The future of laptops...

[fried eggs]

Look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8s88wBi2eM

Are you comfortable with where things are headed? It's like they're trying to force touch screens down our throats! What about those of us who actually still type?

Would you buy this?

[originalpckelly]

1. I honestly couldn't agree more.

I love keyboards, you know, tactile feedback. It's because I actually know how to touch type. I learned when I was little, though I'm not perfect my technique is good enough I would not want to lose it.

[hlthe2b]

4. Well, I suspect there will always be the option for an external keyboard...

But, I too love to touchtype... Touch screens have their place, but I can be productive on a laptop.... Touch screen--barely.

Must be the "twitterification" of the US.... If you are only typing out 140 characters, it really doesn't matter, I suppose.

[fried eggs]

32. True, but the more items that need to be attached and lugged along, the less convenient it becomes.

[Shagbark Hickory]

2. I like it. No more crumbs, hair, dirt, dust, to clean out.

[Lost-in-FL]

3. Keyboards are not relevant but the quality and reliability of the operating system.

And no... I don't think they are forcing touch-screens down our throats. You still have a choice to buy or not buy that product. Personally, that particular model is a bit too much for me.

[Rabblevox]

5. it looks like a cool way to surf, but no way will it replace a real keyboard. n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. What I want is a laptop with a detachable screen.

Snap it in -- laptop. Pop it out -- tablet.

Yes, there are a few of those already. I'm waiting for them to progress a bit more. (And for my laptop to become old.)

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. I like it!

Might buy one if I can make some money to pay for it.... lol

[brooklynite]

8. The original computers required punch cards or paper tape to program...

Wasn't it horrible when they forced keyboards down your throat?

[fried eggs]

10. We'll see if that comparison holds up

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. I first programmed an IBM 360 with tape

Managed to create a random number generator. My teacher was impressed.

Almost flunked because I got bored and wanted to do more funky things. Then, I cleaned up some code for him, using 1/3 fewer lines than he, with no errors. Earned my A.

Of course, I was 14 at the time. Now, I take my iPad everywhere I go. Literally. I use it in court, and have even had judges ask me to show them pleadings and caselaw they cannot find. One judge wanted to keep it, because he could not find the court file's original. "Trust me, counselor, it is for the good of the court system's integrity."

In another court, the judge banned the use of any electronic device, be it a calendar, smart phone, or laptop. Then I tried a case in front of him, and he ended up using my iPad to look up a statute that was pertinent to the case. He has since changed his mind.

[Possumpoint]

19. First Computer I Worked On

Was a Honeywell 800/200 system, with tape reels, punch cards and hand wiring. The first IBM desktops had more power then that. I look forward to a continuation of improvements.

[Gormy Cuss]

13. Those punch cards and tapes were encoded by keyboard operators. n/t

[razorman]

9. I want to be able to talk to my computer and order it around, like on 'Star Trek'

[Aerows]

11. Absolutely not.

My phone is chunky because it is a smart phone, and I had no intentions of having to rely solely on a touch screen. Even it has a keyboard. I type over a hundred words per minute touch typing. Using a touchscreen is so slow, I might as well just grab a pencil and write it on a piece of paper.

[leveymg]

14. Perfect for the post-literate. Like picture menus at fast-food drive-ins.

We don't need no stinkin' keyboards.

[peacetalksforall]

15. It looks ideal for socializing by face, twit and game playing users. Not for me until I hear.

some testimony that matches my needs. It may be good for stockbrokers and gamblers

[Occulus]

20. Well, what are 'your needs'?

It's pretty easy to imagine the capabilities of such a thing.

[Motown_Johnny]

16. didn't you see the end of it? Touch screens do have a keyboard

when you want them to have one and they don't have one when you don't want one.


I think it is a good idea. Why not put it out there and see how it sells?

[snot]

17. Touchscreens don't work for me.

Literally, sometimes no matter how hard I press, it doesn't seem to register. I'd be interested if anyone knows why . . .

