Multi-Touch Mac - Oops, you missed the point!
06/06/08 18:02
The input
device for the next-gen computer isn't a mouse or
keyboard and it sure isn't a stylus. Apple made that
particular point pretty clear (Steve Jobs: 'yuuukch')
with the iPhone and the first practical use of
multi-touch in an every day device.
At this years All Things Digital there was no sign of the Apple CEO, but the impact of the iPhone was still clear as the day it was released - with Microsoft, doing a 'super excited' demo of Multi-Touch in Windows 7 which managed to get the iPhone mentioned 3 times.
How high has the bar been set? Did Microsoft come out punching?
At this years All Things Digital there was no sign of the Apple CEO, but the impact of the iPhone was still clear as the day it was released - with Microsoft, doing a 'super excited' demo of Multi-Touch in Windows 7 which managed to get the iPhone mentioned 3 times.
How high has the bar been set? Did Microsoft come out punching?
We don't make
a habit of Microsoft bashing, in fact this may be the
very first time we have gone down this well worn road
- but this is a particularly good example of why
Microsoft is struggling in the post-iPhone world.
I'll tackle my two initial questions then move on to three worrying points that I noticed in the highlights reel from All Things Digital.
How high has the bar been set? This point only has one answer, at the moment at least there is nothing that comes close to the interface on the iPhone.
And although the competition is starting to hot up, the Multi-Touch interface of the iPhone is second to none.
Did Microsoft come out punching? They thought they did, but you don't score knockout blows shoehorning touch into MS Paint.
If that thought doesn't scare you then maybe you should to watch the video again, I draw your attention to the 44 second mark.
Not only was that not really an 'evolution' of the Surface computing concept shown last year, it's a cumbersome attempt at playing catch-up and a scary insight into where Windows is headed.
During the demonstration there were another two worrying points when it was indicated that Microsoft were not heading down the path of replacing the mouse and keyboard in Windows 7 - but rather they were 'rethinking' how to integrate touch into an interface that wasn't designed to cope with it.
It would be easy to take this as a one sided argument, if it were Apple delivering this same demo you might say that we'd be singing their praises - wrong. The fact is, Apple DID deliver this demo at Macworld about a year ago with the iPhone. Zero to BOOM in 1 product launch.
But how did they miss the point? I'm glad you asked!
With the iPhone, Apple took the core of an already stable and powerful OS X and designed a whole 'new' interface layer. This enabled them to build a way to interact with a device that was not ever dependant on a mouse, because of this, there is never a cumbersome moment where you aren't quite sure what's going on or what's coming next - 1:43 and again at 3:21 in the video, tap or click and hold?
Some might say that Microsoft are now in the 'lead' to bring touch to the the desktops and laptops of the world, but how can this be any more an advance than the multi-touch interface already built into every Mac portable? Apple have been adding parts of the touch interface into the Mac for quite some time. As we discussed in our article about the MacBook Air - Quick Look and Cover Flow were just the beginning.
Don't get me wrong, I really would like to be excited about Windows 7. Competition breeds the best kind of innovation, the type of innovation that's bought Apple back from the brink. Money can buy a whole lot of stuff and can pay lots of smart people, but if the ideas are bad to start with - all the smart people and all the money in the world can't help you. To fix this kind of problem you need to fall and it needs to hurt. Sorry Microsoft - you missed the point, and when you finally fall its going to hurt like heck.
Zillatron
I'll tackle my two initial questions then move on to three worrying points that I noticed in the highlights reel from All Things Digital.
How high has the bar been set? This point only has one answer, at the moment at least there is nothing that comes close to the interface on the iPhone.
And although the competition is starting to hot up, the Multi-Touch interface of the iPhone is second to none.
Did Microsoft come out punching? They thought they did, but you don't score knockout blows shoehorning touch into MS Paint.
If that thought doesn't scare you then maybe you should to watch the video again, I draw your attention to the 44 second mark.
Not only was that not really an 'evolution' of the Surface computing concept shown last year, it's a cumbersome attempt at playing catch-up and a scary insight into where Windows is headed.
During the demonstration there were another two worrying points when it was indicated that Microsoft were not heading down the path of replacing the mouse and keyboard in Windows 7 - but rather they were 'rethinking' how to integrate touch into an interface that wasn't designed to cope with it.
It would be easy to take this as a one sided argument, if it were Apple delivering this same demo you might say that we'd be singing their praises - wrong. The fact is, Apple DID deliver this demo at Macworld about a year ago with the iPhone. Zero to BOOM in 1 product launch.
But how did they miss the point? I'm glad you asked!
With the iPhone, Apple took the core of an already stable and powerful OS X and designed a whole 'new' interface layer. This enabled them to build a way to interact with a device that was not ever dependant on a mouse, because of this, there is never a cumbersome moment where you aren't quite sure what's going on or what's coming next - 1:43 and again at 3:21 in the video, tap or click and hold?
Some might say that Microsoft are now in the 'lead' to bring touch to the the desktops and laptops of the world, but how can this be any more an advance than the multi-touch interface already built into every Mac portable? Apple have been adding parts of the touch interface into the Mac for quite some time. As we discussed in our article about the MacBook Air - Quick Look and Cover Flow were just the beginning.
Don't get me wrong, I really would like to be excited about Windows 7. Competition breeds the best kind of innovation, the type of innovation that's bought Apple back from the brink. Money can buy a whole lot of stuff and can pay lots of smart people, but if the ideas are bad to start with - all the smart people and all the money in the world can't help you. To fix this kind of problem you need to fall and it needs to hurt. Sorry Microsoft - you missed the point, and when you finally fall its going to hurt like heck.
Zillatron
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