My editor Glenn Derene at Popular Mechanics points out that Microsoft really dropped the ball on launching its once-innovative Surface table in the US, missing a chance to really shine as an innovator:
Unfortunately, it seems that Surface is turning out to be a classic example of how a lot of hoopla followed by a long delay can drain much of the excitement out of a technological innovation. When Surface was introduced, it looked revolutionary, but in the intervening 11 months Apple iPhones have made multitouch screen interaction mainstream, Jeff Han’s huge multitouch displays are being used for election color commentary on CNN, and other, less-sophisticated touchscreen interfaces such as Savant’s Rosie coffee table and even ToyQuest’s Touch Table EES could potentially beat Surface to the market.None of these products actually overlap with the Surface’s in-store experience business model, but by the time Surface gets out in front of the public on April 17, it could look like a technological also-ran in a category that Microsoft was instrumental in pioneering.
Microsoft Surface Is Finally Here. What the Heck Took So Long? [PopularMechanics.com]
So, you’re saying that potential buyers of this Microsoft product are so stupid that when they compare it to the iPhone, they will see more commonalities than differences? Hmmm … good point, actually.
It always seemed like Surface was mostly FUD to me. It appeared very suddenly as Han’s system went from proof of concept to viral video to prototype to product. Sometime during the peak of the videos’ popularity, Surface came out of nowhere in a typical “coming to everywhere, any time now” fashion. Now the actual product isn’t really materializing? MS can go FUD themselves.
Ever since I saw the MS Surface presentation videos, I had the impression it’s nothing more than a toy. (You can’t do any precision work with it, entering text is likely to be a chore with that virtual keyboard… heck you can’t even *switch applications* from that funky touchscreen.) If I’m right, then the reason it took them so long is that they couln’t find a sucker to buy their useless invention. Oh wait, it’s not even theirs.
I’m far from being an Apple fan, but if somebody’s looking for a well-implemented multitouch interface, go no further than an iPhone.
If I recall, this thing works with a set of internal cameras, not a film on the screen. So the initial versions needed to be shaped like coffee tables. I guess MS figures they will be able to shrink the cameras at some point. I don’t see this developing into a significant product. Apple is walking away with multi-touch and MS is grasping at straws trying to stay relevant while they think of something quick – Buy Yahoo!