Touchy Subject

Technology is moving at a lighting fast pace. OK, you don't have to be a genius to know that, but I feel like many people take it for granted that we live in an age where new technologies emerge faster than a teenager with keys to a souped-up Toyota Supra. Back in 1439, Johann Gutenberg assembled the first models of his printing press that truly made a breakthrough in mass-communication. The press had a considerable impact on the way new knowledge, and even old knowledge, was disseminated, changing Western Society. It brought about the first issues on copyright infringement and started the conversation on what we call "intellectual property" today.

It took more than 500 years until we saw computers turning up in every household. That is a considerably long time in the evolution of technology from the printing press where people only wanted to consume the knowledge that was being printed, to people today who use personal computers and the internet to edit and author their own information, uploading it to the internet.

Consider these numbers: In 1977, 48 thousand computers were assembled and shipped; however, in 2001, as many as 120 million computers were sold and shipped. Before Microsoft Office and the PC came along, you could mail letters or be a book author to disperse your ideas. Now, all it takes is the click of a button and, voila, your ideas show up on your Blogger for all the world to see. Thomas Friedman pointed out very accurately in his book, "The World is Flat" that the internet and the practice of "uploading" were factors that helped flatten our complicated world.

But, enough of the boring history lessons and rambling. I wanted to show you guys the new HP:



In my opinion, the HP TouchSmart signifies the onslaught of a new revolution. The revolution that was brought and refined by Apple's iPod Touch. People want to be able to interact with media content in a new way. "Touching" makes sense. Imagine scrolling through your images with the flick of your finger just like on your iPod. Think about using a pen to actually draw out easily what you want on your screen in Photoshop.

Though the HP TouchSmart seems to be somewhat limited, it is indeed the first step forward into a new direction.

It is amazing how the "science fiction" of yesterday can become the reality of today in our age. Apple revolutionized the media industry when it brought us the iPod a mere 7 years ago. And, it made every sci-fi geek's dream come true when it made the touch feature much more user-friendly and simple to understand.



I heard that Apple had patents for "touch keyboards" that they were developing in their super secret labs on Infinite Loop back in Silicon Valley. (see story here) Instead of being bound to a defined set of keys on your traditional keyboard, imagine assigning and creating custom buttons for every one of your different applications.

The question that remains will be, of course, will this new way of interacting with media prevail? We are still quite a ways away from digitizing everything. For example, many people still refuse to conform to digitized books. Maybe the Amazon Kindle will be able to change it.

But, who knows? One thing for sure is that we will likely witness a revolution soon on how we interact with media content. Apple will likely come out with more high tech gadgets that use touch technology, while competitors will follow suit.

I, presonally, would love to see what the next couple of years will have in store in terms of touch enabled gadgets. Will we really see a Microsoft Surface in every club or restaurant a couple of years down the line? Only time will tell.



What do you think about touch-enabled keyboards and HP's new touch desktop? Leave a comment!