Mac Touch: The Evidence In Favor


Is Touch technology, akin to iPhone and iPod Touch, coming to Mac? Computerworld gives a run-down of the evidence in favor of such a move:

1. Inkwell: Although Apple hasn't touched it since the Jaguar (OS X 10.2) release, it's ready and waiting to go mainstream. Apple has been sitting, effectively, on a pile of useful Newton technology for a decade, but iPhone and iPod Touch are only glimpses of the future of Apple/Mac hardware.

2. Macs already have multitouch: Sorta. The tappable and now scrollable trackpad on MacBooks and MBPs lends itself to a range of new possibilities for input Perhaps a Touch trackpad? If Apple decides the new sub-notebook is to utilize touch, that may be the green light for MacTablet. And Apple can't let Dell win that little round, as it preps its own touch-based TabletPC.

3. Ad pulled: When Apple advertised for an "iPod and Mac Touch interface" QA tester, it was quickly spotted and Apple hastily pulled the ad.

4. Jobs likes Touch technology: And what he says, goes. Ultimately, it's likely we'll see it deployed in all Apple products, in one form or another.

Analysis: Personally, I'd like to see an ultra-slim portable with touch/draw capabilities for annotations, comments, drawings. And we bet Apple could implement the technology so it's actually easy, intuitive and useable.