There was mention about using them in places like kitchens, but there is such little use in a kitchen, that they have a hard time selling refrigerators with much simpler technology. Recipes etc require a search entry, which needs character enter. There are usually so many recipes and options that drop down and scroll menus are not practical.

The bottom line is that I am sure that there is a use for most new technologies, but this is far from a mainstream way of doing things.

dennyhayes

skate666

This product while not 100% new is a damn good idea and about time someone put it to this scale of use. While 10,000 is pricy its because its not mass produced yet... but it will be because thats how economics work. It's large size is a burden but everything starts out much larger than it will ever be. The sensory equipment being used in this facet is relatively new and has not been shrunk down to a sensible size yet. And why would they waste their time recognizing the individual by body heat when you are using your hands which has a thing called a fingerprint that o my god only you have. With progression this will be able to recognize the user by a quick scan of the palm or fingertip. Thermo sensing is cool but useless if you ever geta thing calle dthe common cold and your body goes up or down a fraction of a degree and all of a sudden you cannot access any of your protected material because your password is of by .05 degrees.
Just imagine this technology advances and your home is now 100% interactive. With a touch of your finger you not only start your shower but set the exact temperature of the water you want even before you are in the room. Wake up in the morning touch one thing on the screen and simutaneously your coffee starts brewing the way you want it, the shower turns on, the alarm turns off, the shades open and your day has begun.
The usefulness of any product is only limited by our imagination and if you never remove yourself from what similar products did in the past you will never be able to see the benefits of the new technology.
My first reaction when hearing about this product that I still stand by is that I don't want one till it is the size of a nice large lcd monitor that can be adjusted. Imagine in 5-10 years when this table costs $200 and does everything you see if the previews... would that be worth it??

HITCH223

I strongly believe that Apple got it right and will be the next "Thing" in the future.. Bill Gates is leaving MS they have a few more things in the bag but Apple will dominate for the next 10 to 20 years. Simply because their entire OS System is built right.. MS never changed their OS system so all the new systems that come out are all built on the same faulty system that Windows ME was built on. I used to hate Apple but never will I say that again.

The Surface interface is good but lacks applications. But Bill Gates said more things are being developed for it so by time Winter 2007 rolls around it might be more than what you expect. So if I happen to be in Las Vegas or at T-Mobile Ill check out the Surface. Then again alot of phone carriers will lose out once that Iphone comes out this might be an attempt for T-Mobile to keep and attract people to their stores. But then again I am already a Cingular customer so I guess I won't be seeing the Surface computer anytime soon unless its at Starbucks, Mortons, TGI Fridays, etc.

smartones

LinuxTheKid

Multi-touch on a small handheld device is just a costly gimic. Even the iPhone only uses it as an alternative method of zooming.

People are so caught up in comparing Apples and Oranges (Microsoft) that they miss the point:

Surface is all about interacting with objects placed on the screen... a leap forward in user interaction, going a step beyond ideas like
those shown in Minority Report, or by most other researchers.

kdarling

wwalkersd

I CANNOT wait to see the consumer aplications for the handicapped, the young, and the elderly....I'm hopping in circles, yo.

diem

My point wasn't that Microsoft invented handwriting recognition (they didn't), or voice recognition, or the smartphone, or the game consol, or media extenders, it is that for several years now Microsoft has been actively working to redefine how we interact with the computer, and even change the definition of what a computer is. Yet rather than get excited by the new possibilities of the technology, a certain contingent of this supposed tech site would rather sit around saying "if the company who made my cool new Walkman didn't do it, then it's crap."

L. M. Lloyd

I know some of you must have seen Tron from the 80's, and your going to say that table wasn't cool? come on now, MS just took it a step up.

My only compliant right now is the table is a little to bulky, I know in time it will scale down, but that thing looks like it would be hell to carry up some stairs.

preyhater

slamskie

homer_s

Gaming/Casinos? Ok...there's a use there, games and the like, can easily see that.

Some kind of a kiosk? What? Maps/directions? What can this do that a computer can't? It comes down the interface, right? And the way you interact with it. It's not changing computing, really, just the way we interact with it.

How used are the computer/kiosks in retail environments right now? Usually they sit their unused...why? it's not the interface...it's the time...usually I can find what I need faster than using a kiosk (or at least it feels like it) by either asking a real person or just looking around.