[ChairmanAgnostic]

21. that's because you don't pay them a working wage.

Striking keyboards are a clear sign that they are abused and under-compensated.

Treat your pad's keyboard right, pay it a fair wage, and it will work just fine.

[ieoeja]

37. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you do not actually exist? nt

[snot]

38. No, but

my mate has a "ZILF" (Zombie I'd Like to . . . ) t-shirt.

Think I shd take it personally?

[onenote]

18. just like they "forced" touch tone down our throats? And electricity.

And cars? I once had a manual typewriter. Then they went away and I had to use an electric one. The horrors!

Things change. Old ways are replaced by new ways. Sometimes the new ways catch on, only to be replaced by newer ways (monaural LPs to Stereo LPs to cassettes to CDs to downloads). Sometimes the new ways don't catch on or don't last (quadrophonic stereos, betamax, 8 tracks)

[fried eggs]

22. Do you think someone could type 100 wpm on a touch screen?

If it gets to the point where the technology is sound enough to support that without a ton of errors, let me know (I'm actually typing this message using android's swype keyboard, before you jump to conclusions).

[onenote]

28. maybe so, maybe not. But just because someone introduces a dual screen laptop

with a touchscreen hardly means the sky is falling and that no one is going to offer a laptop with a keyboard in the future. Just like the introduction of notebooks didn't mean that larger laptops disappeared or that the introduction of ultra lightweight laptops meant that more heavy duty laptops disappeared.

[WinkyDink]

29. Weight is not the equivalent type of change. No books will be written using a stupid touch-screen.

[onenote]

31. Maybe so, maybe not. But you can still connect an external keyboard

And as I recall, people wrote books before there were laptops.

[fishwax]

23. looks pretty cool to me

I'd be a little leery of using only a touchscreen keyboard to type, at least on my primary computer, because I do a ton of typing and I think calibration, etc., would become an issue.

But hook up an external keyboard and it would be very easy to write while researching, with a document open on one screen and the source material on the other.

[Betty88]

24. Its very cool but I dont like typing on those screens

I have to use an Ipad at work for some stuff, I don't like typing on it for any length of time. Maybe its just me but without the give of the keys my fingers feel strange. Perhaps its something I have to just get used to.

[ladywnch]

25. I take it you don't like on screen keyboards cause you can still type on it.

[spanone]

26. looks cool, i'll take two

[WinkyDink]

27. I find the concept of continually stretching out my arm to be extremely ANNOYING.

[backscatter712]

36. The "gorilla arm" effect.

Touchscreens aren't particularly new - they've been around since the early 80's.

Except the first ones were set up on conventional vertically-mounted monitors, not tablets. And people found that using touchscreens in that way got really fatiguing - resulting in "gorilla arm".

That's why today's computers use a mouse instead - you don't have to constantly hold your arm up to touch the screen - you can rest it on your desk while working the mouse.

Which is why I think a horizontal touchscreen sitting next to the keyboard will probably catch on sooner or later.

[Egnever]

30. Nothing stoping you from connecting a keyboard

[Taverner]

33. Point and Click your way to happiness!

Interesting that they took inspiration from Ninendo DS'

[backscatter712]

34. I think the touchscreen is cool. That said, keyboards aren't going away.

For as long as keyboards have been with us, they're actually a pretty damned efficient way of input, especially when you're entering text.

Doing it on a touchscreen using a virtual keyboard just doesn't work as well - you need tactile feedback.

That said, the touchscreen does have some nice advantages, and works very well in the smartphone/tablet realm.

So my vote for the ideal computer interface would be both a keyboard AND a touch-screen. Perhaps a touchscreen tablet as an input device sitting next to your keyboard, replacing the mouse.

How about a laptop where in place of the usual touchpad mouse that's common on most of today's laptops, a little touchscreen?

[elocs]

35. Perhaps the most valuable and useful class I took in high school: touch typing.

I have a friend who is 73 and says the same thing.