Apple needs to make an ePad.

Remember the eMate? It was Apple's Newton targeted at the K-12 market. I think it is time for Apple to build an iOS device for this market. The touch interface is very intuitive for children to learn, my 4 year old has been using my iPod Touch since she was 2 and has no trouble navigating and finding the apps she likes to run. There are plenty of educational apps available for iOS in the app store that span all age groups from preschoolers up to college students.

Here is what I think Apple needs to make, I call it the ePad. It should be somewhere in size and price between an iPod Touch and an iPad (maybe the rumored 7" iPad). Steve dissed the 7" tablets, saying they were too small. But, remember the target audience for this device would be children and most of his reasons for not liking the 7" form factor may not apply to children, they have smaller fingers and better eye sight. It should also be more rugged than the current iPad and iPhones, it needs to be able to survive a fall and be thrown in a backpack and there would need to be some form of screen protection. It would have built-in WiFi with optional 3G versions that would also have GPS like the iPad. It would have a front facing camera to support Face Time and a rear facing camera as well for taking photos and video. It would come with 16GB of flash storage starting at $399.