would you feel the same at the wheel of a Lexus as you would driving a Ford? And have you wondered why Apple have sold 40 million iPhones when everyone initially claimed that the price point was way to high? Or why everyone is now trying to copy the iPhone and why the iPod is so popular? The music on an iPod doesn’t sound better than on a much cheaper MP3 player. Your phone conversations are not any clearer on an iPhone, and iPhones don’t even work well in the cold and are often glitchy. Still, most people have rushed for them, just like most people queue at Starbucks. The reason is simple and it comes down to 2 basic things: the experience the brand gives you and how the brand makes you feel.

But this post is about what’s coming on 26th January 2010.

If Apple are releasing a product, and given the quality of everything they have released in the past 4-5 years (apart from the Apple TV, a blatant flop), Apple have more than proven their market leading position in terms of innovation. HP and Microsoft may have announced yesterday a couple of slates some three weeks before Apple’s expected official announcement, but where is the user experience? Users do not need just a flat laptop, they need something better than a laptop. Which is why I think that the Apple Slate or the iTablet or whatever it will be called will eventually replace the notebook and the laptop for those who can afford it. And before long expect the Apple Tablet to be copied, and we will see what we have seen with the iPhone. Cheaper clones galore, including better, more expensive ones (think HTC smartphones).

We all need a portable device with an intuitive OS that works with portability. The innovations that Apple have already made with the trackpads show very well that portability is a growing part of OS and OS X in particular. And I don’t see much of it with Windows 7, I’m afraid.

Slates will end up replacing laptops, as long as they are as powerful as their folding, heavier, bulkier counterparts. The only unknown to this date resides in typing, which can easily be solved with the adjunction of a keyboard (certainly not ideal, but until we come up with holographic keyboards, there’ll have to be a compromise somewhere). Then again don’t we all go through the painful process of typing urls on iPhones and Blackberries? At the end of the day, it comes down to what you use your laptop for most of the time. A slate would be perfect for travellers as it’s light and flat, with hopefully a beautiful display for watching videos on a plane, in a car on on a train. And should you want to type an essay on it, you could easily hook up a bluetooth keyboard and prop the slate upright (imagine a slate with a stand at the back to prop it up and you have the perfect device). Good bye Filofax, good-bye notebook, the laptop and the books can stay home on my holidays and I can now read the news and browse the internet comfortably while I have my coffee in the morning. No more sore eyes and painful neck trying to do that on a tiny screen.

So let’s see what Apple comes up with, but I am expecting an engaging and innovating user experience combined with a beautiful piece of technology that everyone will want to own, and that everyone will want to copy. Just like the iPod and the iPhone.