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Eidorian

macrumors Penryn
Mar 23, 2005
29,190
386
Indianapolis
I'd say make Dashboard touch, app enabled. Them little widgets begs to be thrown around, resized, stacked… Then they can leave the OS X as is for the more complex applications.
The touch application dashboard for OS X sounds like a good compromise for a desktop and better yet for a hybrid notebook.
 

Intense

macrumors regular
Sep 18, 2008
122
0
toronto
I used the hp touch screen desktop for a while, moving from the touchscreen to the keyboard was fun, yet somehow felt backwards and unimaginative.

I had to decided on choosing the keyboard and mouse so I can maintain one sitting position.

22-inch iMac makes physical sense if it can be transported as a tablet and then docked as an iMac.

Finally, a 22-inch tablet, that's hilarious and fun ... reminds me of the following attached image.

icarry.gif
 

julianewus

macrumors member
Feb 26, 2008
85
0
Forgive me, I didnt read all other comments, but does anyone think that it's funny, that practically all comments on the "ipod launch" link were all saying the iPod sucks, and would never take off :p now its arguably what apple is most known for!
 

glxyjones

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2007
209
51
I don't see a touch based OSX being a necessary precursor to a touchscreen iMac. I could definitely see Apple coming up with a "Front Row"-like application that runs on top of OSX that might very well be similar looking to the iPhone interface. Developers would then have the option to port their applications over to being touch based.

Personally I think this would be exceptional and would really help bridge the gap between the recent iPad and the Mac computer.
 

phpmaven

macrumors 68040
Jun 12, 2009
3,466
522
San Clemente, CA USA
I'm still not sold on having a touch screen on anything larger than a laptop screen that you generally sit close to. My iMac is quite a ways back from where I sit so I can see the whole screen easier and quicker. The fatigue from your hands constantly being up would be a massive pain in the ass in my opinion unless the monitor is very close to you. I've played around with the HP TouchSmart at my local BestBuy and I couldn't see myself using it as a desktop computer for everyday use.

Also i'm really anal about fingerprints on my monitor so this would be a nightmare for me.

It would obviously also have a mouse and keyboard which you could use at any time. You could use the touch screen for specific tasks or if you hate the whole idea, don't buy one ;)
 

cvaldes

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2006
3,237
0
somewhere else
Touchscreen glass keyboards? Tabletop computers?

You people are insane.

First, touchscreen glass keyboards would essentially destroy any sort of touch typing skills you might have. For skilled typists (over 100 words per minute), I expect people to drop down to about 20-30 words per minute, plus suffer from stiff necks from having to look down at the keyboard. Bad ergonomics.

Second, tabletop computers also suffer from the same ergonomics issue. Also, the larger the screen, you would probably run into some display visibility issues as the top of the screen is considerably farther from you than the bottom of the screen; the viewing angles would change dramatically. Again, bad ergonomics and usability.

Go back to your sci-fi dreamworlds. If you come back, please bring something a little more plausible. Thanks!
 

mrgreen4242

macrumors 601
Feb 10, 2004
4,377
9
My guess is it's[the AppleTV] going to get phased out completely not too long from now.

You are crazy if you think that. It'll get a full revamp. ARM CPU, iPhone based OS, apps... EVERYONE wants in on the livingroom computer. Apple has some progress there, and they won't give it up.
 

4mat

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2008
91
11
Wirelessly posted (SAMSUNG-SGH-A821/1.0 SHP/VPP/R5 NetFront/3.4 SMM-MMS/1.2.0 profile/MIDP-2.0 configuration/CLDC-1.1)

Tee1970 said:
Why not have dual boot computers with OSX and iphone OS? Can use with regular keyboard and mouse depending on the application or can launch in touch mode? This might be helpful for folks designing stuff like magazines or books for a touch computer - one side of screen a real-time touch session and the other side a type and click enabled development environment...

Why not, instead of dual boot, have a full screen application not unlike Front Row. a much cleaner way of doing things without having to overhaul the entire OS
 

Raidersmojo

macrumors regular
Jul 3, 2005
207
12
Burton michigan
seriously, people are still crying about looking down at the keyboard, having to reach out and touch the screen, ect.

first off YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY ONE. it's just like the tablet, if you don't need it or it isn't for you DON'T GET IT. if you dont think a touchscreen is practical, *gasp* don't buy it.

secondly, you don't think apple engineers are asking the same questions everyone is crying about? if its not practical, easy to use, or apple in nature, it won't be released period.

so seriously get off the ledge people.
 

