Apple were slated by a few people post the September 9th event for not releasing anything innovative enough. All considered I feel this was a touch harsh but I do realise demand of the gadget hungry innovators from the world of media tech doesn’t get any easier to satisfy so I suppose it was only to be expected.

I personally think Apple have produced quite a pleasing array of products recently. Snow Leopard is a superb remodel of OSX (my MacBook Air loves it), the iPod Nano Video is a great little addition which will most certainly now expand it’s niche and the improvements in iTunes 9 for presenting the way we enjoy digital music are most alluring. The double picture disk LP with gate-fold sleeve will never return but perhaps the digital door has indeed opened for an increasingly improved user experience inviting further enhancement come the release of the mystical Apple Tablet?

Ah yes, the Tablet. Too Much Green have previously blogged about this mythical wonder, highlighting perception and faith for the still unknown element yet to enhance its unrealised dynamic as the next must have device. Steve Jobs won’t disappoint. I recently watched the superb independent film “Welcome to Macintosh” in which various Apple products were mentioned which quite literally changed the world and the way we view computing, we’re talking about the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, iTunes, Quicktime and the OSX operating system. Each would be a major achievement however for them all to eminate from a single source in such a comparatively short time frame? This is no accident. Critics of the Apple tablet are still viewing it as either an overgrown iPhone or a mini touch screen laptop which is obviously somewhat amusing, they aren’t envisioned enough to look past Facebook into other areas of potential and by writing the tablet off before it’s even released are merely highlighting their own boxed in ignorance. Take a lead, “Think Different“.

Myself and Lesley were sat in Cafe Tous les Jours the other day playing with the recipe spinner on my iPod Touch, the food element got me thinking about the tablet and I realised how useful a larger wipe clean device might be in the kitchen. Recipe programs are already available for “regular” computers but let’s be honest, cake mix and keyboards aren’t a good combination, a sealed wipe clean device could be given the once over with a damp cloth, cake mix gone and no harm done. If it was latched onto Wi-fi you could download new recipes on demand (or just view them on websites), you could pass on links, modify ingredients, share and re-distribute, view and follow videos of food prep methods all whilst listening to your iTunes and Tweeting your friends an E.TA for when the meal you’re cooking them will be ready. A software cooking application would have no problems converting weights and measures, it would provide an on screen timer and could even IM your iPhone with a reminder to take the cake out of the oven should you get too engrossed in the afternoon movie.

The header shot on this post shows potential for such an application (click the image for more details). It was pulled from a strain of development which seems didn’t reach completion as I can find no progressed information past 2007, perhaps it was merely two years ahead of it’s time? I would most certainly urge those responsible to get back on the case as the term “Cook Book” could have a whole new meaning by this time next year.

I’m no Steve Jobs (obviously) and the “CookBook” idea isn’t perhaps the most visionary scenario for Apples latest design innovation, however it does highlight a world of computing outside the box of business and media, an area Apple have already seamlessly re-invented. What’s next?