Flat surface table top games. If the price is reasonable, it could generate interest. Intriguing idea actually. Put on a drafting table, ... Lots of potential is the specs are suitable.
With a 27" multitouch display and what I assume is an Intel Core processor and a GPU capable of running that display how long will it last on the battery? At 17 pounds I'm guessing not very long since even the new 27" iMac is over 20 pounds.
It's absurd, but it's not all that far off from what will be the future of professional (not home) desktop (not portable) computing. This feel like the Newton to me: cool, but not fully useful, and ahead of its time. I'm sure it's where Apple is carefully headed in the long run: pro computers that lie flat instead of tiring you out with arms raised.
For home use, the form factor is hilarious! I can certainly think of possible home uses, but I'm sure most actual personal users can think of far more uses for an iPad or Mini.
Not as bad as Samsung's 85-inch 4K TV. So this is what all the hype was about?
After all that hype, they were bound to fall flat to be honest. Horrible design, if I could even call it design. It looks more like a blackboard and the asymmetry focuses more on the gaps in between than the screen itself!
A table top tablet might be interesting indeed for family board game nostalgia. If large enough and intelligent enough to allow areas of the screen to be used for different things at the same time. Much the same way as Samsung multitask split screen feature but much more dynamic and useful. I could catch up on the latest news while my partner surfs net and kids are doodling at the same time.
Being a gamer geek, I could see using something like this for table top role playing games. Especially with the multi-touch capability. Ideally, it should be bigger, though, and while the idea of a battery is cool, I think it adds unnessary weight to the device. Something that big isn't really "portable" in the same sense as a tablet, so the additional weight and inconvenience of an external power supply would be insignificant balanced against the decreased weight resulting from ditching the battery. Especially when the battery only lasts two hours.
This is why I'm an Apple fan. They're not into gimmicks that the media passes off as "innovation". I read somewhere once the comment that the difference between Apple and, say, Google is Apple asks the question "why?" whereas Google asks the question "why not?" That's how I think of PC OEM's these days. They're just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. And consumers for the most part have indicated they're not clamoring for all these new form factors. Just like they're not clamoring for "smart TV's". Jony Ive has said that new & different are easy but better is hard. I'm glad Apple takes more of a conservative approach, even if it allows for the charge that they're not innovating. I mean in the TV space I'd rather wait for Apple to do something "insanely great" than just come out with a me-too "smart TV" type product that's already been tried by Gogle and Samsung and no one really wants.
I must say those of you calling this product a failure have no imagination. Have you not seen TRON with its desktop computer interface. The original MS Surface was an amazing tech demo. Some seriously cool concepts. No, I don't think it will be very practical as a primary PC. But as a gaming surface it could be great. There's also some serious professional uses such a surface could be used for: reviewing documents with a client, collaborating with a group, doing sales presentations at a desk. Any place where you end up with a person across from you and you want to share a screen would be a great application of this. In a real estate or law office, could this be used for signing documents?
Check out the "AppGrear" and "Apptivity" products at Toys R Us. They're little toys you put on the tablet. They have conductive dots on the bottom that let them be identified by the tablet.
I'm not sure ten-point multitouch will be enough though. For a small tablet, you can only fit a few things on it, but something this large could end up with many more items on it. I'm not sure how you'd identify all the unique items. Can shape of the touch points be used?
No, I don't think this will be the way we're all interacting with our PCs next year. And yes, without the right apps this could fail miserably. But I give the company credit for trying something new. In a few years after others have stumbled around a bit, maybe Apple will step in with a "whole package" product and we'll all be cheering how innovative they are.
But I think the primary market for something like this will be professionals, not a market Apple goes after.
You would probably rarely move the device, but the battery is there so you can without shutting down. I think that's handy.
Here's the ad with all the silly carrying around (it should have a handle for that!):
Here's the Verge's first look:
Here's a demo of more modes and proposed table options (you have to see these -- check out the motorized version at 1:40)...
Side note: we've had an older HP Touchsmart large screen touch computer in the kitchen for years. Handy for internet news, weather, calendar, email, Skype, some touch games, etc. It also has a TV tuner, DVR mode, and DVD player. So I believe in large screen devices as being useful.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed the irony (and outright humor) there. While I was watching it, I actually looked around my empty room for confirmation as to the seriousness of the scene…
Originally Posted by capoeira4u
…something cool like this?
Cool as in terrible?
When is Apple going to come out with
Hopefully never. Their desktop touchscreen will be something people actually use.
I like it. In table mode it is essentially what the surface was striving to be. I remember from the Surface demo when they set the phone on the table and then you could access that phone's data. Then photos on the Surface you can "swoop" back to the phone. That looks like the direction they are heading and that's pretty cool from a syncing and gaming aspect.
