Of Apple’s new Touch Bar, “Andrea Suraci, co-founder of ILEXSOFT, the makers of the award-winning HighDesign CAD program was enthusiastic,” Anthony Frausto-Robledo writes for Architosh. “‘The new Touch Bar is an interesting innovation,’ says Suraci, whose Mac-only CAD software is now headed to Windows as well, ‘and we are already exploring ways in which it could be supported in HighDesign.'”
“Tim Olson, one of the CAD industry’s most respected veterans, was also enthusiastic. “’I think anytime you allow a designer to customize is a potential productivity opportunity,'” Frausto-Robledo writes. ” Olson didn’t say if any of this company’s CAD products would utilize the Touch Bar anytime soon, but Olson is a hardcore supporter of Apple’s platforms so it wouldn’t be surprising. ‘I still do all my development, testing, videos and books, et cetera, on Mac,’ he adds.”
“Apple’s Touch Bar… is a very different—almost unexpected—type of innovation,” Frausto-Robledo writes. “Yet, what we hear from some of the leading CAD developers is Touch Bar is far from being just for emojis.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Next to go should be the rest of the keyboard. All keys, not just the function row, should be accessible to developers.
The problem is… these control buttons that are fixed in plastic and are the same for every application. Well, every application wants a slightly different user interface, a slightly optimized set of buttons, just for it. And what happens if you think of a great idea six months from now? You can’t run around and add a button to these things. They’re already shipped… It doesn’t work because the buttons and the controls can’t change. They can’t change for each application, and they can’t change down the road if you think of another great idea you wanna add to this product. Well, how do you solve this? Hmm. It turns out, we have solved it! — Steve Jobs, unveiling the iPhone, January 9, 2007
SEE ALSO:
So is Apple’s Touch Bar only the beginning? – December 12, 2016
New virtual keyboard layouts in macOS 10.12.1 confirm MacBook Pro OLED ‘Magic Toolbar’ reports – October 25, 2016
Trademark filing suggests ‘Magic Toolbar’ will be Apple’s name for new MacBook Pro OLED touch strip – October 20, 2016
It’s official: Apple sends invitations for ‘hello again’ event on October 27th – October 19, 2016
Apple set to release Final Cut Pro, iMovie updates with support for new MacBook Pro’s OLED ‘Touch Bar’ – October 19, 2016
Get ready, Apple’s new Macs are finally set to arrive! – October 19, 2016
All-new MacBook Pro, refreshed MacBook Air and iMac, and more coming at Apple’s October 27th special event – October 19, 2016
Apple plans to launch new Macs at special event on October 27th – October 18, 2016
Thoughts on Apple’s MacBook Pro OLED touch strip – August 11, 2016
Apple preps all-new MacBook Pro line with OLED touch strip and more – August 10, 2016
Apple’s new MacBook Pro expected to feature OLED touch-panel, Touch ID power button – August 8, 2016
Next-gen MacBook Pro could feature Touch ID power button – June 28, 2016
Leaked photos pretty much confirm 2016 MacBook Pro’s OLED touchpad – June 1, 2016
Thinner, lighter 2016 MacBook Pro may feature OLED display touch bar and Touch ID – May 24, 2016
Ok so when are we getting a standalone touchbar / touch ID external keyboard Apple? I don’t want my laptop to be the only place I can use the touch bar and I like to “dock” my laptop at work in a cradle and use an external keyboard and mouse. Gotta be in the works.
Amen, brother.
I don’t think I’ll be upgrading my late 2009 vintage iMac until the iMac keyboard gains these features, amongst all the other improvements.
I have been sending emails to Jobs and Cook since first ipad suggesting that the macbook should not have a physical keyboard at all, instead the bottom half should be completely touchscreen with fully customizable & movable areas for keyboards, pallets, tear off menus, programmable buttons and the like. Yes you would have to abandon the tactile feedback but same as ipad typing, plus you could resize, rearrange and have multiple keyboards for different uses. wish I could patent this design!
You’d have a lot of opposition to that fine idea. Apple could easily have haptic feedback for keystrokes, but people are already bitching about how short keystroke travel is on the MacBook Pro. Some people are never happy. The internet would be filled with complaints about how Apple is completely doing away with time-honored traditions. Apple would have to sell a model with your idea and a model with a traditional keyboard so buyers would have a choice. I prefer a keyboard with decent keystroke travel because that’s what I’ve been typing with for thirty years. Then again, I’ve never tried any typing on a keyboard with zero keystroke travel. I would probably have to retrain my fingers but maybe all they’d need would be some specific type of feedback.
don’t you think the benefits of freeing up screen real estate, immediate touch access to palets & tools, infinitely customizable & resizable keyboards would take hold and outweigh the archaic need for keystroking??
and next…just throw the laptop out the window and use the ipad pro, right? Because who needs a Mac anymore anyways (sarcasm)
LCARS here we come! 😀
Doesn’t anyone remember how awful programs were on PCs, Apple’s and Amiga’s way back when? There were no standard interfaces. So every program operated in a different way. You had to learn a different set of commands for each program. There was a reason WordPerfect and Lotus dominated all software. People did not have the capacity to learn any more peculiar commands than those two.
Why would we want to invite those days back? I know there are some standards for IOS apps, but not many and Apple seems to be one of the worst offenders now for screwing up normal standards. Photos is a good example. Who thinks disappearing arrows are a good idea? They regularly disappear and don’t come back.
One of the HUGE features of the Mac was the commonality of commands, and always in the same place. If you learned File Edit and View or Tools, you knew 70% of all Mac apps.
KIds who don’t remember, or turds like Eddy Cue who never understood, are dismantling the great equalizing revolution Mac has been.
MDN Take – Change the rest of the keyboard? Apple did it right and didn’t go any further for a reason. Don’t go and ruin a good thing.