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Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

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Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#181

Post by echelon_musk »

pjc50 wrote: post #164
wongarsu wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used two touchscreen laptops during the Windows 7 era, and I'd largely agree with Jobs. It's great for some niche cases, but sits unused 99% of the time. Of course that was before Windows 8 completely redesigned the UI to better support touch, but that also hasn't lead to an appreciable portion of Windows laptops selling with touchscreens. The Surface devices are a bit of an exception. For the tablets it works g…

> I've used two touchscreen laptops during the Windows 7 era To be fair, the point at which Microsoft rewrote their UI to be touch-friendly was Windows 8, inspired by Windows Phone (RIP).

> Of course that was before Windows 8 completely redesigned the UI to better support touch

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#182

Post by Zobat »

My previous work provided laptop had a touchscreen and I miss it (for the record, the screen didn't fold 180). It was useful about once a week and I completely forgot about it the rest of the time.

Two primary use cases. Sitting on the train with the laptop in my actual lap it was often more convenient to reach for the screen instead of the trackpad, especially when I had someone sitting next to me on the right and I didn't want to stab them in their ribcage with my elbow so I could reach the trackpad. Second use case was often scrolling while reading, for some reason (phone-scrolling-indoctrination I guess) it felt natural to scroll using finger on screen.

The screen was never my primary pointing device but it was always an option. I think it was annoying a handful of times during the two years I had it, you point at something on the screen and end up clicking something.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#183

Post by bmelton »

codesnik wrote: post #68
dwedge wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised you feel that way. I fight with my mac every day for one reason or another. At least it's not as bad as the days where some software used Cmd + letter and some used ctrl +letter, but for instance Cmd tab will switch to the wrong window when I go back and I have to use the mouse. Window switching in general is a lot harder if you only have the keyboard because the laptop is docked without a magic trackpa…

strange. Some keyboard shortcuts in os x are kinda weird and not intuitive to linux or windows users, but they are there. It's totally possible to use mac without trackpad. even cmd+tab switcher has a lot of hidden (but googlable) things: while still holding cmd after initial cmd+tab, you can close apps with q, switch to other apps with tab and (cmd+)shift+tab or left/right arrows, show app windows with down, etc. Th…

> totally possible to use mac without trackpad

As I discover every time I have a mouse fail, it is exceptionally difficult to use a modern Mac without a pointer device because at some point, it became quite difficult to get from (eg) the settings nav panel to the settings panel. I can CMD+SPACE to open spotlight, type 'Settings' to get to a settings panel, type 'Bluetooth' to open the bluetooth settings, and where I feel like I _should_ be able to `Tab` or `Enter` into the devices list, or have SOME way to navigate over there, the only way I've found to be able to is to plug in a physical mouse

Moreover, I occasionally encounter modals that won't let me tab to their action buttons, requiring a pointer device click to dismiss

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#184

Post by mrweasel »

post-it wrote: post #17
dotBen wrote: post #16

I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar? I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen? If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new…

> I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new MBP line later this year. Apple has apparently being going to put a touchscreen in a laptop every year since the iPad came out, and it's never materialized.

Because it would blur the lines between the iPad and MacBook to much. Right now it's two clearly distinct product lines, with separate use cases. Adding touch to the MacBook could hurt iPad sales (in the pro segment).

I also think Apple knows that their laptops doesn't need touch. It's a gimmick and adds nothing to the usability, but raises the cost.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#185

Post by mrweasel »

dotBen wrote: post #16

I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar? I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen? If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new…

Tech-reviewers keep harping on the MacBook for not having a touch option, but I think it's mostly of check a box.

Something no one seems to address is that it makes no sense to have touch on the laptop screen, because you honestly don't use it much, at least in a professional setting. You'll always dock your laptop anyway, either for comfort, or legal compliance (or both). My 27" monitor doesn't have touch, that's what I use 99% of the time, the laptop screen is a small auxiliary screen on the side. Why I reach out and touch it? That's also why the touch bar made no sense, it was on a keyboard that I almost never use.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#187

Post by mwelpa »

allthetime wrote: post #89
thesuitonym wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Macs are definitely not optimized for keyboard commands. If you feel the software you use is keyboard optimized, odds are it's not really Mac software.

Absolute base line example. Copy text in terminal Mac: command+c Linux/windows: ctrl+shift+c (unless you want to cripple proper ctrl+c functionality in which case you can (maybe) activate it from a UI menu) The command key on Mac is somewhat magical and engages in all sorts of productivity and finger efficiency related context switching so that you can do more with less physical movement. I’m genuinely curious who yo…

however to make a screenshot you've to press shift+ctrl+cmd+4 instead of just win+shift+s.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#188

Post by dudefeliciano »

wildrhythms wrote: post #92

"We've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work. Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical. It gives great demo but after a short period of time, you start to fatigue and after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off. it doesn't work, it's ergonomically terrible." -Steve Jobs, 2010 https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-touch-screen-mac-...

did steve jobs ever see an easel?

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#189

Post by theultdev »

mwelpa wrote: post #187
allthetime wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolute base line example. Copy text in terminal Mac: command+c Linux/windows: ctrl+shift+c (unless you want to cripple proper ctrl+c functionality in which case you can (maybe) activate it from a UI menu) The command key on Mac is somewhat magical and engages in all sorts of productivity and finger efficiency related context switching so that you can do more with less physical movement. I’m genuinely curious who yo…

however to make a screenshot you've to press shift+ctrl+cmd+4 instead of just win+shift+s.

yeah but that's actually easier to do (on a macbook k/b).

you get really good at hitting either the 4/5 while holding those down to take a pic/vid.

personally win+shift+s is too bunched together, less comfortable to hit.

Re: Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)

#190

Post by MiddleEndian »

neya wrote: post #104
wildrhythms wrote: post #92

"We've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work. Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical. It gives great demo but after a short period of time, you start to fatigue and after an extended period of time, your arm wants to fall off. it doesn't work, it's ergonomically terrible." -Steve Jobs, 2010 https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-touch-screen-mac-...

Yeah, but this was also strategically in Apple's interest to sell the iPads with nerfed up iPad OS as a separate line up. I love Steve Jobs and all, but this did NOT age well. The millions of people using Surface and Surface Pro will absolutely disagree with this take.

Yeah I have a Surface Laptop Studio. Windows 11 is generally awful to the point where I have switched to Bazzite for my desktop, but the form factor with touch support (and pen support) is great. Easel mode is great for drawing, tablet mode is pretty good for drawing as well and also for casual browsing or for displaying DND character sheet info. Even in laptop mode sometimes I find myself using it to scroll a bit on pages.
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