Microsoft SURFACE

[Subjugation]

Microsoft officials say Surface...is designed to simplify a user's interaction with digital content such as photos and music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5y7yp06n0&NR=1

Thought this was an interesting bit of Microsoft marketing, but I don't really see this revolutionizing anything. We already have touch screen technology. We already have something that transfers data from our handheld devices (iPods, cameras, cellphones, PDA's) to a main storage repository---it's called a C-O-M-P-U-T-E-R.

I could see this as being a really useful design for a media center PC/gaming system that you'd keep in the family room---in front of the main TV. Or maybe like an über elite coffee table for the rich. But unless they price this thing to compete with media center PC's and Xbox's and Ps3's....I can't see this really becoming more than just a fringe technology.

[Singularity]

There was a post in a newspaper recently stating the release price would be around 10.000 dollar, but would drop after a few years, making it accessible for home users.
Personally I thought it looks pretty useful for professional use, and there are situations where I wish I could move 3d models by hand for example, although I wouldn't trade in my keyboard and mouse yet =)

[za gophar]

looks bad for posture

[GuruMeditation]

Subjugation : Your lack of imagination is astounding.

For starters there are many, many uses for this. The design world has been begging for something like this. The Cintiq is awesome, but a multitouch display is the next step. After that there's the fact multiple people can use it at the same time. Todays technology can only be used by one person at a time. Sometime like this allows 2 or 3 people at once to do whatever they want.

Then there's the fact this could be the next big step. Some innovations are a huge success. Some are just lessons to learn from and move on.

Finally how many times do we hear the words "I wish it were easier to use." Many people even today are daunted by technology. This is just another way of approaching it. It provides a far more natural interaction with your data than a mouse and a keyboard does.

In the era of the iPod and Wii don't doubt anything different

[Edify]

I went to the microsoft site for this earlier and watched some of their videos, it seems neat. Although, is it liquid-proof wink wink nudge nudge cough. OF COURSE I'm talking about using it as a table for drinks.. right.

[Xog]

This is pretty cool, I remember seeing something from G4 TV about something similar, they were using a multi-user interface for Warcraft III. I was blown away cuz they were using their hands on a frickin table top!... gaming at dinner anyone?

[Ephemeral]

Computers are becoming passé. Consider the evolution here, main frames, big computers, personal computers, handheld and embedded devices. Ubiquitous computing is the next step. All the embedded computing devices are going to start talking to each other. If you already have a clock radio with a simple processor keeping the time, why would you need the same functionality in 15 other device in your house (oven, dvd player, etc)? In addition to this, power distribution will also become ubiquitous. The power grid will be embedded in the floor, table etc. Imply place the device on the table and a power connection is established.
As far as PC’s go, the final things that need to be resolved is the I/O (display and the keyboard/mouse). Speech recognition will kill the keyboard/mouse and 3D holographic displays will kill the need for a monitor. Once this happens, the rest of the PC will become truly ubiquitous, being so small it could be embedded into sunglasses or sewn into clothing.

[DJSlayer]

Meh ... we'll have stuff like that eventually ... I can't see it catching on and happening to such a way that it'll become useful in the near future though. MS jumping the gun trying to look like they are ahead of the times when we know whatever they end up releasing first will probably suck ass.

Don't go getting ya hopes up just yet :P

[Galleleo]

Subj, it's way more then you make it seem. Like guru said, more people can use it at the same time, Touch screen nowadays means you can only touch 1 thing at a time. With this you can touch multiple places at the same time and it will respond to all. Also, when you put like your digital camera or phone on it, it will recognize it and connect with it, so no USB thingies etc..

[Nycle]

Microsoft Surface does not have touchscreen technology, it uses 5 infrared camera's to detect where you place objects/hands/fingers whatever.

