They’ve tried “neck-arching” displays in the past, in the 80s and 90s they had monitors mounted inside desks and even a few “flat work surfaces,” but they never caught on because they hurt to use for more than a few minutes.

Then there’s touchscreens. Oh, yeah, they’re awesome. You know why you don’t have one? It’s not the cost. It’s “gorilla-arm syndrome,” describing how your arm feels after using a touchscreen monitor.

For certain kinds of applications, it’s cool. For everyday use, it sucks.

We even have projected and touchscreen keyboards no one uses because we like tactile feedback.

I’m sure there will be some really awesome new computer technologies coming down the pipe (AI sophistication allowing voice control over basic tasks, gigantic merged memory/storage devices allowing insanely detailed content and rich interfaces, etc). I just wish people would stop trying to rehash the old failures.

Especially the awful “net PC” concept, AKA the “You Don’t Need a Whole Computer For Yourself” concept, aka networked storage and processing for home users. The only, and I mean ONLY redeeming quality this idea has is the glut of cheap used semi-dumb terminals onto the market every few years – most of which have HDs hacked in and end up as real PCs – or in dumpsters.

-Fat Old Guy

I do like the idea of ordering drinks and food with Surface: but someone better tell the 9,000 aspiring actors in Hollywood that their night jobs are on the tech hit list.

I am more for the Halo Deck. When , they cna turn my room into halographic life like forms that you can feel, call me.

StuLongIsland on May 30, 2007 at 5:17 PM

There would be a PC in every bedroom and I would never see my husband again….

heh

The technology for the Microsoft table is licensed from and produced by Perceptive Pixel, the company in the previous article that you linked to.

wearyman on May 30, 2007 at 3:45 PM

Are you sure of this? I ask because the Microsoft site makes no mention of Jeff Han or Perceptive Pixel and includes a “development history” that makes it sound like they came up with it all by themselves.

Which, as many should know by now, rarely happens at Microsoft – they usually buy emerging techonologies and/or technology companies and then assimilate the development of same into their own systems. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was licensed from Perceptive Pixel (especially since the interface gestures are identical and probably patented by Perceptive Pixel), but Microsoft isn’t telling. Unless I’m missing something.

Seriously, anyone using Vista, which is a watered down version of what MS promised for years, is not going to take this stuff seriously.

Tanya on May 30, 2007 at 3:56 PM

My thoughts exactly. Two months with this thing and your gonna have a pain in your neck you’ll never be rid of.

I’m waiting for the projection phones. There are a couple of companies in Israel working on it right now. You set your cellphone/computer on a little stand and it projects the image of the screen on the wall behind and projects a keyboard display on the tabletop. The sensors are already able to register 400 characters a minute right now and they’re gettin faster and more accurate every year. Once they work out the battery capacity and install safe networking from your phone to your home computer it’s a done deal. That’s the future tech I want. Plus Kurzweil’s linguistic translation software perfected. Then I’ll be happy.

Now if the smarts were in the cell phone, and you could just work on it using any old monitor/keyboard where you happened to be, now that would be cool. But that won’t sell Windows, now will it.

a Rosie plug in?

… one can only cringe at how such a thing would affect the I/O rates.

There’s also a joke involving monster cables, but I can’t. quite. reach it.

This is going to make chiropractors rich.

Did you see the story today about laptops making people crippled cuz of being hunched over all the time? I can testify to that!

It’s great, but can you download porn?

Is there a Scarlet Johanson plug-in?

Or for Allah, a Rosie plug in?

Just kiddin AP!!!!!

heatherrc77 on May 30, 2007 at 3:50 PM

Or, the Island (no fancy gloves, req’d).

Is there a Scarlet Johanson plug-in?

… wait, that didn’t sound right, either.

JammieWearingFool on May 30, 2007 at 3:39 PM

Heh, well, you can view and stretch photos, images and video, so I’d imagine that it’d look much like pr0n on your PC screen.

Only horizontal!

Wait.. that didn’t sound quite right…

The technology for the Microsoft table is licensed from and produced by Perceptive Pixel, the company in the previous article that you linked to.

And a denial of service attack against the table would be spilled pancake syrup.