Touch is NOT the "near" future of computing. Keyboard & mouse is.

[BillWindows]

@ Rickkins, you don't get out much do you, there are literally millions of people who don't use anything but touch, think iPads and iPhones and Android phones.
Windows 8 is going to fail just like Windows 7 did.

 

[Coke Robot]

Yeah, I don't know if you have noticed, but EVERY SINGLE new smartphone has a touch screen. Some have a keyboard, that but that tends to be mid range android 2 devices. Even then, there aren't a lot of keyboarded phones anymore. Touch has become mainstream there. The ipad came out in 2009 and many criticized it as being one device too many in an already connected world. Now the ipad is just as popular as the iphone and just as ipods were all the rage a decade ago. Touch has gone mobile and touch has become mainstream. Windows 8 will then command the market of touch, just as it usually does with operating systems. It's not even out yet and PC manufacturer's are showing off their latest prototypes of slider tablets, RT tablets, convertibles, slates, ultrabooks, and touch AIO PCs and non-touch AIOs. I literally haven't seen this much excitement from PC manufacturer's about a new Windows release in ever. I don't think 7 had this much attention. Not only will there a whole plethora of touch PCs out in the market, it will signal an end of some manufacturer's using android 4 for their tablets.

There is a true threat to the reign of ipads as being called "PCs" for some despicable reason and there is a true threat to android's future on tablets and phone due to Windows Phone 8's release as well as Windows 8. Verizon Wireless has said that they may in fact support Windows Phone 8 as they do with android because higher end phones will be able to rock it. Not only that, they have an opportunity to market something they can't realistically do with an ipad and iphone: an affordable bundle. They can sell a Windows Phone 8 bundled with a Windows 8 tablet with their network with two devices that share a common UI. Things be a changin' and they're changing for the better.

 

[BillWindows]

Well said Coke, I think a lot of people must walk around with blindfolds not to see what we can see. These are exciting times, more exciting than anything in the last few years.
There will be all kinds of new devices and hybrid laptops and tablets, even phones are now becoming mini PC's, even more so when Windows 8 comes out.
I must admit to falling in love with Apps, they are so simple to use and can give heaps of information at the touch of a screen. Windows 8 is definitely heading in the right direction, no matter what the detractors are saying.
One of the better ideas coming out are touch screen laptops, sometimes it's just easier to touch your screen than fiddle around with a touchpad or mouse.

 

[SIW2]

Yes.

they have an opportunity to market something they can't realistically do with an ipad and iphone: an affordable bundle. They can sell a Windows Phone 8 bundled with a Windows 8 tablet with their network with two devices that share a common UI

Together with the slew of new devices the oem's are delivering.

MS has been working with them on these - I don't know MS have been subsidising /incentivizing/cutting all sorts of deals.

MS may be spending billions on the marketing push - a last ditch desperate effort to get a vast presence in the marketplace - that alone will get some sales.

If the devices are attractive - and if they are marketed right- they will sell.

Mass market consumers don't buy an o/s, they buy a device.

Win8 just happens to be on them .

 

[Rickkins]

@ Rickkins, you don't get out much do you, there are literally millions of people who don't use anything but touch, think iPads and iPhones and Android phones.
Windows 8 is going to fail just like Windows 7 did.

~yawn~
Windows will not supplant either apple or android, on these "millions of users who use touch"
And, also literally, there are hundreds of millions who use mouse and keyboards.

I'm not saying there's no place for touch... I have a touch screen phone, as well as a hp touchpad(with CyanogenMod, of course).

Try a little harder to understand what point(s) I'm trying to make.

 

[legacy7955]

It is not that touchscreens don't have their place, they do... but they are limited. Fine for texting on the go, when folks are at home or at work, the two places where the vast majority spend the majority of their time, folks won't be reaching for touch devices, they will turn to their comfortable work stations, the family pc and/or laptops. And no amount of hyperbole will change that.



I am not totally wrong, not even a little wrong. Even the ones who use touch a lot now, when they are on the go, will tend to gravitate to the far more physically comfortable mouse and keyboard.
...

