Does the world need an Apple tablet?

From the hype surrounding the iPhone you would think the world would be clamouring for Apple's much rumoured and seemingly oft delayed Tablet Mac (or SuperiPhone if you will). Are Apple about to repeat the iPhone trick with the tablet and will the world go crazy again.

Netbook sales are still on the up and up. On the face of it it looks like somewhere Apple should be (and no the Air is not a netbook in any way shape or form). Personally I think that we will see a tablet but Apple needs one more that the rest of the world does.

Since the iPod arrived and took the world by storm Apple has been seen as THE innovator in mass market consumer tech. No other company can take a device that the market has never seen before and make it part of everyones lives. Releasing an Apple netbook sounds like a great idea. A small cheap computer that introduces more people to the Macintosh. Great. But not actually innovative as such.

Now a tablet. A 7 or 9in touch screen tablet, that's more like Apple. A tablet fits the Apple innovation bill perfectly. If Apple release a netbook we've seen it all before and that's just not Apple. A tablet that actually works as part of your daily life, that after six months you can't imagine how you ever survived without it, that's an Apple product.

The world might not need an Apple tablet, but Apple does. Which is why I think we'll see one eventually (probably early next year).