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Time for a
Multitouch
Revolution
!IHNeHNs
Ed Word
Please send feedback and brussels
sprouts to [email protected].
A
few months ago, I complained that the PC’s
basic shape and interface has remained
unchanged since its birth. But since I wrote that
column for the May 2007 issue, two new devices
have made drastic changes to the user interface.
And the products—Microsoft’s Surface tabletop PC
and Apple’s iPhone—couldn’t be more different.
In my March 2007 editorial, I told you why I’m
waiting for the second-gen iPhone before I jump on
the iPhone bandwagon, but I’ll give you the short
version here: last-gen data speeds and a lack of
third-party applications sucks (see http://tinyurl.
com/2s6kms for more). That said, I am super stoked
about the phone’s multitouch interface. Unlike
virtually every other touch screen I’ve ever used,
the iPhone’s screen registers multiple presses at
once. This not only makes typing on the touch
screen easier but also opens up all sorts of new
ways to utilize a phone’s interface—you fl ick and tap
the screen to navigate and pinch it to zoom. After
spending a few minutes noodling with an iPhone in
my friendly neighborhood Apple store, it’s diffi cult
to go back to a standard mouse and keyboard
interface on my PC. It’s just neat.
Microsoft’s Surface tabletop PC, meanwhile,
sits at the opposite end of the consumer electronics
spectrum. I haven’t had any hands-on time with
Surface yet, but I have devoured all the info about
it I can fi nd (online, the best is Popular Mechanics’s
video review at http://tinyurl.com/3cecdk)..) Surface
takes the same type of multitouch technology that’s
built into the iPhone to the next level. In addition
to incorporating interface advancements, Surface
machines recognize the actual devices placed on their
displays. For example, when you put a digital camera
on the tabletop, Surface automatically downloads the
images and displays them on the screen. If you want
to copy an image to your cell phone, drop the phone
on the table and drag the photo to the phone. Surface
is still in development, but you can rest assured
that Microsoft will have a whole host of Surface-like
machines suitable for home use soon.
So what’s next? Unfortunately, we’ll probably
see dozens of poorly working, rushed-to-market
multitouch PC accessories designed solely to
cash in on iPhonemania. However, I’d be shocked
if Microsoft doesn’t integrate multitouch into
Vista’s fi rst Service Pack later this year, which
should kick-start the fi rst real mainstream interface
advancements since the Mac popularized the
mouse three decades ago.
Features
MAXIMUMPC 09 / 07
50
Audio
Challenge
Apple’s selling DRM-free
music, so we decided to fi nd
out if bitrate improvements
are detectable.
show you how!
SEPTEMBER 2007 MAXIMUMPC 0
We built a PC that pushes the
envelope on speed, class, and
quality—you can build one, too!
We built a PC that pushes the
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Dream Machine