Aww man iMac just got updated not too long ago and they're getting one again? It's no justice to macbooks!
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Apple Testing Touchscreen Panels for Future iMac?
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That may well work for a device as small as a laptop.
I'm currently sitting in front of two spanned displays, one 24" at a height that's level with my eyes; my home freelance setup which is more or less what I would expect to use in any work situation. I wouldn't dream of trying to do work or much else that's personally useful on a laptop without external display, keyboard and mouse. Why would I want to move my hands up to a display to type and hit a button when I can do so already without looking at what I'm doing?
One, a large desktop screen could much more easily deal with an onscreen keyboard than a 3" phone or 10" tablet - yet somehow Iphones and Ipads sell.
Second, you can attach a keyboard, and use that instead of the onscreen keyboard. (My Windows 7 multi-touch laptop has a corner on the screen where I can touch to get the onscreen keyboard - or I can simply type on the keyboard if I'm in clamshell config.)
If you need a mouse, plug one in. Problem solved.
If you need a proper keyboard, plug one in. Problem solved.
It would be silly not to have the keyboard/mouse be there by default. (Or, knowing Apple, an added cost BTO option)
Complaints Are Foolish.
Attention Complaint
What are wrong with you? One day you will realize yourself that you are foolish and agree that Apple are in right direct.
Think about past in 80's Apple start use Mouse. Most user said, what junk pieces of mouse? when they are use keyboard with fill your memory to remember varies command key.
Now everyone will say that can't imagine how will run computer without mouse. Touchscreen will be huge benefit for everyone. Let think yourself... when you sit on computer and want show your photo album on screen. Your hand point on photo to explain the detail then your band go back on mouse to click for next photo. It will repeat. Or probably easy to do when you point on screen the house, mountain, whatever something on photo and you want zoom in then you do with your two finger, then want o go next photo then your finger move left or right, just same to iphone, ipad. That is amazing thing make life easier.
Another example, you go ATM to withdrawal the cash. Would you do keyword and metal chain link to mouse It will take longer processing to complete. - OR - do on touchscreen and get cash quickly and go.
Again, I don't believe that mouse will be gone anytime. At point that touchscreen will bring bright future such play card game, draw, flip phto, and many more. I strong agree with apple that move brilliant direct.
Christopher Layton
BRICK Marketplace
www.brickmarketplace.com
Attention Complaint
What are wrong with you? One day you will realize yourself that you are foolish and agree that Apple are in right direct.
Think about past in 80's Apple start use Mouse. Most user said, what junk pieces of mouse? when they are use keyboard with fill your memory to remember varies command key.
Now everyone will say that can't imagine how will run computer without mouse. Touchscreen will be huge benefit for everyone. Let think yourself... when you sit on computer and want show your photo album on screen. Your hand point on photo to explain the detail then your band go back on mouse to click for next photo. It will repeat. Or probably easy to do when you point on screen the house, mountain, whatever something on photo and you want zoom in then you do with your two finger, then want o go next photo then your finger move left or right, just same to iphone, ipad. That is amazing thing make life easier.
Another example, you go ATM to withdrawal the cash. Would you do keyword and metal chain link to mouse It will take longer processing to complete. - OR - do on touchscreen and get cash quickly and go.
Again, I don't believe that mouse will be gone anytime. At point that touchscreen will bring bright future such play card game, draw, flip phto, and many more. I strong agree with apple that move brilliant direct.
Christopher Layton
BRICK Marketplace
www.brickmarketplace.com
I can't wait. 
I don't see why everyone is like "noooooooo" don't buy it. But I don't think apple will go all the way to putting ios on the Mac.
I don't see why everyone is like "noooooooo"
don't buy it. But I don't think apple will go all the way to putting ios on the Mac.
Umm, how do I say this nicely - this isn't an actual product.
There have been many patents made in the past and have never turned into a real product - why? because these patents are made all the time to secure a product just in case that some time in the future a market opens up for such an appliance. A good idea is discovered so there is a rush to protect that idea from anyone else nicking it.
For all anyone could guess - this could be a new stand for an iPad that clips on from the back and used as a touch appliance; it could be a whole host of other possibilities.
