Web 2.1 beta Sean Madden 
Initial Reactions to Microsoft Surface
For those who haven't seen it, go check out Microsoft Surface.
First Reaction: "Now that is cool."
Second Reaction: "Wait, haven't I seen that before?"
My second reaction was both true and an unfair poke at Microsoft. Yes, I have seen this type of technology before, most notably Jeff Han's research. But Microsoft is not the first company to take direction from a nascent research sector and run with it (I'm looking at you Apple). With the pending release of iPhone and general buzz around multi-touch technology it makes perfect sense that Microsoft is headed in this direction.
How close are we to realizing any of the goodness displayed in the sample videos? I would venture a guess that we are not very close at all.
The most interesting hurdle (or perhaps MS sees it as a lever?) to adoption will be Microsoft's inevitable insistence that their tables only work with Microsoft devices. A table like this would be far more useful to the average consumer if it were built in such a way that any device could be programmed to interface with it.
Unfortunately, this is not the way the world works and the peripheral devices will most likely have to be Microsoft-approved. Bummer. (It should be noted that Apple would probably do the same thing, so I'm only singling out MS here because it was their announcement). From Microsoft's perspective, this is an interesting entry into the coveted living room space and if it sees wide acceptance could act as a substantial selling point for their peripherals.
I find the credit card scenario at the end of the third movie to be sort of silly, but the geek in me sure did like it.
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If you can't beat Apple in
Mr. Besilly - May 30, 2007
If you can't beat Apple in portable devices, just remove a few letters (por) and simply focus on the table part. Pool table, ping pong table, poker table... YES! That's it! A computer table! Brilliant! People love tables! Look for a "Surface Bar" meets oxygen bar with pay-by-the-hour digital furniture coming to a major city near you Zune (soon).
It's yet to be seen how popular the Microsoft Surface will become. I will say this much; if history has taught us anything it's taught us that people love tables.
I thought the announcement
Fullman - May 30, 2007
I thought the announcement and PR videos were awesome, though I do agree with your assumption that MS will insist that only their approved devices will work with Surface.
Truth be told, and as Apple would assuredly do themselves, a closed environment in this case would be best for not only the technology, but for stability and security as well.
Yeah, it's unfair to compare the Surface to Han's prototype and the iPhone, but realistically, multi-touch surfaces have been envisioned for decades (Star Trek: TNG anyone?). Han and Apple are certainly not the first to envision its real life usage, though they have certainly gotten thus far today.
To MS' credit, they apparently have had prototypes of this table out in 2001 and 2003. Whether it included multi-touch or not at that state, or if it was even intended for development at that state... it'd certainly be a bit fast for them to have it integrated by the announcement.
UI-wise, the control concepts actually remind me a lot of what we saw in Spielberg/Cruise's Minority Report, sans the cool gloves. Pulling, stretching, pushing and pulling were all present in a very Surface-type interface.
I'm very interested to see where this is headed, but can certainly appreciate concerns about how limited its capabilities can be when it comes to non-MS devices.
BTW, you thought the credit card scenario was silly? I dunno, I don't think it's funny when one server can't figure out how to split a tab two ways correctly or efficiently. :)
Sean, maybe what you
AndyF - May 31, 2007
Sean, maybe what you remember is work from one of frog's biggest customers that was making the rounds more than a year ago:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pcs/hp-misto-coffe...
Seems related to the other
Mark - May 31, 2007
Seems related to the other recent Microsoft presentation in the manufacturing context with a smart desk that was very "surface"-like.
It should be noted that
Lawrence - July 15, 2007
It should be noted that Apple would probably do the same thing, so I’m only singling out MS here because it was their announcement
Don't Apple do that already - with their Macs. Monitors, 802.11e (at the moment anyway)...?
To MS’ credit, they apparently have had prototypes of this table out in 2001 and 2003. Whether it included multi-touch or not at that state, or if it was even intended for development at that state… it’d certainly be a bit fast for them to have it integrated by the announcement.
The prototypes were not pretty and was started by an eccentric team working after hours? I expect so. It wasn't intended for development until it became more popular in the company. Then it got more structured funding and a paid team behind it
I'm always late in reply to
Philippe - September 10, 2007
I'm always late in reply to interesting posts ...
Anyway, in response to Lawrence's comment, Wacom is kind of doing already with their Cintiq line of tablets, although it still entirely dependent on the pen as a part of the user input.
I had to laugh at the whole Surface, microsite, though; reminded me entirely too much of the Vodafone Future Vision website that north Kingdom did, in both the creative and execution, especially in the third scenario. ('In the future ...').
I’m always late in reply
phiph - September 13, 2007
I’m always late in reply to interesting posts …
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