Thoughts On A Touch Screen Mac
Cnet has a decent article about the prospect of a touch-screen Mac. This seems like a no-brainer following the multi-touch innovations of the iPhone, and also some aspects of the Leopard OS (Cover flow in the Finder, Quick Look) that seem particularly suited for multitouch on the Mac.
However I’ll put a stake in the sand and say I’m not particularly enthused at the prospect of having a touch enabled computer monitor:
- Touching a computer screen repeatedly would be an ergonomic nightmare in comparison with the keyboard and mouse. I do a lot of Photoshop work and reaching to the monitor would involve having my arms raised up off the desktop and hanging in the air. But barring that, imagine typing on a screen that is positioned at 90 degrees to your current keyboard.
- The screen would be covered with fingerprints and smudges. Imagine the smudgy nature of the iPhone screen spread across an entire monitor. I’d have to clean off the screen every day or be at risk of obscuring whatever images appear on the screen under fingerprints.
- Lacking tactile feedback. Keyboard buttons have a satisfying feel of intent behind them.
All this said, Apple is certainly thinking about all of this and judging from the patents alone, any multitouch interface would be extremely feature-rich in hopes of at least equaling what we can do with a keyboard and mouse. They have done work on “tactile feedback” to make a touch screen feel more like a traditional keyboard. Particularly intriguing are “gestures” which would involve two or more fingers to replace common keyboard combos, or “gestures” like certain patterns that could represent functions.
But what I’d really like to see is something that meets the touch screen thing half-way. How about a touch pad peripheral, like a Wacom tablet, meant to sit next to the keyboard on a desk (or a lap) that had all the multitouch features, and could be used as an alternate controller for your Mac. This pad could even have a small screen that “mirrored” the small portion on the main monitor immediately around cursor.
Or perhaps this small touch pad could be the iPhone istelf, running a screen sharing type app? Hmmm.
I must admit, if Apple releases a tablet laptop thing, I’d jump on it in a heartbeat. I’ve always wanted to use that type of technology. I could see myself using it as my “super-portable” device on trips for email, browsing, crazy psycho stuff and other cool things I can’t think of right now. Of course, if I had to do anything “big”, I’d always have my MBP or my gaming PC.
Yeah I guess I missed the implications of mutli touch on a laptop — it would be pretty slick to see Apple’s take on the “meh” Tablet PC. But for similar reasons as above, I hope a future MacBook still keeps a traditional keyboard and have the touch screen “transform” to cover it, or have the track pad be a little touch screen — or a dock for an iPhone … drool …
My friend bought a laptop 5 years ago that you could turn the screen around completely, refold and use with a pen like a proper notebook (and no it wasn’t a mac). Already been done. Of course, with Apples new budget from ipod revenue they will try all sorts of stuff. The vast majority of which will just be old ideas with new iwrappings.
analysts say the mouse’s days may be numbered: http://tinyurl.com/5j2a7v. i love that as a telecom reporter i can legitimately read your blog for work!
It would be great for surfing the web… but not good for typing anything. Also how do you lie down with a tablet? It needs to be propped up somehow I would think.
i am not user of mac but i really like mac systems and lap top my friend have a mac system and he is really mad about mac.…. if told him about touch screen mac system he really gone be mad. thanks for your post
This are some great news
It is not a bad idea. But how do you child proof the screen?
Some real stupid replies here.
Wow just when you thought the stupidity was at it’s new hieght some of you take it to the next level…kudos to those who lack thought process.
Has this been released yet?