I think it's more about not hitting the touch bar accidentally if it were too close (above) the trackpad.
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Apple Says Touchscreen Macs 'Not a Particularly Useful or Appropriate Application of Multi-Touch'
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I think it's more about not hitting the touch bar accidentally if it were too close (above) the trackpad.
Chances are, there are going to be to soon be Surface Studio clones from other OEMs complete with their own Surface Dials.
Getting pretty bored of this. It's dynamically populated. It doesn't just sit there with emoji on it all day.
- It replaces the keys that went before it
- It can be customized by the user with custom shortcuts
- It can be programmed by application developers to do... Well apart from the demos we've seen, who knows what app dev will do with this
The emoji bar crap is nonsense.
- It replaces the keys that went before it
- It can be customized by the user with custom shortcuts
- It can be programmed by application developers to do... Well apart from the demos we've seen, who knows what app dev will do with this
The emoji bar crap is nonsense.
Whilst I'm in the camp that I don't want/need a touch screen Macbook (mainly because I have 2 iPads) I'm also in the camp that could really use a Touch enabled iMac, that had the ability to move the screen in a fashion almost like a drawing board. An evolution of the swing arm design of the iMac G4 would be welcomed by a few I'm sure.
I want to see this. Could you say combine a set of key presses into a single key and add that to the touchbar. That'd be interesting.
My graphics process is totally tied into the function keys combined with other key presses - all locked up in photoshop.
Time will tell on that one just how open this is.
That would be interesting, but I don't see where the money would come from on the Dials. I fully expect the Studio idea to be picked up, but the amount of engineering that goes into one of those dials....where are OEM's supposed to recoup those costs when that entire Windows based industry is volume based given their razor thing margins?
I'm not poo-pooing the idea, I've always been fascinated by alternative UI (when done right), I just don't see a spreadsheet warrior at Lenovo or Dell ok'ing the R&D needed for it.
But how will mom zoom into the family photos on a MacBook?!?!
From the demo video, yes, I think you can. Rather you can, as always, assign any menu item to a keyboard shortcut of your choice and then assign that to the touchbar.
The Surface Dial works with any Windows 10 devices (with Bluetooth), so I guess there don't need to be a Surface Dial clone.
The beauty of the Surface Book touch screen isn't tablet mode, it's flip mode... it's a built-in Cintiq.
I'm astonished so many people are not able to flex their imagination, even a little bit, to understand the potential. Sad...
"The emoji bar crap is nonsense."
Yep... That's typical MR juvenile snark for people unable to formulate a cogent argument, for or against, its utility. Ditto with watch bands.
I thought there was a tangent where they discussed the technology they had to incorporate into the screen (NFC I assume) in order to make it contextually aware when placed on the screen? That was the use case I was thinking of when writing the post.
What functions does it serve when not on the screen? I honestly hadn't looked into it that far.
Its a great ad in fairness. Still won't make me like windows (typing on my outgoing Dell here on windows 7).
Yes.. Buuuut how does that function when you're in an app and they've got specific things mapped to the touch bar.
Would photoshop override that? would I have to press a further key to access the shortcuts?
All these questions..
As someone who owns one of those "real computers" with a touch screen I can give my honest opinion that using a desktop OS with your hands absolutely blows.
I own a Cintiq Companion 2 (it's essentially a Wacom pen display with a laptop inside so you can use it without hooking it up to a computer) and while I absolutely love it as a drawing tool it's a nightmare to try and use with your hands.
Aside from the obvious problems that UI elements are too small to be comfortably operated with your fingers the biggest issue is the on screen keyboard
Not only it's absolutely awful, which admittedly it's more due to Microsoft not giving enough of a damn to make it accurate but it steals away part of the screen that the OS expects to be available
Unlike iOS and Android which were designed to take into account a software keyboard occupying almost half of the screen Windows has to awkwardly try to fix the issue by moving your windows around which often results in your windows going outside the screen, making it impossible to see what you were working on or let you keep the keyboard as a floating window that you have to constantly move around so you can see what you're doing.
Maybe it is possible to make a single OS that works flawlessly both with a mouse and a touch screen and maybe Apple is wrong on this but if Microsoft is the champion of this philosophy they sure as hell need to step their game up because so far I'm not impressed.
