Apple Tablet Is Jobs' Micro-Management Obsession Claims WSJ

The Apple Tablet rumors had been flagging over the past few days, so it's handy that the Wall Street Journal has come along with a shot of adrenaline and some interesting suggestions about the scale of Steve Jobs' involvement.  In a piece that has already seen Jobs fire off an email suggesting "much of your information is incorrect", the paper claims two iterations of the tablet project have been euthanized by the outspoken CEO in recent years; first, because battery life proved unsatisfactory, and second because of "insufficient memory".

While the latter goes unexplained, it's possible that the prices of flash memory meant outfitting the tablet with the sort of capacity that would differentiate it from the iPod touch, as well as avoid stepping on the toes of the SSD-equipped MacBook Air, proved economically unfeasible for the price point Apple have in mind.  Given that the tablet will, according to the WSJ and others, be positioned in no small part as a video consumption device, it will need sufficient capacity to store several hours of content.

Apple have declined to comment on the WSJ report, though leaks from staff have apparently indicated that employees on the tablet project are having to "readjust" to Jobs' micro-management style.  Still, if Apple are to carve success out of the tablet niche, that sort of attention to detail is likely to be exactly what's needed.

[Hat tip to @Gartenberg]