If this rumor is correct, they are: a source tells Reuters that Apple has just ordered 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan.
My first reaction is "I want one!!!" But my second reaction is "for what?" Given my profession, I really need to be able to type; I can't use a jumped-up iPhone as my main computer. And I can't think why I would carry a ten-inch extra computer around with me. If the touchscreen is simply an add-on to a laptop with a regular keyboard, I might be interested--but I'm not sure how much extra I'd pay.
This goes to the question everyone is asking about Apple--can they survive, and thrive, without Steve Jobs? The product that will answer this question isn't a touchscreen being installed this fall; it's the first product to be designed and executed substantially without him, which is still eighteen months or more away.
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Large (but not too large) touchscreen = Tablet PCs?
Wiki (link) makes it look like Apple is not currently selling them with the only Mac OS-enabled tablets being an aftermarket mod.
"the first product to be designed and executed substantially without him, which is still eighteen months or more away."
That's assuming he doesn't return to Apple.
I can't use a jumped-up iPhone as my main computer.
Neither can I, but it would be handy as: An e-book reader like the Kindle, a video viewer (if the hard drive is large enough) like the Archos, and web browser/e-mail client for coffee-shop use.
Which, to be honest, is probably enough for 50% of the population.
Shawn, if Megan believes Apple when they say Steve will be back, and it turns out they were lying, she'll look hopelessly naive and stupid. Thus she has to disbelieve them even if there is absolutely no evidence upon which to base this assumption.
I'm in the design buisness, so a multi touchscreen pc would be a god send, if the software suites were designed to take advantage of it. Mind you, a 10" screen wouldn't do, but having multiple 20"+ screens, where several people can work on the at once would, without a doubt, increase productivity.
Or, at the very least, something like this
http://www.bornrich.org/images/touch-screen-laptop1_12.jpg
Yeah, a multi touch computer could do a lot. It would still need a keyboard for the heavy lifting but I could see some really cool and useful apps coming out of it.
Meghan,
Check out this from the ted conference. This is what Apple is working on it.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html
For anyone else - the ted conference video will blow you f**king mind. My BF rolled me out of bed at 2:00am to show me.
Seriously - it's amazing!
If the touchscreen is simply an add-on to a laptop with a regular keyboard, I might be interested--but I'm not sure how much extra I'd pay.
How about $299 for a 1 LB, 10-inch tablet that can be reconnected to a $100 base with a regular keyboard, like this:
http://gizmodo.com/5162584/always-innovating-touch-book-is-part+netbook-part+tablet-open-source-frankenstein
(Of course an Apple version of that technology wouldn't be anywhere near that cheap).
The post by jmo from the TED conference that's not something Apple is working on. Pattie Maes is a professor at MIT's Media Lab. Apple has nothing do with what is shown in the video.
Ross,
Oh, you are 100% correct that was silly of me.
What I should have said is the technology shown in the video is what Apple and others are currently working on.
But, yes, Ms. Maes and her student deserve all the congratulations and kudos in the world!
Ross, do you happen to know what part of that technology/software shown is proprietary?
Apple had dug themselves into a technological hole that was really hard to get out of.
Jobs got them out of the hole. I think the company could do fairly well without him from here on out.
For what? I can imagine the complete Apple household would need half a dozen of these to do various tasks, from seeing who is at the door to bringing up recipes in the kitchen. They could hang on the wall anywhere, wirelessly connected. In a factory, they could run machinery. If you needed to type, of course you would use a wireless keyboard, etc.
How the heck do you think that this product represents some post-jobs look at apple? This product has been in development for over three years inside apple and the fact that they are ordering screens means that the product is almost done and ready to be unveiled, this product was a steve jobs development, and in no way even close to a post-jobs development from apple. What an idiotic statement
@Paul Niemi
In a factory, they could run machinery.
No. I used to write industrial automation software (replacing workers with robots *) and you don't use touch screens, or off the shelf consumer grade equipment. Factories are dirty, dusty places with lots of vibration and electrical interference.
You use heavy duty switches and lights, sealed keyboards, sealed monitors, PCs are in sealed boxes with heavy duty cooling systems. Hanging a netbook on the wall won't do.
These days, of course, you use embedded systems rather than PCs anyway. Maybe one PC as a network monitor, but that's in the supervisor's office.
*You don't appreciate how smart a moron is until you try to program a robot. Replacing someone who couldn't handle high school is a tough problem. But robots don't need health benefits for their families, they don't retire, and they don't need time and a half for overtime.
I have an iPhone. I mostly like it but the touch screen is its worst feature. Absolutely despise it.
What you really need with a this is Virtual Laser Keyboard (example: http://www.vkb-support.com/learn_more.php). If you build this into the touchscreen laptop, then any flat surface can become your keyboard
I don't understand why so many people like touch screens. I always find them a silly-looking nuisance.
If you haven't seen this, you need to:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary
Best reason for a touchscreen...playing the game Bookworm.