In 8 years, the desktop went from 55% Mac share to 25%. What if it reaches 10% and 90% of Apple's Mac sales are Macbook Air and Pro? They can choose to build whatever they want and they need headless servers but I could eventually (over 5 years away) see them just selling laptops and a mini-style ARM server - all you need for the desktop experience really is a large display. Desktop purchases might level out though. The updates will definitely slow down as consumer demand slows down.
Ah hah, interesting! What if it doesn't? Here's the thing, MBA is not as powerful as the iMac, neither are MBPs that are in the same price bracket as the iMacs. You trade size and computing power for portability basically, it just depends on personal needs. I think a desktop line is important for Apple to maintain, as an option, as an entry point, as a part of a person's computing toolset, for OSX being a healthy platform. If the iMacs aren't growing, then the Mac Pro is growing even less, but why is there new Mac Pro refresh then? I'm make an example, if say I needed a Mac Pro but Apple no longer sells one, then I would have to go Windows, I would have to invest in the Windows version software that I needed, and get accustomed to the Microsoft way. I wasn't looking for it, totally a happy Apple customer, but Apple would have lost my loyalty, now day in and day out, I'm using Windows and Microsoft services, Apple will fade from my daily activities, even if I don't like Windows, what choice do I have? Same thing with the iMacs. Maybe the form will change when some design revolution comes around and change the face of desktops as we know it, but a desktop solves problems laptops doesn't and vice versa. I don't know all the reasons Apple sell what they sell, but if profits is the main driving force, why sell Macs at all, just make iPhones and iPads.
Apple do sell pro software, Final Cut, Logic Pro, Aperture. Not only that, a lot of companies sell pro software for the Mac, if Apple is no longer interested in Macs, boom, these 3rd party pro software will go Windows only, it snowballs into OSX being an irrelevant platform. That's not a good picture for Apple.
All the new Macs look pretty good imo, they aren't going away, the Mac Pro is super stylish too, done with drive, spurs enthusiasm. hope I'm not just consoling myself.
The "grand unification theory" between OSX and iOS is iCloud. Then consider Apple's vertically-integrated manufacturing and you pretty well guarantee compatibility between two distinct operating systems.
It doesn't matter how you process the bits, so long as the bits are the same between platforms, and the results are the same (or at least familiar enough depending on the platform scale). Add an intuitive experience between platforms and you needn't care how the bits are processed.
iOS is based on OSX, actually. These two operating systems were designed from the beginning to be interconnected! They're both based Unix, aren't they?
iPhone (1) was advertised as using OSX, then it changed to iPhone OS, then Apple finally realized they have this new iOS. So the idea probably was to do cross-platform compatibility, but the languages were too divergent to do it right. But the theory was also that apps would run on Safari. That didn't pan out either. Apple diverged OSX and iOS because it had to. Developers led the way.
iCloud brings them together. If they want to converge something, it should be the iCloud website and control panel, App Store, and iTunes. The iTunes OSX/Windows client would become the iCloud client with all the functions of the aforementioned. iOS would continue to run them as separate apps.
This might even pave the way for an iTunes thin client at iCloud.com.
Because Kasper's Automated Slave is written by idiots who know nothing about properly translating CP-1252 Extended ANSI characters to UTF-8. One way to avoid this mess when writing articles is to STOP USING MICROSOFT WORD.
It is not necessarily MS Word that is causing the problem, it is because the original article is not published using UTF-8 however the forum is. The original article has properly encoded html entities but when you use the file_get_contents function in php, which is likely how the automation works, you need to detect the encoding and if needed covert the encoding to whatever character set you are using in the destination web page.
Just kidding, I won't be getting rid of my mac for at least another 5 years of iOS evolution.
I see a likely merge in the future.
I may not be a big fan of DED, in fact this is another article I couldn't finish reading, but I have to ask did you not grasp what he was saying? The differences between iOS and Mac OS are intentional, this really is key because if the difference are intentional why would the OS's merge? The other thing commoners don't seem to grasp is that much of the two operating systems are identical to begin with. Effectively iOS puts a tiny UNIX like computer in your pocket.
The people who work at Apple use Macs to design their software and hardware so unless they figure out how to make iOS devices do both, they'll be sticking with Macs too. The seem to predominantly use Macbook Pros so one move I could see happening down the line is ditching desktops and just going with laptops but it depends on what the market decides.