There have been many patents made in the past and have never turned into a real product - why? because these patents are made all the time to secure a product just in case that some time in the future a market opens up for such an appliance. A good idea is discovered so there is a rush to protect that idea from anyone else nicking it.
For all anyone could guess - this could be a new stand for an iPad that clips on from the back and used as a touch appliance; it could be a whole host of other possibilities.
Yeah, the smudging and (especially) the ergonmics (or lack thereof) is what kills this concept, which doesn't mean that people won't buy just because it's new and they can (e.g., I bought the magic trackpad and have hardly used it since the first day). Imagine dragging a file from the upper left corner of the screen to the trash on a 27" one of these things, and then multiply this kind of motion by 1000 a day
Maybe apple are worried about their customer fitness levels??!!
Have you never watched Minority Report or Avatar? Its the future right at your fingertips!
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Not sure how this will all work out, but I think you're using the wrong analogy. First of all, you're right. Steering wheels have been the standard for over a century in cars, but that's because better technologies weren't yet invented. But they will be. Second, while we used steering wheels to navigate cars, it took a long time before car manufacturers started thinking to utilize the steering wheel to hold other key functions, such as radio, bluetooth and cruise control buttons.
Finally, another car analogy: We used car keys to unlock and start our cars for decades. Until the technology evolved enough to stop needing the key to unlock the car (my last car didn't even have a key lock on the trunk). Now, as technology continues to evolve, more and more car manufacturers are starting to offer a totally keyless experience for cars, instead replacing the key with a smart fob that stays in your pocket, and allows you to unlock and operate the car with push buttons.
My point is: Be a little more open minded about the possibilities. Having a touch screen desktop doesn't have to mean that the keyboard and mouse go away. There are applications for touch screen desktops that make sense already. What about that small computer that swings down under the cabinet in the kitchen that acts as a recipe database? Or the 27 inch iMac in the dorm room that can be used as a "conventional" computer until the user wants to just touch the screen a couple of times to start a movie?
I remember a whole bunch of people who rolled their eyes at the iPad just a few short months ago. So now here we are. Apple has shipped millions of them. And everyone from Redmond to San Jose to Waterloo to Taiwan is saying "Me too."
Have you never watched Minority Report or Avatar? Its the future right at your fingertips!
Yeah, I bet he wouldn't be able to work 7 hours a day with his arms up like that.
That or, forget going to the Gym afterwards and lifing weights, because you'll barely be able to lift your arms up.
So, you're the kind of guy who believes we can reinvent the wheel into something better ?
Sometimes, things are just right from the get go. There's no reason to mess with a good thing.
Those don't "use the steering wheel". There's no steering gestures. They are just conveniently placed under your thumb rather than on the console. You make it sound like it's such a big revolution, when in fact it's just a side effect of the safety moms "don't take your hands off the wheel!" lobbies.
So, you're the kind of guy who believes we can reinvent the wheel into something better ?
Sometimes, things are just right from the get go. There's no reason to mess with a good thing.
So it's a good thing to spin an analog device around three times in order to back into a parking space? Your shortsightedness is nothing if not consistent.
There are already cars on the market that will park themselves. The "good thing" that you are so fond of will someday be replaced.
With thinking like yours man would never have gotten off of the ground.
I can hear your great grandfather right now: "I don't need one of them newfangled tractors. My ass and plow blade suits me just fine. There's no reason to mess with a good thing."
It wasn't a revolution. It was an evolution. My point was just to illustrate that thinking out of the box sometimes evolves technology. At other times it launches it forward at light speed. You're likely too young to remember when headlight dimmer switches were on the floor of the car. Now they all reside on the steering column. Technology changes, as does the way we interface with it. That's a given. Blindly passing judgment on a potential new technology before it's even presented to you in a meaningful way is evidence of a myopic mind.
I'll bet that, had you been a Mac Rumors member back in 2001, you would have likely been among the 500 or so people who ridiculed the iPod as an epic fail...
I used a touchscreen (or more accurately, combination touchscreen/keyboard) desktop a few years ago. Had it not been for the lousy hardware (HP) and lousy OS (Windows) it would have had legs.
