Would you buy a Touch-Screen iMac?

[Dalriada]

No, no and no. Just spend the R&D money on a good GPU nothing more nothing less. The design already blows the competition away. Of course would be nice to hear it start up with a rock solid Leopard chime 😛

- Dal

 

[KingofAwesome]

sigh, you an still use a touch screen imac as a regular computer with a mouse...

It's obvious that touch screens will take the place as mice. It directly makes the computer more tangible as an object.

You seem extremely knowledgeable about a product that nobody else knows anything about. You remind me of an episode of Sealab 2021 where they keep arguing about what the world will be like when we become hybrid robots.

You don't know what it's going to be! None of us do! We're just wondering!

 

[RRK]

No, no and no. Just spend the R&D money on a good GPU nothing more nothing less. The design already blows the competition away. Of course would be nice to hear it start up with a rock solid Leopard chime 😛

- Dal

So you want Apple to get into the GPU business? 😕

 

[TheAnswer]

As if having multi-touch would force you to use it. Why would any of you vote against having more options?

It's precisely because it will be optional that Apple's not going to introduce it at the consumer level first...this stuff costs money.

Its like saying I would never buy a iMac with a remote control because I don't think I would use it much.

But, unlike the remote, the multi-touch isn't creating an easier experience on larger screen devices...it's making us move our lazy flabby arms. And if it's optional, i.e. it's not central to the function of the OS, then it's just hand-candy™.

A more apt analogy for a touch-screen would have been adding a couple of big knobs to a TV set that already has a remote control and saying "look, now you can get up and walk over to the TV set to change the channels!"

 

[dpaanlka]

It's obvious that touch screens will take the place as mice.

No, it won't. Touch screens are not a new innovation, they've been around for over a decade. They're very specialized and serve specific purposes. It's not natural to raise your and up and manipulate your work that way. When people are sitting at a desk, near a wall, where they have both the option to handwrite something on a vertical or horizontal surface, how often do you see people put their papers on the wall and write that way?

A touch-screen only setup would be like using a gigantic PDA. Almost nobody is going to want to do that. Heck, I rarely even see tablet PC users actually using the tablet features, unless they're trying to show off.

 

[RRK]

"look, now you can get up and walk over to the TV set to change the channels!"

Look, now you can touch and manipulate the objects on your tv with your fingers.

That could be interesting.

But really, can't you imagine how using multi-touch gestures could actually make some things "easier" then they are now, even with a little more physical exertion? Everyone knows that repetitive work and typing, etc. are better with the mouse/keyboard but if efficiency was the only requirement for a UI the command line would be a little more popular then it is now.

 

[dpaanlka]

But really, can't you imagine how using multi-touch gestures could actually make some things "easier" then they are now, even with a little more physical exertion?

That's the thing you're not getting... very few things will be "better" with the ability to touch your screen. It will not replace the mouse though. Not even get close. There are so many more things you can do with a mouse that you wouldn't be able to do with just a finger on your screen. Like right clicking. Selecting multiple files and dragging them elsewhere. In fact, dragging anything would be a pain in the ass on huge screen. And you have to do all of this with your arm and hand up in the air. Nobody wants to do that. And the fingerprints!

It's all a terrible idea. 😱

 

[RRK]

It's not natural to raise your and up and manipulate your work that way. When people are sitting at a desk, near a wall, where they have both the option to handwrite something on a vertical or horizontal surface, how often do you see people put their papers on the wall and write that way?

First of all I think Apple could find a way to allow you to use a multi-touch screen horizontally. But, also when you write with a pen you hold it in a way that the tip points downward. If you were to write with the tip of your finger it would be easy to write on a vertical surface such as drawing with a spray paint can.

Many of us have preconceived notions of current/past touch-screens.

 

[dcv]

Look, now you can touch and manipulate the objects on your tv with your fingers.

That could be interesting.

But really, can't you imagine how using multi-touch gestures could actually make some things "easier" then they are now, even with a little more physical exertion? Everyone knows that repetitive work and typing, etc. are better with the mouse/keyboard but if efficiency was the only requirement for a UI the command line would be a little more popular then it is now.

I can see your point - for a "tablet" style device - but not for an iMac, where the display is in a vertical position and the user would have to extend their arm for long periods of time. This just wouldn't be practical/comfortable/ergonomic.

 

[RRK]

That's the thing you're not getting... very few things will be "better" with the ability to touch your screen.

Sure and why would anyone ever want a computer in their home?

 

[dpaanlka]

Sure and why would anyone ever want a computer in their home?

That isn't a good analogy at all. Computers do many many useful things and make almost every task related to them so much better. 24" touch screens are clearly nowhere near as useful, and in fact make many tasks more difficult and complex.

 

[RRK]

That isn't a good analogy at all. Computers do many many useful things and make almost every task related to them so much better. 24" touch screens are clearly nowhere near as useful, and in fact make many tasks more difficult and complex.

Actually I was doing a bad job of quoting the exec in Pirates of Silicon Valley. The analogy was not really about computers.

Steve—it is Steve, right? You say this gadget of yours is for ordinary people. What on earth would ordinary people want with computers?

 

[blueflame]

Alright, this is gonna sound a bit strange...