Nice points Rickkins....

I don't think anyone is discounting the place for touch screens on the go in situations where non-intensive data entry is required, like brief texting and similar, but correct you are that anytime most people need to do intensive entry of data they DO prefer the physical keyboard and mouse.

 

[BillWindows]

It is not that touchscreens don't have their place, they do... but they are limited. Fine for texting on the go, when folks are at home or at work, the two places where the vast majority spend the majority of their time, folks won't be reaching for touch devices, they will turn to their comfortable work stations, the family pc and/or laptops. And no amount of hyperbole will change that.



I am not totally wrong, not even a little wrong. Even the ones who use touch a lot now, when they are on the go, will tend to gravitate to the far more physically comfortable mouse and keyboard.
...

Nice points Rickkins....

I don't think anyone is discounting the place for touch screens on the go in situations where non-intensive data entry is required, like brief texting and similar, but correct you are that anytime most people need to do intensive entry of data they DO prefer the physical keyboard and mouse.

The point is Legacy, you said "touch is not the near future", you're right, it is the now, and also I have never said the keyboard is going anywhere, it will just be used less and less.

 

[legacy7955]

It is not that touchscreens don't have their place, they do... but they are limited. Fine for texting on the go, when folks are at home or at work, the two places where the vast majority spend the majority of their time, folks won't be reaching for touch devices, they will turn to their comfortable work stations, the family pc and/or laptops. And no amount of hyperbole will change that.



I am not totally wrong, not even a little wrong. Even the ones who use touch a lot now, when they are on the go, will tend to gravitate to the far more physically comfortable mouse and keyboard.
...

Nice points Rickkins....

I don't think anyone is discounting the place for touch screens on the go in situations where non-intensive data entry is required, like brief texting and similar, but correct you are that anytime most people need to do intensive entry of data they DO prefer the physical keyboard and mouse.

The point is Legacy, you said "touch is not the near future", you're right, it is the now, and also I have never said the keyboard is going anywhere, it will just be used less and less.

I was (as you well know) referring to it in the context of data intensive usage like in the enterprise fields. Not casual use.

 

[crawfish]

Sorry, but no, I am not totally wrong, not even a little wrong. Even the ones who use touch a lot now, when they are on the go, will tend to gravitate to the far more physically comfortable mouse and keyboard.

Touch on a laptop computer makes no more sense than it does on the desktop, which is zero except maybe for programs like DAWs that emulate physical devices with lots of dial and sliders and whatnot. For other programs, the only way to use touch is as a tablet. I think convertible computers will end up a niche product about as popular as convertible cars. Most people who buy one soon after Windows HE comes out will end up using it mostly one way or the other and regret paying extra. If the screen doesn't detach, it's a bulkier, heavier tablet, and if it does detach, well, you've got two things to keep up with. For either, you've got a tension between detaching and not, i.e. "I'd sure like to be using this as a tablet, but is it worth the trouble to flip it or detach it right now?" I think most people will grow tired of it and just say, "Ah screw it."

Again, no. Ms's push to get into the smartphone & tablet market will ultimately fail, as Apple & Android will continue to dominate, despite ms's best effort. In the meantime, they will have alienated their core, most of whom despise the metro nonsense. Mark my words, win9 will see ms retreat at least insofar as offering a choice, a real choice between metroturd and desktop.

I agree completely with this. People will see how bad Windows HE is on the desktop/laptop, and that will make them avoid Windows mobile devices even more than they do now. There will of course be a spike when all this comes out due to Microsoft spending a fortune to promote it, but it won't last. Word of mouth will be bad, and they won't penetrate much beyond the fanboy base. Metro and its apps are shockingly horrible.

 

[BillWindows]

Again, no. Ms's push to get into the smartphone & tablet market will ultimately fail, as Apple & Android will continue to dominate, despite ms's best effort. In the meantime, they will have alienated their core, most of whom despise the metro nonsense. Mark my words, win9 will see ms retreat at least insofar as offering a choice, a real choice between metroturd and desktop.

