According to both Ballmer and Gates, Windows 7 will utilize touchscreen technology to reflect their belief that both the keyboard and mouse is on the way out. Even better, that functionality will be available by late 2009 or early 2010.
Right.
Now, other than the fact that by saying Windows 7 will be available by the end of next year or January of 2010, Microsoft has practically admitted defeat on the Vista front, I think Ballmer and Gates have effectively shown how far off Microsoft is on gauging consumer preference.
Ok,, What do we do with our thousands of bux in design software that uses fancy meece, and tablets, and other imput devices?
Posted by Ricky Jackson (Member # 5082) on :
Holy smokes, I think they are now qualified to become politicians. I can just picture holding our arms up all day long touching the screen and dragging stuff around; that'll be fun. Posted by Dave Sherby (Member # 698) on :
I agree with the author of the article that Gates is losing it. He's so gaga over what technology might be able to do that he's lost the realization of the practicality of technology.
Are we suppose to depend on today's marginal voice recognition software to input data? I'll stick to my keyboard. And I can just see us trying to edit nodes on a touch screen. Imagine trying to hit a node with the tip of your finger and not hitting the other three nodes next to the one you may want to delete.
If he pushes this through, I see even more Apple converts unless Apple follows the same stupid path.
The author sums it up best. "Microsoft is off its rocker with this one. Instead of promising functionality that won't work nearly as well as some want to believe, the company should fix the mistakes it committed with Vista and finally realize that what we want isn't a product that will let us touch the screen, but something that's both secure and reliable.
Is that too much to ask?"
Posted by Jon Jantz (Member # 6137) on :
While it may lean heavily towards the touch screen environment, I find it highly doubtful that Microsoft would put out a version of Windows that a keyboard, mouse and alternative input devices would not work with. And secondly, I'm not going to panic because of some random blogger's assumptions.
That'd be like if the car manufacturers came up and said, "Next year ALL our cars will be voice controlled only. NO STEERING WHEELS."
That wouldn't even come close to flying with the majority of the public. Touchscreen ONLY ain't gonna fly either.
Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
I just want the kind of technology a very young and dumb customer requested of me one time:
"Is there anywhere online I can just download the sticker for free?"
Now that would be awesome!
wait, I take that back ....
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
When I actually worked at the golf course years ago, our computers did both. Touchscreen OR mouse - whichever you felt like doing. I always used the mouse because that's what I was used to. The touchscreen thing was easy and fun for some tasks but overall, wasn't fantastic.
Why can't they spend their time and energy making Windows EASIER to use and less problematic instead of adding more complications?
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
I don't have a problem with touch screen technology where it's practical, but to think it will replace a keyboard and mouse seems premature. Not all technology makes ergonomic sense.
For years we have had speech recognition technology available, but it hasn't taken over. Why? Because it's impractical. Can you imagine an office full of workers all jabbering to their computers at the same time? Privacy issues alone make it impractical for most applications.
Touch screen technology is fine for interfaces with large selectable areas, but can you imagine using a chubby finger to do heavy editing of a text document, or even worse, trying to select specific nodes in a vector image? It would be comical for about 3 seconds, and then the touch screen monitor would start looking more like a punching bag.
For people who spend hours working with computers, can you imagine the pain in your arms, neck, shoulders, and back from holding your arms out, touching the screen all day? Laying the monitor flat on the desk would take up a lot of space, and typing on a flat piece of glass is not my idea of a good time. The fatigue would still be a factor. Overall physical movement is minimal with keyboard and mouse. No wonder they have been in use for decades with relatively few changes.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
All this "windows bashing" is making me irritable.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
I'd much rather see Bill devise a mask you can wear at night that will gently and effectively give you a close shave 15 minutes before your alarm goes off.
Optionally it could pluck your nose and ear hairs as an upgrade.
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Todd, if it's made by Gates, you just might end up with a slit throat instead... and they would assure you it's a feature, not a bug. Problem is, you wouldn't be around any longer for Shaver Service Pak 1 to do you any good.
I used touchscreens when I worked at McDonald's as a teenager and it lets you work pretty dang fast that way.. as long as you don't need any custom input.
I can't imagine not using a keyboard for word processing, bookkeeping, email, etc.
Oh, and maybe it's just me, but having fingerprints all over my screen DRIVES ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!
Posted by Ron Costa (Member # 3366) on :
Why would I want my screen to look like my keyboard? Smudged paint covers half the letters on it now.
