Thread: Microsoft Surface

Originally Posted by Killuminati

You think that's cool, check out microsoft's vision for 2019.

Lol, yes... in merely 10 years time, we're going to be surrounded by touch sensitive displays and discarding our over-stuffed wallets for ultra thin devices with organic opticall (or Si thin film) displays.

I do think there will be more technology surrounding us, and there will continue to be more innovation, but not at the pace that promotional piece would have you believe.


As for the Surface, I'm underwhelmed, though perhaps that's thanks in large part to the iPhone. Maybe it'll find wide-spread use for certain types of collaborative projects or other niche applications, but I don't think we're going to have one of these in each home.

Also TOGS, I think I have seen the Surface or a similar touch sensitive display device used for an RTS game, and yes, it does kick ass.

Originally Posted by Killuminati

Haha I don't expect life to be as they showed it in that video, that's why I said it was microsofts vision and not what was going to happen. I'm just excited for some or any of the kind of technology in that video to appear in our daily lives. And what is this with the iphone affecting what you think about the surface? I don't even understand how they are related besides the multitouch and it's not like the surface stole the multitouch from the iphone, shit I remember watching videos for the surface years ago and they already have plans for the newer version to come out in like 2 years.

Oh it's not that I think Microsoft stole the whole touch sensitive thing from Apple (in fact, for the first time, the intellectual theft might have been in reverse.) It's merely that my judgment of Surface can't helped but be colored by my experience with the iPhone. Though the iPhone is nice, its touch-style interface will never, ever be able to replace the mouse + keyboard without some super huge innovations being added or unless there is a real niche found for this.

I mean, spinning a globe with your fingers is cool, as is passing photos back and forth. But the mouse is still simply a more flexible peripheral than anything else that has tried to replace it. Hell, even trackballs (which were simply inverted mice) have disappeared in large part from the market. Like I said, yes, maybe there will be niche applications for this thing, but touch displays just aren't designed well enough as of yet to function in the place of a mouse.