Is the iPad just a new BeIA?
It was nagging me for some time and now I found back the pages about the wonderful BeIA. Remember the time Apple bought Next? The other company that was in the pitch was Be, Inc. At the time Be, Inc. had BeOS as a Desktop operating system and was getting ready to release the first versions of BeIA, a tablet OS.
Source: Be to be on Web Tablets
Just check out this little bit from the BeIA FAQ:
> Why won’t everyone just use a computer to log on to the Internet?
> The PC, although it is a wonderfully expandable and open device, has several drawbacks as a dedicated Internet device. First, it takes an inordinate amount of time to get on line. It requires a large amount of knowledge to use it. It is not responsive and stable like a consumer electronic device. The PC forces people to work in ways that may not be right for the task at hand. For instance, you do not have to “boot” your television or “shut down” your CD player. PCs are often in the wrong part of the house to accomplish what you want to do. In order for the web to truly become ubiquitous, new classes of devices, with purpose-built user experiences, will be created. The PC is great for business style applications, but it isn’t the right tool for every use.
You can look at other parts of like the BeIA Datasheet and find more things. I could have pasted more things but I presume you can read it yourself.
It has already been said that Apple did not think about using the iPhone OS on the iPad otherwise they would not have named it iPhone OS. What Jobs might have thought is that Jean-Louis Gassee had a nice idea with BeIA but wanted to wait for a time when hardware is ripe to really allow for this kind of tablet to exist. Be was seriously too soon with it as the device itself would have been too clunky and ugly, but still. See the icons on the screen? The simplicity? Always on? No boot times?
Not bad for an idea of 2001 ey?