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iMac Touch 2012?
- Thread starter kmillard
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Steve Jobs said that Apple will never make a touch desktop because it wouldn't be ergonomic. Can you imagine holding your arm up to touch the iMac for a long time? not fun...
Yeah another vote for no Touch for a computer. I think it doesn't make sense at all. Having to reach up to touch something, then back down to type. Really doesn't fit the computer mold at all. The Dell/HP touch screens are just a gimmick and aren't useful in the slightest.
Unless, you are using it as an interface into a touch specific app or something. But normal computing needs, not a chance.
Unless, you are using it as an interface into a touch specific app or something. But normal computing needs, not a chance.
I can see a use for drawing, painting and with multi touch gestures. It might not be a feasible feature now but in the future it might! I'll look forward to it nonetheless.
I too dislike the idea of vertical touchscreen on ergonomic grounds, and I don't like the idea of viewing a flat on the desk screen for the same reasons. So the screen would have to be either rubbish for touching or rubbish for looking at depending on orientation.
As apple has always banged on about the perfect experience for every user I can't see them ever, ever making a vertically screened desktop touch sensitive.
As apple has always banged on about the perfect experience for every user I can't see them ever, ever making a vertically screened desktop touch sensitive.
Wacom makes tablets for that, some of which are screens.
Reaching up to touch a desk-mounted monitor would be the stupidest thing.
I don't get how some people are so closed minded and can't see beyond the current way of doing things.
If Apple releases a touch iMac it would likely be used flat like an iPad. You'd be able to adjust it to sit low and parallel to the desk so that you can use it as comfortably as you use an iPad. For typing and sit back viewing, you'd lift it to a perpendicular position.
I see it as plausible that Apple will launch an iPad like device intended for productivity and professional use as iOS matures. Think of it as a 20" to 27" iPad with a kickstand at the back that will allow you to lie it flat on your desk for extended productivity use or upright for uses where that position is better suited.
EDIT: ...and before anybody says "Apple would never do that", here it is straight from Apple's patent:
If Apple releases a touch iMac it would likely be used flat like an iPad. You'd be able to adjust it to sit low and parallel to the desk so that you can use it as comfortably as you use an iPad. For typing and sit back viewing, you'd lift it to a perpendicular position.
I see it as plausible that Apple will launch an iPad like device intended for productivity and professional use as iOS matures. Think of it as a 20" to 27" iPad with a kickstand at the back that will allow you to lie it flat on your desk for extended productivity use or upright for uses where that position is better suited.
EDIT: ...and before anybody says "Apple would never do that", here it is straight from Apple's patent:
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There isn't much talk because there won't be one. The machines that you refer to sell poorly. Let me tell you... Try this, sit in front of your computer and now try to pretend as if you're navigating the screen with your finger. See how many minutes it takes before your arms start hurting. It's a silly idea that needs to die. The Mac approach is to use the trackpad for gestures. Why do you need to touch the screen? Looking at my iPad screen I wouldn't want to have to clean my computer monitor on a daily basis.
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Think about that for a moment and then think about the fact that you can already get tablets that are far more precise for drawing and other such work. The best you can achieve with your fingers on the screen is childlike finger painting.
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Apple has plenty of patents. It doesn't mean that they will produce such a product. The idea is there but clearly the consumer interest is not when one looks at the sales figures of the touch all in ones mentioned by the thread starter.
Well people always seem to like new innovation, but like many have said before it was be uncomfortable to have to reach up and touch the screen to use, especially sitting about 24" away from the monitor. Some people may even need to re-adjust themselves to use it.
Maybe sometime down the line they will make one, but i dont believe it will be in the next refresh.
And the picture posted above, aren't those all mock designs made by fans? I remember someone posting pics before about a mini tower mac pro a few years back.
Maybe sometime down the line they will make one, but i dont believe it will be in the next refresh.
And the picture posted above, aren't those all mock designs made by fans? I remember someone posting pics before about a mini tower mac pro a few years back.
iMac 27" Touch Screen
iMac 27" Touch Screen, if it ever happens, I will order one for myself. At work, over the past 3 years, I have been using a touch screen system, 5 days a week, 8 to 10 hrs a day. It was just a matter of getting use to the touch screen.
I personally enjoy using the touch screen in conjunction with the keyboard and mouse. Working without a touch screen screen at home, seems to slow my work pace. The movement has become natrual for me, and many times I catch myself tapping the screen of my home computer.
