MacBook Wheel

Amazing... have you ever seen a laptop without a keyboard? That's probably the MacBook Wheel.

Apple announces its latest gadget where the keyboard is replaced by a touch-sensitive click wheel. It looks like some CD in the spot where keyboards appear in traditional laptops. Can you imagine the future of computing? I wonder what will happen to our handwriting once keyboards become a thing of the past.

How does the MacBook Wheel work? As you move your finger around the circular track, a list of menu items appears on the screen (as following a similar circular motion, like racers around a track). In the middle of the wheel is a large click button.

Source: http://youtube.com/watch?v=s0Gzq-QEt0s

So you simply select and move the icons around, then click on that large button. What can be more simple than that, right?

A virtual keyboard appears on-screen, move your finger around the wheel, then click once your desired letter is selected. I wonder, however, how fast you can "type" with this approach. No idea about the price yet, though I wonder how long people can work with a keyboard-less laptop.

Perhaps if you're doing more reading/watching than typing, then this will be viable. But if you're doing a lot of writing/blogging... Well, that's an entirely different story. But if the "predictive sentence technology" works well, then this can outpace your typical 50 wpm typist.

The MacBook Wheel: "One Button. Endless Possibilities." From the Onion News Network. Hilarious! ;-)

[ First posted on 01/06/2009 by Manuel Viloria ]