iMac 2012 display

[ctdonath]

There is no earthly need to touch your desktop monitor. Ever. It's just stupid.

...until you try to touch your desktop monitor as a reflexive sensible action.

Right now I have two monitors and an iPad (on a stand) next to each other. If I use the iPad for a few minutes - touching it as it is obviously and sensibly made for - I'll often turn to the other monitors and reach out to touch a button. Oh, wait, I can't literally touch the "button" on the screen like I can on the screen sitting right next to it - I have to pause, change mental interface paradigm, look for the mouse, grab the mouse, wiggle the mouse to find the cursor on the screen, then point at the button and click. ...and lament that I couldn't do what I wanted, despite all the technology being available to do so at a very reasonable cost.

Sometimes it makes sense to just touch the screen. Just like on a tablet, there's a button (or whatever UI element), and the natural action is to touch it.

I've been waiting a long time to replace my entire literal physical desktop with a giant touchscreen. Touch is a natural interface. Big screen size is naturally useful (at least for a lot of applications, if you don't have to move the screen). Put 'em together already.

Relevant read: http://www.cooper.com/journal/2012/08/the-best-interface-is-no-interface.html/

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Then the question is, "Who's willing to buy an ipad that weighs 30 pounds?

iMac is just one ounce (or whatever the touchscreen hardware weighs) from being exactly that.

And the answer is: me. If it costs & weighs next to nothing to add the touch capability, then heck yeah do so already. Sure, trackpad & keyboard are the preferable interface for most applications, but sometimes just literally touching the app's UI elements is sensible and easier.

Is the "shut up and take my money" pic verboten now?

 

[beosound3200]

...until you try to touch your desktop monitor as a reflexive sensible action.

Right now I have two monitors and an iPad (on a stand) next to each other. If I use the iPad for a few minutes - touching it as it is obviously and sensibly made for - I'll often turn to the other monitors and reach out to touch a button. Oh, wait, I can't literally touch the "button" on the screen like I can on the screen sitting right next to it - I have to pause, change mental interface paradigm, look for the mouse, grab the mouse, wiggle the mouse to find the cursor on the screen, then point at the button and click. ...and lament that I couldn't do what I wanted, despite all the technology being available to do so at a very reasonable cost.

Sometimes it makes sense to just touch the screen. Just like on a tablet, there's a button (or whatever UI element), and the natural action is to touch it.

I've been waiting a long time to replace my entire literal physical desktop with a giant touchscreen. Touch is a natural interface. Big screen size is naturally useful (at least for a lot of applications, if you don't have to move the screen). Put 'em together already.

Relevant read: http://www.cooper.com/journal/2012/08/the-best-interface-is-no-interface.html/

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iMac is just one ounce (or whatever the touchscreen hardware weighs) from being exactly that.

And the answer is: me. If it costs & weighs next to nothing to add the touch capability, then heck yeah do so already. Sure, trackpad & keyboard are the preferable interface for most applications, but sometimes just literally touching the app's UI elements is sensible and easier.

Is the "shut up and take my money" pic verboten now?

you dont think my arms would hurt? i do

touchscreen is great for gadgets, but not for serious (long) work. hence, not for imac. maybe if the screen was positioned horizontally...

in any case, you need space to rest your hands on, how would you do that if todays imacs were touchscreen?

 

[artbyjames.com]

How about touch screen thunderbolt display too? It may sound silly, but just imagine lining up both screens, you can play piano, DJing, new forms of gaming like (multi)touch football, air hockey... I think it'll make the desktop more appealing to the mass because it's fun too. Work wise, reading big long documents is very convenient I think. Good for creating art work. Browsing internet too, just like using the tablet.

I had the realization a few days back that if an iMac Touch surfaces, it could be side by side with a touch display. That would make a lot of sense for those already happy with their Mac.

The Dell looks great, and if it had Wacom I'd be on it. Apple's software focus would take this concept to a whole new level, for touch anyway. And there's a ton of great iOs apps that will transition well to a big screen with more punch. For the artheads, imagine the incredibly responsive Procreate app…on a 27" screen…at print resolution

The ecosystem would once again separate the product from the pack.

 

[notsosmartguy]

I think ppl no need to attack other ppl's idea. Dumb or not depends on the user. It's not recommended anyway to sit in front of the screen for 6 hours straight, so go take a break. No one asks you to not use the mouse or keyboard, you just use what is more natural to you, or when the time seems right.
Mind you we go from dialing wheel to pressing button to now smart phone. I remember ppl said it was useless idea when the iphone first came out, mocking and laughing at the ipad when it was first announced. And see where we are at now? I believe we should keep our mind open in technology. Why don't we give it a try, it can open up new doors to something great. And don't we all want that from Apple? Renovation and innovation? (I think they have built a name, and expectation from the world that is very hard to keep up) (And yeah Apple, other companies are catching up, you can't just keep on suing people. Hurry up!)
Just some thoughts...

 

[ctdonath]

you dont think my arms would hurt? i do

touchscreen is great for gadgets, but not for serious (long) work. hence, not for imac. maybe if the screen was positioned horizontally...

in any case, you need space to rest your hands on, how would you do that if todays imacs were touchscreen?

I didn't say anything about eliminating other input methods, nor changing any other factor of positioning or usage, just that adding touch capability would cost little. Give the user the option to touch the screen if he wants. Touch the screen when convenient to do so. Use other pointing devices when convenient/comfortable. Sometimes I'd rather just touch the button than fiddle with a mouse.

Giving the user more options, when the cost in both dollars and weight/volume is negligible, and when the option is sometimes a completely natural choice, is a good thing.

 

[rotorblade69]

No offense, but that sounds like one of the dumbest consumer products I have ever heard of. The iMac is a mass market product. There is simply no demand to warrant such ludicrous changes geared towards a tiny clique of artists.

Actually its a current product available right now with current tech in the Cintiq system. Didn't say apple would make an iMac like that just that they could and would have a way to compete with the Cintiq using the iMac form factor.
Microsoft along with Cintique are offering product for the Tiny Clique of Artists. ITs funny the creative artists users have a product that a lot want and are looking for in the pro realm and its NOT A MAC. Pucker factor at Apple should be sinking in now.

AND your right the iMac is a desktop unit. The iMac will probably never have that system of handles and tilt and pull to you its not their way. Apple thinks differently but not that differently.
BUT a really big iPad ("17-20")would be useful to some who wants big display working with large data sets it it could use pen input, it would be perfect for them.

From the late 70's/Early 80's to mid 90's we saw the PC evolve. It takes roughly 15-20 years for product to smooth out systems to develop and evolve for the product to be mainstream.
We are seeing the first 4 years of touch reaching out. Theoretically we have 10-15 more to go. I bet in 5 were done and they have a evolved product using Touch. HANG ON this ones going to be more fun than the last.