Posted by Mr Curtis Dalton (Member # 7547) on :
When the iMac G4 with the chrome swivel neck and flat screen first came out, my friend bought one. We would edit home skateboard video's in his home office on it. If I would touch the screen to point out something, he would threaten to break my wrists!! Years later, I bought my iPod Touch and really enjoyed the album covers and flipping over the albums with a single touch.. I thought to myself "My buddy would hate this!" Sure enough he bought one.. and I razzed him about it! Can you imagine how crazy he would go with Windows 7!! Having to always touch the screen!!! Common sense tells me there are millions of people like him out there, assuring me this technology will never replace the keyboard and mouse.
As for us vector art maniacs, wouldn't we just never buy into this? I would think we'd make our old computers last and use them to get by!
Posted by Joseph Diaz (Member # 5913) on :
I couldn’t pull up the blog. But I imagine it’s just more of the complaining and nitpicking that we all have all become used to by now. How could they possibly know if it’s going to suck this early? It must be tough to be a software company now days… especially when people are always complaining about products they have never used. What’s funny is that anyone with a blog can say anything they want and it’s automatically considered to be true. People complain that the people at Microsoft aren’t innovative enough, so they try to change the way we can approach using a computer, then you have people complain about how different it is. People complain about how unprotected Windows is, so they increase protection, and then they complain about how it’s over protective… Just turn that feature off and quit bitchen then .
I can tell you this: if Mac tries to do something different you can guarantee that Mac fans would be drooling over their keyboards at the news… But when windows tries to do something different its usually followed by complaints from people that haven’t even used the system… or the classic “it’s only good because they copied off of Mac” line
Here is another link I found: http://www.windowsvienna.com/ It looks like it has some pretty cool features too. There is a clip of some of the feature being used on a laptop (with a keyboard!) and also on what looks like a tablet PC. It seems like this is kind of a bridge to Microsoft Surface. That big huge table PC they unveiled last year.
Honestly ask yourself this. If they did use touchscreen how do you know it wouldn’t improve the user’s experience? There is absolutely no way of knowing until the product hits the shelves. Do you honestly think that they would fully remove keyboard and mouse input? That would be stupid. And they know this. I’m predicting that the touch screen will be one of many OPTIONS in your day to day use.
It was really sad to see all the bad publicity that Vista got. It’s not near as bad as everyone makes it out to be. We use it here and I’ve had very few problems. No more then any other OS I’ve ever used, including what Mac has to offer. To me, it really does seem like there are more people that haven’t used Vista bashing it then the people that do use it. And as far as Microsoft admitting defeat on Vista, That’s even more speculation. As I stated in another post, 4 or 5 years between release dates of an operating system is along time and longer then the average time between new operating systems.
Unlike Vista, why don’t we wait and see if it’s going to be a pile of crap or not.
[ June 11, 2008, 06:37 PM: Message edited by: Joseph Diaz ]
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
I think touchscreens are great, I'm surprised it's taken this long for them to show up on mainstream computers considering how long the touch systems have been available. I had a PC with touch screen in my truck 8 or 9 years ago, it was used to interface the audio/video and vehicle diagnostics systems.
Here are some links to other cool touch screen tricks from people who aren't waiting for the mainstream to catch up:
A site that shows how to build something like the contraption shown in the previous link: http://www.multi-touch.de/ Posted by Jon Butterworth (Member # 227) on :
Actually I saw an awsome laptop the other day that was a combination keyboard/touch screen.
It came with a special pen (pointer?) for the screen/mouse. It also worked like a Wacom Pad.
No only that, the screen rotated 180 and folded face up on the keyboard so you could use the whole thing flat on the desk or lap.
The Yellow Pages Rep used it to draw up my contract which I signed with the pen.
Toshsiba I think! I want one Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Jon you took the words right out of my mouth.
Seeing how I bought the Wacom tablet, I threw my mouse away...
I can draw with it/edit with it/erase images with it etc. Talk about a beautiful touch screen. So you see, I can visualize a touch screen system.
Yes I still need the keyboard to type with or use the hot keys!, but that is about all!
[ June 13, 2008, 06:43 AM: Message edited by: Stephen Deveau ]
Posted by Al Checca (Member # 2216) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jon Butterworth: Actually I saw an awsome laptop the other day that was a combination keyboard/touch screen.
