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SunSeeker · Dec 7, 2001, 09:06 PM

From Tribeworks email this morning.

ELO discontinuing touch screen iMac

Kiosk developers might be interested to know that ELO is discontinuing to build the iMac with iTouch. Elo will continue to accept orders through December 14, 2001 on a non-cancelable, non-returnable, non-reschedulable basis. This does not effect the warranty and servicing of iMacs with iTouch.
For more info you can e-mail [email protected] or call 510-739-5016

Click for specs of discontinued model.

Click here to see ELOs other products including LCD Touch Screens

Is it just coincidence?

[ 12-07-2001: Message edited by: SunSeeker ]

moreno · Dec 7, 2001, 09:36 PM

YEAH BABY YES!
look at the OS X dock... perfect idea to touch....!

nyarlaho · Dec 7, 2001, 09:37 PM

Keep on dreaming...

Who would want a Imac with touch screen? It has only commercial application, it seems to me.

SunSeeker · Dec 7, 2001, 10:15 PM

We might see something other than a new imac, how hard would it be to replace the ibook keyboard and touch pad with a screen.

Good point about the dock, you could pop out a keyboard from it.

chris v · Dec 7, 2001, 11:19 PM

I think in five years, we'l all be using touch screen/ drawing tablet LCD monitors-- but I don't think quite yet.

I don't think I d want to type on a monitor as much as I'd like to be able to draw directly on one in Photoshop, or Illustrator-- I'm really hard on keyboards. I'm so old I can remember using manual typewriters. You gotta really hammer those things.

Touch screen would open up a whole world of ideas for web-browsing, though, eh?

Not in January, though.

I always say set your sights low, and be plesantly suprised. It's better than setting them too high and being dissapointed.

CV

OldManMac · Dec 7, 2001, 11:21 PM

Don't see it happening, except for commercial applications, such as kiosks.

darcybaston · Dec 8, 2001, 12:28 AM

I would LOVE a touch screen enabled iMac. It would let me reclaim desk space and put away the mouse. Sure would solve the problem of, "hey where's the mouse pointer *shuffle shuffle* oh there it is."

Darcy

Dec 8, 2001, 01:22 AM

Not content with the reality of an LCD iMac around the corner, some Naught word removed. has to inject the hope for something more...

 You're welcome to contribute to the forums, but please use appropriate language. - VMARKS

[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: vmarks ]

Quadroclops · Dec 8, 2001, 01:50 AM

Hello Never Satisfied! Are you talking about the walking-talking soft-focus blood-temperature kiss-me-quick-I'm-yours iMac? :o

Telomar · Dec 8, 2001, 02:35 AM

I use a touch screen fairly often and to be perfectly honest I would see it as an unnecessary expense for an iMac.

Touch screens really aren't that wonderful or important for the average consumer. Sure they make a nifty thing to play with and marvel at but practically speaking I would hate to use one for my home computer.

SunSeeker · Dec 8, 2001, 06:26 AM

never satisfied

Not content with the reality of an LCD iMac around the corner, some Please don't use naughty words has to inject the hope for something more...

What like Superdrive in imac, apple pda, apple phone, apple photoshop substitute, flying car (IT) etc etc.
I thought this was a forum for discussion :o

 It is, with the emphasis on hardware troubleshooting. Occasional speculation on forthcoming products isn't a big deal. Don't get excited. 

You obviously failed to notice that most people responding aren't all that excited

<paragraph removed> Making personal assaults on character with allegations of sexual dysfunction is inappropriate on this board. 
[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: SunSeeker ]

 In other words, calm down. Keep it civil. - VMARKS

[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: vmarks ]

Dec 10, 2001, 02:32 AM

I've thought that touchscreen on an iMac would be PERFECT. It would possibly get the 40% who are afraid of computers (many are afraid of keyboards) to look into a Mac.

In a strange way it makes more sense for the touchscreen to be on a crt, though, so that 10 year olds don't push their fingers through the screen and off the table onto the floor.

Especially with OS X and many webpages, it is easier to type and occasionally touch the screen, than to type and occasionally have to grab the mouse and position the cursor, etc.

Just think of the gaming possiblilites...and interactive System 47, that you could manipulate! That would be more fun than shooting people with a mouse.

starfleetX · Dec 10, 2001, 02:44 AM

Get real people. This is about the dumbest possible addition to the iMac.

How many of you here have used a touchscreen? For regular computing activities? If so, then you should know how horribly imprecise those things are. Plus, your finger has a wide are that would make contact with the screen. Any point-and-click accuracy with anything remotely complicated or even just small would be impossible.

It may sound nice on the surface, but it would be utterly rediculous to implement.

vmarks · Dec 10, 2001, 03:15 AM

Hey StarfleetX, are you in PackMUG? They meet at State.

