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Apple Testing Touchscreen Panels for Future iMac?
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If the past is any indication of the future, rest assured that the bulk of the people on here, who do not agree with this concept, will be the very same ones anxiously awaiting the delivery truck the day their new touch-screen iMacs arrive. Everyone hated the 'tablet' because it was nothing but a giant iPod Touch... everyone hated (and doubted) the design of the current iPhone because of those wretched seams. The sales numbers tell a very different story today. This will be no exception.
I don't believe Apple cares too much about ergonomics considering their Magic Mouse and Aluminium Keyboard which just radically obliterate all ergonomic rules. I also doubt how long a person can withstand swinging their forearms all around just a navigate through websites and doing routine stuffs.
As another example, these days I'm used to using keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop, and I'm sure lots of other people who've become familiar with it speed up their tasks with shortcuts, too. If a machine is to become purely touch-based, then I'm curious about how to work as efficiently as things are now.
But if it's a hybrid, uhh, imagine working with photos and graphic artworks on a screen with smudges.
I'm intrigued to see how Apple tackle these problems if they were to actually make it into a product.
As another example, these days I'm used to using keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop, and I'm sure lots of other people who've become familiar with it speed up their tasks with shortcuts, too. If a machine is to become purely touch-based, then I'm curious about how to work as efficiently as things are now.
But if it's a hybrid, uhh, imagine working with photos and graphic artworks on a screen with smudges.
I'm intrigued to see how Apple tackle these problems if they were to actually make it into a product.
It will never work obviously because companies like CNN never use large touch screens to convey I information. If it comes to an iMac it will be an enhancement to a mouse and keyboard not a replacement.
But it could be something for use perhaps in education? I find my iPad is much easier to use to teach people with. Anybody think the next iMac and criticising the idea based on that must have had a lobotomy. A large touchscreen could be many other things than something designed for home computing.
If it in fact is true at all I would guess some sort of hybrid. Who would t buy an iMac with touch capabilities assuming you can still hook a mouse and keyboard to it?
I would love a mbp assuming it retained such attributes.
But it could be something for use perhaps in education? I find my iPad is much easier to use to teach people with. Anybody think the next iMac and criticising the idea based on that must have had a lobotomy. A large touchscreen could be many other things than something designed for home computing.
If it in fact is true at all I would guess some sort of hybrid. Who would t buy an iMac with touch capabilities assuming you can still hook a mouse and keyboard to it?
I would love a mbp assuming it retained such attributes.
The small fraction of a second that it takes to pinch zoom is about as long as it takes for you to move and aim your pointer with your mouse to the same link. I can run circles around myself on an iPad when web browsing compared to using a mouse on a desktop.
And there is no "point" step in the process, that's a mouse. There's only "click" on a touch screen. Most links there's no need to zoom in, especially on an iPad (better still on an iMac), but on an iPhone you sometimes need to zoom in because of the small size screen. So while I'm doing a "click" or "zoom, click", you're doing a "move pointer to link, aim at link, click" every single time.
I wish this is a sarcasm. Function-wise, probably a yes. Ergonomics-wise, an outright no. I was focusing on the ergonomic aspects of those devices in that post.
i just don't get where all this animosity is coming from. The people who are complaining about smudges- do you also complain about smudges on your iPhone? Those of you complaining about occlusion- does not a larger screen alleviate the issue rather than exacerbate it?
And those that own an iPad- you've used it lying on, or propped upon, multiple different surfaces. This is no different, its like having an adjustable prop, on a larger iPad. A lot of people would like not to have to hold their iPad, they would prefer it to hold itself.
Lastly, to those of you who will no doubt react impulsively, claiming you never liked the iPad anyway and thereby are wholly justified in extending that hatred toward this prototype - remember that a great number of people do like the iPad! i'm sorry that you don't, but your dislike is not shared by a great many.
These points of contention out the way, i don't feel like this is coming anytime soon. I reckon we'll have to wait for IOS to mature and actually develop some apps of desktop calibre before this is viable.
And those that own an iPad- you've used it lying on, or propped upon, multiple different surfaces. This is no different, its like having an adjustable prop, on a larger iPad. A lot of people would like not to have to hold their iPad, they would prefer it to hold itself.
Lastly, to those of you who will no doubt react impulsively, claiming you never liked the iPad anyway and thereby are wholly justified in extending that hatred toward this prototype - remember that a great number of people do like the iPad! i'm sorry that you don't, but your dislike is not shared by a great many.
These points of contention out the way, i don't feel like this is coming anytime soon. I reckon we'll have to wait for IOS to mature and actually develop some apps of desktop calibre before this is viable.
Back to the old debate: glossy or matte?
