Gates: Every surface to be a computer

During his keynote Wednesday at the CEO Summit, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates shows off TouchWall, a 4-foot-by-6-foot touch-screen computer prototype.

(Credit: Microsoft)

It's one step removed from the Midas approach, but Bill Gates wants to turn nearly everything we touch into a computer.

Speaking to a crowd of CEOs gathered in Redmond, Wash., Gates showed off prototype technology he said will allow home and office walls to become computers.

While Microsoft's Surface computers are currently shipping for about $10,000, Gates said the hardware costs for such products need not be that high. Within a few years, it could be in the hands of individuals.

"We're saying it will be absolutely pervasive," Gates said. "When I say everywhere, I mean the individual's office, the home, the living room."

What Gates showed on Wednesday was a 4-foot-by-6-foot prototype called TouchWall. Among the things that appealed to me was the idea that presentations might shift away from the sort of robotic slideshows enabled by PowerPoint.

Along with TouchWall, Gates showed off the software that accompanies it, known as Plex. TouchWall itself uses infrared and laser technology to sense touch input, Microsoft said.

In his speech, Gates also proved why TouchWall is still in the prototype stage.

"Whenever I go up and touch it, the software will notice it," Gates said, in kicking off the demo. When nothing happened, he added the qualifier "theoretically."

The screen did come to life a few minutes later.

[dascha1]

Ykeeep,m - oops! Sorry, just wiped the Smuckers off of my fingers (great PNJ sandwich for lunch). Ok, now what was it he was saying about AllianceWall again?

[JCPayne]

Ofcourse he does... Having a computer in everyone's coffee table and two end-tables would be 3 more sales commissions for him....

[kool_skatkat]

mmm, can linux touch?

[Commander_Spock]

Perhaps, another question that can be asked is if OS/2 Still "Types" As You "Speak"? Wow!

[dascha1]

So the million dollar question is - who's going to pay for it right? Guess what! Ask your Municipal Tech Directors folks. For example, Henrico County Public Schools in Richmond, VA has already broke the deal with Dell to provide a laptop to every student (free of charge, I think). Schools in Prince William County have already started "new construction" of buildings that leave a 6'x4' space for "combination boards" for some time now... Problem is, the teachers and the architects don't agree on everything... like on-site training, maintenance, do 1" tackstrips with Natural cork or Forbo cork go above the empty space to connect the Porcelain-on-Steel with larger tackboards on the other side? Talk is cheap... to make it work you have to get into the Sweets and convince the Contractors you have what it takes to make it, install it and guarantee it with a Lifetime Warranty. :))

[GhostAlph]

Great .... one more thing to Windex.

[inachu]

I would want my dinner table to be fully touch or it would be a rip off.

[GhostAlph]

Great - one more screen to clean.

[Get_Bent]

"Every surface to be a computer"? I want my toilet seat to be a computer; then I can program while I'm sitting on the crapper. Oh, wait, that's already been done -- it's called Microsoft Windows. It would explain a lot about that Vista....

[sanenazok]

Good demo strategy - make the beta program all blue so in case it crashes you can pretend it has entered into a "PowerShell" text-only mode. Very smart!

[rocketjam--2008]

Just how accurate has Mr. Gates actually been in predicting the future?

[twburger]

He once predicted a 80286 processor was all the CPU power anyone would need for multimedia applications. So, I would say his grasp of future technology is not fantastic.

[durango4]

Everything he ever touts is something MS is working on or trying to get people to buy. The only reason he continues to make headlines is because he is one of the richest people in the world, not because he knows what he is talking about.

[Peter Bonte]

He's always talking sifi, this technology won't be abundant in homes for the next 20 years. The next big thing isn't big screens but the small portables he showed off ten years ago. This is lab material.

[Maccess]

More like predicting the past. This technology is seen nightly on CNN, except it was made by another company, and everyone with an iPhone is already using this "next big thing."

[MaLvaDo39]

More Vaporware! Just like that huge @ss table they are trying to sell.<br /><br />Try real touch technology ... iPhone and something in June...

[PtarThanes]

Talk about Vaporware! You're backing up "Something in June" that hasn't even been announced!

[jwtct]

You think the big @ss table is vaporware because you watched a parody of it? It's now being used in AT&#38;T stores. Harrah's Entertainment., Starwood hotels, and T-Mobile also have plans to buy them

[TechProof]

This is what I've been waiting for....I want my whole house to be an interactive computer...walls, floors, ceilings, tables...one fluid continues interface.

[pcarsten]

I believe it's called Fahrenheit 451

[dbargen]

Why are we still listening to this blowhard? Certainly, the man was a wiz when it came to taking advantage of an open door to sweet business deal thanks to the ineptitude of then current IBM, but there's been no innovation on his part in my memory. Now it's almost like he has martyr status.<br /><br />All of his predictions thus far have proven to be far useless at best, far fetched at worst. I was hoping we'd be free of hot air like this and he'd stop getting press now that he stepped down, but I guess the junkies can't get enough. The day he's gone can't come soon enough.

[Mister Winky]

Then why did you read the article? It seems *YOU* are still listening to Bill, even if only to troll and hate.

[The_Decider]

He saw no value in the world wide web either

[mikestatic1]

Just what I need - my entire house to get a virus.

[kojacked]

I love all of the trolling here...<br /><br />This just in... Microsoft Surface has shipped to select AT&#38;T stores...<br /><br />Oh and if you can read it did state that the TouchWall is a prototype.<br /><br />Get a life trolls...

[The_Decider]

Yeah, 5 At&#38;T stores who are in areas with a low enough brains/money ratio.<br /><br />They are both going nowhere, just like MS.

[jhoeforth]

Save it. You'll be waisting your time. You can't beat them. <br /><br />Just read the article and move on. That's what normal users do here.

[OlsonBW]

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.osnews.com/story/19730/Perceptive_Pixels_Magic_Wall_Finds_New_Niche" target="_newWindow">http://www.osnews.com/story/19730/Perceptive_Pixels_Magic_Wall_Finds_New_Niche</a><br /><br />They should be checking out the link above. This is a real product that is actually shipping and most likely doesn't rely on Microsoft's virus prone OS.<br /><br />Here's the first paragraph.<br /><br />"Multitouch has more or less turned into a buzzword these days - sometimes, its implementation makes sense and comes out as pretty useful (see the iPhone and Microsoft's Surface), however, other implementations turn out be debatable. There is another implementation out there, one that received a lot less attention from the press than the aforementioned cases: Jeff Han's Perceptive Pixel."<br /><br />I'm also tired of Microsoft's vapor ware and them pretending to have invented things when they haven't invented anything.

[Orion Blastar]

I for one don't want every surface I touch to be a computer. Sometimes I need time away from computers. I need regular walls, a regular TV set, a regular book, etc.

[ElectricRanch]

Oh yeah, just what the world needs!<br /><br />How did we get along without it?

[Maccess]

Oh, like a giant iPhone, huh?

[elllroy]

is it a projection system like the surface-computer? they don't even have the technology to integrate the touch-technology into the screen.

[Norseman]

One thing Mr. Gates seems to forget is that there is a HUGE difference between using a touchscreen on a small, hand-held device and using it on a fixed desktop screen (or any vertical surface, for that matter). Try holding your arm out horizontal for eight hours and see how it feels, Mr. Gates.