Extended use of an non-ergonomic computer screen / keyboard position is very unhealthy. Programming is one of those disciplines that requires prolonged concentration. With your neck bent downward for that length of time is not good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalclips
I've thought for the last few years that a large screen that lay down on the desk at a shallow, comfortable angle,
Same poor ergonomics
Quote:
Originally Posted by poke
Most pro apps are things that are either obviously better with multitouch (video editing, music, etc) or that many people use with a Wacom tablet already (photoshop, etc).
[...]
just make a horizontal iMac - although perhaps not in the most elegant way. The issue for Apple, I imagine, is that the MacBook would be replaced with some sort of iPad Pro, and it doesn't make sense to build a multitouch workstation until you have moved all portable computing to tablets, since the portable market is bigger.
Same, poor ergonomics. Also I find pro desktop apps such as photoshop and video editing use very compact layouts and controls, many nodes no larger than the tip of the cursor arrow which are sometimes difficult to grab with the mouse let alone a big fat finger.
I think most of us can agree that Apple's biggest threat is complacency at this point. As soon as they start to feel invinceable and try to milk the consumer with mediocre upgrades too often that's when they might have a really rude awakening come to them.
I'm concerned that they're already becoming more complacent about consumers continuing to support every minor upgrade and that the pace and drive to innovate has slowed. Sure they've just released iOS 7 and announced a new Mac Pro but both of these only came after sustained and intense criticism for years that the previous offerings were dated and in need of a major overhaul and upgrade. The case was so severe with the Mac Pro that many thought Apple had abandoned or wanted to kill its professional-class desktop, forcing Apple to announce a new model up to 6 months before shipping in an attempt to quash a mass exodus.
In the end Apple responded and responded well but it seems like they're only getting there eventually now whereas before they were always at the cutting edge. I remember the awe with which I beheld an iMac G4 with its screen that floated in the air, could be adjusted with a finger but stayed precisely where you wanted it. It was a thing of beauty and of technical brilliance and I can't help but think the latest displays have gone backwards in positioning at least anyway and just don't inspire the same awe that the original iMacs commanded. I do love the look of the Mac Pro but I doubt very much I can afford to upgrade for a while.
The next things they'll probably respond to only just in time are a larger iPhone and retina screens across the entire lineup of desktop and portable computers and devices. The recently updated iMacs are a complete yawn and they're sure taking their time getting new iPads and MacBook Pros to market, not to mention this Mac Pro and a retina Cinema Display.
Because Kasper's Automated Slave is written by idiots who know nothing about properly translating CP-1252 Extended ANSI characters to UTF-8. One way to avoid this mess when writing articles is to STOP USING MICROSOFT WORD.
It is not necessarily MS Word that is causing the problem, it is because the original article is not published using UTF-8 however the forum is. The original article has properly encoded html entities but when you use the file_get_contents function in php, which is likely how the automation works, you need to detect the encoding and if needed covert the encoding to whatever character set you are using in the destination web page.
Former doesn’t do a quarter of what the latter does. It’s old tech and you know it. USB as a format–as a physical construct–has been around since ’96. “It’s faster” doesn’t make it new tech.
USB is a lot like RS232 in that it may never go away as a tech even if updated often. USB did eventually eclipse RS232 and I expect USB to eventually be eclipsed also. I wouldn't be surprised to see it still in use in 2050 though.
1. Having what to do with Thunderbolt at all? Thanks for proving you know what everyone (rather “no one”) is doing¡
Actually TB adoption has been rather quick in my mind. Frankly it is also hooking to monitors that act as hubs or docking stations for laptops so his argument makes absolutely no sense. There is no telling what is hooked up to those monitors / docking stations. Beyond that I believe Apple got 99% of what it wanted out of TB as a docking port.
2. Yeah, that co-development sure wouldn’t let Apple do anything with the format, huh¡
Intel has as much as said other companies can do whatever to build TB parts. If the PC world isn't it most likely is because they lost their way
Prepare to never be surprised.
Or just read and inform yourself. Many of the opinions expressed in these forums would never exist if people actually read for content and actually tried to understand how Macs and iOS devices work.
