>> ^spoco2:

As far as I'm concerned (And I have three tablets in my desk at work, an iPad1, and iPad2 and a Xoom, and I write apps for them), they're all useless lumps really. I have zero desire to have one. My thoughts are pretty much exactly as per this Engadget article


And here's the thing. When the iPad came out, all the tech reviews and tech bloggers and the people who write about these things said it was rubbish. What they menat was that it wasn't a device they would want. What apple is great at doing is ignoring the tech guys, who are the niche market, and getting the normal, everyday people a product that works for them. My iPad is the most used gadget I have, by a long way. This is because it does the few things I want it to do and it does them well.

The iPad is just too successful for it to be a bad product. It's giving the majority what they want and ignoring the tech guys. Apple seem to be one of the few companies to realise where the money really is in computing, and it's not with people who know a lot about computers.

Poor old Bill. When you have to say "no comment" you pretty much admit you're in a position of weakness. Microsoft have missed the boat with tablets all because they don't want to give up the money they make from Windows.

I've played with tablets and I might even get one very soon. I definitely see a use for them in terms of casual browsing and general entertainment. I've had many situations where I'm moving my laptop room to room and I know the keyboard is not needed and the mouse positioning is difficult.

Sitting with a touchscreen device that almost anyone can use is a big win and a far more elegant scenario than balancing a laptop awkwardly and wondering how to site the mouse.

I can see even my dad using one which would be a marvelous achievement. And if someone asks me to look up some info I can bring it over very easily.

It looks like he'd like to voice a few ideas not only in regards to Apple but also in regards to what MS should be doing (in the market). But he can't because it's not his role anymore. (I can imagine that he wouldn't want to over-step Ballmer. It'd be very destabalising to MS.)

And I liked what I saw of Courier, too.

>> ^shuac:

How interesting. Some poor-sportsmanship, methinks. Definite sour-grapeage.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

It's only been about 6 months for me, but I'm still using my iPad 2 heavily - can't see that changing in a year. Definitely not a perfect device but pretty damn useful for Kindle, movies, web browsing and games. I'm typing on it now.>> ^spoco2:

As far as I'm concerned (And I have three tablets in my desk at work, an iPad1, and iPad2 and a Xoom, and I write apps for them), they're all useless lumps really. I have zero desire to have one. My thoughts are pretty much exactly as per this Engadget article
The sad thing is that Microsoft had the design and functionality damn spot on with their Courier device. THAT, with the stylus and interface/note taking etc. etc. really WOULD have been a useful device. Something that would have replaced the stack of notepads I have at work.
But no, they scrapped it
I don't care how huge this tablet market currently is, what I'd like to know is how many people are regularly using theirs a year after getting it...

friz, learn to quote, then work on your flaming. The numbers I threw around was indeed significant to show that despite so many modern touch screen users, the complaint about smudging is rather low and not really an issue that comes up.

And yes the era of the keyboard as we know it will come to an end. An onscreen keyboard may not have the nice tactile feedback, however it will generally become moot when the display and the controller become one and the touchscreen will work hand in hand with 3d object detection (ala kinect). The onscreen keyboard will consist of a small subset of buttons with specific task that can quickly appear and disappear on the display. Even data entry will replace the keyboard with voice recognition one day.

Also getting back to the game, the battlefield navigation system is not really something you could use a keyboard for. The whole purpose of it is to be able to visualize and manipulate the battle field up close.

>> ^quantumushroom:

The future's going to suck for the armless.


I'm sure it already kind of sucks... I mean... You don't have any motherfucking ARMS!

>> ^frizlefry:

I mean this interface will open up a whole new area to the possibility of them. The rotary cuff area is easier to aggravate with such injuries. I also forgot to mention prolonged arm waving is more tiring for the user as well. Another needless side effect from this "innovation" in game controlling. Futuristic user interfaces from the movies are designed to look cool, not stand up to repeated everyday human use. Nice flippant comment though


Seems to be more than a proof of concept rather than a genuine attempt to fuck everyone's rotator cuff up...

ps. Wear and tear injuries existed before the computer was invented, it's up to the end user to pick an appropriate technology and use it wisely to limit their chances of such an injury...

At first I thought they were using empire at war as the engine, but it does indeed look 2d so it is totally custom. Unfortunately it is kinda sad too, there is no excuse for that display to be chugging like that for 2d images (yes, even at a super high resolution wall display like this, todays consumer CPUs would make hundreds of thousands of 2d objects a joke to throw around).

As for the interface, well to be fair, the people who created this demonstration are probably not game creators. The interface looks nothing more then a simplistic method of choosing what ship types to spawn for an unwinable demonstration battle. In a real game things would be more stream lined. Empire at war is a good example of that. Alot of options can be automated, much like what would happen in a real battle, would you be the fleet commander and not worrying about the deployment of tie fighters from destroyers.

>> ^frizlefry:

Fingerprints on my screen and inefficient slow controls with the possibility of repetitive stress injuries? Sign me up!


Btw friz, welcome to 2011, with millions of touch phones and tablets all over the world being used. Todays glass can be coated in a way where thumb prints don't cause to much of an issue. May be a slight prismatic look when sweaty, but people have no problems enjoying gaming on them. The touch interface shown here is far more superior then a gamepad or mouse could do. Having one hand on a keyboard to help facilitate issuing command types with your next touch could easily be handled with an onscreen panel too.

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>> ^frizlefry:

Fingerprints on my screen and inefficient slow controls with the possibility of repetitive stress injuries? Sign me up!


You mean that there are video games that don't involve repetitive stress injuries?

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I would have been more impressed if all the video wasn't an overlay after effect. I was thinking with the iOS eemulators, someone could throw it onto a touchscreen tv.

Meh, couldn't make it through it due to the average compositing and the annoyance that he was tapping with his fingernail, which doesn't work for capacitive touchscreens.

Yes, I'm a geek.

You know it has a touchscreen, right? Buttons, therefore, can be anywhere.

>> ^kronosposeidon:

I'm not an Apple fan to start with, but I'm going to say anyway that their products always seem dumbed down and sterile. Really, Apple, I swear I can handle a few more buttons on my phone. Minimalism might be an interesting art form, but to me when you skimp on features it just seems cheap and controlling. >> ^vaporlock:
That's screwed up (no pun intended), swapping out peoples screws. It really turns me off that Apple is such a control freak. Their products always feel handicapped in some way. Without some opening up of the next I phone (mini SD slot, etc) I'm swapping to one of the great Android phones out now.