1. Are people going to sacrifice their coffee tables?
Hell yeah.. you put your empty cup on the "surface" and watch it re-fill.. but being microsoft n all, it will probably overload![]()
but seriously.. it would be cool to be able to sync your phone/ipod etc.. in a similar way without having to use cables/bluetooth pairing etc..
Btw, I wonder if this thing will run Windows Vista, I could see this being an eye candy running OS X, but Vista?
What happens if we get the blue screen on this?
Nah... If the OS is closely tied to Windows then I'm hoping it doesn't treat its user like a dumbass... Do you want to uninstall this program and all its components? Yes. Are you sure? Yes Double Sure? F' you.
I remember seeing Bill Gates do this on the Today Show or something a few months back. It looks like a great concept, and I'm shocked Microsoft was the one to come up with it, but I have a few major qualms about it.
1. Are people going to sacrifice their coffee tables? Sure there are a few people out there who don't care about how furniture looks and such, but there are many people who do care. Style is important to most people (esspecially the ladies) and they aren't going to buy that thing if it sticks out like a sore thumb.
2. Is its only purpose short-lived entertainment? How long can someone be amused by a table-top that acts as a touch screen? Soon enough, we want to be able to manipulate the picture in more ways than simple resizing and rotating. Sure I can imagine Photoshop being used on the surface, but that runs into some more problems, as I will point out in my next point.
3. Angle. The whole reason people buy laptop stands and adjust their moniters is to keep their necks and backs in proper alignment. Sorry, but looking down at a table for many hours doesn't do it for me; I'd be a hunch-back in two days.
4. Remote control? What? That would be the worst remote control I could ever imagine. I like to sit back and use my remote control while I'm relaxing on the couch. Sitting up and using a table-top doesn't sound very good to me. In fact, it sounds down-right irritating.
5. Some businesses can use it effectively, but others will run into trouble. For example, I can see how Starbucks or other restaurants would benefit from it, but casinos? Sure, those felt tables are pricey, but they don't wear out quickly. I imagine that the surface of that thing will probably need replacement within a year if it's being used as a Blackjack table (which I'm assuming will be the intended purpose). Not really good for a casino to have to pay $5000-$10000 every year or two when the felt table can last for a good five to seven years.
Alright, I'm done.![]()
Sure it's a prototype, but the concept is based on easily sharing your stuff with other people in your home. That table has a lot of surface area to work with. If they do change it so that it's not a coffee table, where would one put the darn thing? It's not exactly a small product. If the goal is allow it to be a multi-media hub, then the family room makes the most sense. However, you can't expect a family room to be consumed by too much stuff. People do have to sit somewhere1- It´s a prototype. Of course they should work on the design. As I said, I was talking about the concept: The concept is really good, the final product I don´t know.
2 and 3- I think you´re missing something here. From what I see, this is not a desktop/laptor replacement; it´s a new thing. For personal use, I see it like something you have on your living room to show photos, videos, recording programs, ect.
4- When I spoke on control, I meant a mix betwin control, appletv and dvdplayer/recorder. Imagen this: you get home, sit on your living room, tur on the table computer and see whats on tv; you chooce to see a soccer game that´s on tv, you´r hungry and you order a pizza on it, then the halftime come up and you see a comercial for this concert you want to go, you buy the tickets right away, but as you don´t really know how to get there you get for directions on your table computer. And then your friend come up and you wanted to show him the video and photos you taked last weekend and you do it there, but as you wanted some music you program a playlist really on your table pc and it play on your stereo.
You see what I´m talking? it´s like a media center in home use. Of course 10000dollars is to much of a premium price, but as I said: I´m only speaking about the concept. I can´t stop to imagen what it can be done with it: Imagem a partnership with a furniture manufacter and sell a beautifull designed table with this tecnology incorporated.
it´s changing the world if we see it this way. It´s just geek stuff if we think about it just as a computer.
Oh and how does a Digital Camera send photos wireless unless it has Bluetooth, which I never seen on a camera...
creen keyboard?
You can buy compact flash form factor wifi and bluetooth cards. Not sure how compatible they are with cameras, but they exist.
As for being beautiful furniture, forget it. It will never work out well. Only post-modern stuff would/could work. Everything else would just be weird.
Not just that computer, but imagen what they can do with this. They can put it in anything they can possibly think of, the table computer is just a first step. I keep thinking on something like an AppleTv kind of thing would work out really well with iteraction with your tv.
But you can also put this on refrigerators: make a calendar with piscures on it, choose temperature, see what you have or missing, ect. Put is on electronic frames: you can have paitings, pictures or even video on your walls; when you want you change them. It´s a world of possibilities. =)
At first I thought it was a typo.
Now, imagine a fridge with a giant display that is manipulatable. Pictures, why not? Videos, why not? It's all great right? WRONG. That would be the worst fridge ever. Pictures are meant to be held and admired, not projected. If you'll recall, they had a fridge a while back(2000-ish) that had a TV built into it. That one took off didn't it?![]()
People like to stick things on their fridges, photos, calendars, notes, magnets, ect. If you take that into digital era.. you understand what I was saying.
And fridges with tv is another kind of thing, people don´t actually see tv on their fridges, but they do stick stuff. That´s something you can take to the digital domain.