[arteggio]

Originally Posted by Robo Not sure I can see Apple getting into personal robotics, but they definitely seem to have the clearest vision of the near future, at least.

I was slightly exaggerating, just to remind everyone of our inevitable doom out of all of this. But as far as robotics go, maybe they are 'current' enough that all of their designs, on the inside and out, are really being taken into account more than they would have decades ago if such technology were possible. Apple started up as the odd-ball in a detached tech world, then shifted the market onto itself, to the place where the market 'should be'. Robotics seem to be starting in the right place for the most part. Anyway.

As I wrote in the iPad 2 thread…

I don't think this was what I was alluding to (though it might have been something by you, Robo, if it was here on AN), but your words are spot-on nonetheless. When I first opened my iPad I knew it was, ahem, magical, but I never sat back and absorbed the fact that I was holding the future right now. (With a sunny 63º outside, I took my iPad out on the deck to read this thread, practically holding AppleNova itself in my hands. I finally consciously felt the future. In my hands.)

Originally Posted by drewprops Apple helps to give the future focus, but there ARE other innovators out there.

That is true. I guess I was being a bit imperceptive when I handed Apple all the world's grandeur in my post.

Some of the "minority report" stuff from that light table thingy that Microsoft debuted was and is still interesting.

I'm not trying to downplay some of the pre-Apple touch/future technology out there. What Microsoft has done for example with the Surface (the name of the light table thingy to which you refer ) was groundbreaking and still has its applications, especially, as it deals with this thread, since Apple hasn't taken on table-sized touch technology and might never.

On the other hand, my personal problem is that Microsoft physically creates something groundbreaking, then seemingly forgets about it. They didn't beat Apple to saturating the market with touch-based electronics that consumers totally want, but they could have. (!!!)

And maybe this is just the important difference between Apple and Microsoft's viewpoints on applying technology to the world, no matter what technology they have made or are capable of making. Last I heard (a couple years ago...), Microsoft was working with some business to get the Surface out there: telco stores like AT&T, hotel lobbies, clubs, etc. Apple? They put it in our hands. There's this Them-vs-You attention split between Microsoft and Apple, respectively, on how they approach their consumers. Apart from Apple actually making superior products, maybe that's an important contributor to Apple's über success.

Yet just a decade ago (before Apple got traction) it was Microsoft putting revolutionary Windows directly into the hands of the users. Did Microsoft just take a wrong turn on the path it pioneered?

Maybe this could become a thread where we post links to stories about technological breakthroughs..... you could rename it "Building the Future" (??)

A thread like that could be handy. I think most tech breakthrough news has gone to the Daily News Thread? If it branches out (and I can figure out how to rename a thread; or a mod could do it) I'll change the name to something broader, or maybe a less Apple-specific thread would be better suited.

Originally Posted by Dutch Pear Just looked it up, while they did "some" idea and design lifting from mostly iOS and also MS surface, it is actually really quite impressive and realistic IMHO about display/touchscreen possibilities in about 10 (?) years from now. I'm pretty shure this is the kind of vision apple is furiously working towards in it's R&D labs!

This brings me déjà vu. Even though Corning polished it and took their own view on it, guess who did this first, two years ago: Microsoft.

Considering no one has currently produced and put on market glass technology like that I suppose Microsoft isn't really at fault of anything, but it still reinforces my feeling that Microsoft could have been first at so many things, if only they would pinch themselves and get a grip on the current tech reality. The only recent thing from Redmond that feels like a breakthrough, that they aren't going to ignore and let get lost in the past, is the Kinnect. And sure, it's cool, but I would rather have interactive windows over a smart camera officially paired with only a game console.

I imagine Apple is working on this type of tech too though, since other companies have obviously already imagined it. If this is what ten years looks like (maybe Microsoft and Corning are part of a consensus demonstrating that it will be), I don't think Apple will miss out on it. It's a natural evolution from desktops, laptops, and handheld to an 'entity' of technology around us.

One question springs to mind: much of the video is about having an iOS-like touch UI on pretty much any hard-surface: car-dashboard, fridgedoor, public transport shelters... Would apple be willing to expand iOS (dare I say: license) to enable the expansion of iOS to these scenario's?

I wonder this too. If you think about it, iOS is probably already elastic enough to take on everything shown in those videos with just a few additions. But will Apple let it...

Originally Posted by Kraetos I don't think that Apple is going to shoulder the entire burden of the future. What I do think is going to happen is that sometime in the next ten years, "the competition" will finally realize that Apple has been right all along, and that a design-minded tech company isn't an aberration. …

Great post, and I hope it comes to fruition. With Apple/iOS threatening the foundation of the old-age phonemakers (RIM, Nokia, HTC), I can see those phonemakers falling behind and leaving generous space for new innovators to take over. A new company that doesn't have any old-age thinking in it could more readily aspire to the levels that Apple has set.

In general I hope Apple gets more competition no matter what as I would like a bit more choice. But in the meantime, if it takes the tech industry an abhorrently long time to figure out what Apple's known for a decade, at least I can trust that there is Apple.

Though with the speed Apple has pulled the dirt-ridden shag carpet out from the tech industry and replaced it with a smooth, simple, interactive floor, I don't think it will be long. The current companies will catch up or die and they're starting to see that.

As for HP, I still have a bit of hope for them. Their tablet looks like the only one I would seriously consider replacing my iPad with. But they need to hurry up already. (At least the TouchPad is rumored to be priced at $500 also, so it has a chance to compete with the iPad if it's as great as it looks.)