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.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina.
Try real touch technology ... iPhone and something in June...
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.
This just in... Microsoft Surface has shipped to select AT&T stores...
Oh and if you can read it did state that the TouchWall is a prototype.
Get a life trolls...
They are both going nowhere, just like MS.
Just read the article and move on. That's what normal users do here.
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.
Here's the first paragraph.
"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."
I'm also tired of Microsoft's vapor ware and them pretending to have invented things when they haven't invented anything.
How did we get along without it?
-
by Norseman
May 15, 2008 8:12 AM PDT
- 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.
-
Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (38 Comments)