CES 2012: Lenovo Brings Apple's Touchscreen iMac Concept to Life

[aaronsullivan]

I want this, but I admit that a big use of it would be for board games and such. They are great on iPad, but would be sublime on a larger screen like this. It could also rock for a number of creative uses, where organizing and dragging and dropping and rotating would be faster and more natural than with a mouse.

If speech recognition rocked as well, I'd could see holding down on a cell in a spreadsheet and saying a number or name for it to type in automatically, etc. You could really start to eliminate many situations in which you need a mouse or keyboard and a nice low angle could help with fatigue.

Some professional work could transition to this pretty well. Obviously, many tasks will still be better with mouse/keyboard.

Of course I also want it to be a Wacom Cintiq at the same time. *sigh*

 

[Eidorian]

I want this, but I admit that a big use of it would be for board games and such. They are great on iPad, but would be sublime on a larger screen like this. It could also rock for a number of creative uses, where organizing and dragging and dropping and rotating would be faster and more natural than with a mouse.

If speech recognition rocked as well, I'd could see holding down on a cell in a spreadsheet and saying a number or name for it to type in automatically, etc. You could really start to eliminate many situations in which you need a mouse or keyboard and a nice low angle could help with fatigue.

Some professional work could transition to this pretty well. Obviously, many tasks will still be better with mouse/keyboard.

Of course I also want it to be a Wacom Cintiq at the same time. *sigh*

Axis & Allies on Microsoft Surface.

The time saved on setup alone would be worth it.

 

[vrDrew]

Of when what? Of when Apple takes another company's bad idea and makes an ill-thought-out product? Not very likely.

I'm willing to bet that Apple has tested out and prototyped thousands of "gee-whiz" concepts - and then made the (very smart) decision not to make them because they would be impractical in the real world.

Lets just think about the horizontal "surface" type computer interface. Looks real nice, in a "Minority Report" sort of way. But the problem is, it doesn't work in the real world. For one thing, the shiny glass surface very quickly picks up an unattractive layer of dust. And for another, if you are using the gee-whiz interface to present information to other people - you'd better hope they are all standing on the same side of the table as you - or they can read upside down. Or you've got to start worrying about prosaic, boring little details about where you route the power cables and how you vent heat out of the thing. Or deal with the glare thats going to be picked up from a light source located literally anywhere in the room.

That isn't to say we'll "never" see a horizontal surface computer, or even a Touchscreen iMac, from Apple. Its just we won't see one until such time as Apple's engineers figure out a way to deal with the myriad problems their human-interface testing has revealed.

Apple has the patience, and the wisdom, not to ship (or even publicly demo) products until they are ready.

 

[Flood123]

I'd say it's good for media makers like artists and animators and what not.

As a graphic designer and web developer I would have to say, until the lag is resolved with the touch screen it would be very difficult to work with. I will say that as soon as that is fixed It would be SUPER AWESOME! As soon as the lag is resolved,..so long cintiq.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

"It's X without the Y."

I find it unlikely that one product can satisfy all needs.

Very few products do, which is why niche products exist, and why iPads and iPod touches don't have 100% marketshare. But then there are products for which there is literally no market and they don't last long in the marketplace. I just don't know what market the AIO silmline touchscreen serves anymore. A few years ago it would have been a boon, but the world quickly favoring portable devices like tablets and iPod touches.

 

[thenerdal]

As a graphic designer and web developer I would have to say, until the lag is resolved with the touch screen it would be very difficult to work with. I will say that as soon as that is fixed It would be SUPER AWESOME! As soon as the lag is resolved,..so long cintiq.

Again, I'm pretty sure the lag is from the OS itself.

 

[Flood123]

Again, I'm pretty sure the lag is from the OS itself.

I can't speak to that. You are probably correct. I am super looking forward to seeing what windows 8 does for such a device.

 

[Thunderbird]

So I'm gonna guess that a touchscreen iMac is probably not going to see the light of day.

Unless the iMac has a collapsable stand to make it horizontal, which is what the Apple patent was all about.

 

[ncaissie]

If Apple made one that docked and detached giving an iOS type interface then I would be first in line for it. Like a docking station with lots of power and a tablet when undocked would be the ultimate computer. I'm not and apple fanboy I only have iOS devices (many of them) but my next Laptop or PC will be from Apple.

 

[thenerdal]

I can't speak to that. You are probably correct. I am super looking forward to seeing what windows 8 does for such a device.

Yeah, since hardware acceleration is what makes things buttery smooth. Windows Phone 7 has it. iOS has it and I think ICS has it.

 

[rhett7660]

This makes me wonder if {Insert any company name here} ever applies for patents knowing another company will try to do something similar thus throwing them off.

hehe

Fixed that for yeah!

No company does this... ever!

 

[mondayriot]

Sluggishness instantly puts me off. Why is Apple the only one that can make a fluid and responsive touch screen experience?

 

[thenerdal]

Sluggishness instantly puts me off. Why is Apple the only one that can make a fluid and responsive touch screen experience?

Again, Hardware acceleration. Windows Phone 7 is buttery smooth like iOS because of it and ICS is too.

 

[vitzr]

If this idea has been patented by Apple, doesn't that mean Apple can now sue Lenovo?

I sure hope so. Lenovo needs to be crushed by Apple.

With fewer competitors there'd be fewer choices. The number of people getting migraines over decision making would go down, thereby increasing the worlds productivity.

 

[Flood123]

Sluggishness instantly puts me off. Why is Apple the only one that can make a fluid and responsive touch screen experience?

Thenerdal pretty much spelled it out. It's hardware acceleration that makes the difference. I am sure the others will follow suit once the windows operating system allows for such functionality. Their phones already have it. It's only a matter of time.

 

[Icaras]

Apple has in the past created products/services/methods that people didn't realize they'd like or need until they used them. They're risk takers in addition to being data driven. It's why most of their stuff is great.

No disagreement there, but Steve openly rejected the thought of a touch screen Mac in their 2010 keynote.

 

[Yamcha]

This is actually very nice.. They did a great job with the design..

 

[Flood123]

I sure hope so. Lenovo needs to be crushed by Apple.

With fewer competitors there'd be fewer choices. The number of people getting migraines over decision making would go down, thereby increasing the worlds productivity.

Competition breeds innovation. Competition is why we got to the moon. It is a shame that we live in such a litigious society.

Edited: Turns out i need to recalibrate my sarcasm meter.

 

[yomibro]

Do I want to be wiping fingerprints off a 24", 27" or even a 30" screen all the time?

Touchscreens are probably best left for mobile or tablet devices, even laptop screens are questionable from my perspective.

 

[The Economist]

I like Lenovo's take on an All-in-one machine, the CPU is right in the base of the computer.

Anyway, the video is an example of the main problem with Windows computers: the software that computer makers develop and install on their products suck big donkey balls. Please, limit yourself to sell a Windows machine.

 

[Skika]

Competition breeds innovation. Competition is why we got to the moon. It is a shame that we live in such a litigious society.

Yours (and some other's) sarcasm detector needs a check.

 

[Peace]

Thanks to patentlyapple.

Aug. 23rd 2010

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/tech-macs/page/7/

 

[ILikeTurtles]

Great for them. Now what ******* OS are they gonna put on it? Hmmm.

 

[Flood123]

Yours (and some other's) sarcasm detector needs a check.

you are probably right lol!!!

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

I want a 40" model for a coffee table.