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Apple, via USPTO

More than a year ago, Apple filed a patent application for something that looked like this.

(UPDATE July 31: Looks like one option, the Axiotron Modbook, is coming later this year, with a huge price tag…) 

Yeah, the iPhone is cool and all… I’ve seen a few friends playing with theirs, and I’ve even played with one a bit, but it’s not for me.

First of all, I’m not a phone person. Talking on the phone is not my favorite thing to do. I limit my phone use to catching up with family and friends, coordinating with people while traveling, and phone meetings with clients and colleagues.

Second of all, I really want a good mobile content creation and publishing system. I guess I never got over being inspired by Max Headroom. The iPhone just doesn’t do it for me in that regard — that tiny touchpad keyboard, too-small screen for easy web browsing, no inputs for video or audio devices, grrrrr.

What I need is a good tablet PC. Something small enough to carry easily, versatile enough to deal with many kinds of content and connections (wifi, cell, ethernet, USB, Bluetooth), and something I can type or sketch on easily.

Not just that, I want Apple to produce a great tablet PC…

I’m hooked on the Mac OS, and would cringe at returning to anything resembling Windows. In fact, at BlogHer this weekend I was just telling Chris Carfi and Jack Vinson how much I want an Apple tablet.

Apple’s working on it — or at least, they’re thinking about it.. Back in February 2006 Engadget reported on a US Patent Office filing from Apple for just such a device. And then… nothing happened.

Hmph.

On July 10, Macscoop floated a tantalizing rumor that Apple is working on an ultra-thin, ultra-light notebook computer. Unnamed sources told Macscoop the mythical device would feature a 12-inch display, be half as thick as a 12-inch Powerbook, and weigh just 3 pounds.

That sounds intriguing, but in my heart I know it’s not what I really want. I want my Apple tablet. Something maybe 2-3 times the size of an iPhone display, with an interface that combines the best of the iPhone and the iPod plus a usable keyboard. (And if they offered a Dvorak option, so much the better.)

Maybe someday…