What is Digg?68 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32"Don't count on it. Apple would never make this risky of a move. Especially for touchscreen desktops. I say pass."
Oh risky things like revising the entire Mac product line with fancy colors and plastics when the company was in a long slide downward? Or a computer company releasing an MP3 player with a brand new interface that revolutionized the industry?
Face it, Apple makes its money off of being risky and forcing the industry to grow along with it's products, not forcing its products to grow with the industry. - sleepwalkers, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30If poking a flat surface is like fingering Jenna Jameson, then yes, you can.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+28"yup. because touchscreens are brand new and also innovative. thanks apple!"
Its multi-touch. Show me a touchscreen that will allow you to touch it in multiple places and be able to differentiate those two taps and also realize when your fingers move around and perform functions.
Multi-touch IS new and revolutionary. Thanks sekhui! - uppedbyhiggins, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25Digg IS a "Tech Rumor" section.
- flashboy131, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22Digg needs a "Tech Rumor" section.
- anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Digg needs a "Digg needs a" section.
- flickr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Pretty cool if true.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16One of the things people often miss is that this technology works just as good on any surface that can mount the capacitive touch sensor; it's not exclusive to LCD screens. This means it's possible to mount touch surfaces on damned near anything.
The biggest thing I'd expect is a multi-touch enabled trackpad to replace the current ones on laptops; Apple's already implemented a version of this, and increased the size of their touchpads to get people accustom to this kind of interface. The problems of dragging fingers over screens are well known and expressed, and until screens become cheaper and more durable, it's likely companies will stay away from this option (for as long as possible). The last thing you want after buying a beautiful 30" Apple monitor is cracking it or scratching because it wasn't responding to your input quick enough and you were hammering way at it. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17No it will be overlooked by the hype.
- ChumpChief, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Nothing but speculation here, and I think any Digg user could have made the same prediction. Wake me up when a product is actually announced.
- RexMaxus, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17True, but none of those options run OSX.
Some people thing that is important. - djbelieve, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10What about fingerprints and smears all over the touch-screens? Is this going to be addressed?
- mcflynnthm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I hate it when analysts' predictions are passed off as fact in titles.
- tabledesk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9@ sekhui
Link me to an item on Amazon that uses multi-touch displays. - emptybucket, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Some people may even THINK that is important.
- DrawingTheSun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@wageslave1
are those tablet pc's multi-touch or not?
if not then its just a load of spam you just posted you moron.
go away and don't come back. - Yusouf, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17Cool, now I can virtually finger Jenna Jameson :)
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"table desk-- here is an interesting demo video using the same techniques apple uses.
http://laughingsquid.com/jeff-hans-amazing-multi-touch-display-system/"
Uh, you do know that Jeff Hans sensor is _completely_ different than Apple's, right? Apple's Multitouch system uses a capacitive touch sensor and really sophisticated math to generate the locations of your fingers. Jeff Hans' system, while simpler, uses a system based on Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR), which requires a projection surface, a digital camera, some mirrors and some depth (meaning his displays can scale up to the size of a small office building, but that they don't scale down to portable devices well at all), and a lot less math (since you're doing object detection and recognition on bitmap images rather than point fields of statistically generated capacitances). To explain Hans' system a bit better: because of the angle the camera is at to the camera, the surface it sees is basically a flat black bitmap due to the properties of the glass-type material (called "total internal reflection"). When you press your finger against it, this reflection is disturbed (frustrated), and some light escapes the glass and is detected by the photo sensor in the camera. Immediately, you can detect where has been touched, and with how much pressure (because of the varying amounts of light escaped). Using the computer to track the objects as they're generated, you can achieve a mouse-like input with any number of objects (as many as the computer can track).
