The Magic Trackpad was finally introduced at the Apple Store Tuesday, enhancing the desktop with the multi-touch gestures used for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Rather than pointing and clicking, the Magic Trackpad lets you compute with gestures once you connect it via Bluetooth to your Mac. The Magic Trackpad is a window on the future of computer interfaces, some analysts say. Others believe the demise of the PC mouse at the hand of Apple industrial design is premature.
Magic Trackpad a classic Apple industrial design
Apple’s distinctive industrial design comes through within the Magic Trackpad. The sleek, glass-covered aluminum device matches the same angle and height as the Mac desktop keyboard it’s intended to sit next to. CNNMoney.com reports that Tuesday morning the Apple Store began selling the multi-touch Magic Trackpad. The online store went down for a while shortly before the Magic Trackpad went live, causing the usual intense blogging about what Apple industrial design would come up with next.
Turbo multi-touch for the desktop
The Apple Magic Trackpad enables two-finger scrolling, pinching to zoom, rotating with your fingertips, three-finger swiping or switching between applications with four fingers among its multi-touch gestures . Apple says users can switch from typing to gesturing seamlessly, or do both simultaneously, as well as swipe through pages online like flipping through a magazine. Plus, inertial scrolling makes moving up or down a page feel entirely natural.
Does Apple see 3D within the Magic Trackpad’s future?
The multi-touch Magic Trackpad could signal the start of a long-term strategy by Apple to prepare users for a future 3D interface. Johnny Evans at Computer world believes that since Apple owns patents for 3D user interfaces, the Magic Trackpad is the first step in a plan to get users accustomed to the gestured required to operate it. Evans hypothesizes about a multi-touch interface in 3D where you appear to reach right into your screen. He also described the possibility of computing with head and arm movements or voice via Apple’s motion-detecting iSight camera .
Is the Magic Trackpad a mouse killer?
The Magic Trackpad doesn’t signal the demise of the mouse, said Jared Newman at PC World. Old habits are hard to break, he said. When he used the Magic Trackpad he complained that the lack of traditional ergonomics made his fingers tired. He was also frustrated by the inability to lift and click after running out of mousepad room when he was dragging something. And because of the necessity of a mouse for games, people will always want them around .
Further reading
CNNMoney.com
cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/07/27/apple.magic.track.pad/index.html?npt=NP1″
Computerworld
blogs.computerworld.com/16607/apples_magic_trackpad_is_more_than_you_think?source=rss_blogs”
PC World
pcworld.com/article/201978/4_reasons_apples_magic_trackpad_wont_kill_the_mouse.html?tk=hp_blg”
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