I own a Cintiq Companion 2 (it's essentially a Wacom pen display with a laptop inside so you can use it without hooking it up to a computer) and while I absolutely love it as a drawing tool it's a nightmare to try and use with your hands.
Aside from the obvious problems that UI elements are too small to be comfortably operated with your fingers the biggest issue is the on screen keyboard
Not only it's absolutely awful, which admittedly it's more due to Microsoft not giving enough of a damn to make it accurate but it steals away part of the screen that the OS expects to be available
Unlike iOS and Android which were designed to take into account a software keyboard occupying almost half of the screen Windows has to awkwardly try to fix the issue by moving your windows around which often results in your windows going outside the screen, making it impossible to see what you were working on or let you keep the keyboard as a floating window that you have to constantly move around so you can see what you're doing.
Maybe it is possible to make a single OS that works flawlessly both with a mouse and a touch screen and maybe Apple is wrong on this but if Microsoft is the champion of this philosophy they sure as hell need to step their game up because so far I'm not impressed.
If it had Pen input on Photoshop, the iPad could fill that role. Unfortunately, Adobe hasn't seen fit to even put that feature in Lightroom Mobile. You can use Astropad with a Mac, but I would prefer a MacBook with touch input.
I have a 15 inch Windows laptop that has a touch screen and doesn't have a removable keyboard. It simply folds back and you can use it many different positions. Something like this on the Mac with iPad quality Pencil input would be a big winner for the photographers and artists that use Adobe and other Pro products. Until Apple fills that hole, there will still be some demand for the Surface products.
No one says you have to always use touch until you arm falls off. You just use it as needed...like the keyboard cover on the iPad.
Apple is not thinking "out of the box", which is disappointing because that also means they aren't innovating. iPad Pro is a joke - nothing iOS is pro at anything, especially if you can't use the full desktop version of the pro apps you are currently using. Major disconnect from Apple and a poor answer to languishing iPad sales.
Apple should have waited with iPad Pro and launched it as the display portion of a macPad Pro, like a Surface Book. Remove the screen and you have a tablet, re-attach the screen and you have a laptop. Apple could have equipped this product to run both iOS and macOS, leaving it up to the user to decide which mode they would rather be in.
Need to edit your photos using Photoshop on the train to work? No problem! Need to make some last-minute changes to that floor plan in AutoCAD? No problem! Make it work with the pencil and you have a great product. A 15" tablet or laptop to use as you see fit, as either a Mac or an iPad.
I have a feeling something like that would have sold like hotcakes, but it makes too much sense for Apple. Apple doesn't seem to be able to think itself out of the rut it has put itself into.
Apple should have waited with iPad Pro and launched it as the display portion of a macPad Pro, like a Surface Book. Remove the screen and you have a tablet, re-attach the screen and you have a laptop. Apple could have equipped this product to run both iOS and macOS, leaving it up to the user to decide which mode they would rather be in.
Need to edit your photos using Photoshop on the train to work? No problem! Need to make some last-minute changes to that floor plan in AutoCAD? No problem! Make it work with the pencil and you have a great product. A 15" tablet or laptop to use as you see fit, as either a Mac or an iPad.
I have a feeling something like that would have sold like hotcakes, but it makes too much sense for Apple. Apple doesn't seem to be able to think itself out of the rut it has put itself into.
So basically it's nothing like anything that's being discussed here..
Not being rude but you've taken what is essentially a drawing device and arguing it doesn't make for a decent laptop, tablet..
Nice hearing from someone who understands UI and ergonomics and their tradeoffs/compromises. Totally agree.
No because the point I was trying to make is that operating a desktop OS with your hands makes for a poor experience.
If you look at the rest of the post that's what I'm focused on. It's a good idea ON PAPER, but when you actually try and make it you constantly have to wrestle with software that wasn't designed to be operated with your fingers.
I talk about the Companion because that's what I own, but if you take a Surface tablet you're gonna run into the exact same issues.
Unless you mean normal laptops that happen to have a touchscreen monitor? Because those make even less sense to me... operating a touch screen that is being held upright doesn't feel right unless it's just a limited kiosk experience
And if you make the screen fold all the way back so that it sits almost vertically then well, the point still stands that the second you're done with direct manipulation of visual data (aka pinching and zooming your picture) you WILL go back to the keyboard and trackpad to operate the UI, which kinda makes the touch screen kind of a gimmick rather than the main input device.
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