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Long has posted a Windows 7 touch panning demo on his blog if you’re curious about this feature:
Discuss this Article 31
@Blakes7 - The world in crying out for this no more than it was for touch screen phones...It is just the evolution of technology at work.
--tayme
blakes, one never knows. Success probably also depends on how well its marketed. There are some companies that are good at making people want things that they don't really need. I'm not sure Microsoft is one of them.
In my opinion the real success of something like this will depend on the hardware. I have not used an iPhone or other touch screen handheld, but if ATM machines and today's standard monitors are any indications, this will open up a market for a good smudge remover! I can't stand it when working with a peer on something, and we are pointing at specific information on the screen and those greasy little fingerprints are left behind...I also hate using touch screen ATMs for the same reason. I bet this is a real problem for germophobes.
--tayme
"You're right of course. It kinda makes sense on a small device. On a big display, I'm not so sure"
I'm sure it doesn't. Go ahead and hold your arms out in front of you, pretending you have a touch screen. Move around, "manipulate" your pretend screen, and see if you can stand to do that for 20 minutes.
I'm sure this technology has some use for very specialized applications, but for general everyday use? Not so much.
The key to this implementation of touch is that it isn't the only user input. Where touch makes sense, use touch. Where a mouse makes sense, use a mouse. Where voice makes sense, use voice. Where a keyboard makes sense, use a keyboard.
@mikegalos - you are right about that, of course...but my points about the hardware are still my primary concerns...
-tayme
Pretending is a silly exercise. Pretend you have a keyboard in front of you and try typing. See if you can stand to do it for 20 minutes. You cannot judge the usefulness of something by pretending.
"@mikegalos - you are right about that, of course...but my points about the hardware are still my primary concerns..."
true, but it's not only the hardware, but how it's marketed. Viewing full web pages (as opposed to WAP sites) on a mobile device is extremely painful, but people seem to like it and it's the new craze. (Of course, lot of people here will probably disagree with me on this.)
"Pretend you have a keyboard in front of you and try typing. See if you can stand to do it for 20 minutes."
Not a problem. Used to do it all the time when I was learning to touch type; I had a sheet with the characters on them. Works for learning a musical keyboard, too.
It's the whole "holding your arms out in front of you" that gets weary fast. Typing is a whole different exercise.
I understand your WinJihadist need to dismiss everything I say, but my post was not an anti-M$ rant. I feel the same way about voice input, too...cute technology, but only useful in a niche sense.
"I understand your WinJihadist need to dismiss everything I say, but my post was not an anti-M$ rant."
You're the one who is doing the name-calling here. I never implied that your rant was an "anti-M$" one. I just said it was silly. Pretending to do something is always more tiring and boring than actually doing it, unless you're a 4 year old kid.
A good use for his may be in a tabletop design...I am not talking about hte Surface technology...but a horizontally mounted monitor or workspace that looks like today's desktops that we are all used to is a good place to start. Of course...be carefull where you put that coffee mug!!!
--tayme
@shark "You're the one who is doing the name-calling here."
True, that.
"I never implied that your rant was an "anti-M$" one."
No, but you do have a tendency to reflexively dismiss everything I say because it doesn't come from the "ZOMG MICROSOFT IS THE KEWLEZT!!!" camp.
@tayme: Completely agreed. A flat or tabletop display with this technology could be amazing for artists and others.
What's the big deal with panning ? My son's DS does that, and I expect a touchscreen computer to do zooming panning, rotating... anyway.
"No, but you do have a tendency to reflexively dismiss everything I say because it doesn't come from the "ZOMG MICROSOFT IS THE KEWLEZT!!!" camp."
Nope. It's usually not what you say that I have a problem with. It's the way you say it. Your attitude may win you a lot of friends among the iCabalists here, but it sure is irritating.
"Your attitude may win you a lot of friends among the iCabalists here, but it sure is irritating."
He's in marketing. What do you expect?
Some industries favour touch-based computing solutions. One of the most popular solutions for the hospitality and restaurant industry (at least in Canada), is called Squirrel.
And yes losta, it's used day-to-day.