CyberBob859

macrumors 6502a
Jun 13, 2007
584
442
Modbook still being sold

Then again i might ask to what happened to axiotron's ModBook?

For me it seems that they are off the market, even though you can still order refurbished/used items.

Is that disappearance from the stores a coincidence or does that imply anything?

It's still being sold:

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=home

Pretty interesting device, especially if you have an older MacBook (pre white unibody design) that could be converted for roughly the price of a mid-range iPad.

But with the newer unibody MacBook, I wonder if they have any plans on continuing with new Modbooks, or just go with retrofits of the older design.
 

iMacmatician

macrumors 601
Jul 20, 2008
4,249
55
9.7 inch is pretty specific, looks like we'll see a 22" desktop. Wonder if it will run iPhone OS?

Perhaps iPhone OS will eventually grow to be the replacement for Mac OS X in the coming years...

Think about iPhone OS on a big touchscreen with an ATI 5850 and a Quad Core i7 on a SSD...

Running Final Cut and Logic...
Exactly what I've been thinking, although I think the hardware specs may be lower than those of other iMacs. If this is the case…

Then I see why Apple wanted "full-screen" versions of iPhone OS apps. I also expect a further "extended" version of iPhone OS for this device, with features like multitasking.

One question I have… with a touch pad (iPad) and a possible touch iMac, where's the touch MacBook? Will there be a touchscreen, iPhone OS-based version of the MacBook Air in the future?
 

wobudong

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2008
31
0
New York, NY
iSORE

- Mobile Analytics firm Flurry's analysis that approximately 50 iPhone OS based tablet devices were in testing was While this fact alone may only be of passing interest, the same article reported that Apple is also preparing to launch a 22-inch touchscreen iMac in the second half of this year.

I can understand a 22-inch iMac screen (I could see even better with a matte screen that size, however, rather than reflective glass) with a touchpad or a totally new and remarkable device which Apple might dub as an iMouse (no patent pending by me). Or, each 22-inch iMac will come equipped for the first year with a chiropractor.
Well....Maybe? :rolleyes:
 

BJMRamage

macrumors 68030
Oct 2, 2007
2,713
1,233
I love how a lot of people think it would be so easy or cool to have touchscreen to be able to move things around...as if their mouse is incapable.

The benefits to no mouse (Touchcreen) on iphones/ipods/ipads is the fact that it is a mobile device when not everyone has space or hands to use a mouse.
A desktop is different.

I LOVE the fact that i can move my mouse a TINY bit for easy long control of the Cursor...and the scroll wheel is much easier than on screen scrolling.
 

macadam212

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
156
0
It might not be an iMac, could be an AppleTV with a head? The new iMac's Cinema displays already look like a TV.

Come on Apple, give us a TV built into a display, with built in Digital TV, touch screen interface, all the iTunes goodness and a terabyte hard drive. Please someone, make my confusing cable mess, with too many leads an not enough ports go away, I just want something that works out of the box in my lounge, is that so difficult? :(
 

admanimal

macrumors 68040
Apr 22, 2005
3,531
2
I love how a lot of people think it would be so easy or cool to have touchscreen to be able to move things around...as if their mouse is incapable.

The benefits to no mouse (Touchcreen) on iphones/ipods/ipads is the fact that it is a mobile device when not everyone has space or hands to use a mouse.
A desktop is different.

I LOVE the fact that i can move my mouse a TINY bit for easy long control of the Cursor...and the scroll wheel is much easier than on screen scrolling.

I agree that there is no point to a touch screen computer on the desktop. The mouse and keyboard (and maybe some kind of multitouch trackpad for simple gestures) are much better in that case.

The only way a touch screen iMac makes sense to me is if it is meant to be hung on a wall in maybe a living room or kitchen or used as a kiosk of some sort. The iPad actually fills most of what I would have thought would be the need for an iMac like this.
 

MacTheSpoon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2006
514
0
Great, an iMac running the iPhone OS. Just what the world needs.

Seriously, it sounds stupid, but so did a giant iPod Touch. I don't put anything past Apple now.
 

QEII Student IT

macrumors regular
Nov 25, 2009
239
0
Peel, Isle of Man
Considering they were correct about the iPad, and that Steve Jobs himself has said this year's iMacs will "take macs to the next generation," maybe there really is a touchscreen desktop in the works?

Great, we've finally finished predicting one multi touch Apple product and straight away we're on another!
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
Touchscreen usage is terrible on vertical desktops—tiring and gimmicky, and in that situation a mouse works better. I don’t see Apple spending R&D on that and adding to the cost of an iMac, while giving multitouch a bad name! Apple may well come up with something really new, but holding your arm up to a vertical screen is never going to be quick and comfortable.