In my personal life? I don't know...does it become a glorified remote for media? A gaming machine? I'm not trying to come down on the tech, which is cool, just wondering what it's real world uses will be and how long I'd want to use one.

guanoboy

preyhater

commentmaster

But I agree...I'd be happy just manipulating data.

francisrizzo3

Try to put a camera or a Zune on a 45degree screen :-) it'll crash on the floor :-)

The ergonomics in table form are somewhat troublesome, but that can be addressed. I'm imagining cheap versions of these in the trays in aircraft seatbacks, fold-out and fold-away arms built into a wall near your bed, and FINALLY - hopefully - a real move towards self-ordering in fast food drive-through lanes.

Very cool, and I don't really care who develops/markets/sells it as long as it friggin' works.

Drizzten

You can make your own right now:

1)plexiglass + IR LEDs
2)webcam with IR filter
3)LCD projector
4)PC + software
5)cabinet of your choosing

Links:

Open source multi-touch movement:
http://nuigroup.com/log/about/

Another:
http://www.multitouch.nl/

A detailed how-to:
http://www.multitouch.nl/?p=53

Some open software details for multitouch interfaces:
http://www.whitenoiseaudio.com/touchlib/

...with Proce55ing:
http://r3nder.net/resource/archives/categorias/lab/multito...

Han's ACM paper:
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1095054

Microsoft's announcement is a good impetus for the open-sourcing of this tech. It took Vista's impending release to spur the much superior Beryl into action, and I think the same will happen with multi-touch tech. Proprietary announcements, open-source dominance.

jakemikey

jaiku

Absolutely nothing, because the projector itself is relatively far from the surface.

Mio

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20070525/1331...

Wiseblood

NeilCauley

ikelleigh

ikelleigh

daamoth

alter

Brookespeed

microsoft's not impressing me here. this is something that you and i can build for under say... $800 (and that's for something quality). go check out www.nuigroup.com
the instructions are there.
the main problem i have with this product is that it uses ftir technology, which the iphone doesn't. ftir takes up too much space. you NEED a table for it, otherwise you wouldn't have enough room for the components. i think that this technology will only catch on when someone develops a non ftir multitouch screen. plus, this is a 1ghz machine. that's weaksauce, man. i want a beast underneath the table so that i can play WoW or StarCraft 2 on it.

habookale

GudWriter

1. Technological innovations to user interfaces such as this one are clearly going to be huge in the near future.

2. That being said, Microsoft's expensive little table here seems more like a perfect proof of concept, not a perfect product that's going to directly change the world.

3. Any and every company with foresight is aware of how important it is to utilize and innovate user interface technology. So what's all the sourpuss Microsoft vs Apple debate about? While the fan boys kiss the same ass until the day they die, I'm going to keep it playa.

OtterKing

it seems people havent watched the on10 video to see just how wicked this would be, i can almost guarantee quite a few local stores would die to have this in their showrooms

phantam

s for the bluescreen crackphotan give it a frigging break, since XP the chance of crashis nearly non existent, hell my apple locks up more often than my pc lately oddly enough

Also sorry to bust peoples asses but look back in those google results a bit... multitouch devices have been around for a while now and several are on the market already, and to me its just a thrown in for nothing feature i really cant see ever having to really make use of it on my ... wait no im getting a miezu for 1/2 the price and higher resolution and 12gb instead of 8... so no i wont even need multitouch.

phantam

"They come out with usable handwriting recognition, and you say "who wants to write when I can type?""

Apple had it first. Newton, biatch. =D

Justin D

And a table with the MS blue screen 'o death would match my decor perfectly!

10K for a MS product - yea right! LMAO

PhotoMan

Example:
Someone suggested that the "coffee table" format is not convenient for every day work and that the screen needs to be tilted to allow easy viewing. Well... Try to put a camera or a Zune on a 45degree screen :-) it'll crash on the floor :-)

