Microsoft Announces “Surface”

The map application they keep showing looks just like Mac OS X. I was shocked. The concept of puting your PDA on the table and dragging files to it is pretty cool. I don’t see a “killer app” here. I went through the MS site last night and I kep seeing the same stuff. How useful is moving pictures around on a virtual light table? Now if I could edit the picture or a group of pictures or create something new with my content, that would be nifty.

Also, if you see the big-screen demo with the two guys working in concert, there’s an amazing amount of data being moved. I’m not seeing anything like that on the light tables. In fact, the product demos looked laggy and had low frame rates.

If Apple comes out with a similar tech like some people are rumouring, I expect something more complete than this tech demo. That’s what I see here, a tech demo, not a complete product. It seems rushed. So Microsoft.

The idea of manipulating data in this way seems very powerful. It would make move files around my computer much easier and could make photo manipulation much easier as well. I hope it matures quickly.

The Surface table enables users to easily move photos, sounds and video from one device to another; that might be the killer app. I don’t think the need for that kind of application should be understated. With todays proliferation of handheld devices, all of which can store and record media and all of which are wireless, a single platform that enables all of these different devices to realize their full potential by converting, transferring and *sharing* data and media will serve a need that users aren’t even fully aware they have. Isn’t that what a killer app is?

That being said, I think multi-touch and mouse-and-keyboardless interaction is still 10 years off. Users and software developers still have a lot of work ahead of them to develop a language for interaction that doesn’t rely on these familiar tools. Can you imagine building a spreadsheet on a Surface table?

First of all . . . this looks very cool. Clearly the videos are not going to show off the entire feature set. It’s a short video—why waste time showing something as mundane as sliding around brightness/contrast sliders to enchance some photos when you have stuff that is much cooler like dragging files to devices, dragging foods to credit cards, etc. Rest assured, you’ll be able to manipulate your photos. I can already do it on my TabletPC. Swap the stylus for a finger and you’re set.

In regards to the copycat comments — Cupertino’s photocopiers are just faster than Redmond’s. You can find real live versions of interfaces nearly identical to the iPhone and Surface already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ (the iPhone’s “pinch” gesture isn’t so innovative after all)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc (very similar to what you see in the MS Surface demo with regards to tables interacting with the objects placed on them)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ (a tablet interface that I think is pretty cool)

But really there’s nothing to balk at or be “shocked” about here. This is how technology moves forward. We don’t ridicule all cars as photocopies of the Model T or all vaccines as ripoffs of the smallpox vaccine. I’m happy to see good ideas spread and not be overly concerned with who thought of what before the other guy.

Apparently every new product is now labeled as a rip off of some apple product. A glossy, touch screen interface does not make this a rip off of the iPhone/some other overly designed apple product. That said, it is almost an exact copy of the touch interface presented by Jeff Han at TED in 2006. Observe here:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65

I want one of those as my monitor… If Apple does one of these I hope that they let you run Photoshop on it.

when i look at this all i see is the most expensive risk boards ever created

gimme a break on the “copying mac” nonsense… it’s so old. jeff han intro’d this almost two years ago, and you think that they’re copying apple? all i could think of when i first saw the iphone was “god, i hope han’s getting handsomely rewarded.” that was the real innovation. as for everyone else, it’s just about dissemination. i don’t mean to bitch and moan about the apple/microsoft debate, but this is particularly egregious.

The idea that Microsoft just whipped this thing up as a response to IPhone is simply hilarious. “Wow guys, Apple just announced a nifty phone interface. Lets go back in time and spend millions of dollars and man-hours on a project that rips it off.” The word “fan-boy” somehow doesn’t cover it.

Wow, for once, I agree with everyone’s comments. Wait a minute, I see Smash replied, so never mind. I wouldn’t object to one of these in my house, but I’ll wait for a small price drop.

Didn’t Gates already demo this back at CES or something?

The networking device to device functions are timesaving, the rest isn’t.
Time to buy Windex /glass cleaner disinfectant stock :)