The end for Laptops's? iPad concept the future!?

[xzusa8ky]

Hallo...

I was thinking about this alot of times. I have to say that i find a pc keyboard boring and in away limiting and for sure not sexy at all. I was always dreaming about something like the iPad to produce with or just to do my daily work on. Now the time is here and i guess that this is actually the beginning of the end for the laptop's!. Why should i use a laptop with a mouse and a keyboard when i can do it all directly on the sureface of my iPad? or what the name will be for the labtop's of the future. Yeah! now i can touch every knob on my virtual synths without using the damn mouse or even a controller!! and i can dj with live in "Full Contact Mode" thats just what i been dreaming of for so long!

The Future Is Now!

What do you think?

Kind Regards

[ill-legal?]

Personally, I think the iPad is pretty weak. I don't see myself giving up my laptop or my controller in favor of that overhyped pos anytime soon.

[thelike5]

Yeah, I'd say the writing is on the wall for the end of the traditional laptop. Probably a few more years away from what most people would consider the ideal touch screen portable computer. Give Apple a couple more years to sell of their Macbooks. A portable multi touch device running OSX (or 11?) isn't too far off.

[oblique strategies]

The physical interface has to be truly functional (not that any computer system has really met that goal now! ). The idea of trying to type on an interface that isn't equal to, or better than a hardware keyboard just sounds like another nightmare.

[sen10]

It could be...

When you look at the iPad, it is (without doubt) the future of mobile computing, in the same way the iPhone was the future of the smartphone when it was introduced in 2007. There will always be people who will rubbish a new concept because it's not exactly what they wanted, however just because the iPad isn't what most people expected it to be, does not mean it won't be popular!

Also, you have to remember that Apple wouldn't want to kill off the MacBook Pro line overnight and as such would more likely want to drip feed the consumer it's new product a little more slowly than most of us would like. It's just to test the water and see if the time is right for such a product. If its popularity grows with each newly introduced model (as has happened with the iPhone), then I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we see an iPad Pro, which will be a full MacBook Pro type of computer rather than an expanded iPod Touch.

At the moment, the iPad has more potential for the musician as a controller (once dedicated apps start appearing that offer more controls than is possible on an iPod/iPhone size of display) than a music making device running pro apps. It's exciting to think of what it will be like to run programs like Live on a touch screen Mac in the future, but for now, it's just not going to happen and maybe that's a good thing, as Apple will learn a great deal from feedback they get on the iPad (once it starts shipping) that will hopefully make the "Pro" version far more perfect first time than it might have been if they'd gone ahead and done it now.

The future might not be now, but it's not that far away either!

[beats me]

Keyboards will never die!!

[deepee]

Agreed. Just like knobs and faders. You can't get that same tactile feedback from a smooth sheet of glass. Bumpy interfaces can be used with your eyes closed.

[Tone Deft]

I know you've never typed on a touch interface. you can't really do it without staring at the keys, there's no tactile interface. it would be a pain in the ass, not sexy at all.

you act like concept of the touch interface was just invented. people have known about them for years. Apple puts one out and now people pay attention.

what you really missed is the computing power. heat is the enemy, you do not want a fan in one of these things, too bulky, loud and they work against the other goal, long battery life. this is the main problem here. Moore's law is in effect, Apple got the cost of a touch screen down, so they put a microprocessor in it, that's all that's going on.

the processor in the iFad is weak, go google it. BUT it can run without a fan, that's pretty cool (pun intended.) it is not intended to replace any computers, it can't.

in the spirit of your post there are two things I'd take from it, people will be more used to using a touch screen and touch screens are dropping in price so we'll see them used more often.

the trend with computing power is tiers of products. the super powerful servers, really expensive, very loud, very powerful. then the home desktop, a mellower server type. then the laptop, where they trade off some power for a longer battery life. after that are internet appliances like the iFad. below that are the cell phones, efficient, tiny, they run cool and have a long battery life. below that are the systems the put into handheld bar code scanners, microwaves, stuff like that. no one segment will disappear.

this is true not only for the hardware but the software as well. do you know how many flavors of Windows there are? many, all specialized for a specific tier. the same can be said for Linux and all the flavors of that.

nothing is going away.

[thelike5]

nothing is going away.

Yes, I'm afraid it is. There will be a day; probably about five years from now where NOBODY but the boutique comapnies will be manufacturing physical keyboards. Between multi touch and voice recognition (which Apple was a huge early adaptor of) there will be no more physical keyboard. People will either learn to adapt or continue to dust off their well worn Macbook pros like the generation before mine dusted off their typewriters.

I love my physical keyboards but as someone mentioned above we ARE being drip-fed.

Advancements like this are neccesary to increase stock and even our very own near and dear respective economies.

I remember about ten years ago when I shuddered to think of even keeping my bank information online. Now, my accounts are linked on Amazon, every utilty bill I can think of, all credit cards, Paypal, etc.

Expect more advancements. Not less of them.

[Maco]

bla bla bla

[re.mark]

i bloody hope not
its a fad

[oblique strategies]

The other negative is that you have to look DOWN at the thing unless you pack along its stand. With a laptop you have the screen raised upright before your eyes: much better interface!

[leedsquietman]

People have been saying the laptop would be dead since PDAs and tablets at the start of the decade, but it hasn't been the case at all.

[Nav]

I like the idea of a macbook pro with the usual keyboard AND a touch screen.

Best of both worlds?

Sure keep the iPad for portable browsing, e-reader and running Touch OSC

[JuanSOLO]

I would hate to be pigeon holed into touch screens as my only option.

There is something special about keys, knobs, faders, and buttons.

Computers have not replaced synthesizers, and I doubt touchscreens will make thier predecessors obsolete.

One mans trash....