Speculation: Glass Trackpad

I want to make this clear from the start: THIS IS SPECULATION. This is not something I heard from a source: this is shear speculation. That being said, if you think you can bear to read the whole article without telling me how stupid I am for believing this as fact, click the read link.

Here’s my thinking. 9 to 5 Mac, the most reliable source around, has heard word there will be a glass trackpad on the new laptops. Mac Soda can confirm this is true. Some have asked the question, “What’s the point of a glass trackpad if there’s no screen?” There are two answers to this question.

1. It is simply because it would enable for more advanced gestures that the current trackpads can’t handle.

2. It doesn’t make sense. That’s why there will be a screen.

Assuming #2 is the correct answer, one might ask the question, “What’s the point of a screen on the trackpad?” I think I know the answer.

Apple has not made it a secret that they want to bring multi-touch, in its entirety, to the Mac. Steve Jobs even said it himself, in an interview with the New York Times. The question is: how? They could take the approach that other manufacturers seem to be taking, and that is slapping a multi-touch display on a normal screen with normal software. However, this approach seems destined to fail, as multi-touch has no advantage over a mouse when using software optimized for the mouse. In fact, it is a disadvantage to use multi-touch, as your hands will get tired quickly, and after an hour of being at your computer, touching the screen non-stop, the novelty will fade, and you’ll shortly be searching your closest for a mouse. That is why Apple isn’t taking this approach.

The approach Apple has decided to take is a long, gradual transition: so smooth, the consumer will barely even know it happened. It is a three step process: the introduction, the tutorial, and the implementation.

They started extremely slow with multi-touch enabled trackpads found on the MBA and MBP today, that allow you to do very basic things, such as pinching to zoom, and using two fingers to scroll and pan. While they took a little adjusting at first, after a little time they became second nature. This was the introduction to multi-touch: we were given a little taste of how multi-touch can help improve our computing.

Some of Apple's Patented Gestures...

The second step is the step I think we will see Tuesday, and that is multi-touch on a small glass screen, taking the place of the trackpad. Apple has applied for a ton of patents regarding advanced multi-touch gestures, which Macrumors covered here (see picture). These will finally show their face in OS X. The biggest challenge Apple faces is getting people to learn the gestures, and that’s why the screen is there. Apple will be able to show you where to place your fingers on the trackpad represented by little dots, and then, once you’re touching them, they will change, showing you where to move your fingers. It will be the perfect way to teach you a huge amount of gestures, as you can visually see exactly what to do with your fingers. It will be hard at first, but at the end of the tutorial, this large number of advanced gestures will start to become second nature.

The final step is the step Apple is working towards: direct manipulation of objects and menus, directly on the main screen. By this time we will know the gestures, how they work, and what their purpose is. We won’t have to figure it all out at once: we’ll have already been. We will all be able to implement the knowledge we have acquired over the past few years, and we can then reap the benefits a multi-touch display can offer.

So that’s my thought process: perhaps we’ll see a multi-touch trackpad, made of glass, with a screen, showing you how to perform all of these advanced multi-touch gestures.

But remember: this is all just speculation… 😉