A touchscreen is useful, but only in certain settings. A kiosk, where the targets to 'click' on are huge, so you can't miss with your finger, or as in a web pad with a stylus, where you can point, click, write, and draw directly on the pad.

Pen computing pretty much died with Windows 3.1 for Pen computers.

It'd be nice to see it make a comeback, if it could be revolutionary. Is the iMac the computer to do that? I don't think so. I mean, if Jobs doesn't like PDAs, he's not going to want to go for a giant sized tablet, is he?

Victor Marks
[email protected]

cdhostage · Dec 10, 2001, 11:00 AM

Touchscreens are a good thing to offer as an option for businesses. They would want to use iMacs as the COOLEST checkout desks.

Jan Van Boghout · Dec 10, 2001, 11:37 AM

There is no way Apple is going to release a touch screen iMac in January . Maybe in 2005 , when computers will be 1 cm thick

FormerLurker · Dec 10, 2001, 11:45 AM

ELO made touchscreens (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the current iMac. They are going to be discontinuing them before MWSF in January. New iMacs with LCD are rumored then.

So this means that ELO will be coming out with a new touchscreen (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the NEW iMac.

DUH !!!

How the he11 do you get "new iMacs will be touchscreen LCDs" from this, other than being 13 years old with no connection to reality?

All this is, is another "confirmation" to support the rumor that new iMacs are coming.

Nebrie · Dec 10, 2001, 11:47 AM

They're probably just discontinuing this touchscreen iMac model because Apple is planning to introduce a completely different iMac. This company will probably just introduce a touchscreen lcd iMac next year.

KellyHogan · Dec 10, 2001, 12:39 PM

The best way to tell if such touchscreen technology was coming is to look at the build reports. If there is no report of a touchscreen driver then rule it out.

OldManMac · Dec 10, 2001, 02:04 PM

My Sharp SE-500 PDA, which is five years old, has touch-screen technology, as well as stylus compatibility. Using my fingers on it is impossible, except for turning it off and on.

The grocery store where I shop at has touch screen self-checkouts, where you scan most stuff. The produce and veggies you have to put on the scale, punch a number in, and quantity, and then it weighs it, etc. This works great because the buttons on screen are quite large and easy to direct your finger to. The screens are about 14" size. On a touch-screen iMac, unless the resolution was set at a very low level, it would be a nightmare to manuever the screen. This defeats the purpose of ease of use and simplicity.

In other words, it ain't gonna happen.

vmarks · Dec 10, 2001, 02:44 PM

Originally posted by FormerLurker:
ELO made touchscreens (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the current iMac. They are going to be discontinuing them before MWSF in January. New iMacs with LCD are rumored then.

So this means that ELO will be coming out with a new touchscreen (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the NEW iMac.

DUH !!!

How the he11 do you get "new iMacs will be touchscreen LCDs" from this, other than being 13 years old with no connection to reality?

All this is, is another "confirmation" to support the rumor that new iMacs are coming.

Just because everyone else has their hopeful magic 8-balls out predicting things that you see as impractical doesn't give you license to insult their age and status of their connection to reality.

My connection with reality is over fibre straight into the backbone, 10Gbps.

Keep it civil, there's no use in insulting others.

Victor Marks
[email protected]

SunSeeker · Dec 11, 2001, 09:12 AM

Originally posted by FormerLurker:
ELO made touchscreens (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the current iMac. They are going to be discontinuing them before MWSF in January. New iMacs with LCD are rumored then.

So this means that ELO will be coming out with a new touchscreen (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the NEW iMac.

DUH !!!

How the he11 do you get "new iMacs will be touchscreen LCDs" from this, other than being 13 years old with no connection to reality?

All this is, is another "confirmation" to support the rumor that new iMacs are coming.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

How the naughty naughty naughty word do you get will from may.
I believe I may well be within my rights to question your comprehension of the English language, not to mention your connection to reality

I don't remember saying I wanted touchscreen or even liked the idea, I think it's obvious where the thought came from, I admit it is a bit of a leap but most rumours are

Also it is getting on for 2 decades since I was the age you suggest.

Half of you are acting like you would be forced to use it.

Hey! Who knows? Maybe they are trying to get macs into kindergarten and preschools.

[ 12-11-2001: Message edited by: SunSeeker ]

vmarks · Dec 11, 2001, 01:31 PM

Originally posted by SunSeeker:


How the naughty naughty naughty word do you get will from may.
I believe I may well be within my rights to question your comprehension of the English language, not to mention your connection to reality

Your rights are not at issue- You have the right to say anything you please- just note that this is a privately owned board staffed by unpaid folks who maintain a certain level of civility on the forums. Say anything you like, but if it's really virulent or inflammatory, you may not get to say it here for very long.

