Microsoft hints at possible "Oahu" consumer Surface device
By Donald Melanson 
posted October 14th 2008 4:54PM
posted October 14th 2008 4:54PM
Microsoft's already set to launch the Surface SDK this month, and it looks like it might possibly be looking to take it one big step further, at least if a recent market research survey is any indication. In it, Microsoft asks for participants' thoughts on a possible "Oahu" computing device with an "innovative multi-touch screen." That, the survey says, could be configured in several different "forms," including a table for meals, a countertop, or even an old school-style games table. As you might expect, there's not much in the way of exact technical details to be found, but the hypothetical device would apparently be large enough for four people to use at the same time, and it would supposedly be able to connect to various portable devices "when you put them on the screen." No indication of a possible release date, of course, but the survey did ask participants how likely they would be to purchase the device if it cost $1,499.
If I got one of these, my cat would lay on it.
Relevant? No...
Or just give VIsta better touchscreen support and let the market handle this niche.
In all honesty, Microsoft needs to realize that they are way outclassed by Apple in user interface innovation. What Microsoft should do is just sit back and let Apple spend the resources (and headache) inventing a next-generation multi-touch gesture input paradigm and then basically copy their system so future Windows and OSX versions have compatible interfaces. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an MS hater, nor an Apple fanboy. I'm a .NET developer, and believe Microsoft has great enterprise and server products, they just need new leadership and direction on the client versions of Windows. Anyways, we all know that whatever the problem may be, Microsoft's UI team just doesn't get it most of the time. I'm not talking about slick graphics and color schemes, which many people confuse with user interface design. I'm talking about usability, intuitiveness and consistency -- three major aspects of user interface design which most of us can agree that MS just cannot get right. So why spend all the time and headache?? Let Apple do what they do best. Perhaps MS and Apple could even agree to create an ISO standardization of multi-touch gesture controls or something. The last thing we all need are two entirely different, competing user interface paradigms that are trying to replace the mouse.....
BTW, regarding Windows, I think MS needs to just wipe the slate clean of Win32 and legacy crud, and just use a simple virtualization layer to run old Apps. They can keep many of the Vista software stacks (driver model, networking, etc) but optimize the kernel for parallel processing and integrate .NET 4.0 into the foundation of windows 7.
A different perspective might bring up even better ideas.
Just make it small enough to fit in my pocket and drop the price to $199.... oh wait. ;-)
In all seriousness, though, the concept is cool and it looks like they are trying to move it closer to a realistic market positioning. Will be interesting to see if it gains traction.
Btw, I am surprised that they are just now coming out with a Surface SDK. They took almost as long as Apple - except without any really useful built-in applications to start with.
i love microsoft's codenames..always referencing ideal vacation spots..and always appropriate for the purpose:
oahu means "the gathering place"..a great fit for a multi-user device.