Ever since the iPhones announcement, ive been thinking about how they could implement it into a larger device. I like most people do not want to be touching my laptop screen for example. then I saw so many other devices, a touch screen hp, big and bulky but i must say the touch was nice for some things, the nintendo ds. very nice. this new led keyboard, and then what steve jobs says about having buttons when you need them...

ok, long winded, so the point is, why could they not just replace the touchpad and mouse button on the notebooks for a touchscreen display, it could have multi touch as well, and allso have programmable buttons etc... probably wouldnt use too much power either right?
~A

 

[Vidd]

I had the pleasure of working with a tablet PC which was extremely like a tiny iMac with a mini keyboard attached (which included one of those pimple-mice things). It even looked like a tiny, ugly iMac.
It featured touch screen and gave me an idea of what it would be like on a proper Apple machine if they didn't change the design to go with it. It ultimately feels like a gimmick and it's awkward to go from manipulating items on the screen to typing.
The only thing touch screen would really offer is a touch-based CoverFlow which would be amazing.
A strip along the bottom for that would beat a whole screen, though. Sort of like that iPod patent.

 

[lil' brudder]

I think it should be more of a tablet style type thing..oh, and maybe make it so that the silver type thing the current iMacs sit on with some USB/Audio/Firewire ports added so that when you dock it your keyboard and mouse are ready to go. Just pick up the tablet and walk away with it. (Tablet being somewhat like the current iMac white part with screen going down where the apple is of course) Wouldn't you like to pick up your imac and carry it with you? 😀

 

[puckhead193]

depends... if i could use the screen as a tablet to edit photos etc - yes; just use it like a cursor, don't really need it.

 

[FullCollapse]

i have no desire for any form of touchscreen computer, the mouse is a perfectly acceptable way of getting things done as far as i'm concerned.

 

[ascender]

I really can't see why most people would want a touch screen on a desk top computer. My arms would need to stretch by a couple of feet to reach and I would need to wear gloves at all times to prevent finger marks all over the place. As computers are increasingly used for home cinema/TV the need is even less as the screen is further away still and finger marks even less desirable.

That's what I was getting at when I was on about the practicalities of it. I've got a 24" iMac which sits on the other side of my desk. In between that and me, there's the keyboard, files, cds etc littering my desk.

I understand that if you didn't use the touchscreen feature, it wouldn't necessarily stop you buying the machine (assuming you weren't paying a premium for it), but that kind of makes the poll pointless, doesn't it?

I'm sure there will be some fantastic uses for a touchscreen on a desktop computer, for a small percentage of users, but I just don't see that a significant market is there for it. On the other hand, touchscreen on a laptop, or a tablet sort of form factor, I totally understand.

 

[ascender]

Picking up on what someone else mentioned, the mouse as an input device is pretty much spot on. I honestly don't see how touchscreen technology could begin to replace it for the majority of users. Starting with the basics, my finger tips are bigger than my mouse pointer, so surely that's going to be a pain when doing anything which is more complicated than selecting a few, very large on-screen objects?

Actually, I'm speculating again. Touchscreens of this nature being inferred, will need a major re-write of the OS I'd have thought. And unless its doing with some amazing innovation, I can't see how they'd improve on the current mouse setup. I'm not being negative, I just don't get the hype over this technology which has been around for a while now.

Voice commands and proper integration in to the OS would surely be an easier way to try and remove some of the repetitive nature of typing with a keyboard or doing mundane stuff on the screen with your mouse?

Or mind control. Seriously, I think we're a long way off a major change to the way we interact with computers. I'd love for someone to prove me wrong, but there's a good reason why this sort of stuff is still a niche market at the moment.

 

[Chris Bangle]

I think you all need reminding of thread 500 i.e the ipod thread.


youch screen imac = brilliant

 

[OllyW]

I'm going to wait for the thought control iMac 😎

 

[eluk]

My mouse doesn't leave fingerprints.

As has already been suggested to be of the most benefit the screen would need to be horizontal; perfect for collecting crud.

 

[Dalriada]

So you want Apple to get into the GPU business? 😕

Of course not... was meaning that the rather than delivering an iMac with such touch screen technology and the price ticket which goes with it, just slap in their a recent solid GPU for the same price. Leave the touch screen for the iPod and the iPhone. We want future proof computers not gadgets.

- Dal

 

[RRK]

Picking up on what someone else mentioned, the mouse as an input device is pretty much spot on. I honestly don't see how touchscreen technology could begin to replace it for the majority of users. Starting with the basics, my finger tips are bigger than my mouse pointer, so surely that's going to be a pain when doing anything which is more complicated than selecting a few, very large on-screen objects?

Not that the mouse should be replaced but having ten arrows/cursers on the screen rather then one seems like it would have some benefit. It certainly expands the amount of gestures we could make exponentially. Currently we pretty much do everything with three mouse gestures: double click, right click, and click & drag.

Any type of 3d work, design, spatial databases...etc. would benefit greatly, IMO.

 

[RRK]

Of course not... was meaning that the rather than delivering an iMac with such touch screen technology and the price ticket which goes with it, just slap in their a recent solid GPU for the same price. Leave the touch screen for the iPod and the iPhone. We want future proof computers not gadgets.

- Dal

Apple doesn't have control over the GPU companies. If they make better consumer level mobile GPU I'm sure Apple will adopt it. What do you think the price ticket will be for Multi-touch?