Question anything you like. If you're questioning something, pose it in the form of a question, not a statement. Certainly, I wonder if some people aren't out of touch, from time to time. I don't go insulting them, it's not a good practice, and never seems to accomplish much.

I don't remember saying I wanted touchscreen or even liked the idea, I think it's obvious where the thought came from, I admit it is a bit of a leap but most rumours are

This is a forum for hardware troubleshooting, strictly speaking. I allow rumour discussions, because they give people something to talk about, and they help folks who are trying to decide whether to buy a new machine or not at a time that may be close to the release of a new model.

Also it is getting on for 2 decades since I was the age you suggest.

Age attacks are fruitless, as you know by being on the receiving end of one- responding to a fruitless comment is, well, fruitless. Why respond to someone whose only ammunition is to attack your age?

Half of you are acting like you would be forced to use it.

Hey! Who knows? Maybe they are trying to get macs into kindergarten and preschools.

Good observations- many in this community of Mac users feel compelled to buy any new product. Those that don't, play armchair-marketing-exec/armchair-head of industrial design. (see the archives, with regard to everyone who proclaimed the failure of the cube, and protested over the introduction of an mp3 player instead of a pda.)

I wonder though, how would an LCD hold up in an early primary school setting? They seem pretty fragile to me, in their current applications. The only LCDs I know of that could really take the abuse are the ones mounted in the Panasonic toughbook, and that requires extra engineering to protect the thing.

mitchell_pgh · Dec 11, 2001, 03:43 PM

I clean my screen enough without me touching it all day long (PS, Your pointer is MUCH smaller then your finger!, you aren't going to reclaim and inch... what a joke... 15" LCD screen on an iMac... why not just give us a headless iMac @ $650+ and give us the option of adding a 15" flat (IF WE WANT!)

I would slap an OK 21" CRT at the same price...

Originally posted by darcybaston:
I would LOVE a touch screen enabled iMac. It would let me reclaim desk space and put away the mouse. Sure would solve the problem of, "hey where's the mouse pointer *shuffle shuffle* oh there it is."

Darcy

SunSeeker · Dec 13, 2001, 12:15 AM

mitchell_pgh

... why not just give us a headless iMac @ $650+ and give us the option of adding a 15" flat (IF WE WANT!)

I would slap an OK 21" CRT at the same price...

That was the cubes niche, except no-one was prepared to pay the premium. :o

I always thought this spoof http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/0101/hicube.shtml from appleinsider had legs, I am sure a lot of you have seen it.

Ignore the price, it was from about 18 months ago.

xyber233 · Dec 13, 2001, 02:48 PM

That was the cubes niche, except no-one was prepared to pay the premium.

Yeah, I totally agree with you. Once the Cube went down in price after it was discontinued, they were flying off the shelves.

I use a touch screen fairly often and to be perfectly honest I would see it as an unnecessary expense for an iMac.

Yup, this is a consumer computer. Plus, I dont see any advantages. Most people dont care for a touch screen.

So this means that ELO will be coming out with a new touchscreen (a cool but somewhat expensive add-on) for the NEW iMac.

I also believe that this is the reason for it being discontinued. Plus, I dont think it was in high demand.

mitchell_pgh · Dec 14, 2001, 04:41 PM

I would love to see something like this as a combo for around $999

xyber233 · Dec 14, 2001, 05:31 PM

Hehe, thats a pretty wacky design. I still like the Cube's looks better.

mitchell_pgh · Dec 14, 2001, 06:12 PM

How about this...

MikeM32 · Dec 16, 2001, 06:05 PM

I think Sony makes some sort of PC that has an LCD with Pen Tablet capabilities. I wouldn't mind seeing something like this as a standard item or BTO option. But if the third party ones are any indication (I've really only seen the Wacom LCD line) the price would be totally un-realistic. I've always had a problem using the regular drawing tablets versus actually being able to draw and leave your mark directly where I'm drwaing (like on paper). For standard navigation however I don't really see a touch screen as being something I'd want over just using a mouse.

Mike

cpt kangarooski · Dec 16, 2001, 06:35 PM

That Sony Vaio with the touchscreen is the balls. I've played around on one. It's not really so much a touchscreen as it is that the LCD screen (on a sort of a pivot arrangement, so you can get at it) has a pen tablet built into it.

Wacom's got LCD tablets that alone cost far more than the entire Sony computer and LCD together, the dopes. It's extremely cool. Given how many artists use Macs, Apple would have to have their heads up their asses not to realize the potential of this baby, if sold as cheaply as possible, with reliable software controlling it.