Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Microsoft Launches Multitouch Surface Computing

Who knows what will be in our homes in 10 years!

OK, so I'm finally posting to macrumors. I am up late and I saw the video of the table computer.

Let's be clear, I'm NOT a Microsoft fan. I am an apple fan, BUT, this is a cool product. It's currently for bars, hotels, corporates etc, but one day it will be in our homes, if it's a success.

Think back to 2001. Would you have thought back then that there would be 100 million iPods floating around? For those of you who are skeptical, go and read the thread on this very website which was populated with "What, just another MP3 player" and similar posts on the day Steve Jobs launched the iPod. Who'd have thunk it! :)

Truth is, we have no idea what will and will not take off. Is it likely Apple would do it better than MSFT? I would have to say yes. I recognize that I'm a terrible proxy for what most of their market wants though. I (and quite a few MacRumors members) are techno-geeks (and I say that proudly!) and represent a fairly small part of the current technology gadget marketplace. The reason Apple does well is that they make it easy if you don't want to know how it works, and they power it with very cool engineering if you DO want to know how it works. Who knows what MSFT will do with the table top computer. If all that happens is that they spur a little competion to do it better and slicker from other players then it's a good thing, right?

Who knows what lies waiting down the line, at the end of 2009 (and other such songs from Abba!) :)
 
Phormic said:
...while Apple sells iPhones by the truckload.
Click to expand...

Don't count on this. The price of the phone itself, combined with its service provider, combined with the required packages one must purchase along with the phone, combined with its lack of 3G, could turn it into somewhat of a bust. Not a Zune-like bust, but a bust relative to what you're expecting.
 
I basically check out Mac forums to see the rumors and get info on Mac stuff. But I rarely post because of stuff like this. I've finally reached my limit.

You guys would be wetting yourself if Apple put this out. How it's a work of genius, etc, blah, blah blah. Even though it's intended for commercial use I'm sure you would worship this thing and kiss Job's feet. We're talking about damn products from companies. That's it! It's like 12 yr old fanboys who compare Xbox's to Playstations in here.

And don't start saying this is a copy of the iPhone. Interactive touch screens have been around for a long time.
 
Bjork has also used this technology on her tour (reactable):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc

the possibilites of the general technology are endless... microsoft just wants to make a big announcement so they get all the mainstream attention before everyone else. this will be adopted by so many other computer companies eventually. it is the future of computing. i don't necessarily see it as a microsoft product, but a progression of technology.
 
dicklacara said:
mmm.......I wonder what would happen if you put an iPhone on the SofTable???
Click to expand...

In all liklihood the universe would instantly vanish, and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

Sounds a bit like matter and anti-matter coming into contact, doesn't it. :)
 
Big Development for the Future

This technology will surely play a large part in the future of how we use computers to assemble information.

Certainly the ergonomics will free one from the traditional desk and will make object-oriented video, print, music, and web design more visual and tactile.
 
dscottbuch said:
There is nothing new here, other than possibly a reasonable interface to some devices, this is why the negativity. MS doesn't seem to have added anything, any design thought, any product concept, etc. to Jeff Han's tech. They have once again bought something/cpied something, put their brand on it but without any enhancement, development or innovation.

What's new??
Click to expand...

What's new is that it's now a real product you'll be able to buy, not just another tech demo of a cool looking idea that'll never see the light of day. Just because MS didn't create this innovation in house themselves doesn't mean they shouldn't be commended for actually bringing a new innovation to the market place. Apple didn't create lots and lots of the apple branded products we think are cool, (like iTunes and iPhoto I believe) they bought them and turned them into a new product, just like MS is doing right now.

MS always says that they bring innovation, and now they've actually put their money where their mouth is. They saw a cool product and went out on a limb to make it into a commercial product you can actually buy.

Props to MS. Hopefully this only encourages Apple to bring even cooler products out in order to compete.
 
kcmac said:
Apple is already putting some of this to use. I don't see how you can come to your conclusions. I had several Newtons, and the iPhone my friend, is no Newton. :) :D
Click to expand...

"Apple is already putting some of this to use"... touchscreen, resizing pics - about it. I didn't see Steve put a digital camera ON the iPhone and pictures fell out and size and internal workings may not be exact...

I don't see how you can come to your conclusions"... here it is again... I replied to a post that was saying in effect, 'let's see Apple's version' and I was saying Apple may or may not come out with "it's" version. If it doesn't fit Apple's business model, we ain't going to see their version. SJ ended the Newton because the PDA was not where Steve wanted to go. The closest thing you are going to get to a "PDA" is Apple's smartphone even though, I know, it's not a PDA.