I agree completely with this. People will see how bad Windows HE is on the desktop/laptop, and that will make them avoid Windows mobile devices even more than they do now. There will of course be a spike when all this comes out due to Microsoft spending a fortune to promote it, but it won't last. Word of mouth will be bad, and they won't penetrate much beyond the fanboy base. Metro and its apps are shockingly horrible.

Are you guys for real, I'll bet you said the same thing about the Automobile, McDonalds and PC's.

 

[crawfish]

Again, no. Ms's push to get into the smartphone & tablet market will ultimately fail, as Apple & Android will continue to dominate, despite ms's best effort. In the meantime, they will have alienated their core, most of whom despise the metro nonsense. Mark my words, win9 will see ms retreat at least insofar as offering a choice, a real choice between metroturd and desktop.

I agree completely with this. People will see how bad Windows HE is on the desktop/laptop, and that will make them avoid Windows mobile devices even more than they do now. There will of course be a spike when all this comes out due to Microsoft spending a fortune to promote it, but it won't last. Word of mouth will be bad, and they won't penetrate much beyond the fanboy base. Metro and its apps are shockingly horrible.

Are you guys for real, I'll bet you said the same thing about the Automobile, McDonalds and PC's.

You're the fanboy base, of course.

 

[legacy7955]

Again, no. Ms's push to get into the smartphone & tablet market will ultimately fail, as Apple & Android will continue to dominate, despite ms's best effort. In the meantime, they will have alienated their core, most of whom despise the metro nonsense. Mark my words, win9 will see ms retreat at least insofar as offering a choice, a real choice between metroturd and desktop.

I think the point crawfish is trying to make is that many loyal MS customers would have gladly bought up WindowsPhone, and WinTablets, but because MS is sticking it to us (loyalists) we'll end up defecting, which I have to say if MS refuses to change the situation with metro options in Windows 8, I too will look elsewhere (not crApple) of course, but not MS either.

 

[BillWindows]

Again, no. Ms's push to get into the smartphone & tablet market will ultimately fail, as Apple & Android will continue to dominate, despite ms's best effort. In the meantime, they will have alienated their core, most of whom despise the metro nonsense. Mark my words, win9 will see ms retreat at least insofar as offering a choice, a real choice between metroturd and desktop.

I think the point crawfish is trying to make is that many loyal MS customers would have gladly bought up WindowsPhone, and WinTablets, but because MS is sticking it to us (loyalists) we'll end up defecting, which I have to say if MS refuses to change the situation with metro options in Windows 8, I too will look elsewhere (not crApple) of course, but not MS either.

What are you going with Meego

 

[mdmd]

Silly as it sounds,
and it may be silly, Oh, Yes...
how many keyboards and mice are used in Star Trek?

Oh, Oh,...
Opinions vary...
We move forward...

I happen to like
and use all of the following and look forward to more!

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Metro Internet Explorer
The Big Picture

I agree with Legacy, keyboards and mice are necessary for now.
Especially for Data Processors, Office people, Technicians, everyone using a PC desktop.

 

[crawfish]

I think the point crawfish is trying to make is that many loyal MS customers would have gladly bought up WindowsPhone, and WinTablets, but because MS is sticking it to us (loyalists) we'll end up defecting, which I have to say if MS refuses to change the situation with metro options in Windows 8, I too will look elsewhere (not crApple) of course, but not MS either.

That's not the point I'm trying to make at all. Probably most of the true "loyalists" have already bought Windows Phones. I'm talking about everyone who hasn't but might consider it. They already have iPhones and Android phones, and they will need some motivation to switch. Windows HE ain't gonna be it, and sadly that's the whole reason for its existence. It's going to be some number of wasted years for Microsoft and other companies who follow them down this pointless path. BTW, I agree with you on many things, but not the Apple bashing. I wrote a long post detailing my transition from Zune to iPod Touch and why Microsoft has become irrelevant to me for all multimedia except for CableCARD DVR in Media Center where it's the only game in town, and as someone who hadn't owned an Apple product for almost 20 years, I simply love the thing and even bought an Apple TV to use as an audio-only Airplay bridge to my bedroom stereo. This is all just great, great stuff, and it continues to get better.

