____/ BearItAll on Thursday 28 June 2007 16:39 : \____
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> 5 Reasons The Microsoft Surface Will Flop
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | 5. It's running Vista.
>> |
>> | 4. A 6 year wait.
>> |
>> | 3. Way too much movement.
>> |
>> | 2. Defects, defects, defects.
>> |
>> | 1. Not very useful.
>> `----
>>
>>
>
http://thealexandbenshow.blogspot.com/2007/06/5-reasons-microsoft-surface-will-flop.html
>>
>>
>> Related:
>>
>> Microsoft Rips off Researchers at Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Recently while on vacation I was flipping channels and came across a
>> | channel called “current TV”, what caught my eye was a computer booting
>> | to Kubuntu. This computer looked remarkably like Microsoft’s new
>> | Surface touch table. Funny thing is the reactable has been around
>> | over three years and research has been going on much longer than that.
>> `----
>>
>>
>
http://dthomasdigital.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/microsoft-rips-off-researchers-at-pompeu-fabra-university-of-barcelona/
>>
>>
>> Microsoft Surface idea not that new?
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | An attached PC, running Linux and Reactrix software, calculates the
>> | location and movement of an object interrupting the beam and enables
>> | the system to allow a basic interaction with projected content.
>> `----
>>
>> http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32389/118/
>>
>>
>> Jeff Han's Research Ripped by Microsoft Surface?
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Jeff Han, consulting research scientist for NYU's Department of
>> | Computer Science, developed a multi-touch interactive graphical
>> | interface, which he presented at the TED conference over a year
>> | ago. His research turned into its own company, Perceptive Pixel.
>> |
>> | Now it seems Microsoft completely ripped the idea and created
>> | Microsoft Surface.
>> `----
>>
>>
> http://www.jorispoort.com/2007/05/jeff-hans-research-ripped-by-microsoft.html
>
> I had been trying to remember who did that palm-like device that allowed for
> a two finger pinching movement for drag-n-drop and two finger turn for
> turning a virtual knob.
>
> I thought it was a palm pilot but when this subject came up last time I
> asked a lad who uses one and he didn't know of it.
>
> It turned out that Apple's iPhone has it, then later I found that Palm does
> actually already have it, then as you follow the various search links, it
> seems that just about anyone who has ever done a touch screen device of any
> kind has it too. Then they are research labs all over the world who have
> come up with versions of multi-touch screens and surfaces.
>
> The technology is everywhere, So hardly an MS invention I would have said.
> Odd that we haven't seen it used anywhere though, you would have thought
> that a multi-touch system like this, even if not used as a display, would
> have uses as an input device somewhere.
>
> Maybe it's as I said last time, that in the end it is on a par with the
> mouse pen that we all bought at one time thinking it would have loads of
> uses, only to discover that it isn't actually as usefull as we thought it
> might be, in fact was a waste of a tenner.
>
> (I can see you slyly pushing that mouse pen under your pile of papers, it's
> too late I've already seen it and I know that you haven't actually used it
> for anything other than a quick play in Gimp on the day you got it, at
> which time you realised that the proper mouse is actually better for this
> sort of thing).
Linux (X) has supported touchscreens and multiple input device/pointing devices
for a long time (the latter is a separate X-derived project, I think). The
real 'challenge' is writing the applications to interpret and act upon
multiple signals. There's no rocket science here and this probably goes to
some research from decades ago.
They say that nothing is invented/innovated until Microsoft decides to mass
market. I do doubt, however, that they will ever sell Surfaces successfully
(no return on investment). They port that same technology to laptops now (the
Cambridge Research Labs), but whether it can catch on or not remains to be
seen. Computers get smaller and lighter. PDA and MIDs, which is an area where
Linux is particularly strong, already have sophisticated UIs and touchscreens.
--
~~ Best of wishes
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