All in all I think it is a great concept, developed by Microsoft follwing a new philosophy of "if it has to be a great product, then do it all "in house"".
Today I can see it in hotel lobbies and open spaces (although it might raise some privacy issues (are pics stored in a TEMP memory)) but barely in offices or homes.
The UI needs some work, because it although undoubtedly cool, it still is not that practical.
Microsoft surely has released an exciting new concept. Let's see where this leads

pinolo

Zat_XBSB

Whenever a new medium is introduced, it historically enters as a "toy"-- look at how useless we consider holograms, a medium still isolated in the "toy" phase. Television, radio, and photography each were introduced to impressed audiences that could see no practical application. As media evolve, they lose their "toy" phase and enter a "mainstream" phase, where their application is unquestioned, sometimes to a fault. When the broadcast radio was invented, the original plan was to sell a point-to-point communication model (a business could rent a timeslice and broadcast a message to another business, for example). After a few years the radio became popular when someone realized it was profitable to generate content and sell advertising space between breaks. (Duh.) Eventually, media retire from the limelight and enter the "art" phase: their application is usually for an effect. Before photography, it was normal to have a portrait painting, and those images rendered were realistic. Once the photograph implemented a superior likeness, portrait painting shifted to the artful and abstract. All media move through these shifts. In 15 years these multitouch interfaces will have integrated so well in society everywhere, that no one will question their placement and no one will wish for the days of keyboards and mice. Look at the above movie demonstration and make the claim that an operating system can't be made completely intuitive with multitouch: anyone who can move their fingers is a user. It's only genius because it's so simple.

digitalsushi

bmg50barrett

Why build millions of these and have them fail because of high price, when you can build thousands and test them safely in commercial use.

This tech will take off. Just watch. And its not because i'm in a camp or anything, its because this is the best synergism of multi touch and convenience to date.

bmg50barrett

And just think, I was going to invite you all out to the Diner for breakfast my treat too.

Well kids with behavior like this I think it's safe to say that there won't be waffles for anybody today.

Now go ahead, get your chores knocked out and maybe I'll think about taking you all out tomorrow.

:(

I think the concept is extremely cool, though personally I don't think I could apply it much in my own life.
Perhaps there will be some spin-offs from this that will be cool too, who knows?

I know some professional fields will go ga-ga over it, no doubt.

strider_mt2k

Cleverboy

Nothing about Microsoft Surface even competes with anything else on the market, so why argue? My question, is why Microsoft isn't putting this technology into the consumer sphere (as opposed to commercial usage)? When and what consumer product will this manifest itself as? I don't even care if its expensive. Just give us something to work with? Is this something Palm will deploy soon?

Right now, this is another technology demo. It's neat to look at, but Microsoft has always done excellent technology demoes.

Cleverboy

Thius kind of technology has existed for some time.

How about creating things with TWO hands now??

flyboy

"Tada! iDust!"

bmg50barrett

dlasehl

bmg50barrett

they already use it in military and in business. It doesnt need to be a table, it can be in wall, or in floor. The applications are already expanding. It isnt practical in the house unless you build your house around it...that doesnt go for businesses who can rebuild their headquarters on a whim...lol

ALSO

Apple fanboys....just dont post on PC stuff anymore please. I was reading some posts...they were like:

"iPhone comes out first. you suck"

"Apple had it first...you suck"

"in 5 years, Apple will be better...you suck"

(paraphrased but essentially the content is the same. I didnt want to point anyone out.)

Funny....all the posts follow the same general layout. Bad facts...and worse, a fifth grade insult. Apple guys...no more PC posts unless you can make a post not relating the topic at hand to the iPhone...or iMac...or any other iThing.

bmg50barrett

francisrizzo3

you are my god.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.

You get the "Bmg50barrett Award" for truthfulness and earth-shattering reality checks.

bmg50barrett

Its definitely cool, and its been done...sorta...

Its its never been taken to this scale, and i have never seen a computer this easy to use. The iPhone has the same interface, but it isnt the same thing. The "Surface" is bigger, interacts with objects on its screen, (even cups, wireless devices, and people) and is overall, able to do more than an iPhone could.

Right now...this is not practical for homes...what this is is the first retail computer that seriously looks like it came out of the future. What this could eventually be is flatscreen wall mounted computers for cheap. That is far off, but still possible with some R&D.

They said it themselves...commercial availibility is primary, and then they can maybe sell some to the public. This is seriosly one of the coolest futuretechs i have ever seen.

