Microsoft announces Surface computer
I'm dumbfounded. Microsoft announced a product this week that looks innovative, fun, and useful. It's not just another me-too clone of someone else's product. It works from Microsoft's strengths. And it looks like it could be a hit from both the corporate and consumer perspectives. That is, if Microsoft doesn't screw it up from a usability perspective like they do everything else that they touch.
From TechCrunch:
Surface uses the same "multi-touch" concept as the upcoming Apple iPhone -- multiple fingers can be used to create gestures and manipulate digital objects in much the same way as one would manipulate physical objects. It's not hard to see that a large segment of the computing future is going to work this way, and probably the not-too-distant future. It reminds me a lot of the table-top arcade games you used to see in pizza parlors.
I haven't even touched on the way the Surface computer interacts with physical objects like cell phones and digital cameras (those equipped with the right wireless technology, anyway). Watching the nerds from Popular Mechanics drag a photo from a camera to a cell phone as easily as one would from one folder to another on your computer's desktop has a cool factor I never thought I'd see in a Microsoft product.
Just so long as it doesn't run Vista.
From TechCrunch:
Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a dynamic surface that provides interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects.
The new product is aimed directly at hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues and should be commercially available towards the end of the year.
Surface uses the same "multi-touch" concept as the upcoming Apple iPhone -- multiple fingers can be used to create gestures and manipulate digital objects in much the same way as one would manipulate physical objects. It's not hard to see that a large segment of the computing future is going to work this way, and probably the not-too-distant future. It reminds me a lot of the table-top arcade games you used to see in pizza parlors.
I haven't even touched on the way the Surface computer interacts with physical objects like cell phones and digital cameras (those equipped with the right wireless technology, anyway). Watching the nerds from Popular Mechanics drag a photo from a camera to a cell phone as easily as one would from one folder to another on your computer's desktop has a cool factor I never thought I'd see in a Microsoft product.
Just so long as it doesn't run Vista.
4 Comments:
Guess what? It's running Vista.
It does seem like a surprisingly cool concept, even if it reminds me of the video game machines they used to have at pizza parlors.
"It's not just another me-too clone of someone else's product."
....
"Surface uses the same "multi-touch" concept as the upcoming Apple iPhone -- multiple fingers can be used to create gestures and manipulate digital objects in much the same way as one would manipulate physical objects."
OK, so it's a scaled up clone of someone else's product. Much better.
MS has obviously been working on this for some time now, and it's not like Apple invented multi-touch. I don't think anyone can accuse Microsoft of copycatting here. The big question is whether computers like this will ever be affordable for the average Joe, or whether they'll be limited to specialty applications. A magazine publisher or architecture firm could easily justify the cost (about $10,000) for the obvious advantages, but where does it fall for everyone else?
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