Did you miss the part where it says OSX and iOS?Ah yes. A porn free, tightly censored, code controlled desktop machine. That's what everyone wants right?
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Apple to Launch iOS-Enabled iMac With Touch Interface?
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I always find Apple's innovations appealing... they tend to get it right these days.
But the first thought that leapt to my mind upon seeing the headline was, "if you think it's hard keeping your iPhone/iPad screens clean now... just wait!"
I hate fingerprints on my desktop monitor as it is... I'm like the guard dog barking at anyone jabbing the screen leaving smudges on it.
What might be cooler is a "touchpad" that sits on the desk, acts like a laptop trackpad, but also enables direct interaction with "iOS" elements onscreen?
Oh. Wait... there's an iPad for that...
But the first thought that leapt to my mind upon seeing the headline was, "if you think it's hard keeping your iPhone/iPad screens clean now... just wait!"
I hate fingerprints on my desktop monitor as it is... I'm like the guard dog barking at anyone jabbing the screen leaving smudges on it.
What might be cooler is a "touchpad" that sits on the desk, acts like a laptop trackpad, but also enables direct interaction with "iOS" elements onscreen?
Oh. Wait... there's an iPad for that...
Hmmm, I see this being the next step for the iPad, not an iMac. A few people here have said the iPad needs more productivity - programming, word processing, etc, and I think this is it.
About it being too difficult to make the Mac OS completely touch ready, ehh, it's all tap, just a lot of elements to make tap ready.
End of the Mac? Not hardly! They're looking to make portable computers more powerful - not replace really awesome machines with less productive ones. The desktop will always exist in some form (with the nintendo 3DS - they achieved a "3D" holographic display that doesn't require glasses - my prediction, the next Mac UI), just how we use portable machines is changing because they are becoming more powerful.
About it being too difficult to make the Mac OS completely touch ready, ehh, it's all tap, just a lot of elements to make tap ready.
End of the Mac? Not hardly! They're looking to make portable computers more powerful - not replace really awesome machines with less productive ones. The desktop will always exist in some form (with the nintendo 3DS - they achieved a "3D" holographic display that doesn't require glasses - my prediction, the next Mac UI), just how we use portable machines is changing because they are becoming more powerful.
In many ways, the appeal of iOS for me is that it harkens back to the simpler, days of instant-on 8-bit computers. Even more so than the quick, reliable return form sleep on my Macs that seems unreachable on most Windows boxes.
If this means that I can run iOS apps on my iMac or MB/MBP/MBA (down the line) to quickly send an e-mail or something like that it sounds great to me. I already often reach for my iPhone for simple tasks.
Dashboard "failed" due to a lack of apps, and the same is true of Windows' widgets. Apple has access to a huge assortment of apps (some very useful, others less so) for iOS that would instantly eliminate that problem.
Make it so. Please.
B
Ah yes. A porn free, tightly censored, code controlled desktop machine. That's what everyone wants right?
If that becomes the future (it is starting to feel that way a bit), then I'll be switching back to Windows full time.
Just remembered
I just remembered why I stopped reading LoopRumors about 2 years ago. They flip-flopped between two states: 1) Weeks and weeks of "We'll have news real soon now" and 2) outrageous claims that were apparently totally made up as clickbait.
I guess things haven't changed over there. I might check again next year.
I just remembered why I stopped reading LoopRumors about 2 years ago. They flip-flopped between two states: 1) Weeks and weeks of "We'll have news real soon now" and 2) outrageous claims that were apparently totally made up as clickbait.
I guess things haven't changed over there. I might check again next year.
iOS apps are designed for touchscreen operations. A trackpad would fail miserably as an input device for these. Think about it, how do you know where on screen you are touching if you're not directly touching the screen. Trackpads work because of the cursor indication the position on screen. Touchscreens don't require cursors because you are "directly" manipulating graphical objects.
It just doesn't translate well to one another.
Ever since they made the name the iPad, and making it an exclusive iOS device, I have been predicting a MacPad, with a hybrid OS. But this makes way more sense for a first hybrid OS product.
Ah yes. A porn free, tightly censored, code controlled desktop machine. That's what everyone wants right?
Actually maybe.
The idea that there would be two layers and that one would be something very similar to iOS seems very "unApple". Obviously there would have to be a lot of differences between iMac iOS and portable iOS for it to make sense on its platform, and obviously there would have to be a lot of great integration with OS X to make it feel like a complete system and not hacked together bs.
That said, I see a lot of potential in this idea and I think that it is very "Apple" of them to be the first to seriously integrate touch technology in a desktop, giving them another proprietary advantage that they can sell expensive non-commodity products around.
It seems to me that as long as the screen can be flattened against the table (so you don't have to stretch out your arms) that there are great possibilities. Most people are already using laptop trackpads as their primary means of controlling the cursor. Extending the touch to the display makes a lot of sense. Give me a full power desktop environment that I can manipulate with my fingers almost Minority Report style, and then let me tilt up the screen and use a m+kb.
That said, I see a lot of potential in this idea and I think that it is very "Apple" of them to be the first to seriously integrate touch technology in a desktop, giving them another proprietary advantage that they can sell expensive non-commodity products around.