Yes, they share some internals, but there is a fundamental difference in how the two operating systems work. iOS with its individually isolated apps has strayed quite far from the unix philosophy of letting programs work together through inter-app communication. This isn't too important for iOS's current use cases, but it can be hindering when you try to work with more than one program at a time. Here is a nice article from the iOS software firm Ink explaining this issue (http://blog.inkmobility.com/post/60759200492/what-ios-can-learn-from-unix). With OS X, you get the real deal, a bona fide certified UNIX system with full-on interprocess communication and all the standard unix command line tools. Many scientists use OS X for those unix tools. iDevices won't take over Macs until iOS bridges this gap in functionality.
IPC is not a "Unix tool", or at least not a tool exclusive to Unix. Is it true that scientists use OS X for IPC and command line tools? True, there are many science apps that require command line interaction. But that is because many of these apps were ported over to the Mac rather than developed for/on the Mac. There is NO advantage to command line control of a science app if a proper GUI has already been developed. As for science apps using IPC, that's neither here nor there. IPC is available on Windows and most other desktop OSes.
Actually TB adoption has been rather quick in my mind.
I think so, too.
In some of the same way that the Mac Mini was step 2 of the G4 Cube design, Thunderbolt is really just step 2 of ADC. Think about it: power, video, audio, USB, FireWire (Ethernet, everything else anyone could want…), all in one cable. The difference here is this one is a piece of cake to work with and will be available on everything from everyone.
Intel really needs to say, “Look, if you want to make boards for our chips, you’ll put Thunderbolt ports on them.”
I think most of us can agree that Apple's biggest threat is complacency at this point. As soon as they start to feel invinceable and try to milk the consumer with mediocre upgrades too often that's when they might have a really rude awakening come to them.
Maybe, I haven't seen this of late with either the Mac or iOS device markets. I mean really look at the AIRs, and even the iMac if those are to your liking. Then we have iPhone which has been a hardware powerhouse since it came out.
I'm concerned that they're already becoming more complacent about consumers continuing to support every minor upgrade and that the pace and drive to innovate has slowed.
I don't follow what you are saying here.
Sure they've just released iOS 7 and announced a new Mac Pro but both of these only came after sustained and intense criticism for years that the previous offerings were dated and in need of a major overhaul and upgrade.
Most of those complaints came from largely ignorant people, at least with respect to iOS. IOS 7 puts a new face on iOS but it really did little to improve the apps themselves. For example notes app got zero improvements to its creation abilities on iOS devices. Seriously if you are jotting down a note it isn't that uncommon to want to create a list.
The case was so severe with the Mac Pro that many thought Apple had abandoned or wanted to kill its professional-class desktop, forcing Apple to announce a new model up to 6 months before shipping in an attempt to quash a mass exodus.
I'm not the only one totally perplexed by the handling of the Mac Pro. The lack of effort over the last 4-5 years is pathetic.
In the end Apple responded and responded well but it seems like they're only getting there eventually now whereas before they were always at the cutting edge. I remember the awe with which I beheld an iMac G4 with its screen that floated in the air, could be adjusted with a finger but stayed precisely where you wanted it. It was a thing of beauty and of technical brilliance and I can't help but think the latest displays have gone backwards in positioning at least anyway and just don't inspire the same awe that the original iMacs commanded. I do love the look of the Mac Pro but I doubt very much I can afford to upgrade for a while.
Apple is on the cutting edge where the sales are. The problem with the Mac Pro and Mac Pro users is the market for desktops collapsed, if it wasn't for Apples laptops we might not even have a Mac division. Does this excuse the apparent lack of interest in the Mac Pro - no but no company has unlimited resources and it is apparent that Apple prioritized other products.
The next things they'll probably respond to only just in time are a larger iPhone and retina screens across the entire lineup of desktop and portable computers and devices.
You are making an assumption that there is a huge market of those devices. As for retina it will ship when Apple can get the screens in the quantities needed to ship products in the volumes Apple ships.
The recently updated iMacs are a complete yawn and they're sure taking their time getting new iPads and MacBook Pros to market, not to mention this Mac Pro and a retina Cinema Display.
Really why all the whining? For one what did you really expect out if the iMac? They gave us a port for an SSD and frankly that is a massive improvement. Second; iPads will come when they are ready and frankly when they get the bugs out of iOS7 on iPads. As for Mac Book Pros you do understand that the gating factor here is technology from Intel.
I'm not sure why Apple not getting product out the door fast enough for you is such a factor for the rest of us. I wouldn't worry one bit about the MBP. I'm actually hoping they fix some of the design decisions that made the current one such a piece of crap. For example the MBP needs at least two slots for those PCI Express SSD slots. Oh and they need to pull their heads out of Ass and price the thing decently.