With Apple's (formerly Fingerwork's sensor), it's a bit different. Rather than read the entire image at once, which you can't effectively do on a capacitive touch sensor, you read it like you would a memory cell, with a row strobe and a column strobe. Normally, on a single-input sensor, you'd put these capacitances into a small neural network (really just some fine-tuned integration algorithms), which would detect the likely position of the touch based on where the capacitance changed the most in both the X and Y directions. The input step of Apple's sensor is the same (go through and grab the capacitances at every point in the grid), but instead it buffers this information and uses it to generate a capacitance heatmap, and assigns each of the "hotpoints" a modifier based off a finger-detection algorithm (area of greatest capacitance change). The advantage of Apple's sensor is that it can be made flat, and with some even more advanced math, it can detect the angular rotation rate of the finger making the contact, allowing you to detect rotation around a point.
So you can tell there is a lot of common technology between the two systems, but they're very different at implementation levels. Apple's system is perfect for integrating into a chip and using pretty much off-the-shelf capacitive touch sensors, and thusly making computing products with. Hans' solution would be good where you have a lot of room to integrate this system into (a battlefield commander's table, or a presentation room). They are not, however, the same thing. - angusm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6To deal with fingerprint smears, Apple will introduce plastic fingertips for users. Steve Jobs is expected to announce the new iTip line at Macworld, available immediately in seven vibrant colors. Fitting of your replacement fingertip can be carried out by Apple surgeons at any Apple store and should take less than fifteen minutes. The iTip is seen by some analysts as a possible forerunner for a profitable new Apple product division specializing in body part replacements. By the year 2025, the phrase "I'm a Mac" could take on a whole meaning.
Sources in Cupertino say that the other problem that has repeatedly affected Apple products, namely scratches on metal and plastic surfaces, will be addressed by a separate Apple project, which aims to cover the entire planet in soft, colorful neoprene. - wild, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11I could go for a touch screen keyboard. One that changes its display based on what program you are using. (And isnt limited to the qwerty key set-up, like that one keyboard concept thats floating out there.)
That would allow for greater interaction but protect your screen. It would also make for some wicked games. - Herolint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@blinkcowz182
The TouchStream LP keyboard (and some of the other products sold by TouchStream) were multi-touch. You could do things like move windows around, standard mouse moves and clicks, cut, copy, paste, and perform macros (if I remember correctly) all from your multi-touch keyboard. Very nice keyboard, actually. Too bad they don't make them anymore.
TouchStream also had a keyboard for Apple laptops to replace the standard keyboard. I think they offered their keyboards in both Qwerty and Dvorak (which was nice for me since I use Dvorak).
Anyway, there you go. - abwesth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hey there, captain obvious
- Firehed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2And you can't do that with a traditional display why? Just because what you're using now isn't a touch-screen doesn't mean you can't touch the screen.
But noble cause - when pr0n responds to pointer location or other stuff you can get from a touchscreen, the male population will all buy new displays. - sp3kt4r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
- gizmogear, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4what do you mean? African or European?
- daload, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1wow. that just blew my mind. not
- EmperorAwesome, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Shocking.
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"What about fingerprints and smears all over the touch-screens? Is this going to be addressed?"
The umpteenth reason you're not going to see this on displays so much as you will tablets. A multi-touch wacom tablet would be much more useful (and affordable) than a display. Give it a few more years for thin-film technologies to mature and cheapen, and we can think about using this kind of technology on displays everywhere. - grablife, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is old technology. Star Trek-The Next Generation had multi-touch technology over a decade ago.
- Jagman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I don't know....
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh......... - Turkleton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Multi-touch on a desktop LCD screen - that will be a feature I never use. I bitch slap anyone who touches my screens at the moment, there is no way I would want to use a feature that actually encourages people to smear their oily fingerprints on my screen. Urghhh.
- Yusouf, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5OK, maybe rub her *****!
- TCKC2C, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Can't help but be reminded of that Apple Rumor Generator right about now.