They’d rather use multitouch on NEW types of devices, not fixing old ones that weren’t broken.

Maybe there’s some totally different product that someone has confused with a touch iMac. Mega iPad? iSurface? A new NON-touch iMac? A 22” power cord? Some specialized touch station just for Apple retail stores? Some prototype product that will never see the light?
 

Nilonym

macrumors member
Jan 14, 2007
43
28
Seattle, WA
Come on Apple, give us a TV built into a display, with built in Digital TV, touch screen interface, all the iTunes goodness and a terabyte hard drive. Please someone, make my confusing cable mess, with too many leads an not enough ports go away, I just want something that works out of the box in my lounge, is that so difficult? :(

I've seen several people asking for a TV with built-in Apple TV. I'm not sure I see the benefit over a small outboard device. Would you really want to be forced to pay for a new TV in order to get the latest Apple TV device? Or forced to wait for Apple to refresh to new display technologies while Samsung and Sharp drive forward with an almost infinite number of sizes, options, and price points?

You mention cable mess, but doesn't a single HDMI cable solve that? I guess you could make the screen touch enabled, but in a typical TV viewing situation you are not sitting close enough to the screen to use it.

I admit I may be a victim of "old school" thinking here, but since I already have a nice LCD TV, my hope is that Apple simply refreshes the Apple TV hardware, rather than bundling it into a TV.
 

MacFly123

macrumors 68020
Dec 25, 2006
2,340
0
I don't see a touchscreen Mac without a touchscreen version of OS X, and I'd be surprised if that's anyway near launch..

I don't at all either. Apple already has a touch enabled version of OX S... It is called iPhone OS! Now I know iPhone OS is going to become more capable and comparable to Mac OS X, but putting iPhone OS on a desktop right now makes no sense! A tablet, OK, but on a full desktop, that would be very crippling!

Not to be pessimistic, but wouldn't your arms get tired from being raised towards the iMac screen all the time?

Yes they would! It is a stupid idea. That is why Apple has already implemented multi-touch on the Macs in a different way. But nobody seems to realize that! :rolleyes:

I've seen several people asking for a TV with built-in Apple TV. I'm not sure I see the benefit over a small outboard device. Would you really want to be forced to pay for a new TV in order to get the latest Apple TV device? Or forced to wait for Apple to refresh to new display technologies while Samsung and Sharp drive forward with an almost infinite number of sizes, options, and price points?

You mention cable mess, but doesn't a single HDMI cable solve that? I guess you could make the screen touch enabled, but in a typical TV viewing situation you are not sitting close enough to the screen to use it.

I admit I may be a victim of "old school" thinking here, but since I already have a nice LCD TV, my hope is that Apple simply refreshes the Apple TV hardware, rather than bundling it into a TV.

You are not alone! It makes NO SENSE for Apple to make a TV and it goes against all of their business theory and strategy. I do want an update to the Apple TV itself of course. The biggest and most important thing they need to do with the Apple TV though is release and SDK and the App Store for it! That would make it go from a hobby to a killer if they do that and integrate it with the iPad and iPhone etc.

Why do we need touchscreen iMac?

We don't. PERIOD! They already have multi-touch in a MUCH more functional way. The stupid touchscreen idea is the way PC makers poorly implement it! :rolleyes:
 

macadam212

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
156
0
Not for everyone, but maybe for one iMac model?

Touchscreen usage is terrible on vertical desktops—tiring and gimmicky, and in that situation a mouse works better. I don’t see Apple spending R&D on that and adding to the cost of an iMac, while giving multitouch a bad name! Apple may well come up with something really new, but holding your arm up to a vertical screen is never going to be quick and comfortable.

They’d rather use multitouch on NEW types of devices, not fixing old ones that weren’t broken.

Maybe there’s some totally different product that someone has confused with a touch iMac. Mega iPad? iSurface? A new NON-touch iMac? A 22” power cord? Some specialized touch station just for Apple retail stores? Some prototype product that will never see the light?


I've seen iMac's used in galleries and shops, where the user will walk up to it and interact standing up, the downside is they have to use a mouse or keyboard, where as touch screen would be a much better choice. If software is going to be written for Window 7 to take advantage of touch screen technology, it would be pretty bad if that software i.e an interactive gallery app couldn't work on a Mac. Not for everyone, but maybe for one iMac model?
 
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