There is NO advantage to command line control of a science app if a proper GUI has already been developed.
There are many advantages to the CLI, in any program. Yes yes, just my opinion, obviously, can't say anything about science applications. But il go as far as saying that repetitive tasks can be accomplished way faster in the CLI by typing as opposed to a GUI with a mouse.
There is NO advantage to command line control of a science app if a proper GUI has already been developed.
I don't know why there is any differentiation between a science app and any other app. I find the primary reason to control things through SSH is to be able to quickly administer a remote machine, especially one that uses text files for configuration such as UNIX-like OSs.
For example if I want to add a mail user on the server, I can type two lines of code, verses log in through VNC then login in through the GUI sign on feature, then go to the administration menu, select users, add user, tab from field to field, go to the services menu and restart the mail service, log out.
Same, poor ergonomics. Also I find pro desktop apps such as photoshop and video editing use very compact layouts and controls, many nodes no larger than the tip of the cursor arrow which are sometimes difficult to grab with the mouse let alone a big fat finger.
The ergonomic issue is true of vertical screens but is obvious nonsense when it comes to horizontal screens. Working on a horizontal surface is how we worked for hundreds of years before the advent of computers. If it was a very large surface you'd need to be able to rest your hands on it and move your work area around, it would also likely be at a comfortable angle rather than completely horizontal, but those issues are easily solved. There's nothing to stop you having two or more displays regardless: one horizontal touch display and one or more vertical displays. A keyboard is already a horizontal touch surface and one of the least ergonomic devices - the one commonly responsible for repetitive strain problems - is actually the mouse! All those small, repetitive movements can cause serious damage to the hand. The other problem is solved by better UI design.
Comments
In 8 years, the desktop went from 55% Mac share to 25%. What if it reaches 10% and 90% of Apple's Mac sales are Macbook Air and Pro? They can choose to build whatever they want and they need headless servers but I could eventually (over 5 years away) see them just selling laptops and a mini-style ARM server - all you need for the desktop experience really is a large display. Desktop purchases might level out though. The updates will definitely slow down as consumer demand slows down.Ah hah, interesting! What if it doesn't? Here's the thing, MBA is not as powerful as the iMac, neither are MBPs that are in the same price bracket as the iMacs. You trade size and computing power for portability basically, it just depends on personal needs. I think a desktop line is important for Apple to maintain, as an option, as an entry point, as a part of a person's computing toolset, for OSX being a healthy platform. If the iMacs aren't growing, then the Mac Pro is growing even less, but why is there new Mac Pro refresh then? I'm make an example, if say I needed a Mac Pro but Apple no longer sells one, then I would have to go Windows, I would have to invest in the Windows version software that I needed, and get accustomed to the Microsoft way. I wasn't looking for it, totally a happy Apple customer, but Apple would have lost my loyalty, now day in and day out, I'm using Windows and Microsoft services, Apple will fade from my daily activities, even if I don't like Windows, what choice do I have? Same thing with the iMacs. Maybe the form will change when some design revolution comes around and change the face of desktops as we know it, but a desktop solves problems laptops doesn't and vice versa. I don't know all the reasons Apple sell what they sell, but if profits is the main driving force, why sell Macs at all, just make iPhones and iPads.
Apple do sell pro software, Final Cut, Logic Pro, Aperture. Not only that, a lot of companies sell pro software for the Mac, if Apple is no longer interested in Macs, boom, these 3rd party pro software will go Windows only, it snowballs into OSX being an irrelevant platform. That's not a good picture for Apple.
All the new Macs look pretty good imo, they aren't going away, the Mac Pro is super stylish too, done with drive, spurs enthusiasm. hope I'm not just consoling myself.
It doesn't matter how you process the bits, so long as the bits are the same between platforms, and the results are the same (or at least familiar enough depending on the platform scale). Add an intuitive experience between platforms and you needn't care how the bits are processed.
iOS is based on OSX, actually. These two operating systems were designed from the beginning to be interconnected! They're both based Unix, aren't they?
iPhone (1) was advertised as using OSX, then it changed to iPhone OS, then Apple finally realized they have this new iOS. So the idea probably was to do cross-platform compatibility, but the languages were too divergent to do it right. But the theory was also that apps would run on Safari. That didn't pan out either. Apple diverged OSX and iOS because it had to. Developers led the way.
iCloud brings them together. If they want to converge something, it should be the iCloud website and control panel, App Store, and iTunes. The iTunes OSX/Windows client would become the iCloud client with all the functions of the aforementioned. iOS would continue to run them as separate apps.