It seems to me that as long as the screen can be flattened against the table (so you don't have to stretch out your arms) that there are great possibilities. Most people are already using laptop trackpads as their primary means of controlling the cursor. Extending the touch to the display makes a lot of sense. Give me a full power desktop environment that I can manipulate with my fingers almost Minority Report style, and then let me tilt up the screen and use a m+kb.
That would be a gigantic step backwards. Only being able to run Applications deemed worthy by Apple? It maybe fine for your very average PC user who writes email, iWorks, and browses internet - but anyone else - crippling.
I suppose they could have two flavours of the OS - the locked down version called "Th iOS desktop Disney Edition"!
I see one every day.
Just run a UIKit app in the iPad Simulator (from the free Developer SDK) on your iMac. There's even 3rd party code that will allow you to use the multi-touch on your iPad to control your app in the Simulator on the iMac. And some apps can run 10X faster and have a bunch more memory available when running on the Simulator.
I have a couple experimental apps that look and feel better this way than their Mac native versions.
It's even possible for a developer to package compiled Simulator apps for other people to run on their Macs, but Apple hasn't made that process easy (yet!).
I feel justified that this is the main reason we never heard ANY thing about Mac OS X at the keynote AND the WWDC (as far as I know), and each new update seems to be just fixes and security updates. So, I think apple is working on iOS X, or what ever the touch screen Mac OS is.
This is my take on Apple: (semi-off-topic warning)
The way I see it, is that Apple is the technology company of the future. I mean, look at all these other smart phone makers; (exceptions being Google and HTC) they're still "stuck" in the 20th century. With our rapid advancement of technology, Apple's current technology should have been out 3 to 5 years ago. IMO, Apple is just playing "catch up" on a human scale, aka the iPhone 4 is the technology that should have been releasing 3 to 5 years ago.
This is my take on Apple: (semi-off-topic warning)
The way I see it, is that Apple is the technology company of the future. I mean, look at all these other smart phone makers; (exceptions being Google and HTC) they're still "stuck" in the 20th century. With our rapid advancement of technology, Apple's current technology should have been out 3 to 5 years ago. IMO, Apple is just playing "catch up" on a human scale, aka the iPhone 4 is the technology that should have been releasing 3 to 5 years ago.
To me this seems like the desktop would look a lot like the iOS with "apps" which you could use like a touch screen. when you would actually go into apps it would switch back to the regular style of mouse and keyboard. it makes sense that in order to make the iOS more complex and powerful they would make osx simpler and more like the iOS. the simplicity of the iOS with the power of osx.
By the way, OS X already runs iOS' and quite nicely too! The iPhone simulator (part of Xcode). It's not many steps from there to dashboard or mixing in apps natively.
One can already use the native keyboard with it and copy and paste and so on, and there are many groups and companies who actually develop and use apps this way already.
One can already use the native keyboard with it and copy and paste and so on, and there are many groups and companies who actually develop and use apps this way already.
Current Mac computers running on Intel Chipset, Running OS X then dashboard with emulating Apple A4 Processor. As all macs nearly have 4GB of ram 512MB taken out for dashboard isn't bad when you quit said dashboard it stops emulating A4 and 512MB The iMac can be touchscreen. The Other macs can operate iOS4 with it's either mouse or remember the rumor for the trackpad media device. They could operate iOS4 on Mac minis and Mac Pros with that device and for the MacBooks operate it on the magic trackpad
If anybody's seen that Date Night movie with Tina Fey and Steve Carrell, Mark Wahlberg uses custom touch screen Macs (well you can tell it's iMacs and ACDs but they made it look like a typical Spy style touch screen) in the movie and it looks a lot like that. If that's what Apple releases, I would be blown away.
Imagine you lived in the 1500s and someone showed you two computers. If you had zero prior computer experience, would you pick a touch based computer... or would you pick one where you move some arrow shaped icon with a 2nd device called the mouse.
We're very used to using a mouse, but it's definitely not the most natural way to interact with a computer. It's not easy either. I've seen old people that never could figure out how to double click without moving the cursor 50 pixels from where they wanted to click.
We're very used to using a mouse, but it's definitely not the most natural way to interact with a computer. It's not easy either. I've seen old people that never could figure out how to double click without moving the cursor 50 pixels from where they wanted to click.
Apple made a device for these people - the iPad.
For a desktop, errr, what is the advantage over a mouse? A mouse is more precise and far more comfortable to use as your arm is resting on a horizontal surface. Imagine swiping all over a 27" iMac screen for hours. Neck and shoulder pain anyone?
Touchscreen smartphones: Ideal
Touchscreen tablets/netbooks: Has advantages
Touchscreen desktops: No benefit
For a desktop, errr, what is the advantage over a mouse? A mouse is more precise and far more comfortable to use as your arm is resting on a horizontal surface. Imagine swiping all over a 27" iMac screen for hours. Neck and shoulder pain anyone?
Touchscreen smartphones: Ideal
Touchscreen tablets/netbooks: Has advantages
Touchscreen desktops: No benefit
Not necessarily. iOS apps need to be touched directly, without a pointer acting as intermediary, whereas a touch/track pad is used to control a pointer on the screen.
Touch screen and touch pad do not have to perform the same function. To enable iOS apps, the Magic Touchpad would need a screen on it, which would turn it into... an iPad.
No thank you! Touch is useless in computer size of an iMac as after 10 mins your arma are full of pain and it's ridiculously slow too.