Waethorn
One other big point that people are missing is that since touch is built into the OS in Windows 7 then applications are minimally touch aware with no changes. (And there are also more things they can do if they want to really light up their touch features)
anyone notice the big MS surface tech-demo in the new James Bond film?
Touch makes sense on things like that, I'd imagine, but I agree with others here that for everyday computing, it is un-necessary.
However, having touch built right into the OS makes that OS far more flexible for several markets. For example, people will no longer need to write their own specialist touchscreen interface software to use a computer in such things as check-out tills, automated bookings desks and so on.
Years ago [early 1990's], some of the computers for CT and MRI had touch screens. That technology was abandoned as the techs were getting tired arms. Now, everything is menu and command driven.
DRWAM
Well at least we will be working out our arms as we use our computers.
It's also worth noting that touchscreen is generally an advantage in situations where there is nowhere to place a mouse and keyboard.
Several large-format audio mixing desks use touchscreens to facilitate digital signal routing and so on. On a mixing desk, keyboard/mouse placement is always a compromise, but touchscreens can be placed exactly where needed.
One of the solutions we delivered to the Dallas ISD was a register system that used a touchscreen. It was amazing to see how fast those cashiers adapted to the touchscreen within a matter of days. Most of the ladies were about less than the average computer user in terms of computer knowledge. However, when they were trained properly, it became second hat for them in not time.
Nobody really can understand the full impact of touchscreens until its fully fleshed out. Just because it makes little sense today, doesn't mean a thing. In the future, touchscreen might be the interface thats the most common. To use Daveinla's example, the Nintendo DS is highly successful. Just look at the iPhone. If you need an example in the past, HP and Xerox executives couldn't fanthom marketing a "mouse." 30 years later, the mouse is synonymous with modern computing.
I am looking foward to the day when we have a next gen touchboard that could replace the standard keyboard. It could be a keyboard or it can be reconfigured to do other imputs. Possibilities are endless. Sometimes it requires you to as Steve Jobs likes to say, "Think Different". Or to put it another way, "Think outside the Box."
@mikegalos: "(And it's quite possible that there were "touchscreen phones" from other vendors before that as well)"
I'm sure there were others. Innovation like that is not something that Microsoft is capable on their own. They don't have the vision for something like that. They'd get the idea from others.
This is interesting. http://www.9to5mac.com/barack-obama-mac-user
The saviour of the USA's soul uses a Mac. The evil Bush uses a PC. Tells you a lot about PC users. They have no soul.
@Blakes7 - The world in crying out for this no more than it was for touch screen phones...It is just the evolution of technology at work."
The obvious whole in your theory is that you have to touch phone, whether its the buttons below the screen or the screen, as in touch is your primary input method
With a notebook/desktop, even tablet, touch is a secondary method at best, mouse, keyboard, stylus being the primary method.
Also what phone does not get smudged? if your greeeezy ear is all over your WinMo non touch screen phone....it gets just as nasty.
Looks like the worst browser of all time, most evil, at least... is coming to your pockets. http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/12/try-internet-explorer-mobile-6-o...
@blakes7: Come on now. Unless you're locked in the MS world, and don't do web apps for anything other than IE, then IE6 is a real dog of a browser. A pain in the arse.
@blakes7: The whole soul, no soul, bit is just a jovial reference to one of Paul's recent tabloid posts.
"@blakes7: The whole soul, no soul, bit is just a jovial reference to one of Paul's recent tabloid posts."
Are you sure you didn't mean to use the adjective 'bitter' there? You're starting to sound like jihadi there. I'd be scared if I were a PC user living near you.
robertsjoe, you really add nothing to the conversation. If you actually had some evidence with your counter points, it would give you a smidgen more credibility.
Anyway, the Obama Mac story is cute. Al Gore, the savior of the environment, uses a Mac too. He's got like two big screens and a LCD TV in his office. It certainly helps to add to his $30,000+ per year electricity bill. I'm sure he uses a MacBook on his carbon spewing private jet too.
They might as well be Mac users. It's not like a President does much. The real work is all done by the anonymous advisors. But I do agree that Macs have a higher prevalence among the rich. I wonder what Mike will have to say about all of this and about the google CEO being considered for the CTO position.
