What Can "Surface" Do for You?

Like everyone else, I watched with interest the demos of Microsoft product managers finger-painting and stretching photos with Surface, the software giant's years-in-the-making, touch-sensitive "computing product." And yes, I derived a certain geeky thrill from it—in fact, it's pretty much (as many observers have mentioned) like watching Tom Cruise manipulate reams of data in mid-air using his fingers in "Minority Report." But just like in that sci-fi movie, Surface looks like a cool technology that we mere mortals won't have in our homes for a long, long time.

Code-named "Milan," Microsoft's Surface project has been in the works for about five years now, and while at first glance it looks like just a thin, touch-sensitive sheet (now that would be cool), in reality it's a full-on Vista PC crammed into a table base with five motion-detecting cameras mounted below the 30-inch display. So no, you're not taking Surface on the bus anytime soon.

Also, in practical terms, these units are simply way too expensive for anything but commercial applications at this point—about $5,000 to $10,000 each, according to the AP. So for the near future, I wouldn’t expect to see Surface, uh, surfacing anywhere except at a few retail and hospitality venues, like T-Mobile (one of Microsoft's first signed customers) and Harrah's, and even then only in a kiosk-type capacity. And as for restaurants? Sure, I enjoyed the demo in which you could flip through the menu on the tabletop, tap your selections, and later divide the bill and calculate the tip—but seriously, how many restaurants will plunk down $5,000 per table so you can look up the info about the wine you're drinking? Not too many, I'd guess (unless the tabletop morphs into a series of gigantic ads, which kind of kills the appetite). And what happens when someone inevitably spills a full glass of ice water on Surface? Oops.

Finally, let's say that Surface does drop in price so that home users can afford one (Microsoft says that'll happen within three to five years). While I like the idea of several people crowding around the screen to grab and resize their own pictures and videos—or to indulge in some groovy digital finger-painting—I can't see a touch-screen mounted in a tabletop being all that useful for everyday applications. When I'm working on Excel spreadsheets, I want that screen upright and facing me, not flat on the table. And as far as I can tell, Microsoft is a long, long ways from producing a flat-screen version of Surface. So as a consumer, Surface might be more of a fun curiosity rather than your day-to-day PC—and $3,000 or even $2,000 is a lot of cash for a curiosity.

Don't get me wrong—I think the technology behind Surface is pretty cool, and I have no doubt that one fine day, we'll have flat screens that you can touch and manipulate just like in "Minority Report." But cool though it is, Surface seems too clunky and expensive to be practical, at least in its current incarnation. Although, come to think of it, I have heard of a new, compact (but still pricey) touch-sensitive device that lets you resize pictures, flip through your music, and do other amazing things with your fingertips—oh right, the Apple iPhone. Hmm...

Related:
Microsoft unveils new Surface computer [AP, via Yahoo! News]