This might even pave the way for an iTunes thin client at iCloud.com.
($0.02)
It is not necessarily MS Word that is causing the problem, it is because the original article is not published using UTF-8 however the forum is. The original article has properly encoded html entities but when you use the file_get_contents function in php, which is likely how the automation works, you need to detect the encoding and if needed covert the encoding to whatever character set you are using in the destination web page.
<?php
function file_get_contents_utf8($fn) {
$content = file_get_contents($fn);
return mb_convert_encoding($content, 'UTF-8',
mb_detect_encoding($content, 'UTF-8, ISO-8859-1', true));
}
?>
Look forward to your Gorilla arm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-touch-screens-will-not-take-over
I agree with this article. There is a certain screensize that touch can not go above without getting uncomfortable. 10 inches?
And that is why Apple (and all the other computer companies) will continue to have a mouse-based OS as one of their platforms.
I may not be a big fan of DED, in fact this is another article I couldn't finish reading, but I have to ask did you not grasp what he was saying? The differences between iOS and Mac OS are intentional, this really is key because if the difference are intentional why would the OS's merge? The other thing commoners don't seem to grasp is that much of the two operating systems are identical to begin with. Effectively iOS puts a tiny UNIX like computer in your pocket.
Extended use of an non-ergonomic computer screen / keyboard position is very unhealthy. Programming is one of those disciplines that requires prolonged concentration. With your neck bent downward for that length of time is not good.
I've thought for the last few years that a large screen that lay down on the desk at a shallow, comfortable angle,
Same poor ergonomics
Most pro apps are things that are either obviously better with multitouch (video editing, music, etc) or that many people use with a Wacom tablet already (photoshop, etc).
[...]
just make a horizontal iMac - although perhaps not in the most elegant way. The issue for Apple, I imagine, is that the MacBook would be replaced with some sort of iPad Pro, and it doesn't make sense to build a multitouch workstation until you have moved all portable computing to tablets, since the portable market is bigger.
Same, poor ergonomics. Also I find pro desktop apps such as photoshop and video editing use very compact layouts and controls, many nodes no larger than the tip of the cursor arrow which are sometimes difficult to grab with the mouse let alone a big fat finger.
I'm concerned that they're already becoming more complacent about consumers continuing to support every minor upgrade and that the pace and drive to innovate has slowed. Sure they've just released iOS 7 and announced a new Mac Pro but both of these only came after sustained and intense criticism for years that the previous offerings were dated and in need of a major overhaul and upgrade. The case was so severe with the Mac Pro that many thought Apple had abandoned or wanted to kill its professional-class desktop, forcing Apple to announce a new model up to 6 months before shipping in an attempt to quash a mass exodus.
In the end Apple responded and responded well but it seems like they're only getting there eventually now whereas before they were always at the cutting edge. I remember the awe with which I beheld an iMac G4 with its screen that floated in the air, could be adjusted with a finger but stayed precisely where you wanted it. It was a thing of beauty and of technical brilliance and I can't help but think the latest displays have gone backwards in positioning at least anyway and just don't inspire the same awe that the original iMacs commanded. I do love the look of the Mac Pro but I doubt very much I can afford to upgrade for a while.
The next things they'll probably respond to only just in time are a larger iPhone and retina screens across the entire lineup of desktop and portable computers and devices. The recently updated iMacs are a complete yawn and they're sure taking their time getting new iPads and MacBook Pros to market, not to mention this Mac Pro and a retina Cinema Display.
Can I forward this? To:
support@huddler-inc.com
Or will you?
If not, a 1,000 props to you sir!
And IBM rules the mainframe world (still).
Can I forward this? To:
support@huddler-inc.com
Or will you?
If not, a 1,000 props to you sir!
I don't think Huddler is involved in Kasper's automated hack. That is a carry over from pre-huddler.
Thanks for the props but I learned that from someone else. (Colenector)
Those 900 million iOS apps? All developed on OS X with Xcode.
Just FYI.