I mean come on....its a coffee table too! Try and put coffee on your iPhone........exactly.

bmg50barrett

I do wonder how much the Department of Homeland Security paid Microsoft to help them develop this product? I mean, the US government has been trying to install cameras in our homes for years! Now we'll have at least 3 wireless, infrared video cameras watching us any time we're in the same room with our MSTable(tm). Wooo!

as I finish typing, my cell phone camera and iChat camera both report me to the authorities...

fmccb

In recent years Microsoft has come out with a smartphone platform, and you say "who wants a little computer in their pocket?" They come out with usable handwriting recognition, and you say "who wants to write when I can type?" They come out with usable voice recognition and you say "who needs it?" They come out with usable tablet PCs and you say "what a useless idea." They come out with a usable TV media interface and you say "who wants that?" They roll it all into one OS and you say "it is just a service pack for of XP." They come out with a set top media extender, that plays games too, and you say "who cares?" Now they come out with a true desktop interface and you say "how impractical and overpriced."

On the other hand Apple comes out with a TV media interface, and you say "why didn't anyone else think of that? Apple is brilliant!" They come out with a smartphone platform, and you say "why didn't anyone else think of that? Apple is brilliant!" They come out with a media extender and you say "why didn't anyone else think of that? Apple is brilliant!" I'm sure when they come out with a Tablet PC you will say "why didn't anyone else think of that? Apple is brilliant!" You will probably say the same thing when Apple comes out with something like this as well. Then of course you will, as usual, claim that everyone else in the world somehow retroactively stole everything from Apple, even if the products came out years before Apple did it.

It is really sad. I don't even see what this story has to do with Apple, except for the fact that many readers around here are so defensive about their choice of computers that they can't stand for the name Microsoft to be mentioned without getting the name Apple in there somewhere.

L. M. Lloyd

s5

ECAsh

coach

rc28

I'll be happy when Microsoft fully realizes a consumer application for this product, so normal people can make a purchase and catapult their personal computing lives to the next step. Right now, it just looks like another Longhorn Preview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ifQvQCO7Y
Coming October 2003, people.

Much like "Tablet Computing", Microsoft has demonstrated another "platform" product they intend to capitalize on. Just like Windows Media Center has been an awkward and unwieldy technology for the average consumer to jump into, let's hope Micrsoft's Surface moves into the realm the iPhone will be occupying in the next 30 days, so that we can all get in touch with the future they're painting. I'm tired of Microsoft teasing people with stuff that ultimately no one ever really sees used (I've already seen motion technology in movie theatres and its all mostly for gimmick appear at this point). I just see venues (other than casinos) asking "so, how much MORE money will this make me?" --With little real data, scenarios, or projections to answer it (more than "curiosity effect").

That said... much about this technology even looks downright *impractical*. Placing two phones on the table and having them each give their retail prices? Um, what phones would this need to be? Bluetooth only? Does my camera require Bluetooth as well? At what point does one couple a device so that pictures can be casually "tossed" onto them? I love technology, but I'm also a pragmatist.

I'd have preferred Microsoft released a multi-touch monitor and/or multi-touch enabled PDA that I could walk into BestBuy and try out. Some $10,000 touch-sensitive table/screen that I'll only be able to see if I walked into a high-powered casino... I'm sorry that's just less than useless to me.

Cleverboy

This is going to be huge folks. The price is the same as an Apple Lisa in the 80's, and the price will plummet over the next couple of years.

As an Apple fanboy myself I have to applaud Microsoft for taking this technology to the next level. I always thought it would be Apple that did that, I never even suspected Microsoft would.

If I'm not the first on my block with one of these its because I'm dead. This is the future...

XtremeCamera

TheBugMan

macserv

Well done Microsoft!!!!! Incredible!!!!!

aussie

I also wonder what would be the bandwidth compared with usb2 for transfering the data from the camcorder and digital camera.

Charbax

It's worth noting that original "personal computers" (aimed at scientists and engineers) came in around $10,000 at the time, and the first home computers, including the Apple II cost around $5000 adjusted for inflation.

I think that a tabletop surface is less than ideal for work and for most home needs - mostly because of the angle. But I could see using this as a work device if it were aligned more like a drafting table, perhaps with adjustable angle for different needs. In fact, I'd buy one today of I could do that - it would save me quite a bit of back strain.

But once again it's not really about this device or the fact that it looks like a coffee table: it's about "surface computing" and the operating system behind that. I've been the first to criticize Microsoft for idiotic products like tablet PCs and the UMPC (not to mention Plays for Sure and all the other standards initiatives that they promote) but this might be the first Microsoft personal computing initiative to have a chance at success in quite some time.

weatherman

I'm not sure since I don't quite know.

However you have to look at both devices from a different point of view. Like I said earlier...yes they both have multi-touch screens and that is where the similarities end.

