“These high-end displays could be found on today’s iPad, iPhone 4 and even on the latest upgraded iMacs,” Purcher reports. “According to Apple’s newly published patents, it appears that Apple’s MacBook line-up is destined to gain these incredible displays as well – even though they already possess a pristine LED-backlit display with wide-angle viewing, today.”
Purcher reports, “Yet the big news buried deep within all ten of this week’s display-centric patents is a clear-cut fact that the MacBook is destined to also gain a multi-touch display.”
Full article, with much more, including patent application illustrations, here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, just because it’s in a patent application, doesn’t mean it’ll become a shipping product.
“To us longtime Apple watchers, Cupertino seems to be saying, ‘Multi-Touch on the screen only when trackpads are not part of the device.‘” – MacDailyNews Take, November 19, 2008
Things can always change, but nothing Apple has shipped so far indicates that the company has any intention of deviating from the approach to touch that we so concisely iterated nearly two years ago.
If Apple does go the greasy screen route with Macs, we hope that a built-in trackpad, or at least support for an external Magic Trackpad, is always an available option. What do you think, is it time to consider more Windex stock?
Or, perhaps Apple WILL go the “greasy screen route” as you so eloquently put it and maybe you sticky fingered fucks will learn you wash you hands after picking your noses as you drone on incessantly with your petty and pointless opinions…
My take: touch screens on MacBooks actually make sense, especially as Apple clearly is pointing us into a touch oriented future.
Then again, I only use my MacBook Pro now as a “server” of sorts, doing the “heavy lifting” that is not appropriate for the iPad, or is work done with applications that do not (yet) have iPad counterparts… ITeleport has become my main means of working with my Mac… I can hardly wait for iOS 4 to come to the iPad!
It doesn’t make sense to use multitouch on screen for desktop computers or for the current laptop format computers. For desktop computers, screens are not always within arms reach. For laptop computers the practically vertical screens make long term and long use of multitouch is uncomfortable for the arm. Finally, Steve Jobs has made it clear, and he is right, that the current desktop metaphor is not suitable for on-screen multitouch. For one, desktop metaphor relies on clicks and multiouch doesn’t.
Mulitouch is a good interractional metaphor for screens up close and intimate (like mobile devices) but not for larger things.
Someone tell this id10t you don’t use windex on track pad. I use the lens cloth used for prescription glasses.
A touch notebook would likely be in context to a folding notebook lid or a MacTablet type of combination. Too many are getting caught up in just touch on macbook as if it would replace a mouse. It won’t unless the tablet-display portion is folded. In that context it will serve us well. A comment from Lorne, above, mentioned a detatchable display. I like that idea a lot.
Recall that in newspaper reports 20+ years ago, HP said touch screens were better than the just introduced Apple mouse and would prevail. However, the mouse methaphor displaced many brands of touchscreen, some of I used. Why would touch screens work for us now, when they were impractical then.
Constantly lifting one’s hands up to touch a screen is so tiring and unergonomic.
@ Random whatever,
It’s an option and options are good, especially if the display could twist a lay flat like an iPad. Why not just stay with a stylus if we follow your logic. Times change, get used to it.