That would be one greasy piece of glass. It would look like any iPad on display at Best Buy of the
store
That would be one greasy piece of glass. It would look like any iPad on display at Best Buy of the
store
Apple put the mouse on the map - but they make some of the absolute WORST mice of all time!! Some guy even had to create a fix for the magic mouse do to its un-ergonomic design! They look great, they just suck in real world use!
http://mmfixed.com
http://vimeo.com/9261700
Uhhh, probably the screen, Einstein.
What came first the computer, or the computer program?
If I explain the joke, it ceases to be funny, so I'll just hope other forum members aren't as literal as you.
I agree with you in all other ways, but I have one point of contention about pinch-zoom begin faster. On my 2G iPod Touch, when I pinch-zoom, it sometimes takes a few seconds to re-render the screen. But maybe that's because it's a 2G iPod. Do other peoples' screens zoom and re-render instantly?
-Clive
Love Touch Screens
I think touch screens will come to laptops soon, and am hoping to get one. Everyone who complains about smudging needs to relax and learn to wash their hands more often But they are right that a lot of people won't change their habits and so a lot of screens would be gross.
I think touch screens will come to laptops soon, and am hoping to get one. Everyone who complains about smudging needs to relax and learn to wash their hands more often
But they are right that a lot of people won't change their habits and so a lot of screens would be gross.
For this particular situation it applies. Many people on this forum seem to only see a few feet in front of them while innovation is miles ahead.
And your illustration about the problems that cars have created is correct but you are spewing to the wrong guy on that front.
Very few people need any of these products. Everything Apple creates has huge environmental repercussions and is a huge user of resources. Our "digital lifestyle" is inherently wasteful. A google search uses as much energy as it takes to boil a kettle of water. Our modern life is built on aggressively wasting as much as possible.
Do I condone this? No. I try to participate as little as possible and still have an enjoyable life. But to use that argument is a bit of a non-starter. You would rather Apple stop innovating? It sounds like you would have it close its doors.
But to come back to my original point. If it was left of up to the masses to decide what the world needs I think we would probably be walking around bludgeoning each other with clubs and living in mud huts.
Clive, you are right that sometimes the reloading of the screen takes time and thus, slows you down. However, this shouldn't be considered as part of the time that it takes to pinch zoom (actual physical action with fingers on screen), because this is usually due to 2 main things: slow internet connection and slow processing speed of device (or memory related). Looking foward to the speeds of tomorrow's networks and the processing power/memory of tomorrow's portables, I think this will soon be a problem of the past, or at least something that doesn't happen often enough for it to be a problem, more or a every now and then nuisance. Again, keep in mind that most of the time you do not need to pinch zoom to click on a link, unless you're working with a screen size under ~5", but this article is for a desktop size computer - even small links here display larger than on an iPhone. Pinch zooming on an iPhone may take a few seconds to reload a page, but on a full fledged computer paired with fios, I think you'll be cruising at highway speeds.
And as others have mentioned, we need to stop thinking about this (touch screen) as a replacement for all others (keyboard/mouse/trackpad). I see it as an addition to the existing forms of input, which will help to make certain functions easier andmore convenient and intuitive. I welcome a touch screen input to compliment my keyboard and mouse/trackpad.
Is your knowledge of science and physics the result of a US liberal arts degree?
No, cars do create pollution, there's no free ride when you're trying to move a 2-ton vehicle, unless you're hitching it to some Clydesdales! (And even horses emit methane). The law of conservation of energy still applies. I assume you're referring to electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell cars. Well, where does electricity come from? Do you think we're going to power 250 million electric cars (never mind the carbon footprint of replacing all of our current internal combustion-powered cars with electric or hygrogen-powered vehicles) with wind turbines and solar power? With hydrogen cars, it's even worse. There doesn't happen to be a lot of free molecular hydrogen lying around in convenient pools for us. 90% of hydrogen produced today comes from... guess what? Fossil fuels, with the byproduct of the process being CO2. Sound familiar?
AND HOW! Honestly, it did take a few days to get used to but the inertial single finger touch scroll is AWESOME! Only thing, the back swipe is a bit tricky.
Ok get your point now.
This has got me thinking about the operating systems, will OSX merge with iOS at some point and become a whole new OS that all the devices (ipad iphone, ipod, imac, and/or thier derivatives) use?
It takes longer to keep moving a mouse pointer across the screen vs finger taps on screen while my hand hovers over it. It's not like you retract your entire arm to starting position by your hip after each screen tap. Trust me, I use a desktop, laptop and iPad - much, much faster navigating and browsing with a touch screen vs a mouse or trackpad pointer. There's no debate here, try it and see for yourself.
Where is your vision?