Yes, they share some internals, but there is a fundamental difference in how the two operating systems work. iOS with its individually isolated apps has strayed quite far from the unix philosophy of letting programs work together through inter-app communication. This isn't too important for iOS's current use cases, but it can be hindering when you try to work with more than one program at a time. Here is a nice article from the iOS software firm Ink explaining this issue (http://blog.inkmobility.com/post/60759200492/what-ios-can-learn-from-unix). With OS X, you get the real deal, a bona fide certified UNIX system with full-on interprocess communication and all the standard unix command line tools. Many scientists use OS X for those unix tools. iDevices won't take over Macs until iOS bridges this gap in functionality.
IPC is not a "Unix tool", or at least not a tool exclusive to Unix. Is it true that scientists use OS X for IPC and command line tools? True, there are many science apps that require command line interaction. But that is because many of these apps were ported over to the Mac rather than developed for/on the Mac. There is NO advantage to command line control of a science app if a proper GUI has already been developed. As for science apps using IPC, that's neither here nor there. IPC is available on Windows and most other desktop OSes.
I think so, too.
In some of the same way that the Mac Mini was step 2 of the G4 Cube design, Thunderbolt is really just step 2 of ADC. Think about it: power, video, audio, USB, FireWire (Ethernet, everything else anyone could want…), all in one cable. The difference here is this one is a piece of cake to work with and will be available on everything from everyone.
Intel really needs to say, “Look, if you want to make boards for our chips, you’ll put Thunderbolt ports on them.”
Maybe, I haven't seen this of late with either the Mac or iOS device markets. I mean really look at the AIRs, and even the iMac if those are to your liking. Then we have iPhone which has been a hardware powerhouse since it came out. I don't follow what you are saying here. Most of those complaints came from largely ignorant people, at least with respect to iOS. IOS 7 puts a new face on iOS but it really did little to improve the apps themselves. For example notes app got zero improvements to its creation abilities on iOS devices. Seriously if you are jotting down a note it isn't that uncommon to want to create a list. I'm not the only one totally perplexed by the handling of the Mac Pro. The lack of effort over the last 4-5 years is pathetic. Apple is on the cutting edge where the sales are. The problem with the Mac Pro and Mac Pro users is the market for desktops collapsed, if it wasn't for Apples laptops we might not even have a Mac division. Does this excuse the apparent lack of interest in the Mac Pro - no but no company has unlimited resources and it is apparent that Apple prioritized other products. You are making an assumption that there is a huge market of those devices. As for retina it will ship when Apple can get the screens in the quantities needed to ship products in the volumes Apple ships.
Really why all the whining? For one what did you really expect out if the iMac? They gave us a port for an SSD and frankly that is a massive improvement. Second; iPads will come when they are ready and frankly when they get the bugs out of iOS7 on iPads. As for Mac Book Pros you do understand that the gating factor here is technology from Intel.
I'm not sure why Apple not getting product out the door fast enough for you is such a factor for the rest of us. I wouldn't worry one bit about the MBP. I'm actually hoping they fix some of the design decisions that made the current one such a piece of crap. For example the MBP needs at least two slots for those PCI Express SSD slots. Oh and they need to pull their heads out of Ass and price the thing decently.
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There are many advantages to the CLI, in any program. Yes yes, just my opinion, obviously, can't say anything about science applications. But il go as far as saying that repetitive tasks can be accomplished way faster in the CLI by typing as opposed to a GUI with a mouse.
I don't know why there is any differentiation between a science app and any other app. I find the primary reason to control things through SSH is to be able to quickly administer a remote machine, especially one that uses text files for configuration such as UNIX-like OSs.
For example if I want to add a mail user on the server, I can type two lines of code, verses log in through VNC then login in through the GUI sign on feature, then go to the administration menu, select users, add user, tab from field to field, go to the services menu and restart the mail service, log out.
It is about 20 more steps to do it through a GUI.
The ergonomic issue is true of vertical screens but is obvious nonsense when it comes to horizontal screens. Working on a horizontal surface is how we worked for hundreds of years before the advent of computers. If it was a very large surface you'd need to be able to rest your hands on it and move your work area around, it would also likely be at a comfortable angle rather than completely horizontal, but those issues are easily solved. There's nothing to stop you having two or more displays regardless: one horizontal touch display and one or more vertical displays. A keyboard is already a horizontal touch surface and one of the least ergonomic devices - the one commonly responsible for repetitive strain problems - is actually the mouse! All those small, repetitive movements can cause serious damage to the hand. The other problem is solved by better UI design.