Apple's answer to MS Surface

By now everybody must have seen the brand new product from Microsoft — Surface. The promo site showcases this new touchscreen product as a brand new and innovative user interface.

As you can expect from a Mac fanboy — I can't help but see Surface as a giant iPhone or a refined version of the touchscreen kiosks you can find at Airports and McD restaurants. 5 years ago this interface was amazing when showcased by Jeff Han, who is rumored to be working with/for Apple in some way.

Surface still looks like a great product if it works as advertised. It's been promised to be released in the Winter of 2007, so the MS team still has a few month to refine the details and make it work as it is shown on the videos.

I wonder if those videos on the site — which are by the way painfully repetitive — are real or made up in a post production. The screens seem way too clean. According to the videos there is no apparent way to organize your content other than drag and dropping things between devices. The videos are either a simplified version of the real interface or the product is designed for streamlined single-minded applications, like a restaurant menu.

I have doubts about controlling a cursor precisely with fingers. I have the same reservations about the iPhone too, but apparently this is unfounded. I'm sure it can work for simple navigation, but nothing that requires pixel perfect positioning. I'm also worried about fingerprints. Such a cool display would look disgusting after just a few minutes of use.

The box seems huge. Is that a table full of hardware or it's just a stand? It's clearly not meant to be a portable product. Seems extremely uncomfortable for long term use. Backaches anyone?

Ordering at a restaurant. Seems like a very good way to use this product. I wonder how can surface scratches can be avoided in a public space.

Mapping. One of the best uses, as maps need to be seen on big screens. 30" seems big enough.

Organizing music. Nothing new here. ITunes' Cover Flow is much cooler in my opinion. Several applications have been created years ago to simulate similar freedom of album organization.

Organizing and viewing photos. While the freedom of being able to throw things around looks cool, in reality it is not practical. A good interface helps you organize your content and not just give you a platform to play with it.

I think Surface is going to be too expensive for widespread personal use. I expect it to cost at least US$5000 and up, which is way too much for simply throwing your digital photos around in a pretty interface. I can see certain retail outlets implementing it and a few geeks getting it for its coolness factor. It's not a market to die for.

Surface will probably not be released as promised in winter 2007 and will under-deliver in terms of functionality. Even the features that work will have Zune like limitations and proprietary technologies that only work with a handful of third party products. In spite of the huge marketing campaign that will follow the launch, I think this particular product will be a failure unless my assumtions are wrong.

On the upside it will open up a whole new avenue for possible future cool applications for the hardware. For example, I estimate Surface to be hacked to run Linux within 48 hours after the release and Mac OS X within the first two weeks.

The question comes — what is Apple's answer to Surface? Simply put — nothing. I don't think Apple will try to compete with Surface. I think Apple will continue to focus on the much bigger home user and professional markets.

On the other hand, I'm sure MS had to rush this website because Apple will probably release something cool that includes similar technology at WWDC in two weeks.

I think Apple will include more of hand gesture and touchscreen technology in its consumer products, such as the iPhone, iPod and even the Macs. Much of what Surface does in terms of user interface already exist in the iPhone and Leopard will probably have an extended set of hand gesture functionality built in too. It is possible that touch sensitive displays and their support in Leopard are among those top secret features mentioned by Jobs.

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