It's like saying that the VHS and DVD player are the same because they both have a remote. They are a means to navigation, but don't define the product.

Multi-touch screen on the Surface makes sense given the applications shown, but multi-touch screens on the iPhone don't seem to hold the same precedent. Why is that?

It literally comes down to size. It's just easier and more intuitive to have the multi-touch screen on a larger device, whereas on a phone it doesn't make that much sense, because folks will be poking around with their pudgy fingers not getting crap done.

Cell phones rely on macro navigations for one simple reason, the device is simply small. Poking around a UI isn't fun or intuitive if you have to put your Bi-Focals on.

That isn't to detract from the iPhone, but I'm just saying that the iPhone and the Surface (regardless of both employing multi-touch screens) are two COMPLETELY different beasts. And that must be kept in mind.

BonoMan

JOAM

When Apple pulled out the iPhone, Didn't Billy and Balmer scoff at the idea of a phone without a keyboard? Now they have the same concept on a bigger scale.
Brings Plug and Pray to a whole new level.
I wonder how long before we see Mr. Han working at Microsoft.

freakshow1

dle5

bjarnia

Are you guys not watching the rest?

Can you lay a digital camera and a cell phone on the iPhone and use the iPhone as a medium to physically drag and drop a file from one to the other?

No?

Then shut up.

BonoMan

What DRM? It runs Vista. Is Vista crippled by DRM? You can't play all your pirated movies on a Vista machine?

Are you insinuating that Apple and iTunes do NOT use DRM?

What exactly is your point?

The Brain

(2) Looks ferkin cool

(3) Sales of screen wipes will rocket (for several reasons)

(4) Health and safety types, who have told us for years to sit correctly at a computer, will freak. Lawsuits will follow.

(5) I want one so badly it hurts.

robman84

AliceKK

First...I love Apple. To death. But to sit there and shout "hurrr Apple did this 5 months ago with the iPhone!" is utterly ridiculous.

Yes the iPhone showed one of the first true instances of multi-touch displays. But then that means, for Apple to have triumphed over MS in a fanboy's eyes, the Surface must only be about multi-touch.

Which of course it isn't. The Surface employs multi-touch, but it's mearly of navigational concern. It's like the modern mouse. Sure it has five buttons and a scroll wheel, and that helps, but my computer doesn't center around the mouse. It merely helps my computer work better.

Which is what multi-touch is to the surface...it helps it work better but is no means what Surface is about at all.

And if you can't see that (whether an apple or MS fanboy) then that's just sad.

BonoMan

ryuuseki

davidfbecker

As for practicality? I can see some fantastic advantages when working with audio, not least with multi tracking. Moving tracks, drawing volume and other controller curves directly on audio tracks, rearranging etc., not to mention editing audio files per se (cutting, moving, duplicating, normalizing, all that stuff). Gimme. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Hey, I think that could make for a great song!

Not to mention they are cross platform, available for purchase now, and cost around $3,000.

R2B2

Phil29

ChuckBlack

agahnim

ejdmoo

dynamius

Gizmo

Yay!!!

q4norm

Look at this link: http://www.touchtable.com/site/ttGIS.php

I saw, and played with, this type of technology on an 8 ft diagonal table over three years ago at ESRI. The technology shown in the link is from Applied Minds. With an integrated GIS system loaded with data, you could literally rotate the world and zoom in to any spot on the earth and see anything that you had data for. It was like playing god. The feds have been using this stuff actively for years.

If MSFT isn't infringing patents here, it's probably because they have licensing with Applied Minds.

jaiku

1. Awesome...
2. It's about time!

bamzero

This is cool, but its nothing new.

LeftEyeBlind

By dismissing the "usefulness" of the Surface, you are directly dismissing that of the iPhone too. See, both the MS Surface and the iPhone is innovative in the way it allows you to interact with your information. There is absolutely no "use" for it, if you are talking about functionality alone. Heck, I bet if Adobe develops a text prompt for photoshop, I believe I can photoshop my way through just fine.

The reasoning behind a novel interface is that it opens up possibilities. I for one could imagine this thing being in a bar, where people could share photos with their friends and/or new acquaintances. How could you say that it is not a good thing? Or maybe your working desk is the "Surface", like in "the Island"(movie)> If this multi-touch technology is not good, how is apple's any better? Do you have an iPhone now? If not, then how do you call your buddies?