It came with a special pen (pointer?) for the screen/mouse. It also worked like a Wacom Pad.
No only that, the screen rotated 180 and folded face up on the keyboard so you could use the whole thing flat on the desk or lap.
The Yellow Pages Rep used it to draw up my contract which I signed with the pen.
Toshsiba I think! I want one
They are way cool, I work for a local ambulance service and we carry one of those in every truck so we can fill our trip sheets out and have the Pt. or family sign for us after the trip is over.
Posted by Joseph Diaz (Member # 5913) on :
I’ve got a lot to say because I really think this type of technology is going to change the way some of us approach work on a computer, especially us sign makers and designers. We all know the people at Windows and Mac can’t claim they invented this technology and we know that this technology has been around for a while, but I applauded anyone that tries to bring it to the masses. Bundling this technology into the largest selling operating system in the world has me truly excited about the future of this industry and all the possibility for especially us graphic designers.
Like Jon said, Tablet PCs have been around for a while now. In fact, I’ve been trying to talk my parents here to invest in one for a while now. Picture a customer coming in and ordering a sign, rather then writing out the work order on paper, then trying not to misplace it somewhere or loose it all the paperwork that tends to clutter our shop, then transferring the information manually from paper to the computers, all the while trying to read each others hand writing, then manually filing the work order, then having to manually find it again when you need it….. Imagine having a work order template on the tablet PC. Most of these tablet PCs can automatically read your handwriting and convert it to text. That solves the not being able to read some one else’s hand writing. Plus all of the information is now on the network and as easy to find as any other file you save. You can easily make backups store it to external devices, print it out if need be. The template can be saved directly in to the art files. Imagine if you could figure out a way, or if there was software that would take the contact information and automatically input it into your book keeping software. This technology has huge amounts of potential to save us time, money and also waste…
And we all know about the Wacom Pads. Imagine the Wacom Pads and tablet PCs but with Multitouch technology and Object Recognition. For those of you that don’t know much about these technologies check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKqyn-gUbY this is a good example of how multitouch works. Notice this isn’t a windows app. Now imagine these features in Corel Draw or Illustrator.
Here are a few videos that show off how different objects besides your finger can be used with this technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxk_WywMTzc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr1O917o4jI <-this is probably the best video to show off some of the features that we can expect in the future. Maybe not with Windows 7 though. Maybe Windows 7 is just a stepping stone to computers like this... But we don’t know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEax1mJhJQ0 <-this is kind of a cool video that shows this technology with voice recognition. Notice how he’s carrying on a conversation but it only recognizes certain phrases he is saying and acting on them and how the different positions and movements of his hands do different things.
Now picture having a cup full of different pen stylists and brushes even pinstripe brushes. Imagine artist like Dan Sawatzky or John Deaton creating their cartoons and crazy creations directly on the screen using multitouch and object recognition. Have you ever seen Mike Meyer paint before? I’m sure a lot of you have. He’s so freaking fast and he makes it look effortless. Can you imagine him using this technology? I keep hearing the old timers reminisce about the good old days when you needed talent and a brush to do good work. I see this as a way to bring some of that craftsmanship back and having it work hand in hand with new technology. I picture my mom doing her portraits and landscapes using this software and then using our wide format printer to print on canvas material and mass produce her works of art.
I think as soon as this technology makes its way to mainstream operating systems it’s only a matter of time before other software jumps on board. Rather then worrying about how they might screw this up lets think about the possibilities.
Posted by Jon Jantz (Member # 6137) on :
Joe, you're taking all the fun away from the whiner and moaners. You're way too positive.
Jon, you're taking all the fun away from my whining and moaning!
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
He Al....sounds like a nice setup!
Now.......for added income, why not get a portable printer and sell copies to all the lawyers that show up?
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Let me know when I can inject a post bragging about the virtues of the Mac......just waiting for the word.... :-)
Posted by Dana Stanley (Member # 6786) on :
The biggest problem here is everyone will have to keep their desk top clean as that will be your pad and screen. Of cource that won't be a big change for Todd. Hay Jon was that going to happen today?
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Yes I agree that Todd...... will think that this will disturb.
All the natural things in the circle of life and machinery.
'Sa=hame' on 'Bill Gates' for looking beyond the envelope.
As Edgar Allen Poe said.. "A Dream is only a Dream"
[ June 12, 2008, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: Stephen Deveau ]
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