“Enterprises may see little need to buy a touchscreen enhanced OS like Windows 8 just yet, analysts told Computerworld Australia. The new Microsoft operating system, set to debut 26 October, has more touch-friendly features than any previous Windows, but analysts said enterprises are likely to limit adoption to tablets, at least for now,” Adam Bender reports for Computerworld Australia.
“Windows 8 with its Metro interface ‘represents the most significant interface change that we’ve seen from Microsoft in quite a long time,’ Telsyte analyst Rodney Gedda said. ‘It could be seen as a radical shift in user interfaces for many enterprises who might not want to have their staff using Metro with standard PCs,'” Bender reports. “‘The way that we operate the desktop and notebook is still relying on the keyboard and the mouse,’ Gartner analyst Tracy Tsai said. ‘The Metro interface wasn’t designed for the mouse and keyboard.'”
MacDailyNews Take: While Windows 8 is the wrong answer to a question nobody’s asking, that doesn’t excuse these Luddites.
“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things.” – John C. Dvorak
Bender reports, “Ovum analyst Richard Edwards said he doesn’t ‘see mass adoption of touchscreens [by businesses] because I don’t see mass adoption in the enterprise of Windows 8.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Those who ignore iPad deserve to be steamrolled by it.
Bender reports, “[Defending Windows 8, Gedda said] if necessary, IT managers ‘can still use the older interface’ with the traditional desktop. But Edwards said there still is a ‘high learning curve’ for enterprises with Windows 8’s new interface. ‘We have to remember that 99 per cent of people aren’t interested in technology per se; they just want to get the job done.'”
MacDailyNews Take: If they really wanted to get the job done, they’d be using Macs.
Bender reports, “Greater touchscreen use is likely at the point of sale, for example in retail, he said. Aerospace, construction and engineering are other industries that may be quicker to adopt touch, he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Not once in an article about touchscreen devices in the enterprise, was the word “iPad” mentioned. Not even once.
It’s like a bizarro world, where Steve Jobs was never born and everyone endures their miserable lives until they finally, blessedly stop breathing.
In fact, it reminds us of:
And here we sit surrounded by OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Macs, iPhones and iPads with Retina displays feeling more than a bit embarrassed by our riches. To those saddled with crap tech by IT doofuses worldwide, you have our utmost sympathy. What a nightmare to be forced to endure Windows PCs and BlackBerrys! (shudder.)
Anyway, as per touchscreen devices in the enterprise in the real world:
• Gartner: Apple Macs invading the Windows PC-dominated enterprise – June 6, 2012
• Apple not just revolutionizing markets, they’re disrupting IT and business itself – May 21, 2012
• Report: 6 of top 10 enterprise devices using Good Technology are iOS, 97% of tablets are iPad – April 26, 2012
• Apple iPad in the enterprise: A videoconferencing dream machine – April 10, 2012
• Demand for Apple’s new iPad has powerful impact on corporate market – March 13, 2012
• All Nippon Airways to deploy 6,000 Apple iPads to train stewards – September 22, 2011
• United Continental pilots get 11,000 Apple iPads – August 23, 2011
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James Wigg” for the heads up.]