Further more, don't forget that compared to existing cellphones on the market, the iPhone is significantly more expensive than most other phones too. In my opinion the iPhone is in a similar situation as the MS Surface, only on a different scale.

I am not Apple's nor MS's fanboy, as I think both companies have a lot that they could improve on, interaction design-wise. The iPhone is cool for its compactness, but it lacks consideration to usability just as MS. Think about this: How do blind people, or people with significantly impaired vision use these completely flat screens?

thomasora

Can't wait to see what Apple will do with it too.

trekkie

Really, how can you NOT see the immense possibilities in this technology? If you watch the on10.net video I posted, you'll see PLENTY of innovative commercial uses, and if you watch the TED video (or the iPhone demo), you'll see that having a virtual keyboard is doable, so I don't see what program you wouldn't be able to use with this thing.
Someone mentioned how sweet Audio mixing would be on a system like this. I immediately thought of Video editing and 3-D modeling. Imagine the ease with which you could manipulate a 3-D model and get just the right view, as opposed to doing it with a mouse.
There is literally not a single program on my computer that wouldn't work on a system like that, and very few which would not be improved by such an interface.

jedibugs

but put 5 ir cameras to scan code bars and locate wheres the object.is new, yet a kind of simple comcept.

of course every major brand of tech will now on investe more and more in multi touch products.

Well i Just can't wait to see a BSOD in of those "coffee table"

sorry for my bad english dudes..

Diego-Souto

That's exactly what some will say, but I say this is great! This surely is the future of connected entertainment and connected devices.

sotark

Because, unlike the HDTV which is a useful investment that can come in handy every single day for years to come, the Surface table is nothing more than an impractical toy with a novelty that wears off in a few months leaving you with a severe case of buyer's remorse?

Marty_MacFly

It also seems to say that it uses cameras (rather than physical touch sensors) to sense input. Perhaps the cameras are part of the reason they needed to use the rear-projection instead of, say, an LCD panel.

So, their technology is very different from Apple's iPhone (rear projection with cameras vs. LCD with touch sensors). Give it some time, each company will use some ideas from the other, and both will have brilliant devices that everybody wants for about the price of a decent computer in a year or two.

Even at $10,000, it's not as "expensive" as it sounds (it is to me...that's a once-every-8-years investment in a "kickass" car in my book...but 10k is the price of a good gadget for many poeple) -- think of how much uber gamers spend on their gaming rigs today -- just the 30" monitor is $1500, and 30" LCD's started at well over $2000. Those nVidia 8800 Ultra's are nearing the $1000 mark. $1000 CPU's are not hard to come by. Pricey computers are not mainstream...but clearly there's a market for them...

If people are spending $5k on just a widescreen HDTV, why not spend double the price for the computing coffee table to go with it?

EQC

Any computer that you have to awkwardly bend over to use (see photo of the smiling, awkwardly bent over couple) is a computer I think I'll skip.

Skeptic

As for practicality? I can see some fantastic advantages when working with audio, not least with multi tracking. Moving tracks, drawing volume and other controller curves directly on audio tracks, rearranging etc., not to mention editing audio files per se (cutting, moving, duplicating, normalizing, all that stuff). Gimme. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Hey, I think that could make for a great song!

digidandy

But it WAS dropped by Apple. 5 months ago.

And in less than 30 days I'll be able to hold the power of multi-touch in my palms, not bent over some huge table placed God knows where in my home (certainly not as my coffee table).

Incase you're trying to put the "Microsoft copied the iPhone" blame on me, I never typed that. There's no way M$ could create Surface this quickly. I believe whole heartedly that it was 5 years in the making as they claim. Multi-touch is serious business.

There will be many others coming out of the wood work with multi-gestural interfaces. I'm thinking the likes of Samsung and Sony off the top of my head. That's why, as jmdecombe stated, the Macworld keynote was such a masterful move.

What I'm saying is that the Apple approach to multi-touch seems better, for Marty MacFly the average Joe, than the Micro$oft vision of playtime in the Harrah's lobby.

To GenericSN, I didn't say it would be the first EVER, rather the first in this newly created race between Apple and Mafi---Microsoft.

