“News anchor Shepard Smith proudly demonstrated a remodeled “Fox News Deck” featuring massive, expensive new 55 inch touchscreens sold by Microsoft. However, the giant new screens have much lower resolution than even a 9.7″ iPad,” Daniel Eran Dilger reports for AppleInsider. “Smith beamed in showing off how Fox had, at considerable expense, revamped its news anchor sound stage to include actors manipulating at least ten of the massive new displays, each of which sells for around $7,100.”
“The displays are sold by Microsoft, which last year acquired Perceptive Pixel, the manufacturer of the giant touchscreens,” Dilger reports. “The screens are powered by Windows 8 and can also be navigated using an “Active Stylus,” which works like a wireless remote control.”
Dilger reports, “The Microsoft PPI screens have a 1920×1080 (2 megapixel) resolution, the same as a standard HDTV. That’s a fraction the resolution of Apple’s 15 inch Retina Display MacBook Pro (2880×1800, or over 5 megapixel), which sells from $2200. It’s also significantly less than a $499 Retina Display iPad (2048×1536 or 3.1 megapixel), the very device ‘users at home’ can review Twitter with themselves, without Fox News reviewing the same information on flashy, oversized desktops running a very limited resolution.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll enjoy watching the development of the Gorilla Arms – and the donning of reading glasses.
A smart lawyer has likely already contacted “Fox News Deck” employees about joining the forthcoming class action lawsuit over debilitating ergonomics.
Here’s an exclusive sample of what the screen looks like in actual use:
Related article:
New ‘Fox News Deck’ debuts what look like Brobdingnagian iPads (with video) – October 7, 2013
State-of-the-fart technology here, folks.
> revamped its news anchor sound stage to include actors manipulating at least ten of the massive new displays
You have to take THAT into consideration. These are hired “business-professional” ACTORS, on the set of a TV Show. They are not real users doing actual “news” work, right there under the bright lights of a sound stage. There’s probably some indicator on the screen, to tell the actor(s) that they are currently visible in the background (behind “Shep”), so they need to start waving their arms around. They probably have a “script” for what they are supposed to do with the screen.
In that context, the technology is perfectly adequate. The screens do not need to be any more high-res than a regular HDTV. It will look really bad from two-feet away, but the TV audience won’t be able to distinguish those massive pixels. And the actors won’t care; they just need to look at that massive low-res screen during airtime.
Exactly, find everything about technology here “Folks”
In the words of DR Phil…
What were you think-in?
They did try to take into account “gorilla arm” syndrome by making the giant screens sloped. However, I am not sure if this will work in the long run.
Architects, draftsmen and engineers have used sloped desks like this for hours on hours making drawing and schematics on paper. Accountants and bookkeepers have traditionally used sloped desks for large ledger pads also for many hours a day. I’m sure ones arms will get tired but if the angle is right, it should be manageable.
That being said, I’m just not interested in Microsoft Surface. Looks like a steaming pile of crap to me.
The problem is how low operators are sitting comparing to upper part of those screens — if they are not forced to move hands to the upper part of the screen often, then there should be no serious issue.
The problem is that all the professionals you mentioned worked on sloped tables that were NOT touch sensitive so they could rest their arms on the surface of the sloped table.
I started as a graphic artist/designer using a sloping drawing board with a T-square, later a proper draughting table, but the point is with those, you can actually rest your arms on them when doing finer, detailed work, or your wrists; with these giant touch-screens, that’s not possible, making it very tiring over a period of time. That’s why it’s so much easier using a mouse, trackpad or stylus and graphic tablet, you can rest your wrist on a solid surface.
Architects and draftsmen can rest their palms on the surface to get some relief. Doesn’t look like that is possible on these touch screens.
I studied mechanical and architectural drawing back in the 70’s. Our drafting boards were slanted maybe 10 degrees at the most. We were able to rest our elbows and wrists on the table. Having spent 8 hours drawing, I can’t imagine how incredibly uncomfortable it would have been having to hold my arms up working for any kind of extended period of time. It was hard enough with my arms resting on the board. Believe me, those rediculous workstations will be gone in a month. Either that, or Fox is going to have one hell of a high attrition rate.
Going forward, SNL’s “fake headline news” parody version will have actors in gorilla suits, sitting in front of giant touch-screens. 🙂
The screens look so blurry in the presentation. Very hard to read, except perhaps from a distance.
Typical FoxNews. 50 year old attitudes. 10 year old tech.
Michael, show me where on the Apple website, Fox could have bought Apple’s 55 inch iPad looking BAT with more pixels then the 9.7 in iPad?
Inquiring minds would like to know?
‘Typical FoxNews. 50 year old attitudes. 10 year old tech.” you forgot one more number, Michael… Zero losers… like you
Better than sucking Obama’s dick, bitches.
Maybe the large screens will help them stop mistaking The Onion with their Reuters feed.
I can think of several losers on Fox, like the “reporter” that used a satirical website as as primary source.
??? So confused by your complete lack of a response…
You do realise that they could have done the same (if not better) setup with 2 or 3 HD TV’s, Two or three Apple TV/s and some ‘n; iPads. Right?
Classrooms across third world countries like India do this everyday.
This could be a Saturday Night Live skit. The whole setup is so dorky it’s hard to believe the professionals responsible for this joke couldn’t imagine how stupid it would end up looking.
“Let’s use screens that are larger than people and then have the people sit in front of these giant screens looking at oversized icons and large print. It will be really, really cool. We’ll have bigger screens than any other network! And if that doesn’t have the ‘wow effect’ we’re looking for we’ll order even bigger screens next season! No one will out-screen us. FOX RULES! ”
DOH!