 

[Coke Robot]

Mass market consumers don't buy an o/s, they buy a device.

Win8 just happens to be on them .

And that's the point for the push.

 

[Coke Robot]

Silly as it sounds,
and it may be silly, Oh, Yes...
how many keyboards and mice are used in Star Trek?

Oh, Oh,...
Opinions vary...
We move forward...

I happen to like
and use all of the following and look forward to more!

FUN...Interesting...Useful!
Daily Motion
Auto Trader
Free Books
The LA Times
The Chicago Tribune
Weather
I Heart Radio
Tom's Hardware
Nature Space
Slap Dash Podcasts
Music Maker Jam
Slacker Radio
News Republic
Yellow Pages
Metro Internet Explorer
The Big Picture

I agree with Legacy, keyboards and mice are necessary for now.
Especially for Data Processors, Office people, Technicians, everyone using a PC desktop.

And how many mice were used in Minority Report and how many Kinect sensors?

 

[Coke Robot]

I think the point crawfish is trying to make is that many loyal MS customers would have gladly bought up WindowsPhone, and WinTablets, but because MS is sticking it to us (loyalists) we'll end up defecting, which I have to say if MS refuses to change the situation with metro options in Windows 8, I too will look elsewhere (not crApple) of course, but not MS either.

That's not the point I'm trying to make at all. Probably most of the true "loyalists" have already bought Windows Phones. I'm talking about everyone who hasn't but might consider it. They already have iPhones and Android phones, and they will need some motivation to switch. Windows HE ain't gonna be it, and sadly that's the whole reason for its existence. It's going to be some number of wasted years for Microsoft and other companies who follow them down this pointless path. BTW, I agree with you on many things, but not the Apple bashing. I wrote a long post detailing my transition from Zune to iPod Touch and why Microsoft has become irrelevant to me for all multimedia except for CableCARD DVR in Media Center where it's the only game in town, and as someone who hadn't owned an Apple product for almost 20 years, I simply love the thing and even bought an Apple TV to use as an audio-only Airplay bridge to my bedroom stereo. This is all just great, great stuff, and it continues to get better.

I think it's interesting how brand switches happen. I used to be for apple, I had an itouch, wanted to get an iphone, used and installed iTunes even if the needed didn't exist. I always used and installed safari and ignored the Microsoft alternatives. I used Windows as my OS since forever.

But until I discovered the Windows Phone and the concept of it and how so different it was, I was hooked. I started using the Zune software and that's when I ditched apple. Realizing I was part of their grand scheme of a capitalistic-communist regime of "can't live with it, can't live without" I forever despise them....

 

[mdmd]

Have you seen from the taskbar of Windows 8,
right click and select toolbars,
TOUCH KEYBOARD,
and there it is!

 

[tseven]

Zune was interesting and overall I found the zune HD pretty fun and new compared to the other players however their was definitely bads to the software on the player as well as on the computer. Also there really was no marketing for either the original players or the zune HD. Microsoft desperately needs help in this department. They finally had a pretty good design wise product but no one knew about it. I learned about the zune but I never was interested in it because there were no commercials I learned about the Zune HD because I went to a website. I don't like how they are rebranding it though. Xbox Music sounds stupid, zune has a much better ring to it. Also the logo doesn't really fit music on top of that the software/app looks horrid. Besides they should be marketing ALL their stuff under one place which is the store/marketplace. Making the store and then a separate center for music, xbox games and videos will just make things more confusing. Overall I would prefer they come up with another player and update the software and make it have the store and brand the software something else that all downloadables can fall under. But I guess that won't be happening. I don't want to use a windows phone for music plus there I like the bold text that the Zune HD uses the phone keeps using that same light weight EVERYWHERE. The zune hd was a nice touch device that was different (kind of) and felt like it was in the future. That was a good touch device. First they kill off the player now they make the brand sound goofy. Sigh.