7 Apple Products That Would Have Been Cool

Over in the MacRumors forums, chatter has turned to possible Apple peripheral devices.

One compelling mock-up is the iTouch keyboard, which uses a large touch screen to display a virtual keyboard and track pad on a single touch-sensitive slate. The idea, apparently, is that the user could customize it for various applications. We're not sure about this one, but it can't be any worse than those hockey-puck mice that shipped with the original iMac.

Since sometime last November, Apple fanboys and netbook fanboys have engaged in a frenzied debate over what an Apple netbook might look like.

One Flickr user posted a possible candidate on his photostream, and it doesn't look half bad.

This alternate design for the MacBook Nano (from the U.K. gadget site Pocket-Lint) is a little less creative: It simply marries a thin aluminum keyboard to the edge of an iPhone. If everything here is to scale, we're not sure how a person would actually type on that keyboard.

There's something undeniably alluring about the idea of a Mac tablet; and in fact, such a thing already exists through third-party Mac refitter Axiotron.

But we suspect that the machine would look a lot cooler if Apple were to design it from the ground up. Oregon-based designer Edwin Tofslie took a whack at imagining what the finished product might look like, and it's an interesting picture.

In another take on the multifunction input device, blogger Ramin Firoozye posted this concept for a multitouch display to replace the MacBook's trackpad. It looks sort of like a cross between a MacBook and Nintendo DS.

Pushing beyond the usual rumors, the folks over at Mac|Life conjured up an even more unusual vision for mobile Macs. The Apple TriBook would include a triple-head display designed to fold out when the user opens it. Not a bad concept for road warriors who want access to more screen real estate without accepting the bulk of a larger laptop.

Alas, none of these products yet exist. In the meantime, check out the minute-by-minute notes on this year's actual Macworld Expo announcements.

You might also enjoy looking at the weird gadgets and concepts presented at this year's Computex show in Taiwan.