"I had several Newtons, and the iPhone my friend, is no Newton."... sorry that you misunderstood me:(
 
this looks cool and I hope it leads to more multi-touch technology with Apple and other companies.

Competition is good and it lowers prices.

Watch this thread turn out like thread 500 and this table turns out as some huge success while every says that it is just a coffee table that has a screen.
 
TPALTony said:
In all liklihood the universe would instantly vanish, and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

Sounds a bit like matter and anti-matter coming into contact, doesn't it. :)
Click to expand...

I'm just wondering which device would be the synch-ee and which device would be the synch-or?

Dick
 
mac17 said:
ok so now what did steve mean when he said by macworld "and boy have we patented it" (multi-touch) if microsoft has basicaly the same technology?:confused:
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing...

Steve Jobs "We have invented a new technology called multi-touch"


.......a lie?
 
The technology has potential, however I think lately Microsoft has really been clutching at straws to innovate.
 
professorjay said:
I basically check out Mac forums to see the rumors and get info on Mac stuff. But I rarely post because of stuff like this. I've finally reached my limit.

You guys would be wetting yourself if Apple put this out. How it's a work of genius, etc, blah, blah blah. Even though it's intended for commercial use I'm sure you would worship this thing and kiss Job's feet. We're talking about damn products from companies. That's it! It's like 12 yr old fanboys who compare Xbox's to Playstations in here.

And don't start saying this is a copy of the iPhone. Interactive touch screens have been around for a long time.
Click to expand...

It's true, but it's fun to watch the comments, isn't it? I think about $10,000 digital SLRs at 2 megapixels a few years back or $20,000 flat screen plasmas, again just a few years ago, as I read comments about an $8,000 table being a miss. It is neat technology and it's neat to see a trend of different companies bringing it to market - Apple in a pda/phone, others in tablet computers, and MS bringing this product to production. The different products gives the sense that this touch technology is maturing and moving rapidly towards consumer products from government / industrial applications.
 
professorjay said:
I basically check out Mac forums to see the rumors and get info on Mac stuff. But I rarely post because of stuff like this. I've finally reached my limit.

You guys would be wetting yourself if Apple put this out. How it's a work of genius, etc, blah, blah blah. Even though it's intended for commercial use I'm sure you would worship this thing and kiss Job's feet. We're talking about damn products from companies. That's it! It's like 12 yr old fanboys who compare Xbox's to Playstations in here.

And don't start saying this is a copy of the iPhone. Interactive touch screens have been around for a long time.
Click to expand...


Not for 5 -10K, that's for sure! And Apple adds more to the price due to perceived and factual value so make that 10 - 15K. Apple isn't in the corporate world as much as it would like and this, this wouldn't get them there. Not today at least...
 
Umm didn't Apple patent the multitouch interface? :confused:

At any rate at least someone is doing something innovative. Apple would have simply had you thumb through your photos instead of using it to transfer them. Apple takes the safe and easy path. MS does not and when the idea turns out to be for crap they are slapped around for it. some things MS puts out as concept really is pretty damn good. But of course zealots will dig up something from 20 years ago screeching how its been done before and MS sucks and how they copy everyone. whatever. I want one.
 
as for people saying "There aren't any applications for this" this will bring back some physical aspects missing from life, one of the reasons i feel the wii is so popular is the fact you are finally doing something again, not just pushing buttons, human instint and nature is to touch, feel, and be involved.

like I posted earlier, this could change the world, but first the company has to change, they can't release something like to make a profit, they have to release it to advance humanity.. I know its a utopian idealogy but it's true

I just wish people would invent things to better humanity, not make themselve richer... someday i hope it happens
 
Coffee Table

It would make a cool coffee table. Good for conversation and entertaining guests.
 
This is very cool stuff !, and it is innovating, i did not see a combination of a multitouch screen, and a camera yet.

did not believe i would say something like this one day :)

i guess Microsoft bought it from another company.
Gates is so scared of his conference with Steve Jobs (tonight), he had to do something, well, it's not bad at all.
 
Table PC or Tablet PC

I guess Bill Gates sent a memo to his engineers telling them that he wanted a multitouch tablet PC but he forgot to write the last "t" and they came up with the table PC.

:)
 
Hmmm, an iphone you can't take anywhere.

BRILLIANT! Oh yeah, you can't make calls on it either. Or receive email. Or voicemail. But I regress, I'm sure I'm being picky. Keep it up MS. We like you just where you are.
 
TouchScreenCartoon.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back