I don't think that Apple would introduce a mac that is touchscreen only - not only would it make no sense, but - as is clearly illustrated in the patent - there would be no need for the articulated stand affording two viewing positions. Apple had a keyboard for the iPad at launch, there's no way they wouldn't do the same with a touch screen mac.
It's not about an all or nothing approach, and that's where many critics of this idea fall down in their criticism.
The iMac is updated roughly every year, so are the macbooks. You have no point.
This is your problem from your own words: "I just fail to see". What makes you think you will not be able to use a mouse and keyboard when needed?
Exactly. These critics with their so called expertise in innovation will be the first ones running to the Apple store or their computer with their credit/debit card so tightly held in their sweaty mits that the magnetic strip starts to peel off.
They still use the good old wheel to roll down the street and into that parking spot. They still use the good old Steering wheel for manual operation.
You're talking automation, not different input. In your "park by themselves", there is no user input. If the user were to use the input, he'd be using ... ding ding... the steering wheel. Basically, you're not talking about replacing the input method, only removing the user from the processing chain.
If we were to drag your steering wheel analogy to this Mac, basically, forget the touch screen, mouse or keyboard. This thing would be a big cube which would read e-mail and browse the web by itself, without the user having to interact with it.
Not as useful as a self parking car now right ?
I'm not a fan of the "drone" society where machines replace men. Watch Iron Man 2 lately ? Nothing beats a human pilot.
Uh, you're calling running a few wires differently evolution ? Seriously, I call it relocation. Same plastic switch, same wires, different path through the car. What exactly changed in that technology ? The routing path is not technology...
Heck, I've done my fair share of bike and car wiring over the years, it's not rocket science. Now a car running on wireless switchs and user relocatable inputs without ever having to break out the solder and shrink wrap, THAT my friend would be an awesome technological evolution. You'd think so to after your 3rd engine wiring harness from scratch too.
Like others I'm surprised at the negative comments about the idea.
Based on the picture it looks to be a brilliant idea to me. The touch aspect would appear to be in addition to the current keyboard/mouse set up the exists. Further the touch may only be activated when the computer screen is in a certain orientation. But the design itself does not look to dissimilar to the old lamp style iMacs from a few years ago.
However, if I recall, that design was abandoned due to the high cost of the arm. Thus I can see this as a new iteration of iMac or perhaps as a boutique item similar to the MacBook Air.
Based on the picture it looks to be a brilliant idea to me. The touch aspect would appear to be in addition to the current keyboard/mouse set up the exists. Further the touch may only be activated when the computer screen is in a certain orientation. But the design itself does not look to dissimilar to the old lamp style iMacs from a few years ago.
However, if I recall, that design was abandoned due to the high cost of the arm. Thus I can see this as a new iteration of iMac or perhaps as a boutique item similar to the MacBook Air.
I don't see a touch screen iMac as being that great of a concept for many of the reasons suggested here. A touch screen keyboard replacement on the other hand would be an evolutionary and welcome next step!
I dream of the day that my keyboard is a second, touch-enabled display that has the ability to redraw itself for different input modes. Sure, it would have standard keyboard entry, but when you open a photo retouch or video editing application for example it would be redrawn with specific buttons for application-specific commands. A jog shuttle control in Final Cut, or a mixing console in Logic Studio. Not to mention, the 'mode' of the keyboard could be switched within applications as well.
The idea is not new but the tech is at last in place for this to happen. The "keyboard" (TouchBoard?) itself could run iOS while the main computer runs OSX.
I dream of the day that my keyboard is a second, touch-enabled display that has the ability to redraw itself for different input modes. Sure, it would have standard keyboard entry, but when you open a photo retouch or video editing application for example it would be redrawn with specific buttons for application-specific commands. A jog shuttle control in Final Cut, or a mixing console in Logic Studio. Not to mention, the 'mode' of the keyboard could be switched within applications as well.
The idea is not new but the tech is at last in place for this to happen. The "keyboard" (TouchBoard?) itself could run iOS while the main computer runs OSX.
Not sure about the idea of a touch keyboard. Most of those that use a keyboard on a regular basis use it for quickly typing text (documents etc). The tactful feel and finger positioning on a keyboard, I would think, is essential. However, your idea has merit on a touchscreen iMac where typing text is likely not the primary purpose.