Amazing how people can dismiss this idea as "stupid" out of hand, without ever having seen - let alone - used such a system. (people said the same thing about many currently successful products). I can see this being very useful for certain applications, especially in creative or collaborative fields... and games. So, 90% of the time you're using the computer in the traditional orientation, but then you want to play some game that is designed for the touch screen - you could have an experience like no other. There is no "multi-mouse" equivalent for multi-touch. You can do things with multi-touch you simply can't do with a traditional input device.
I think using such a screen would get tiring over time, but if the software was designed correctly, and was mostly for specific apps, I could see it working quite well.
I would guess this is for 2012+ though, these are probably early-ish prototypes, and it's going to take some time to work out the kinks.
Amazing how people can dismiss this idea as "stupid" out of hand, without ever having seen - let alone - used such a system. (people said the same thing about many currently successful products). I can see this being very useful for certain applications, especially in creative or collaborative fields... and games. So, 90% of the time you're using the computer in the traditional orientation, but then you want to play some game that is designed for the touch screen - you could have an experience like no other. There is no "multi-mouse" equivalent for multi-touch. You can do things with multi-touch you simply can't do with a traditional input device.
I think using such a screen would get tiring over time, but if the software was designed correctly, and was mostly for specific apps, I could see it working quite well.
I would guess this is for 2012+ though, these are probably early-ish prototypes, and it's going to take some time to work out the kinks.
Yeah, believe me, I was just as skeptical as anybody else when my gf got an iPad, mainly for ebooks. But I quickly realized how fast and convenient a touch screen tablet really is for many every day tasks. I also realized that it is not a laptop (or computer in general) replacement and the touch screen is not ideal for every job (like trying to keep up with a thread and type posts here on the forums lol). But imagine the two combined. Touch screen inputs when you need them and a physical keyboard and mouse or trackpad when you don't. Now you can use whichever is the best interface for your type of input. That's my point - as a keyboard/mouse replacement, touch screen won't do 100%, but as a compliment, or an addition to, it rocks.
I'm loving this idea. So much tremendous potential.
It may cost me a fortune but I need to get me some Apple stock because I think these guys are just so far ahead of any other companies that it would be crazy not to invest in them.
It may cost me a fortune but I need to get me some Apple stock because I think these guys are just so far ahead of any other companies that it would be crazy not to invest in them.
Frankly, I don't understand the one-dimensional thinking here. Apple wouldn't be inclined to release a Mac that's touchscreen only... C'mon, people, get your brain cells rubbing together here... The ideal would be both keyboard/mouse AND touchscreen... so you can shift between the two depending on the application or need. That to me is the most ergonomically sensible approach to computing.
There have been a number of times when I wished in certain applications that I could just use two hands to quickly execute a series of commands through gestures or button pushes on-screen without having to memorize a zillion keyboard shortcuts (work with gigantic excel spreadsheets for a few years and you'll see what I mean), or move things around on my desktop in groups without having to drag-select the range of items with a mouse... while simultaneously shifting back to a physical keyboard for things like formula input, and so on.
Like a few others have mentioned here, there are numerous applications and professions in which a combination would be ideal. Medicine/science would be a huge application, as would education, graphic arts, DEFINITELY television/film/music—how many times have I wanted to use multitouch on a virtual mixing console to adjust several faders at once in realtime while enjoying the benefits of fader automation, etc. for a tiny fraction of the $500,000 cost of an SSL 9000G console?
I really tire of reading thread after thread of people here who don't seem to grasp the branched nature of evolution, and think that the appearance of one iteration means the immediate termination of every other option, iteration or species.
And I'd also be curious to know how many people here said "No! no tablet computer!" and then ran out to buy the iPad after it took off.
There have been a number of times when I wished in certain applications that I could just use two hands to quickly execute a series of commands through gestures or button pushes on-screen without having to memorize a zillion keyboard shortcuts (work with gigantic excel spreadsheets for a few years and you'll see what I mean), or move things around on my desktop in groups without having to drag-select the range of items with a mouse... while simultaneously shifting back to a physical keyboard for things like formula input, and so on.
Like a few others have mentioned here, there are numerous applications and professions in which a combination would be ideal. Medicine/science would be a huge application, as would education, graphic arts, DEFINITELY television/film/music—how many times have I wanted to use multitouch on a virtual mixing console to adjust several faders at once in realtime while enjoying the benefits of fader automation, etc. for a tiny fraction of the $500,000 cost of an SSL 9000G console?
I really tire of reading thread after thread of people here who don't seem to grasp the branched nature of evolution, and think that the appearance of one iteration means the immediate termination of every other option, iteration or species.
And I'd also be curious to know how many people here said "No! no tablet computer!" and then ran out to buy the iPad after it took off.
I agree now. Blame my speedreading while at work for not thinking things through. I edited my repsonse, but I guess you didn't get the refresh in time.