Will Apple Tablet Reinvent Personal Computing or Make You Want a Netbook More?

I can’t wait until January 27, and that’s for two reasons. First, there will finally be an end to all the speculation regarding Apple’s all-but-confirmed tablet. Second, we’re likely to hear the strongest case yet for owning a device that’s too big for a pocket but not quite versatile enough to be your primary PC. At first I thought that argument would focus mostly on a new array of iTunes content, including enhanced eBooks and magazines. But according to FoxNews.com, the event will center around not only the so-called iSlate but the unveiling of iPhone OS 4.0 and iLife 2010. Will the Apple Tablet run both of these things, and if so what could that mean for the future of this nascent category and Apple?

It’s certainly interesting that Apple chose to use the following words in its invite: “Come see Apple’s latest creation.” As you can see in the image above Apple also used splotches of paint, which signals that its tablet could be as much about content creation as it is consumption. But don’t you need a full-fledged desktop OS like Snow Leopard to be creative? Not if Apple has found a way to offer iLife 2010 on its iPhone OS, even if it is somewhat watered down.

The tablet could very well be a slate used to edit photos and videos in a way the iPhone’s smaller screen prohibits. A lot of possibilities open up when you add multitouch capability to apps like iPhoto and iMovie. It’s also likely that Apple will showcase creative applications, some homegrown and some from third parties, that let users paint and do other creative things on screen.

Should iLife 2010 and the latest iPhone OS both reside on the tablet, it could also be the latest signal that the tech industry is moving away from sophisticated desktop OSes in favor of software that can run on more efficient ARM-based processors. In other words, the Apple tablet isn’t just an experiment; it potentially represents a paradigm shift for Apple and the entire computing industry, not unlike the many Android-based tablets we saw at CES. The difference is that with Android devices Google’s partners are bringing their own user interfaces and apps to the table, at least for now. The iSlate will be a highly integrated device that marries hardware, software, applications, and content.

In a way, the biggest competition for Apple’s tablet will come not from Android but from the iPhone. If iPhone 4 can do most of what the iSlate can do on a smaller screen–and it’s safe to assume the next-gen iPhone’s screen will be bigger next time around–the early success of Apple’s tablet will hinge on the company’s ability to justify the premium for the larger display and the unique hardware capabilities of its new device.

Paradigm shift or not, I can’t help but cringe when I hear that the asking price for Apple tablet will be around $1,000. (Maybe a carrier subsidy would bring the price down.) Apple could certainly argue that its tablet can do more than your typical netbook, but will it be able to do everything users expect for that price? And how easy will it be to type on? Given how many years the tablet has reportedly taken to come to market, Apple has a lot to prove come January 27. And we’ll be there to bring you all the details and our first take on the first tablet that could give netbooks an inferiority complex.