5 ms·

At first sight the thing is terrifying, but it seems a rather quite reasonable alternative play on the touchbar that does not mess with the ability to sell the

by _wmd 8y ago

At first sight the thing is terrifying, but it seems a rather quite reasonable alternative play on the touchbar that does not mess with the ability to sell the device. Two massive benefits: the tactile response of the keyboard is totally preserved, and the feature can be entirely disabled for conservative users who cannot think of an immediate use for the display. Clearly it will appeal to gadgeteers (as much as I expect the touchbar does) who can use it for instrumentation or other generally distracting applications. Then there is the blindingly obvious: video editing on a laptop always sucks, there is never enough screen space. But moving the monitor window (rendered video preview) to the touchpad area might change that considerably -- it amounts to a 25% increase in display area, and in a 'natural application' of video editing, the monitor would be separate anyway. I think this design, simply by virtue of being optional, and large and rectangular, is hugely more applicable than the touchbar. The modality (pumping F6 to enable/disable) could definitely be improved upon. I can imagine it quite natural to use a hot corner of the pad itself as a toggle, or perhaps some gesture or similar. Very excited to see how these work out in the real world

state_less 8y ago
I like my touchbar and I think I'd probably like a touchscreen trackpad too. The key in my opinion is the programability of the 'buttons'. They don't need to be just buttons, you can have sliders, video scrubbers, button hierarchies (button menus) and so on. I'm also up for dual display laptops where the clamshell of a laptop is two touchscreens. It would help water proof the device, simplify the mechanics (lower cost?), give options for keyboard layout (improved ergonomics?) increase full screen size when fully unfolded and might be more comfortable than the stiff keys on the latest gen of MBP. I use an external keyboard when I'm at my desk and want a tactile full size keyboard, so I wouldn't be stuck with only glass.
- Fnoord 8y ago
  A TouchPad has too many negatives. It costs additional power (with no clear benefit). Its another point of failure. It has a big learning curve. It requires one to look away from the screen (pro users needn't to look at their keyboard). It replaced something which worked very well: esc key and function keys (who also had F-keys with "fn" combo). IMO it is an interesting usability concept from an R&D PoV, but not something to be shoved in the throat of users. Unfortunately, Apple decided it is the way forward for MBP users with no option to turn back except for legacy products or switching ship.
chiefalchemist 8y ago
Is there a way to "attach" a tablet to a W10 laptop as an extra monitor? It makes sense but don't think I've been able to find a viable solution.
- meikos 8y ago
  yeah if you have an iOS tablet, check out duet. works well on my ipad pro
- hirsin 8y ago
  A Windows 10 tablet (I can't name one, but some probably exist) has this out of the box with the wireless screen projection (win+K). I had to do this laptop to laptop to projector for a lightning talk once after the first laptop had a broken display port adapter - surprisingly fast to setup and 0 latency. I'd be surprised if something didn't exist for Android tablets. But if you have an old laptop laying around, maybe throw w10 on it and see if it works?
  - slantyyz 8y ago
    Not all Win 10 tablets support the wireless projection. I think you can do it with a higher end one like a Surface Pro, but you can't with less powerful ones like the Asus Vivotab 8. You'll get an error message having to do with not meeting the minimum requirements. On the other hand, you can use something like Synergy, but that's not quite the same thing.
  - srrr 8y ago
    I think this is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracast https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracast ?
- franga2000 8y ago
  I use Spacedesk for this. It supports Windows as the server and Android, iOS, Windows and web browsers as clients (extra displays). It's still in beta, but it works almost flawlessly. If your wifi chips are good quality, the latency is almost unnoticeable.
al2o3cr 8y ago
moving the monitor window (rendered video preview) to the touchpad area might change that considerably It'll boost sales of neck-strain relief products, at a minimum.

by _wmd 8y ago

state_less 8y ago

I like my touchbar and I think I'd probably like a touchscreen trackpad too. The key in my opinion is the programability of the 'buttons'. They don't need to be just buttons, you can have sliders, video scrubbers, button hierarchies (button menus) and so on. I'm also up for dual display laptops where the clamshell of a laptop is two touchscreens. It would help water proof the device, simplify the mechanics (lower cost?), give options for keyboard layout (improved ergonomics?) increase full screen size when fully unfolded and might be more comfortable than the stiff keys on the latest gen of MBP. I use an external keyboard when I'm at my desk and want a tactile full size keyboard, so I wouldn't be stuck with only glass.

Fnoord 8y ago
A TouchPad has too many negatives. It costs additional power (with no clear benefit). Its another point of failure. It has a big learning curve. It requires one to look away from the screen (pro users needn't to look at their keyboard). It replaced something which worked very well: esc key and function keys (who also had F-keys with "fn" combo). IMO it is an interesting usability concept from an R&D PoV, but not something to be shoved in the throat of users. Unfortunately, Apple decided it is the way forward for MBP users with no option to turn back except for legacy products or switching ship.

chiefalchemist 8y ago

Is there a way to "attach" a tablet to a W10 laptop as an extra monitor? It makes sense but don't think I've been able to find a viable solution.

meikos 8y ago
yeah if you have an iOS tablet, check out duet. works well on my ipad pro
hirsin 8y ago
A Windows 10 tablet (I can't name one, but some probably exist) has this out of the box with the wireless screen projection (win+K). I had to do this laptop to laptop to projector for a lightning talk once after the first laptop had a broken display port adapter - surprisingly fast to setup and 0 latency. I'd be surprised if something didn't exist for Android tablets. But if you have an old laptop laying around, maybe throw w10 on it and see if it works?
- slantyyz 8y ago
  Not all Win 10 tablets support the wireless projection. I think you can do it with a higher end one like a Surface Pro, but you can't with less powerful ones like the Asus Vivotab 8. You'll get an error message having to do with not meeting the minimum requirements. On the other hand, you can use something like Synergy, but that's not quite the same thing.
- srrr 8y ago
  I think this is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracast https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracast ?
franga2000 8y ago
I use Spacedesk for this. It supports Windows as the server and Android, iOS, Windows and web browsers as clients (extra displays). It's still in beta, but it works almost flawlessly. If your wifi chips are good quality, the latency is almost unnoticeable.

al2o3cr 8y ago

moving the monitor window (rendered video preview) to the touchpad area might change that considerably It'll boost sales of neck-strain relief products, at a minimum.