• Welcome to the Off-Topic/Schweb's Lounge

    In addition to the Mac-Forums Community Guidelines, there are a few things you should pay attention to while in The Lounge.

    Lounge Rules
    • If your post belongs in a different forum, please post it there.
    • While this area is for off-topic conversations, that doesn't mean that every conversation will be permitted. The moderators will, at their sole discretion, close or delete any threads which do not serve a beneficial purpose to the community.

    Understand that while The Lounge is here as a place to relax and discuss random topics, that doesn't mean we will allow any topic. Topics which are inflammatory, hurtful, or otherwise clash with our Mac-Forums Community Guidelines will be removed.

Microsoft "Surfaces"....

Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
724
Reaction score
18
Points
18
Location
Seattle
Nice. Wonder how much the devices with this technology will cost or the service.
 
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
940
Reaction score
59
Points
28
Location
Framingham, MA
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook C2D 2.4 2GB
I believe the prototype was used in Gates' presentation at the CES 2006. I like the idea of the UI, but i can't think of it as nothing more than a expensive toy. It is, after all, just a table with a screen (or a screen made a table), and that isn't very ergonomic for long hours of work, it would kill your neck and back. I doubt such system would be accesible to the average user (because of the price) in the near future. I can see it working in an office meeting or similar enviroment of a company that has enough money to use $100 bills as notepads or as part of Gates' future house, but nothing more, not yet.
This gives me (again) the idea that people inside Microsoft live in their own reality and expect the world around to adapt to them and not adapt to the current needs. I do believe the device is quite impressive, so is a giant robot, but i don't see myself using any of those in the real world.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Very cool. Nice to see some actual innovation from Microsoft.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2004
Messages
1,964
Reaction score
174
Points
63
Here's a news story on Surface, with a few more particulars, including a very rough price estimate.
Surface is essentially a Windows Vista PC tucked inside a shiny black table base, topped with a 30-inch touchscreen in a clear acrylic frame. Five cameras that can sense nearby objects are mounted beneath the screen.

<snip>

With a price tag between $5,000 (U.S.) and $10,000 per unit, Microsoft isn't immediately aiming for the finger painting set. (The company said it expects prices to drop enough to make consumer versions feasible in three to five years.)
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Messages
1,988
Reaction score
73
Points
48
Location
Cow Town, Alberta, Canada
Your Mac's Specs
PowerBook G4 15 inch 1.5 GHz, iMac
It's usually Microsoft ≠ Innovation
 
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
670
Reaction score
23
Points
18
Location
Ceres, Ca
Your Mac's Specs
iPad 32 GB 3G
I believe the prototype was used in Gates' presentation at the CES 2006. I like the idea of the UI, but i can't think of it as nothing more than a expensive toy. It is, after all, just a table with a screen (or a screen made a table), and that isn't very ergonomic for long hours of work, it would kill your neck and back. I doubt such system would be accesible to the average user (because of the price) in the near future. I can see it working in an office meeting or similar enviroment of a company that has enough money to use $100 bills as notepads or as part of Gates' future house, but nothing more, not yet.
This gives me (again) the idea that people inside Microsoft live in their own reality and expect the world around to adapt to them and not adapt to the current needs. I do believe the device is quite impressive, so is a giant robot, but i don't see myself using any of those in the real world.

Most of the demo suggest business uses-- cell phone sales, restaurant ordering, and auto loading of songs onto the Zune (that looked kind of cool BTW, finally a decent use for the WiFi). You can easily see businesses forking out the money for such a thing.

Also, it has the capability to revolutionize the CAD/CAM market. Just think of the kind of things use could do with Pro/E or Solidworks and a system like that. Considering that fifteen years ago, businesses were forking out $200K for good CAD workstations, it's certainly something that would sell.

Anyways, it'd be wonderful if they can actually pull it off, but MS has a record of promising things and not actually living up to what they promised (tablet pc, UMPC, or Vista, anyone?). But the demo look fairly functional, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
1,792
Reaction score
67
Points
48
Location
Redwood City, CA / Stanford, CA
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook, Black, 2.0GHz C2D, 2GB RAMs, 160GB HD
WOW... I gotta give it to Microsoft on this one.

That is a pretty neat Device. :D
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
1,409
Reaction score
101
Points
63
Location
arizona desert
Your Mac's Specs
2007 iMac 10.6.8 | 2009 MacBook uni 10.6.8 | 2010 MBA 10.8.5 |
I like the idea of the UI, but i can't think of it as nothing more than a expensive toy. It is, after all, just a table with a screen (or a screen made a table), and that isn't very ergonomic for long hours of work, it would kill your neck and back. I doubt such system would be accesible to the average user (because of the price) in the near future...

This gives me (again) the idea that people inside Microsoft live in their own reality and expect the world around to adapt to them and not adapt to the current needs. I do believe the device is quite impressive, so is a giant robot, but i don't see myself using any of those in the real world.

I agree! It seems rather impractical for "real world" use.
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
1,792
Reaction score
67
Points
48
Location
Redwood City, CA / Stanford, CA
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook, Black, 2.0GHz C2D, 2GB RAMs, 160GB HD
I agree to u to some extent, but then look at the other side of it. The whole commercial use for such a product is great, its convenient for the customer at a restaurant, and make things faster don't u think?
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
2,766
Reaction score
232
Points
63
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Your Mac's Specs
15" 2014 MacBook Pro, i7 2.5Ghz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD; iPad 3, iPhone 6
I saw this over a year ago and I think it's interesting technology - especially for retailers or service oriented businesses. The criticisms that it's essentially Vista in a table and a touch screen are cruel and ignorant - a bit like saying iPod is just a portable HDD with a DSP attached - this thing has potential.

I don't think it's intended for hours of work and won't be replacing the trust notebook or desktop any time soon.
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
1,792
Reaction score
67
Points
48
Location
Redwood City, CA / Stanford, CA
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook, Black, 2.0GHz C2D, 2GB RAMs, 160GB HD
Hey Zoolook... long time no see, hope all is well with the NYC Craziness ;P

I totally agree with u on SURFACES having potential, I am amazed at Technology, I just hope it doesn't break as much as ur usual MS Products :p

Cheers
 
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
59
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro, OSX 10.4.8, 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
It looks cool and could be a cool thing for kiosks and such. Some of you Mac people are haters.
 
OP
baggss
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
59
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro, OSX 10.4.8, 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
#4

#9

#13

Are we reading the same posts? :)
 
OP
baggss
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
I don't really see any of those to be negative or "hateful". People have their opinions, and some think it is impractical. That doesn't make them haters, and #9 simply said the usually it's not innovative. Maybe you need to check your definition of "hater" because nothing in this thread fits.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top