I don't know how many homes this is going to show up in, though. The part in the commercial where the wife and mom carries it to a new room was pretty hilarious. That just isn't happening very often. And I'm definitely not trusting kids to take this $1,500+ device from the office and put it on the floor. Still pretty interesting.
With a 27" multitouch display and what I assume is an Intel Core processor and a GPU capable of running that display how long will it last on the battery? At 17 pounds I'm guessing not very long since even the new 27" iMac is over 20 pounds.
I guess you didn't bother to read the first sentence of the article.
Comments
Where's base for this computer display?
When is Apple going to come out with something cool like this?
Surely this is a joke?
If the commercial/promo was about a store display, I'd take it seriously. But lugging it from one room to the next for video chat?
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
...the Horizon boasts a large built-in battery the company says is good for two hours of on-the-go use...
That is good engineering design, if you ask me. After all, what's the point of a battery that lasts soooo much longer than any one can carry the slab?
It's absurd, but it's not all that far off from what will be the future of professional (not home) desktop (not portable) computing. This feel like the Newton to me: cool, but not fully useful, and ahead of its time. I'm sure it's where Apple is carefully headed in the long run: pro computers that lie flat instead of tiring you out with arms raised.
For home use, the form factor is hilarious! I can certainly think of possible home uses, but I'm sure most actual personal users can think of far more uses for an iPad or Mini.
I hope some fun games are developed for it
After all that hype, they were bound to fall flat to be honest. Horrible design, if I could even call it design. It looks more like a blackboard and the asymmetry focuses more on the gaps in between than the screen itself!
A table top tablet might be interesting indeed for family board game nostalgia. If large enough and intelligent enough to allow areas of the screen to be used for different things at the same time. Much the same way as Samsung multitask split screen feature but much more dynamic and useful. I could catch up on the latest news while my partner surfs net and kids are doodling at the same time.
I must say those of you calling this product a failure have no imagination. Have you not seen TRON with its desktop computer interface. The original MS Surface was an amazing tech demo. Some seriously cool concepts. No, I don't think it will be very practical as a primary PC. But as a gaming surface it could be great. There's also some serious professional uses such a surface could be used for: reviewing documents with a client, collaborating with a group, doing sales presentations at a desk. Any place where you end up with a person across from you and you want to share a screen would be a great application of this. In a real estate or law office, could this be used for signing documents?
Check out the "AppGrear" and "Apptivity" products at Toys R Us. They're little toys you put on the tablet. They have conductive dots on the bottom that let them be identified by the tablet.
I'm not sure ten-point multitouch will be enough though. For a small tablet, you can only fit a few things on it, but something this large could end up with many more items on it. I'm not sure how you'd identify all the unique items. Can shape of the touch points be used?
No, I don't think this will be the way we're all interacting with our PCs next year. And yes, without the right apps this could fail miserably. But I give the company credit for trying something new. In a few years after others have stumbled around a bit, maybe Apple will step in with a "whole package" product and we'll all be cheering how innovative they are.
But I think the primary market for something like this will be professionals, not a market Apple goes after.
- Jasen.
You would probably rarely move the device, but the battery is there so you can without shutting down. I think that's handy.
Here's the ad with all the silly carrying around (it should have a handle for that!):
Here's the Verge's first look:
Here's a demo of more modes and proposed table options (you have to see these -- check out the motorized version at 1:40)...
Side note: we've had an older HP Touchsmart large screen touch computer in the kitchen for years. Handy for internet news, weather, calendar, email, Skype, some touch games, etc. It also has a TV tuner, DVR mode, and DVD player. So I believe in large screen devices as being useful.
Originally Posted by jungmark
Tablets are meant to be portable.
Well, right now.
Originally Posted by John.B
I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed the irony (and outright humor) there. While I was watching it, I actually looked around my empty room for confirmation as to the seriousness of the scene…
Originally Posted by capoeira4u
…something cool like this?
Cool as in terrible?
When is Apple going to come out with
Hopefully never. Their desktop touchscreen will be something people actually use.
I like it. In table mode it is essentially what the surface was striving to be. I remember from the Surface demo when they set the phone on the table and then you could access that phone's data. Then photos on the Surface you can "swoop" back to the phone. That looks like the direction they are heading and that's pretty cool from a syncing and gaming aspect.
I don't know how many homes this is going to show up in, though. The part in the commercial where the wife and mom carries it to a new room was pretty hilarious. That just isn't happening very often. And I'm definitely not trusting kids to take this $1,500+ device from the office and put it on the floor. Still pretty interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
With a 27" multitouch display and what I assume is an Intel Core processor and a GPU capable of running that display how long will it last on the battery? At 17 pounds I'm guessing not very long since even the new 27" iMac is over 20 pounds.
I guess you didn't bother to read the first sentence of the article.