Thoughts concerning multitouch on notebooks

[miggyb]

I think multitouch makes perfect sense on the iPhone and the iPod touch. I mean, the only form of input you have on those devices is the screen, and if they didn't support multitouch it would be a bit like having a mac without a keyboard and only a one-button mouse.

However, on all Apple notebooks you have a full-size keyboard along with a nice-sized trackpad. With the MBA, they decided to implement some ideas from the iPhone back into laptops, such as the zooming, turning pictures... etc.

My question is... am I the only one that thinks this is kind of... gimmicky? I mean, I can see people using the two-finger scroll to move around a website in safari or what have you... but do people really need a laptop that recognizes two-finger rotation for turning photos in 90 degree increments?

Personally, I probably wouldn't even remember the shortcut until after I had already pressed the "turn 90 degrees clockwise" button. I have difficulty seeing people actually using this on a laptop, unless that's the only thing they did.

What are your thoughts?

 

[v-ault]

Yeah it is gimmicky. It hardly adds to the experience.

 

[iTim314]

Well I see some definite potential in Google's Sketchup 3D modeling program. To orbit or pan your view you have to select a designated tool to do so.

Using the Multi-touch would certainly cut a few seconds off. That'd be a nice feature in a future version of Sketchup.



As a side note, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Apple update the PowerBook line with a firmware update that somehow enabled two-finger scrolling?

If so, would a possible firmware update give Multitouch to current MacBook and MacBook Pro users?

 

[Sceneshifter]

dude, anyone doing 3D modelling with a trackpad has some serious Mouse shopping to do...