Marty_MacFly

Given the iPhone and the presentation at the TED talks, I wouldn't be surprised if Mad Dog Steve has something like this up his sleeve. It just seems totally his style, simple and intuitive, especially after his iPhone presentation where he practically had an orgasm as he said "You can touch your music!"

brandon208402

mrrobotanger

jedibugs

xxGenericSNxx

Skylar

It'd be great for computer versions of board games, RTS games, etc.

LittleJon

The idea of multitouch displays came way before Microsoft / Apple had a chance to think about it, read more about that on Bill Buxton's website, he was one of the first to demonstrate multitouch interfaces :
http://www.billbuxton.com/multitouchOverview.html

Flipo

DeadPlasmaCell

jedibugs

If you were playing an RTS game on it, the touchiness of the screen would lend itself PERFECTLY to games.

And porn........don't get me started.

freeway8989

@Pegleg - "I'm not really seeing the real-world purpose just yet."
Weren't the first computers ridiculed for the same reasons? "Who the hell wants a computer in the house, they're strictly for business use." Now see how that's stood the test of time?

People like us who use tech everyday forget how freaking bizarre it is to normal people. Look at the Wii's success, it's intuitive, you only need to hold it to use it, it doesn't have 9 trillion buttons and my grandmother can use it. Is it popular?

This Surface thing will be *huge* but in ways we probably can't see yet. These things won't only be in houses, they'll be *everywhere* and much sooner than 5 years . . . unless they're running Vista.

Cos then they'll suck.

Maxwells_Nylon_Hammer

I was told that in order to invent/innovate something, you need to improve upon what was already made. For example,we would first walk to get to point A from point be, then we had horses, they got you to point A from point B, then there were cars, did the exact same thing, just faster, now there is all the cars of today with radio, mp3, CD, power windows, remote etc, but still get you to point A from point B.

This can be used with Music players, Computers, anything.. it is always been improved upon... but never COMPLETLY Changed... am i right?

Mario

I love the possibility's for games on this platform in particular- it's like a more advanced DS (without the portability of course).

edenb

@Bohyo:
Agreed, but there might still be a lot of uses in the house, especially of the multiuser kind: playing a board game with the kids, preparing a trip together, looking at vacation pictures with guests, etc. The only problem, of course, is that people use surfaces to put stuff on them (i.e. most coffee tables are covered with books, magazines, mugs, etc.), and counter space is always at a premium in the home (kitchen, laundry room, etc.). And what about spilling... Fun times ahead.

jmdecombe

It's a computer that you can touch instead of using a mouse and keyboard.

If that's the case, then my prayers have been answered.

But at $10,000, it isn't very practical.

freeway8989

Way to go, apple fanboy. Instead of focusing on the item at hand, you had to go iPhoning on us. Nice work!

Little more than a concept car? Just because YOU can't afford it, doesn't mean they won't be in people's homes.

If this had been dropped by Apple, you (and your ilk) would be proclaiming this as the most innovative tech ever! But since it's microsoft, a company that actually knows how to market an OS, you're Mr. Sour Grapes.

gofastmini2005

ummm original? they aren't the only one doing this. They had an interview in the video with a guy whose company is also doing surface computing.

I'd love to have one in my house just for gaming activities. i'd love to do a D&D game using one of these tables.

godai

Torgo

Aaron Martin-Colby

This is little more than a concept car for the general public, something for M$ to proclaim "Hey, we can do cool shit, too!"

Reminds me of GM's Chevrolet Volt. Their response to the Toyota Prius, already on the market and soon approaching its 2nd generation, is a pipe dream that relies on a HOPE that the technology it uses will come to fruition by 2011. Meanwhile Toyota has a product that, while not as impressive technologically, works and is on the market for you and I to purchase.

Marty_MacFly

DeadPlasmaCell

Bhoyo_83

beydo

os_2

AqueousBeef

NOTE: Joysticks are not dead quite yet, though.

jmdecombe

bbfreak

Also,
Interesting Contoso Phones in there eh?

Wouldpkr

bdkennedy1

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65

In addition, how are the basic ideas here really different from what Apple is shipping next month with the iPhone? Is this really an attempt to deflect attention from the iPhone by throwing out a technology demo for something no one can buy anytime soon?

David513

spincrisis:
     Yes please.

Rhainor

mattnyc99

Mandatory_Field

gundark

but seriously that is sweet. i'm gonna spam everybody i know with pictures i made finger painting. smiling sunshine with a strip of blue sky across the top. square house with pointy roof. i t's gonna be awesome!

thekeysareinthefridge