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

Computers are becoming passé. Consider the evolution here, main frames, big computers, personal computers, handheld and embedded devices. Ubiquitous computing is the next step. All the embedded computing devices are going to start talking to each other. If you already have a clock radio with a simple processor keeping the time, why would you need the same functionality in 15 other device in your house (oven, dvd player, etc)? In addition to this, power distribution will also become ubiquitous. The power grid will be embedded in the floor, table etc. Imply place the device on the table and a power connection is established.

People have been saying this for the past 10 years or so--"the desktop platform is dying/dead." The truth is, As far as PC’s go, the final things that need to be resolved is the I/O (display and the keyboard/mouse). Speech recognition will kill the keyboard/mouse and 3D holographic displays will kill the need for a monitor. Once this happens, the rest of the PC will become truly ubiquitous, being so small it could be embedded into sunglasses or sewn into clothing.

I agree for the most part, except on a timeline of the PC's death--like you said, people have claimed that the PC was dead for the past 10 years. The fact of the matter is, while minituratization has been happening at a rapid pace, very few people would like to work with any form factor that's less than an 8.5x11" screen and a keyboard of some sorts. (Yes, there's lots of work going on with "digital paper," handwriting recognition, and virtualized keyboards, but all of these technologies are far from mature.) People are dumping tons and tons of money into these concepts, and at some point they'll be to the point where they makes sense, but as of right now, they're far out in the future. Same goes with holographic storage and biometrics. The immediate smart money is on speech recognition, and even that has huge hurdles to tackle (ask Nuance Communications).

While the desktop PC (as we know it) may see small changes in how it communicates with other devices in a household, I don't see a "hub" device (with a keyboard, etc) going anywhere, anytime soon. It's great to get all Asimov on everyone and claim that "the future is now," but the truth of the matter is that we're on a slow boat getting there on a mass scale. Not to mention the fact that there's already a huge disconnect between the tech-literate youth and tech-phobic older generation.

"Wearable computers" are a great idea, and one that has been around for a long time. The logistics of doing something like this are becoming more and more of a possibility, but still decently far off into the future. Holographic displays are even further off--volumetric displays are in their infancy at very best. The fact of the matter is that while things may become more specialized in the near future, the desktop PC isn't going anywhere, anytime soon. Multi-touch displays are a great milestone.

[Ephemeral]

And I thought I was the crusty old guy here.

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better
than a "C," the idea must be feasible." A Yale University management
professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight
delivery service. Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." Lord Kelvin, president,
Royal Society, 1895.

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even
built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or
we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work
for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they
said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" Apple
Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested
in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.

"You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of
your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to
accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight
training." Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable" problem by
inventing Nautilus.

"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil?
You're crazy." Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project
to drill for oil in 1859.

"The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives." Admiral
William Leahy, US Atomic Bomb Project.

"This fellow Charles Lindbergh will never make it. He's doomed." Harry
Guggenheim, millionaire aviation enthusiast.

"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific
advances." Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the vacuum tube and father of
television.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." Marechal
Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." Irving
Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"I think there's a world market for about five computers." Thomas J Watson,
Chairman of the Board, IBM.

"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction
and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react.
He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." 1921
New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers,
1927.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay
for a message sent to nobody in particular?" David Sarnoff's associates in
response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a
means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." Western
Union internal memo, 1876.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell,
Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

[SEAL]

Looks like a nice techonology. Can't wait.

Imo, bio-technology is the new thing.
Can't wait for it to kick off and add some more memory into my skull :P
Or have a flashlight in my finger (like some fish have)
Or...
or..

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

And I thought I was the crusty old guy here.

It's amazing how much crust builds up as you get older, heh.

Look, I'm not saying that this stuff won't ever come to pass, but we're a ways off. There have to be a lot of breakthroughs before wearable computing is any measure of practical.

Or maybe I'm just still mad about the absence of flying cars. It's fucking two thousand and SEVEN, scientists!

[Ephemeral]

I was just busting on ya

We have had 3D LCD's in our lab for the last 10 months (not our technology, but looking to integrate with our embedded devices). Awesome stuff but it has been slow to market. Guess it needs to display 3D porn for it to become mainstream.