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When do you think the Touch iMac will be released?!

K

kdesign7

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Ok - so Im just asking for a GUESSTIMATE on when you think the new Touch iMac will be released...

ipad_touch.jpg


I read an article on Gizmodo about a Patent for Apple and the Touch iMac... so Im just trying to get a time frame when the pending iMac because it will help me determine when I'll sell my current 27-inch iMac. 🙂

Thanks guys/gals and space dogs! 🙂
 
I say just over a year so 2012. HP's attempt doesn't seem to have gone so well. I wonder how Apple will do.
 
When we have bionic limbs, thus the constant touching does not tire our arms, I guess.

Anyway, touch control of a desktop computer is still unergonomic and puts more stress on the user than a mouse and a keyboard. Either the touch screen is up front, you constantly have to hold up your arms to control it less efficiently than with a mouse, or the touch control is lying flat down or angled on the table and you constantly have to look down to control it, which puts stress to your neck.

A mouse and a keyboard and a trackpad can be controlled blindly.
 
spinnerlys said:
When we have bionic limbs, thus the constant touching does not tire our arms, I guess.

Anyway, touch control of a desktop computer is still unergonomic and puts more stress on the user than a mouse and a keyboard. Either the touch screen is up front, you constantly have to hold up your arms to control it less efficiently than with a mouse, or the touch control is lying flat down or angled on the table and you constantly have to look down to control it, which puts stress to your neck.

A mouse and a keyboard and a trackpad can be controlled blindly.
Click to expand...

I have the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, the Magic Mouse, and Trackpad.. 🙂 Love the track pad, it's supper fun, and reminds me of my Macbook Pro... 🙂 works great.

Thanks for the reply! 🙂

-- And. Personally, Im not worried of Arm Fatigue.. Im a pretty fit guy. 🙂 But I can see how this would be an issue for some.
 
kdesign7 said:
-- And. Personally, Im not worried of Arm Fatigue.. Im a pretty fit guy. 🙂 But I can see how this would be an issue for some.
Click to expand...

I've seen fit people not being able to hold their arms straight for ten minutes. I really, really doubt you can hold your arms out for two to six hours, depending on what you do on your Mac.

Touch screens are nice of kiosk computers, but for actual long-time use, they are still unusable. Imagine writing an essay via touch screen or manipulating details on a formula or processing pictures and having to change minute values of whatever needs to be changed. The interface has to accommodate our big fingers, thus a re-write of Mac OS X is necessary.

Anyway, this topic has been discussed to death in many threads, maybe you can find one or two hundred of them via MRoogle.
 
It would be nice if you could detach the screen so it could be used as a semi-portable computer. (semi-portable because of the power cord)
 
toaksie said:
Can't really see a 27" being portable in any way, even 21.5 would be a push
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. Trying to move the 27inch ANYWHERE is a hassle, but only cause of the stand. If it were detachable, Im sure putting it in a case would be easy to move.. but even so.. it's kinda heavy! 45lbs! lol

But ya.. 🙂
 
kdesign7 said:
Thx for ur reply Jessica. I have no doubt, Apple will Kill it! and Im hoping alot sooner than 2012! 🙂
Click to expand...

What's there to kill? Apple doesn't make unergonomic designs. The input requirements for desktop PCs and mobile devices are completely different. The mistake all these posts make is assuming that just because iOS is good on portable devices, it will be good on iMacs, without taking into account the fact that the ergonomics are completely different. Unless it comes with arm braces, not happening. Try holding your arms out straight in front of you for more than 10 minutes, or better yet swipe them back and forth across a 27" iMac screen for that length of time.

The keyboard-mouse paradigm exists for a reason. It's the most accurate and efficient way to input information into a PC. The Magic Trackpad is as close as Apple is getting.
 
The thing about the touch screen is it can be really handy for doing certain things like pinch zooming, scrolling, text selection, and the like. That said, I think it will just be some neat gimmicks given the purpose and positioning of the user and screen for normal use.

I have a theory that OSX will have a whole touch interface integrated (or some iOS4 VM) which will feature this table like position for the iMac as seen in the patent. Then there will be some swivel MBP that turn into tablets in addition to the normal hinge; that patent hasn't been seen yet.
 
We need OS X that is designed to work well with touch. I agree with others that touch is worse than KB&mouse for multiple reasons.

Apple is famous of its patents that never see the sunlight
 
I think it will be a decent while until they even attempt it and I hope that it is just an option and not the only type of iMac they have. I'm not sure if I'd want a touch but I would definitely want the option to have a normal iMac when the time comes.
 
There are two uses I'd like a touch screen for.

Primary touch control on an occasional (kitchen) computer to tap through a few emails, do some online shopping or play a little media from. I can imagine a small gap in the market for something like this. A 15" G4 imac with iOS would serve this purpose very well. An ipad already fills this gap quite well, but isn't so comfortable to use while standing up.

Tertiary touch control On a work desktop, reaching up for the odd little bit of free-hand smudging or any other application that feels a little awkward with a mouse. Pen ability could be more handy. It would be a rarely used but useful 'touch'. Touch panels are getting cheap so this addition isn't that unlikely imo.
 
I'm willing to bet that will be a iOS device that is either cloud or app driven, a sort of terminal, if you will, that can act as a big iPad and light duty home computer, as predicted by some guy in a black turtleneck. It will be magical.
 
willbro said:
It would be nice if you could detach the screen so it could be used as a semi-portable computer. (semi-portable because of the power cord)
Click to expand...

hehe lenovo made something like that and seems really great and innovative, AND handy!
http://asia.cnet.com/2010/01/05/lenovo-reveals-11-6-inch-ideapad-u1-detachable-tablet/

in small words : a netbook with removable screen which becomes a tablet computer.
maybe the touch iMac could have the hardware and the screen a bit separated. that means when you want to remove your screen, it will be connected to the motherboard with a cord (just like monitors for stable pcs). It will still be an all-in-one stable when the screen is ON the pc. If they make the screen as thin as aluminium macbook ones, it seems pretty easy. it could even be a stable iMac which becomes a tablet? Dunno, just throwing ideas 🙂

edit: so basically, an imac which can be detached and become a big ipad, either with OSX or iOS. apple's decision.
Hey apple if you ever do this i demand a small deposit for my idea xD
 
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