July 31st, 2009
Upcoming MacBook Tablet — Promise for Healthcare?
Apple is apparently rushing to launch its new tablet PC in time for the holiday shopping season. While still unconfirmed, features may include a 10in OLED screen, integrated Wi-Fi, full multi-touch/gestural UI, and a new multimedia platform called “Cocktail“. It’s unclear how these tablets will run applications–could be standard Mac OS, maybe iPhone apps, or possibly a hybrid.
While the actual features and functions are still conjecture, it not hard to imagine the possible uses of this device in healthcare. The concept of the tablets replacing paper is gaining steam, especially with the advent of electronic medical records. Could the MacBook tablet become the core platform for digital healthcare?
Lackluster hardware and poor user experiences have been major factors in the lack of tablet adoption among medical professional. If Apple can reengineer the tablet PC like iPhone reinvented the PDA, it’s not hard to envision medical tablet use gaining traction. And if the hardware takes off, expect to see a rush of new specialized applications and tools…could be interesting!
