Guys, lay off. Microsoft is stealing nothing from Apple. Do you really think multi touch is that revolutionary? Maybe from a technological stand point being able to do it so easily is a big accomplishment, but face it: it's common sense. We had touch screens where a person could touch it like it was a button. But how can we make it so that a person can touch a different button? Add a second touch, make nice gestures, etc. Brilliant!! It wasn't that creatively intense. It was common sense. Plus, it wasn't invented by Apple. It's been around for years, and Apple just used their heads and added it to a device that had several uses that are similar to what a computer can do while giving it to the masses.
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Microsoft Launches Multitouch Surface Computing
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"Windows has found new hardware - please place CD on table - to install new drivers"?
... and yes this is very cool. Let's see what happens, rather than bitching which company's going to make another $Billion.
Who knows, it may come with Ms. Pacman and Defenders.
This is a waste of development. This is right up with every appliance needing a computer that was Bill's "brainchild" not too long ago.
When you have billions to waste there are plenty of ways to put a pretty face on it.
Exactly.
This is the way future products will work. It's not just a table with wireless. It's intuitive and nice to use....much more so than anything with wires, a docking station, or anything of the sort. Even if the idea isn't new, actually seeing this thing in action is certainly new for most people. It's great that MS created this product. Maybe their version of it will end up being the worst version of such a product, but they did make it work.
Kudos to the developers for producing an amazing technology. It is seriously eye catching. Something like this could be interesting on a personal computer. If you want to do something simple like move a folder, double click an icon then simply reaching for it and doing it by hand could be good. We already do something like this when we use two fingers to scroll on a MacBook Pro.
This would be great for collaboration. Imagine several engineers standing at a wall manipulating 3D drawings in real time, opening side windows to perform ancillary calculations, etc.
Now that the wow factor has worn off I think this needs deeper development. It seems a little superficial. It is really fun to see all these pictures whizzing around but I don't see much that is really useful. It could be great for a presentation or collaboration but the demos published so far don't show a complete productive ecosystem. You need to combine this with a keyboard and mouse to get things done (IMHO).
Anyway, really cool. Huzzah.
This would be great for collaboration. Imagine several engineers standing at a wall manipulating 3D drawings in real time, opening side windows to perform ancillary calculations, etc.
Now that the wow factor has worn off I think this needs deeper development. It seems a little superficial. It is really fun to see all these pictures whizzing around but I don't see much that is really useful. It could be great for a presentation or collaboration but the demos published so far don't show a complete productive ecosystem. You need to combine this with a keyboard and mouse to get things done (IMHO).
Anyway, really cool. Huzzah.
Hahahahhaha. Microsoft's announcement is laughable.
And sorry fowler, Microsoft didn't "create" ****... except a false sense that they are innovators. Similar demos have been floating around for what, a year now? Anyone following these forums will recognize this as Jeff Han's (and his team's) hard work that Microsoft must have acquired.
Microsoft just does not get it... you can't buy your way into the club.
Correction: apparently you can. But what you definitely can NOT buy, is respect. That approach is completely transparent and you'd be a fool to think the consumer does not see straight through those tactics. Then again, judging from the number of Microsoft users out there, I might be giving said consumers too much credit. But I digress...
Had Microsoft announced this tech was shipping today (or "soon"), in a consumer format, we have a much more interesting scenario. Otherwise, Apple stands to look like the true innovators they are when they ship the iPhone in 2 weeks.
Bed time...
Oh, added to youtube September 15, 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwGAKUForhM
CRAP! Jeff Han went with Microsoft! You know what this means?! If Apple wants to make something similar Microsoft will sue the buhjeesus out of it!!
CRAPPP!!!!!!
I don't want to live in a world where Microsoft holds the patents to touch screen tech!!!
CRAPPP!!!!!!
I don't want to live in a world where Microsoft holds the patents to touch screen tech!!!
LOL!
You have no idea how much I relate to that comment...
I admit the implementation of the dining table is kinda sorta cool, this is no breakthrough... and, besides... $10K?!... that is SO Microsoft...
When they confirmed this was the big announcement It came to my overactive and bizarre mind a bunch of MS guys earlier today going something like:
MS Guy 1: I know! Why don't we pull a Steve Jobs and say we have an ultra secret, "patent pending", life changing, revolutionary new product?
MS Guy 2: Yeah... yeah... wait... didn't we cleared Jeff Han to do that interview for PopularMechanics the other day??
MS Guy 1: Damn!... yeah... but hey! Maybe nobody will notice... yeah, c'mon! It'll be fun! Let's do this!
Oh well... MS will be MS...
