2 posts from 2007
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TED 2007 has started in Monterey, California. TED is an annual gathering of what I would characterize as creative, out of the box minds in our world. These minds can come from pretty much any field--if they share any single thing in common, it's a desire to not so much change the world as to push it forward. To advance mankind.
Multi-touch interfaces are a good example of this. The graphical user interface that you're browsing you're using on your computer now is about thirty years old now. It's certainly prettier, and easier to use, and capable of much more than it was thirty years ago...still, it's thirty years old.
Touch screens have been around for a while, but as is pointed out in the video they've been simple substitutes. These are great for purchasing movie tickets or using bank transactions, but lack the richness that is required by modern users. Multi-touch may be a big step forward in bringing this rich interface to fruition.
Multi-touch is going to take a significant leap into the mainstream with the imminent launch of the iPhone, and product that is not nearly as guaranteed to succeed as financial analysts seem to think. Mainstream adoption of a new interface is not somthing that happens often, so this is going to be exciting to watch.
In the meantime, despite the nagging feeling that TED has suddenly become mainstream (something I thought had happened a long time ago, which I suppose says as much about what I consider mainstream as anything else) I can't wa wait for this year's TED Talks to be posted on the website at http://www.ted.com/
According to Vox, this page isn't compatible with the Mac. Despite this, I appear to be typing.