- flickr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wageslave,
You may be more neat-o than us, totting about your super-duper tablet PC, but at least we have tans... and don't stink like body odor and nacho cheese. Also, shave of that silly goatee, only we hipsters may wear goatees!
meh. - Charel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dirty fingers
I have used a TomTom GO 700 GPS with a LCD touch screen with full on screen keyboard for several years now and find the remarks about dirty and scratched screens over the top. If you insist on using touch screens with a big mac in your hands it will get dirty. Who would do that anyway. Wash your hands, clean your screen when necessary and all will be well. - dmitriyvoz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Nothing but speculation here, and I think any Digg user could have made the same prediction. Wake me up when a product is actually announced. The same theme on Russian sites: http://pivo.in.ua http://www.alcogol.kiev.ua
- tompahoward, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Funny you should say that. I did make the same prediction a couple of days after the iPhone was announced (but no-one listened). Without blog spamming, you can access my website via my digg profile to confirm this, in case you think I'm full of it.
- mabhatter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1they already have one designed for DS....
For some reason it didn't get published but there's a sample here (http://www.moboid.com/lapis/)
and yes this was dugg a while ago... but it's on topic of touch screens and porn darn it. - FutureDreamz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It won't get as dirty. obviously Apple will work to get a coating that resists scratches and smears.
and to the idiots that say there are other products that do this, they don't he only allow one touch point at one time, and no dragging usually. the iPhone is made so you can multitouch. and no other product will, with all of the patents. - Sakkath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just watch it, don't get your hopes up, there's always been PLENTY of Apple rumors. Apple might purposely leak some false information just to keep everyone interested.
- edm1950, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Ok
so Jobs is coming out with a white palm pilot? or a white motion tablet? or the NEXTV remote? I suppose those with a propensity to wear black turtlenecks and do graphics with Adobe will anxiously await.
Personally I'd find the rumor of a national chain of NY System Weinner joints much more interesting. - jimsf, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3pr0n will never be the same!!!
Should be neat to see how they adopt the technology across their products. - arbulus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I think someone said it up above, but making things up and then touting them as facts is ridiculous. Especially when it comes to Apple rumors. I mean, come on! How long are people going to talk about touch screen video iPods and Mac tablets? You can predict it month after month all you want, but because there is no factual basis for your "prediction", nothing is going to happen.
Wishing something to be true doesn't make it so, no matter how hard and how long you do it. Duke Nukem Forever is a perfect example of that. Let it go. When Apple wants you to know what their next big product is, you'll hear about it from WWDC, MacWorld, or from Apple.com, not Apple Insider or Gizmodo.
***** Gizmodo. - justnick, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2table desk-- here is an interesting demo video using the same techniques apple uses.
http://laughingsquid.com/jeff-hans-amazing-multi-touch-display-system/ - imrankarim, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0we'll see how all this works out
imran karim - petsounds, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I'm so f'ing sick of digg stories touting rumors as fact in their headlines. This site has become the New York Post of the net. Conjecture does not a news story make. The only thing it does make is ad revenue.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Ohh, right, a touchscreen PC (tablet, or desktop) is useless UNLESS its Apple Multi-Touch(TM).
You people are a laughing stock. There are DOZENS of great tablets you can buy today. They run Windows, *BSD or GNU/Linux.
The fact is this forum is populated by brand-driven-hipsters, the same kind as highschool girls who pay $150 for a printed tshirt and refuse to acknowledge that a $20 Tshirt exists.... as long as they dont have one.
Sad. Sad. Sad. It seems Apple is attracting the Abercrombie & Finch histers now -- dont mind the features/benefits value of products, just look for the brand.
The "OSX is just so great - for technical reasons" argument is a consequence of the apple-logo-brand crowd trying to rationalize its brand-worship by involving themselves (dishonestly) in a discussion of technical merit (which helps them rationalize their fetishism).
PCs are controlled by mive (single-touch) -- lets see how ***** great being able to obscure the apple-touchscreens with TWO hands is going to be... by removing them from the keyboard... sure thats gonna be *JUST* terrific.
meh. - combustion8, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2yep.. nothing new here.
- jcoffman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0the iphone is garbo anyway
anything that sucks away battery use intended primarily for voice is going to be unsuccessful - pathetik, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2The neXt big thing
iClean ;) -
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