The Future Is Here, Your Next PC Will Ripple Like Water

It’s been a long 5 years in the making, but this winter the future of computing is here! You had to see it coming. Touch-sensitive gadgets are springing up everywhere and are extremely popular. I even bought my first touch screen digital camera (Sony CyberShot DSC-T50) this past September. So it was only a matter of time before the first touch-sensitive computer arrived, entirely changing the way we use our machines of today. Microsoft has unveiled "Surface", a touch-sensitive computer shaped like a coffee table that ripples like water when you touch it! (If you don’t think that’s cool, then there is something wrong with you.)

The term "surface" describes how it's used, representing a fundamental change in the way we interact with digital content. With Surface, you can actually grab data with your hands and move information between objects with natural gestures and touch. The 30-inch tabletop display has the unique ability for allowing several people to work independently or simultaneously, all without using a mouse or keyboard. Besides fingertips, Microsoft Surface can also recognize credit cards and other physical objects. This ability to actually deal with physical objects is one of Surface's unique capabilities. The idea is to bridge the physical and virtual worlds.

Microsoft plans to initially sell Surface to hotels and restaurants. Then later it will be available to the average consumer…that is if you are willing to pay the hefty price tag. It will cost somewhere between $5,000 to $10,000 – ouch! Of course Bill Gates predicts that most households won’t be purchasing Surface for another 3-5 years. Hopefully by then, the price will drop considerably, making Surface a more “practical” buy.

So what will you get for 10g’s? Surface consists of a computer running a customized version of Windows Vista, a rear projection screen and five cameras that look through the screen from behind. The cameras are used to recognize and read items placed on the surface as well as to track hand gestures and touch. It has wired 10/100Mbit Ethernet and wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 support built in.

Surface will debut in the New York Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Seventh Avenue. If you can’t get there to see it, then visit www.microsoft.com/surface for more info, photos and a video demonstration. The best part, we haven’t even scratched the surface in what a personal computer of the future can do, or even be.