...It is late, but I have a new fantasy question...
What happens if someone does one of those copier bun-shots (or better/worse) on the SofTable...
...a whole new porn industry...
...maybe they could have (optional) vibrator feedback to their multi-touch SoftBed.
What happens if someone does one of those copier bun-shots (or better/worse) on the SofTable...
...a whole new porn industry...
...maybe they could have (optional) vibrator feedback to their multi-touch SoftBed.
Correction
Correction... Steve Jobs is a very rich natural born BSer...
got that way by BSing me to have bought 3 computers now and maybe an iPhone or soon video iPod...
Correction... Steve Jobs is a very rich natural born BSer...
got that way by BSing me to have bought 3 computers now and maybe an iPhone or soon video iPod...
Guys, honestly, you say that this table doesn't make innovative use of multi-touch... As far as I remember, the only multi-touch feature of the iPhone was the ability to pinch or stretch photos/maps/webpages. There was no dragging things around (granted, it is a small screen). And for the maps/webpages, Steve didn't even use the multi-touch feature. He just tapped the screen to zoom in. Any standard touch screen can do that. You guys are taking things way out of balance... Is there even anything that you consider particularly innovative of the iPhone, or are you just awestruck by Apple in general at all times?
And don't forget that new screensaver... kinda like in star wars where you have that hologram person being portrayed when communicating with them - hahahahaha
The multitouch technologies purchased by Apple and Microsoft may look the same in demos, but their implementations are very, very different. The companies can work parallel paths without too much mutual interference. They also have a long history of broad technology cross licensing, so it may be the other players without such relationships who have the biggest worries.
Gaming Computer of the Future!
Yo, this table is totally awesome! This thing is the gamer's computer of the future! It'd be cool to play Starcraft 2 on it, where you could do something like touch and drag your troops around the map. Or if you could control 2 sets of units with both hands to coordinate a double attack! That'd totally rock!
You wouldn't even need a mouse in FPS's either! Just touch where you want to shoot! Or playing WoW, you just touch the spell or item you want to use! The possibilities are endless!
Plus, did you see the size of that thing's display? It's like, huge! If only Microsoft put this kind of innovation into Vista. Hint hint.
Yo, this table is totally awesome! This thing is the gamer's computer of the future! It'd be cool to play Starcraft 2 on it, where you could do something like touch and drag your troops around the map. Or if you could control 2 sets of units with both hands to coordinate a double attack! That'd totally rock!
You wouldn't even need a mouse in FPS's either! Just touch where you want to shoot! Or playing WoW, you just touch the spell or item you want to use! The possibilities are endless!
Plus, did you see the size of that thing's display? It's like, huge! If only Microsoft put this kind of innovation into Vista. Hint hint.
Hold on, a bit. Good and bad opinions aside, haven't we all be hoodwinked by this move before? How many times has MS tried to upstage a competitor with something really cool and awesome that turned out in the end to either a) not deliver half of what it claimed to be or b) miss several release dates or c) both? This is a standard MS move to scare people from looking into competing technology and oh... what a surprise that it happens this close to the iPhone release. Hmm... funny coincidence, that.
I'll believe this when I see a real, live working demo under my hand. Until then, that video was probably mostly special effects. I have no reason to believe that MS has any working units deep in their labs.
I'll believe this when I see a real, live working demo under my hand. Until then, that video was probably mostly special effects. I have no reason to believe that MS has any working units deep in their labs.
Do you really think Microsoft saw the iPhone and then was able to turn this product around in a such a quick amount of time? Please. Microsoft has probably been working on this for years, so I seriously doubt they copied anything from the iPhone, but seems to me they actually made something very cool. Good for them. As a DJ, I would love to see this kind of interface available for mixing songs. There are tons of possibilities. I think this is quite revolutionary.
looks cool! finaly microsoft is doing somthing original!!!!
im sure they will screw it up sumhow.
PS: can i install mac os x on it?
im sure they will screw it up sumhow
.PS: can i install mac os x on it?
You're kidding, right? Gosh, I'm getting a Mac soon, but I'm starting to become paranoid that being a Mac user means automatic deduction of vast amounts of brain cell-age. This thread has been home to the most absurd, immature posts, all of which reek of a very distint tone of defensiveness against the idea that *gasp* MS came up with something cool.
One thing that is probably worth mentioning: just because it's made by Microsoft doesn't mean that it was personally developed by Bill Gates himself. He seems to have nothing to do with this project. If he is the object of all of your hate, remember that he has nothing to do with this and maybe you'll like it more then...
Did you really just try to say that the iPhone and this are competing products? It's time for you to brush up on your conspiracy theories.