😆
News Decks for News Dicks
“We call them “BAT’s”
Yeh, Big Ass Tablets
Someone at FAUX just watch a Star Trek movie?
BREAKING NEWS!
PBS News Hour just announces strategic response to FOX NEWS giant screen news room.
Officials at PBS announce that in response to FOX NEWS “giant screen strategy” that PBS has decided to build a similarly sized news room but instead of giant screens will position their reporters in front of giant books.
When asked, one PBS producer said, “we can’t afford to buy all that high technology but we can certainly match the size of their screens by using over-sized, large-print books we’ll check out from the library of congress. This is going to be HUGE! People at FOX won’t know what hit them. Our reporters will be looking at print just as large as what FOX reporters will be seeing on their screens. They won’t have anything on us when it some to size. News is a dog-eat-dog business. We can’t sit by and do nothing. BIGGEST is BEST. PBS RULES!”
Heh heh. Yes, PBS is a bit old and fusty… However, they have one thing going for them: Real news. Its the only trustworthy source of news and current affairs on American television and it is watched around the world. I watch PBS newshour every day here in Australia. Its not as good as the Australian ABC, but for a real understanding of American politics PBS is the only choice. Its celebrity-free and they have excellent guest commentators.
NewzCrap/Murdochvision/Faux has always been about gaudy eye candy, style over substance and the lowest common denominator. Just as Steve Jobs said about Microsoft- they just have no taste.
When Faux bought up the NFC broadcast rights and took them over from then incumbent CBS, they introduced the tacky & loud graphics and cheez Whiz “swooshes” and other sounds underneath the SFX cuts and lower third supers.
And the streetwalker dresses and wide shots of lots of leg on supposed news shows.
Those things are there for show. I can’t imagine anyone, even Microsloth, devoting 55″ of screen real estate to such absurdly large apps. The apps have to be that big so you can seen what the person is doing, on the 32″ screen TV the average Fox viewer is watching it on at home.
I’m sitting here working on a 27″ iMac (which is 1/4 of the real estate of those devices) and have more info available and open on the screen, than those 55″ monster have. It’s tech for show, not function.
The average Faux Newz viewer is looking in on a Wal-Mart center aisle Off Brand TV in their trailer. Their two screen experience is with a clunky Dell running Windows XP with (You’ve Got Mail!) AOL mail.
Fox News audience demographic:
Less educated, white, lower income, rural and away from the NE & West coasts. Think Alabama, Kansas, West Virginia, Oklahoma plus the retirement villages of Arizona and Florida.
If they have an iPad it is probably because their kid sent them one.
I’d rather they (and indeed any news organisation) employ actual journalists to do proper work, to write proper stories, to actually report the news. I know 24 hour news has time to fill, but they need to realise that people aren’t watching all day everyday, they’re dipping in and out, we’re not going to notice if they repeat stories every hour or half hour. I don’t need to see a bunch of idiots shuffling around information they have gathered from twitter.
They talk about how people are using smartphones and twitter and so on – which people are. They talk about collating all the various information out there. Do they not realise they could replace that entire studio with a twitter feed retweeting stuff?
The bit where he talks about that stupid news wall and wand remote is priceless. Seemingly the only thing you can do with it is move things around and slide pictures across it. I’m not in front of that screen, I don’t get the benefit of the 30 plus feet of it. Just put stuff up on my screen.
The people who are using those screens are either blind or going to be. And who the F needs to sit right in front of a 55″ screen to do computer work? How about the electricity and the amount of heat generated from those monstrosities.
That is one of the dumbest setups I’ve ever seen. I can imagine be hunched over one of those rediculous looking things all day. Whoever made the decision to use these things should be fired, because they are an idiot. This has been a failed product from Mucrosoft for years, and for good reason. A much better choice would have been iMac’s with a 27″ display. What a waste of money. I’d be embarrassed to be seen on TV on one of those things.
…manipulating at least ten of the massive new displays, each of which sells for around $7,100.
Fox: The network FOR suckers and OF suckers. Pathetic. Average IQ in the room? I don’t want to know.
BTW: What’s a red ‘Power Tie’ good for? It’s an Insecurity Flag. Hilarious, isn’t it.
I had an excellent Organizational Behavior teacher who stated that the best way to show off one’s power is to DARE to wear a pink shirt and pink tie to work. And the ladies will love you for it.
Watch the guy at the 1:18 mark. He’s gonna suffer from whiplash in a week. There can’t be anything ergonomically efficient about having to move your head that much while looking at a screen. This will be a disaster.
Karma from working for Murdoch and crew.
Big Brother News Corporation.
Listen to Jonathan Glenn starting at 1:19:
A lot of people don’t have the time to go through everything at once. To figure out what’s true. And if this tweet they received from a friend or this Facebook post they received from a friend is accurate. We’re gonna do that for them. We’re gonna sift through that information, we’re gonna find out what’s true and let ’em know.
Thank You Ministry Of Truth!
All Hail Big Brother.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Truth
http://www.planetebook.com/1984.asp
A screen like that for presentation seems great, but not for working on all day.
Fox News will get their stories from Facebook,
Twitter, the social media, and the Onion. Why
am I not surprised ?
This is huge!But I’ve seen this kind of stuff before,check this:http://tabler.tv/multitouchscreen.html
Hahahahaha!
I knew it. I wrote this yesterday in a post and here it is.
It’s a BIG ASS TABLE from Microsoft.
Search for BIG ASS TABLE on YouTube and prepare to laugh!