I realize there is Troll Touch, but at the price point of $3800 for a 27" iMac, I can do without the touch screen option.
iMac 27" Touch Screen, if it ever happens, I will order one for myself. At work, over the past 3 years, I have been using a touch screen system, 5 days a week, 8 to 10 hrs a day. It was just a matter of getting use to the touch screen.
I personally enjoy using the touch screen in conjunction with the keyboard and mouse. Working without a touch screen screen at home, seems to slow my work pace. The movement has become natrual for me, and many times I catch myself tapping the screen of my home computer.
I realize there is Troll Touch, but at the price point of $3800 for a 27" iMac, I can do without the touch screen option.
There was no consumer demand for tablets before the iPad arrived. Clearly, Apple knows how to find a market and perfect a product for it to the point that consumers trample over each other to get one.
A PC with touch thrown in on the screen is a gimmick. A product designed from the ground up in both hardware and software to make touch the principal user interface is a hit in waiting.
This is why I think that more likely than an iMac touch, we'll see a device born to succeed it: an iPad "desktop". I can imagine iOS 6 focusing on widespread accessory compatibility (hence the recent Bluetooth news) and better app switching. Apple could release Aperture and Final Cut Pro X for iOS and the move to promote the iPad as a pro(ductivity) tool would be complete. All it would need would be hardware with enough power (dual A6's?) with a larger screen (20-27") and an arm to hold it in place for work.
I'll predict this will happen in 2 cycles rather than the very next one. 2013 at the earliest.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. I don't think touch screen can be viewed simply as another feature or user input device.
The most successful touch screen devices are the ones that have been specifically designed for a touch interface from the ground up. In my eyes for a touch screen iMac to be successful and worthwhile for consumers it would have to be an entirely new product, however, that doesn't mean it can't keep the iMac name.
I agree with that. It would be a shame to lose the Mac name. I imagine that the Mac could evolve into a work/productivity device.
As OS X and iOS continue to meet -- and they will despite the cries of the old school Mac heads -- somewhere in the middle you'd find an easy transition from one to the other with common OS internals and simply a different UI. One cursor driven and the other finger controlled, all intuitively switched by simply changing the orientation of the device from parallel to the desk (touch) to perpendicular (cursor).
Eventually OSX will be replaced. That's no secret. It's a matter of time, just as OS 9 was replaced and the other OS's before it were. I don't believe that the keyboard will become obsolete as it is still the input method of choice for anybody who writes extensively.
The mouse doesn't have such a favourable prognosis. I personally have not used a mouse in nearly a decade now. The Magic Trackpad is the canary in the coal mine for the trusty mouse's demise. Pointing accuracy is no longer a concern. This is something I, as a graphic designer and a photographer who retouches photos have seen from experience. In fact, a touch interface would be even more suitable than the mouse for this.
Give me an iMac that I can lay flat on the table and retouch with a capacitive pen and I'll show you accuracy and why a touch device is better suited for professional use.
As OS X and iOS continue to meet -- and they will despite the cries of the old school Mac heads -- somewhere in the middle you'd find an easy transition from one to the other with common OS internals and simply a different UI. One cursor driven and the other finger controlled, all intuitively switched by simply changing the orientation of the device from parallel to the desk (touch) to perpendicular (cursor).
Eventually OSX will be replaced. That's no secret. It's a matter of time, just as OS 9 was replaced and the other OS's before it were. I don't believe that the keyboard will become obsolete as it is still the input method of choice for anybody who writes extensively.
The mouse doesn't have such a favourable prognosis. I personally have not used a mouse in nearly a decade now. The Magic Trackpad is the canary in the coal mine for the trusty mouse's demise. Pointing accuracy is no longer a concern. This is something I, as a graphic designer and a photographer who retouches photos have seen from experience. In fact, a touch interface would be even more suitable than the mouse for this.
Give me an iMac that I can lay flat on the table and retouch with a capacitive pen and I'll show you accuracy and why a touch device is better suited for professional use.
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An elementary school I know uses something like this - table-sized iPads which up to 4 students can use at the same time for collaborative work. Not very impressed personally.
An elementary school I know uses something like this - table-sized iPads which up to 4 students can use at the same time for collaborative work. Not very impressed personally.